OP: Ignite by Eir Aoi (Sword Art Online II)

…A fanfiction of a game set in a game? Wow, ironic, huh?

Up to 5 reviews! YES! [Insert party noises here]

OK, OK, I'll stop. Please enjoy this next please and PLEASE review!

Zielo belongs to Gigi-D.

XO

Aeon nods at my comment, opens the portal and we all jump inside, landing in a field full of sheep. Yeah, Mobini Sheep. Talk about weird. The grass is soft and luscious, with a full blue sky above us with a beaming sun. Feels like summer. It's a nice change. Everywhere is very rural with very few trees but many hills, valleys and mountains.

"Alright, where exactly are we going?"

Before anyone can respond to Estyn's question, Maria forces us down when a blast of fire darts towards us, barely missing us. It strikes the fence panel, destroying it instantly. The sheep bleat in alarm and they run off, leaving us in their dust. I look in the direction the blast came from. I see a stony-faced black echidna female, staff in hand.

"Darn…"

"Why are you aiming at us!?" Lara asks, making flames burn on her hands. The girl spits, glaring at us with hatred.

"Well, it's a survival game, ya get it?" She's speaking with a strong Southern accent. She launches herself at us, staff in hand and fires more blasts of magic at us. We easily dodge and Maria shoots blasts of water at her, immediately scalding her. Must be boiling. She gets ignored and stops, using heat from her staff to dry herself off. She also wrings water from her dreadlocks. "Ya meant to defeat the other players, not run from them! Name yaselves!"

"NOIR!?"

"Uh-oh…" Noir backs off when another figure comes into view. It's that alternate Sonic we saw in the vision. The real only differences is that this guy is taller and older than Sonic plus his voice is slightly deeper. He is wearing a black uniform and has that black and purple club hanging on his back. He darkly growls and literally slaps her, making all of us cringe.

"Haven't I told you NOT to run off?"

"W-Well…yeah, but…" She rubs her cheek, which is red. The hedgehog growls again and points to a golden broach on his chest that shines in the sun.

"No buts! I'm the guild captain so you abide by MY rules. Get it?"

"Yea'…ah get it…" He backs down, inching away from him. He then notices us and confusion enters his eyes.

"Oh? And who are these? They are players or NPCs?"

"Not sure. Ah think they're players."

"Well, you're half-right. We're here from another universe and we're not technically playing this VR game with a VR headset." Lara explains. Noir and the hedgehog exchange confused glances.

"Noir, is that even possible?" He whispers with her shrugging.

"Um…maybe…"

"Whatever. Listen up your four. Seeing as Noir found you, you're all part of MY guild. What are your usernames?"

Usernames…? We don't have them, you nutter! I don't say this aloud though. I'd rather keep my head.

"…We can tell you our real names but we don't have usernames." I remark but I see he hasn't paid attention. He's brought up some holographic menu but it's blank.

"Hmm…strange. You don't have health bars nor an inventory…" He muses but snaps back to the conversation. "Alright, fine. Real names it is. You can call me Striker. My username is PhantomStriker3."

"I'm Shadow and these are my friends Lara, Estyn and Maria."

"All girlfriends?" Striker smugly asks and nudges me, earning in me turning red. This guy is so like Sonic it just isn't funny.

"Heck no! I'm already taken!" I shout, with him laughing in a humoured way.

"Hah, I'm just messing with ya, matey Jim. Oh, this is MidnightNoir, but everyone calls her Noir. She may seem a bit snippy but she's got a heart of gold." Striker pats her on the head.

"Oi. Hands off." Noir snarls, swatting his hand away. Striker huffs, eyebrow raised.

"Sheesh, someone deffo woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. You four, follow and DON'T trail behind." He starts walking off and we run to catch him up.

"I admire your sword, Striker." Lara smirks, clearly impressed. Striker takes a moment to reply, checking to see if Lara was being sarcastic. He eventually smirks at the compliment.

"Oh, thanks. I got it when I reached Level 45. That was a while ago, since I'm Level 54 right now." Striker explains, a bit more laid-back now. "It's called the Malevolence Club. Luckily for me, it's the most powerful Defense Club. Weapons have two stats: Attack and Defense. While this is high in attack, it also has a hidden ability where the club creates a barrier that renders me invulnerable to attacks when I reach a combo. It's highly sought after."

"None of that made any sense." I mumble. I see Striker's eyes look at me but he says nothing. Either he heard what I said and is going to kick my butt later or he heard me mumbling but not at what I actually said. I really hope it's the latter. I notice Noir doesn't have an actual weapon. "Hey…Noir? Don't you have a sword or do you just use the staff?"

"Just the staff. Ah'm a wizard-type user. Ah mainly use magic and spells. Ah don't need any blades." She smugly replies.

"So…what brings you four to the game if you aren't players?" Striker asks, stopping in his tracks.

"It's a long and complicated story but we're basically going from dimension to dimension looking for Soul Plates, which look like regular items. Unfortunately, this jackal psycho called Infinite is trying to beat us to the punch. Consider him like a final boss who is invulnerable all the time." Maria explains before I get the chance. Both Noir and Striker exchange fearful looks.

"Yeowch." Noir shudders. "Ah wouldn't wanna face him."

"I second that." Striker agrees. "So…what does this Infinite guy get outta this?"

"He basically wants control over the multiverse." Estyn explains. I see Striker suddenly go red in the face. Something tells me he thinks Estyn is…ahem…"hot" as they say.

"O-Oh…" He stutters, not flustered. "I s-see…anyway, come on. The others will be wondering where we got to." Others…? I guess he means the others in his guild. I feel someone tap my shoulder. Estyn, looking nervous.

"Um, is it me or does he like me in that way?" She murmurs to me. I just shrug.

"Who knows?" I then stop, noticing something. It's impossible, but I'm seeing it. A white "98" is hovering in the sky. Why is there a number in the sky? Is it some strange cloud formation? No…the sky's clear. It's not clouds. "Hey…Striker? What's with the ominous number?" Striker looks up at the sky and smiles.

"Heh, you noticed. It may look and feel like we're outside, but this is actually a floor in the Final Dungeon."

"…Dungeon?" We all ask at once, exchanging glances.

"Yup. Get to the 101st floor, defeat the final boss on that floor, whoever that is, and you can finally get out of this game."

"Can't you all just log out? I mean, it's a game, right? You can leave whenever you want to" Maria asks. Striker shakes his head sadly and pulls up a menu. There's a list of options but there is a gap three bars down, like an option has been removed. The "Log Out" button, as it were.

"No, we can't. One of Blade Wars X's developers, Yoshiaki Tokawa, locked the game up and goes around killing players under the codename BlackBlank. Many called him Rellik for short."

"Rellik?" And more Japanese. What is it with this adventure and Japanese!? Is that going to be a trend? I damn well hope not.

"Backwards for "killer"." He explains, somewhat peeved that we don't get it. As we come to a hill, we see smoke coming from the other side and, upon getting over it with aching legs, we see three more Mobians sitting around a small campfire. The first is a female light pink penguin with blue eyes. She has a glowing bow and arrow and the arrow tips sparkle with electricity. The second is a gruff dark blue gorilla with dual cutlasses in his belt. The final is a light blue female porcupine with black eyes and has a jade-hilted blade. "Hey, you guys. We're back."

"I see you found Noir. She's always running off!" The gorilla moans, throwing a spare log onto the fire. Noir cracks her knuckles and goes to punch him but Striker holds her back easily with one hand. The gorilla then does a double-take when he finally notices us behind Striker and Noir "Oh? New members?"

"Not exactly. They're…kind of not in the game."

"NPCs then?" The penguin questions, munching on some meat of some kind.

"No, perfectly real but they are not "logged in" and don't have health bars. This is Shadow, Estyn, Lara and Maria." Everyone, excluding me, waves. "These are my team-mates. The penguin is Candy, the gorilla is Branch and the porcupine is Pacific."

"Hiya!" Candy greets, jumping up to shake us all by the hand. Branch only snorts while Pacific friendlily nods a hello but stays sitting.

"So…how does this game actually work?" Lara questions. Branch gives her a death-stare.

"You don't know!? Man, you are all so dumb!"

"Branch…" Striker pulls out his club and points it dead at Branch's face, making him sweat. "…you were saying…? What have I told you about your fucking attitude!?"

…God, he even swears? I take it back. He's miles different to Sonic. Branch gulps and swats the edge of the blade away with his hand.

"U-Uh…nothing…I said nothing at all." Striker nods at this and backs off. Branch is wiping his face, breathing a few sighs of relief. He then returns at looking at Lara. "You defeat monsters and enemies and you level up. Get to the final floor, beat the crap outta the boss and boom! Sweet freedom, baby."

"I can't wait to get out of this mess myself." Striker muses, sitting. "Cass must be worried out of her mind…"

"Cass…?" I ask. He nods, sadly smiling.

"My little sister. Only 12. Luckily, she got out of the game before it locked up and I told her to not remove my headset."

"Why not? That should pull you out. And one other thing, shouldn't there be other players?" Lara muses, looking around. She's right. I expected this place to be heavily populated but it seems we're the only ones here. Slightly creepy.

"Well, there are others." Candy mutters. "The game has gotten so hostile that players will gladly kill each other, knowing that we would die in real life. Blade Wars X started out as a high-budget VR online simulator where you can talk and fight with friends. When the game got locked down and Rellik trapped us here, getting defeated or getting logged off from someone in the real world causes electrical current to shut off our brains, leaving us brain dead in the real world. It was a feature he incorporated with the demo headsets. 1000 players were randomly chosen to take part in the launch day demo, but now this happens. There's barely anyone left now. Anyone who does find us will want a fight. In this game, it's kill or be killed…as much as we don't want to kill anyone, we've had too…in self-defence."

"Candy's right. We've never wanted to hurt anyone nor end their lives, but with the circumstances being what they are, we've gone from goofy NEETs to malicious serial killers." Pacific sadly continues and then she shudders. "…I really want to get out of here because I have a sick little sister, India, to look after…she needs me."

I know how Pacific is feeling. I'd want to do the same thing with Sonic if I was in her position. I hope he's doing alright.

"…I know how you feel, Pacific."

"Eh?" She looks at me. "In what way?"

"I have a friend called Sonic. Me and him…well…we're kind of a thing." I wait for the fake-vomiting, the glares…they don't come. All five members of Striker's guild continue to look at me in longing for more information. I then continue. "…He's been through literal Hell and back, so he also needs me to look after him. That's why…I'm going to ask this: how about we help you guys get out of this game? I have a feeling that is our mission anyway, to give you guys a hand."

"…Extra fighters would work…especially against the final boss…" Striker thinks and eventually grins, leaping to his feet. "Alright, it's settled." We shake hands and then he friendlily pats me on the shoulder. "Welcome to the group, you lot." He then looks at us in thought, stroking his chin with his thumb and finger. "You sure you'll be able to handle yourselves? You're unarmed." Lara strikes up her fire, Maria forms water blades, I form dual Chaos guns and Estyn begins charging her psychic power.

"Unarmed? We're never unarmed." Lara smirks. Striker looks a bit taken aback but grins.

"I think we've got competition, you guys." Everyone laughs. Just as we put the fire out and wait for the group to organise themselves, we hear a fizzing sound. Out of nowhere, an icy blast almost hits us, though we dodge just in time. The blast hits the ground and it becomes cyan, blades now ice picks. We look up. A trio of players are on a hill, all smirking. There's a female zebra, a male arctic wolf and a male bat.

"Lookie, lookie, you two." The wolf snarls, obviously the leader of the trio who looks down at us with disgust in his cyan eyes. "If it isn't Striker and his merry band of fools." Striker's face is classic: a mixture of shock, panic and confusion.

"Gunther? Savannah? Occult? What are you three doing here? I thought you guys got melted back on Floor 75?"

"Hah, when you left us for dead in that volcano? You're lucky that Occult here knows a spell known as Paradox Lock. It freezes time for 20 seconds. Allowed him to fly me and Savannah out of that fiery hellhole." He nods at the bat, who I guess is Occult, as he shrugs bashfully and silently laughs to himself. Either that or I can't hear him.

"Who are these jokers?" I snarl, my guns slowly charging. Striker snarls too and prepares his Malevolence Club.

"I like to dub them the Tricky Trio, though they're known as the Tricky Turtles. The leader is Gunther, a mage-type player (like Noir) specializing in ice moves. Second in command is Savannah, who wields a high-ranking scythe called the Black Axe. Lastly, you have Occult who is also a mage and can manipulate time. He also has a blade called Clockwork." He explains. I guess we have a fight on our hands but, surprisingly, Gunther stays put.

"Nah, I ain't fighting when it's a lost battle. There's no point in that."

"Besides, we're the ones who will get out of here first. You know only one guild will win." Savannah evilly brags, twirling her axe in her hands like a bio-staff. Occult nods at this but stays silent.

"He's not much of a talker, is he?" I joke. Striker grits his teeth, eying me with some discontempt.

"He's mute."

"Oh." I back off, feeling remorse for poking fun at Occult. Gunther smiles then, showing his razor sharp fangs. I can see he's holding a rope. How did I miss that?

"Besides, if we did fight, you would protect this little one?" He reveals a young girl wrapped in the rope tight. Horror strikes Striker's eyes. This guy reminds me so much of that Knight Jet bastard from Oceania.

"…Cass…!?"

"Oh, come on? You know she likes being called VioletLily238." Gunther grins. Striker's eyes are green slits, every muscle tense.

"You let my little sister go. Now."

"That's your sister?" Estyn asks in alarm. Striker nodded.

"Yeah…it's like I told ya. She was also one of the VR demo players but…I thought she left the game before the lockdown due to her getting bored...or because I told her too after realizing the game was getting locked down. She must have come back on to get me out." His tone is both low with sadness but also with uncontrollable rage. Gunther pulls Cass closer to him, examining her up and down. She's around 12 years of age and she has a similar fur colour to Striker, though her eyes are purple in contrast to his emerald. I have an idea. I tap Striker's shoulder and I whisper the following words:

"I'll teleport there, make him let the end of the rope go and I'll bring her back down here. Deal?"

Striker thinks, assessing the situation and whispers back, trying to make it seem he isn't talking.

"Go for it." Nodding, I teleport so I'm metres behind them. They're confused. I teleport again, bang in Gunther, grab Cass after my small attack makes Gunther's grip on the rope loosen and teleport back down to the others. Striker cuts the rope off with his club's edge and embraces his sister, struggling not to cry. He has her by the shoulders, looking her up and down in case she's injured. "A-Are you hurt, sis?"

"No, I'm alright."

"Good. Now, RUN!" We start running as the three realized the events that have just unfolded and they charge after us, angered. I start shooting at them but it seemingly does no damage, despite them recoiling from the attacks.

"That's it! Chip at their health!" Candy instructs, firing two electrical arrows at Savannah, but she chops them in half with her scythe.

"Nice try, Candyfloss." She mocks, knocking Candy away with a giant swing of her arm. She lands over the edge of a hill so I can't see if she's alright. Branch also sees this, angrily growls and does a high-charged attack on the zebra and she flashes red. With one more attack, she screams and her avatar disappears.

"W-What happened to her?" I ask in alarm, looking around. Striker sighs.

"Branch defeated her. She's been erased from the game."

"E-Erased?"

"If you get erased from the game, you die in real life. It's kill or be killed, remember?" Before I can shout at this philosophy, he ends up toe to toe with Gunther and they get into a combo as Gunther has a club made from ice. Both are easily matched so they must be around the same level. Occult is staying out of the fight by flying and decides enough is enough, flying off into a speckled dot in the sky. Gunther notices this and gets distracted, jaw on the ground in horror.

"That trai…!" He doesn't get to finish the sentence as Striker's club goes straight through his heart, making it an instant KO. His avatar wavers and disappears in a similar manner to Savannah.

"That was for hurting my sister, you bastard." He snarls, though I doubt Gunther can still hear him. Occult's done by this point. I don't really care about him. Striker sighs as he brings up a small green bar in front of him. Part of it has been drained.

"Ugh…that's 15 HP gone." He groans. "Candy, Branch, Pacific! Status!" He shouts into a mic.

"Lost around 6 HP there." Branch says, looking at his own bar. He's near us so I can see what he is doing. "Nothing to it though."

"Lost only 3 HP. I stayed out of it." Pacific brags over the mic. I finally go to check on that penguin girl. Candy, was it? As I peek over the side of the hill, I see Candy lying on the grass, badly bruised. She's in bad shape and is frantically flashing scarlet, whimpers flying into the sky. Pacific also sees as she sees me peering. She thunders down the hill, almost slipping at the bottom. "Striker! Candy's really low on HP!"

"What is she on?" Striker runs towards them, skidding down rather than running. Show off, though his face is one of classic worry and concern.

"U-Uh…around 15 HP left out of her 125." Pacific reports, looking at Candy's stats from some holographic menu. She's kneeling by her side, shushing her, as Candy's really panicking about her situation.

"She took that much damage from one attack? That girl was overpowered." Maria whimpers, approaching us with everyone else. That Savannah must have been at a really high level.

"She WAS level 56. Candy's only level 34." Striker explains. That does explain a whole lot. "I got the perfect thing. It's a good thing I stocked up on healing items." Striker then accesses another menu, probably an inventory of sorts and brings out a glass full of sparkling blue liquid. He opens it and helps Candy drink it. Her avatar sparkles and Striker once again sees her stats. "That's better. That's helped her recover by 100 HP."

"Ow…thanks, you guys…she really got me there." Candy thanks. Pacific and Cass help her stand. We then see a metallic door on one hill top, the slot in the middle shining cyan. We wander over to it and the doors open. It's pretty spacious.

"FLOOR CLEARED." A robotic female voice says. We all go inside and it travels up. A minute passes and the lift clunks as it slows, eventually shaking. The doors slowly open. "FLOOR 99. GOOD LUCK."

We're in some sort of cave environment. Scuttling around are weird beasts with small green bars on her heads. Health bars? It's dank and dark, not to mention cold. Luminous gems line from rocks and stalagmites and stalagmites line the ceiling and floor. It's a big change in environment. Striker sighs at the sight of the beasts.

"Great, enemies."

"Looks like Cave Crawlers." Candy reports. "HP is 30 and Defense is 6. According to the map, the objective on this floor is a simple monster warrant. Defeat all enemies on the floor."

"Alright. Split up, though Cass, you're with me. Keep coms on. You four, you might want these." He hands us communicators that we fit on our ears. The mic comes down across our faces, similarly to office workers. Ridiculous. "Meet back here when all the monsters are gone, OK? You'll know when they've gone because the cave will light up." The six of them split up.

"Stick together or split up?" Maria asks. Everyone's indifferent. We follow Striker's team's example and go our separate ways. These "Cave Crawlers" are really flimsy, especially for supposedly strong enemies. We're two floors from the top here. Surely they should be more of a challenge?

I hear a roar behind me. It's massive, like a lion.

I was right. It is a rock lion, red eyes looking at me hungrily. It's massive, at least 4 times my size and it'll probably have enough power to kill me in one swipe. I tap the com with shaking hands and I get through to Candy, who seems to know enemy stats off by heart.

"U-Uh…Candy?" I stutter, trying not to make any sudden moves.

"Yeah, what?"

"Tell me a bit on rock lions."

"The Stone Wildcat!? That's a mini-boss! HP 330 and Defense 20! Get away from it now! I've got you on radar! We're on our way!"

I try and activate my Soul Armour but the Wildcat swipes its paw at me, causing the amulet's chain to sever and land several metres away. I try and reach it but the Wildcat cuts me off, making me back into a dead end. It's big but fast. Oh god…this isn't good. Where are they!? I try my Chaos Guns but the shots just bounce off. I try a Spin Dash. I bounce off. I try teleporting but, for some reason, it doesn't work.

…Shit.

The Wildcat roars again and raises it paw. Scared, I force my eyes shut, ready for the attack.

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!"

A screamed voice hits my ears. Instead of the lion attacking, I hear its pained roars as I hear the sound of rocks falling. I look. Cyan blasts are hitting it, whittling its health. A massive tornado hits it next, destroying it instantly and transforming it into rockdust. Bags of gold forms where it was.

What…just happened? I look up. A figure is looking at me, green eyes shining. I squint as he jumps down and throws my amulet back to me, which I catch one-handed. With my left (I'm right-handed), may I add. Is it Striker? It sounds and looks like him. As the smoke clears, the figure becomes clearer.

Saying I'm shocked is an understatement. It's not Striker.

"…Sonic!?" I stutter, looking him up and down. He's got his Soul Armour on, that's why I didn't realize sooner. He has blue armour decorated his chest, head, hands and legs. He now has armoured boots on and his amulet is shining blue. I realize his element is aerokinesis. Cool.

"You alright, Shadz?" He asks, powering down and returning to normal. I'm lost for words before getting a grip on myself. I attach the amulet back around my neck and the green gem shines. I look at Sonic and I chuckle.

"T-That was pretty awesome."

"Heh, was it now?" He sounds unconvinced but looks at the Wildcat's remains. "Stupid stone cat…posed a bit of a challenge but that was easy prey…" He chuckles at the joke. I can't help but smile either.

"Shadow!? You alright!?" I look and I see Estyn and Maria running towards me. Guess they were closest to my location.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I look at Sonic. "I…I owe you my life, Sonic. Thank you." He instantly blushes and mumbles some intangible words, but I can tell he liked the gratitude. Estyn and Maria look at Sonic.

"W-What are you doing here?" Estyn asks, a bit alarmed.

"I was saving Shadow's life, actually." Comes the reply. I can tell that, behind the sarcastic tone of him showing off, he's not liking the fact that Estyn seems to trying to accuse him.

"Estyn, it's fine. There's no need to get on his case." I look back at him, only to find he's gone. Did he teleport back already? No, I see him a few metres away but he looks really upset. I shoot Estyn a non-amused look, with her mumbling an apology, and I go after him. He sits on a rock, tears streaming down his face, though he's not bawling or anything. He's learning some self-control but he can't contain the feelings for long. I pat his shoulder. "Sorry about Estyn."

"…It's fine." Comes a sobbed mumble. I sit next to him, as the rock is long in length, and I wrap my arms around him. Considering what happened in Techopolis, I'm surprised he's up at all. I underestimated how fast he heals. He falsely smiles and rests his head on my shoulder. He wants the affection.

"…Hey now. Let's wipe those tears away, eh?" I start mopping him up. "It was her tone, wasn't it? Her tone made you upset."

"It was partially that…but it not like anyone really cares 'bout me." The statement takes me aback but I dare not react negatively. That'll make it all worse.

"I care. You know I do."

"Alright. No-one but you."

That's…only slightly better.

"I think I know what set you off. You're thinking no-one wants you around. Am I right?" Sonic silently nods, tensing. He's beginning to cry again. That counts as a yes. I gently shush him and we remain silent for a few minutes as I wait for Sonic to get all this out of his system. He eventually calms down, furiously wiping his eyes in annoyance. He glances at the teleporter. It's the safer option, but now I'm worried about what's going on in his head. Going back might be the worst thing he can do while he has all these negative ideas swirling in his head. "You alright now?" He nods.

"Yea'…I think so." He flashes a smile, but I can tell he's forcing it. He's not happy in the slightest. His eyes give him away. I sadly smile back.

"People do want you around, you know. I do and everyone else wants you around. You're a blast. People are just a bit on edge right now. You can guess why." A nod. "Come here, you." I hug him tight, though I'm surprised he doesn't hug back. His arms remain by his sides. He feels…cool. Not cold, but he hasn't fully warmed up yet. Eventually, he hugs back.

"…Thank you." He murmurs, letting go and our lips once again connect. It lasts a while this time but, when we repel, we frantically look around. Good, no-one saw. We decide to go back and the others have arrived at the area where the Stone Wildcat was. Sonic hides behind me after seeing many new faces, obviously unnerved and scared. This is gonna be awkward between Sonic and Striker, seeing as they're so similar. Soon enough, Striker notices Sonic behind me and both their jaws drop.

"…Wow…we look alike! I have a twin!" Striker manages to finally say after some uncomfortable silence, smiling in amazement. Sonic says nothing but he ducks even further behind me, obviously afraid by Striker's perky personality. It is a bit overwhelming, I guess. Striker realizes he's coming across as scary and asks Branch to hold his club. He approaches slowly. "It's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you." Sonic takes this in and nods a faint greeting.

"He's…not good around new people." I briefly explain. Striker nods at this.

"I'm guessin' he's the me in your universe, right?"

"Right. This is Sonic."

"Sonic, huh? Shadow told me about you! Name's Striker."

"…Striker…?" Sonic only mumbles the name in question.

"Bro, tell him your real name." Cass scorns. "Sorry, Striker's real name is Max."

"CASS!" Striker…or Max (and I'm ignoring my urge to laugh)…screams, red in embarrassment. "…You know how much I hate that name…!"

"Yeah, I know. That's why you waste all your time playing video games and watching anime. You need to get a life."

"Cass…when we get home, you are SO grounded."

"Only Mom can ground me!"

"I can too! I'm older than you! By a long shot!"

The argument is broken up by Sonic laughing. Striker's about to shout but I give him a warning look and I mouth "let him". He takes in a deep breath to defuse himself while Sonic does the same to get rid of his hysterics.

"S-Sorry…" He mumbles, still struggling to keep a straight face. Striker mouths "why did he laugh". I sigh and I whisper everything in his ear, making him go white. I also tell him to NOT tell his teammates nor his sister, which he nods in agreement too. I pat Sonic's shoulder as he hadn't noticed me tell Striker all that.

"You alright now?"

"Y-Yeah…hehe…I'm normal now." He's huffing, still smiling. "Haven't laughed that much in a long while. Man, that felt good." He eyes Striker. "Sorry if that seemed rude…"

"No…no, it's alright, Sonic. Thinking about it, it must have been a bit funny."

That's when Sonic stops altogether, eying Cass up and down suspiciously, almost as if he's trying to work something out in his head. He eventually stops staring but Striker's noticed.

"…Why are ya starin' at my sister?" His tone is annoyed. Sonic bites his lip and resumes his role of hiding behind me, not wanting to say anything. "No, I'm not mad or anythin'! It's alright." He doesn't look up at him. Realizing that something's up, I escort a little way from the group, gesturing for everyone to stay put. We get a bit of privacy and I hold Sonic by one shoulder, smiling in a gentle, caring way.

"What's going on? Please, tell me." He hesitates before gently exhaling.

"…I only came on the mission for two reasons." Sonic lowly explains and that in itself is bad. "One: to rescue you and two: to find the one I saw in my latest vision."

"…You had another vision?" I ask and he nods. He rubs his forehead then. I feel it. It does feel warm.

"Still have a headache from it." So it's not completely painless. I think for a moment.

"So…Cass…she's the one you saw?" Sonic nods at this.

"…Yeah…but I think this one is different. She looked upset when she got the doll, but she's calm now…so I'm thinking she hasn't contacted Sasaki yet."

"She hasn't?"

"Who is Sasaki?"

We jump at Striker's voice. Sonic whimpers, fearing the reaction. Luckily, Striker's calm and holds his hands up in innocence.

"It's alright, I'm just asking."

"We don't know much about him." I enclose. "He's a being similar to you and Sonic, but he lives in a pocket dimension that connects straight with Hell. Literal Hell, mind you. There is this website called the Hell Correspondence."

"I know of it. If you type the name of someone you hate in the website at midnight, Hell Hedgehog will extract revenge for you."

"…Hell Hedgehog...?" Both me and Sonic ask in unison. Striker nods.

"I guess he has two names. Go on."

"Anyway, Sasaki gives you a straw doll with a thread around its neck. If you pull the thread completely off, the person you want revenge against will be sent to Hell…but you have to go to Hell yourself when you die. It's part of some covenant, I think. We still don't know why, but Sonic gets visions of those who have gotten the straw doll and he saw your sister, but we think this time we're seeing it before it actually happens."

"Wait…why would I access the Hell Link?" Cass asks, appearing with everyone else. "I don't hate anyone."

"…Yet." Sonic adds, shrugging.

"Heh, what a freak. All you're doing is sprouting groundless theories! I think that's an excuse to teach you a lesson." Branch smirks, cracking his knuckles. He marches over and pushes me aside when I try acting like a barrier between him and Sonic, who is starting to tremble at the gorilla's tone. That and the fact Branch towers over Sonic in terms of size (at least a metre taller; Sonic only comes to his chest) and easily pushes him to the ground. "What a pathetic little weakling! Get out of here! Go on, get lost!"

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" I ram into Branch hard, depleting a bit of HP from him but he brushes himself off, growling. He pulls one of his cutlasses out.

"Branch, don't do this! Just leave it!" Candy pleads but Branch doesn't listen and charges. Out of self-defence, I launch a Chaos Spear straight at his chest, knocking out his HP so it's extremely low. I power down.

"I'm not about to erase you, Branch, but I'm not going to let you hurt Sonic anymore."

"And what are you gonna do about it, bitesize?"

"B…B…?!" I can't even say the word because it makes me so angry. I'm about to launch the final attack when a sudden burst of flames hits me and sends me reeling. Lara's looking annoyed.

"Will both of you calm down already!?"

I blink. Did I really get that wound up…? I glance around for Sonic. I don't see him. I'm about to activate the tracker when I hear screams. Traumatized, high-pitched screams of panic and terror. I know who it's coming from. I follow the sounds, looking around every nook and cranny of this damn cave level. The lights are on now so it's easier to see but it's still gloomy and dank and dark and miserable. Not the best environment when you're going through an illusional hallucination (now the official term for his "flashbacks"). I see him. He's on his side, screaming and kicking fruitlessly. A strangled noise comes from the back of his throat, almost like he can't breathe. I reach him, only to get repelled by something. I look up.

Standing on the rock is a dark grey hedgehog of sorts who is very tall, at least twice my own size. He has icy cyan eyes that glow and are looking like they belong to a snake, black marks around his eyes, clawed hands and feet, heavy white fluff around his upper torso and a long tail, which is strange for a hedgehog. He eyes me calmly.

"So…you must be Shadow the Hedgehog." He muses, his voice deep and emotionless, yet gleeful and emotive. That seriously makes no sense. He sounds calm, like my appearance hasn't fazed him in the slightest. I can faintly see a golden mist escaping his extended index finger on his right hand and it ends around Sonic's neck.

"Let him go…NOW."

"You think you can order me around?" Is he a boss? No, no health bar. He's not native to this dimension, much like myself.

"If you don't want a bullet to the face, yes. Sonic can't breathe! You really think I'm going to back off!?"

"Interesting. You have a mighty spark in you." He chuckles. "Infinite was right about you. Don't worry, this Soul Chain is just to cause another illusion. It's not a real chain."

Infinite…this creep knows Infinite?

Hang on…there was something Aethon said about Infinite…

"They have a God problem of their own: a Corrupted God by the name of Zielo. It might be that Zielo and Infinite have joined forces…and that is why they have had many knockbacks as of late…"

"So…you're Zielo, am I right?" Zielo looks slightly surprised.

"So, you know who I am?"

"Aethon told me a little about you. A corrupted God."

"A perfect God." Zielo corrects, smirking. "I desire a perfect world. My own dimension will soon be under my control…once I have gotten rid of my brother's imperfect parting gifts, the Sons of Heephis."

"Sons…of Heephis…?"

"I shall leave that information for another time." He eyes Sonic. "Alright, I think that is enough." The mist cancels out and Sonic starts coughing and choking. Zielo's form disappears in a dark swirl of grey and black mist. I glare at the now-empty rock and rush to Sonic's side, rolling him onto his back so he can breathe a little easier. His eyes are wild and unseeing and he doesn't look over at me when I shake him. I wait a few minutes. He seems to snap back to reality, coughing a few more times before struggling to move. I help him into a sitting position and I gently hug him, but I keep my arms around his torso. He jumps but I feel his head rest on my shoulder in gratitude.

"A-Are you alright…?" I shakily ask, caressing his cheek.

"…C-Couldn't breathe…" He rubs his throat. "…Infinite….h-he was choking me with chains…dozens of chains…chains that were killing me over and over…" He breaks down in my arms, which instantly sets me off as well. I drastically tighten my hug, minding to keep some room for breathing, just in case he gets the illusion again from the trigger. He then manages to stop himself. I do also, rubbing my eyes to remove any remnants of me crying. I help him to his feet, but he is badly off-balance. He gestures if he can lean on me and I nod, hooking on arm around my shoulders as we start walking. As we walk back to the others, I peek. Striker is giving Branch a massive lecture and, judging on the shock on his team's face, he's told them everything. Just great. I sigh and me and Sonic go over, but Sonic stays behind me again, more scared than ever. Branch meets Sonic's eyes and looks away, smacking his lips together anxiously.

"…I'm sorry, squirt. I…I don't know what came over me…I'm really sorry for hurting you like that…physically and verbally. I didn't mean any of it." He meekly apologizes. Sonic's silent but he flashes a quick grin, so Branch takes that as forgiveness. Striker notices the next elevator and leads us there. Weirdly, the elevator skips floor 100 and goes straight to 101. As it opens, we see four figures. One is Occult. The others are new faces. One is an auburn female bird, one is a male red rattlesnake and the other is a female white and lilac deer.

"Autumn? Rattle? Lavender? How did…?"

"You cleared the floor for us. 100 was a joke. It was just a water level." Lavender explains.

"Thank god we did miss it…" Sonic mumbles.

"Why?" Estyn asks.

"Sonic can't swim. He's aquaphobic and I mean, REALLY aquaphobic." I explain, getting a dark glance. I'm guessing he didn't want them to know. He pokes me in annoyance. We're at some massive doors. They then open and a cold wind blows us in the face.

"Enter, courageous warriors." A dark voice echoes from the room. Occult flies in first, followed by Autumn and her friends. Striker leads his band in and we follow, but Sonic hangs back, shaking. I realize he doesn't want to come in and I understand, giving his hand a squeeze and I kiss his forehead.

"We'll be right back."

"You better be, Shadz." He mocks, flicking my nose. I nod and I go in. The doors remain open, almost as if they're waiting for Sonic to go through them. He refuses. Inside the room, it's almost pitch black. I make my rings shine and Estyn activates her Aura Light. Lara makes flames encase her hands. Candy's arrows create a bit of light. Autumn seems to have good vision as she wanders around with ease. The floor rumbles and the ceiling gives way, revealing a night-time sky with a clock. It's 11:57pm. Is that real time?

"Hah! The overworld clock! We're really are at the very top!" Striker explains and whoops. "WE WON!" Everyone cheers but the ground rumbles again and a giant hooded figure slams a scythe into the ground.

"Not yet you haven't." He taunts, looking down at all of us individually. "…14 of you…interesting…name your guild and members."

"PhantomStriker3 of the Midnight Wolves' band. My members are MidnightNoir, VioletLily238, BranchOfTheNight, Pacific899 and Candyfloss3."

"My name is AutumnLeaves of the Platinum Orcas. My friends are Rattle'n'Shake and LavenderFlowers."

"…" Occult says nothing. Striker points to him.

"That's OccultBat267. He's the last member of the Tricky Turtles. He can't talk." Occult gives Striker a death glare.

"Tricky Trio, I thought you said."

"I made that up. All bands are named after animals, like it or not. I swear I did say that but oh well."

"And you, black hedgehog?"

"We're not players. I'm Shadow and these are my friends Maria, Estyn and Lara."

"…I sense there is still one player to enter."

"Sonic's not coming in. End of." I snap back. He chuckles and the big doors swing closed with a mighty bang. I hear a shriek come from the other side.

"There. Now we can begin. You have faced 100 floors of peril…much like others before you but none have succeeded in killing me."

"Wait a minute…" Cass stutters, foolishly stepping forward. "…You're Rellik!"

Rellik…BlackBlank…the designer who locked up the game. Rellik chuckles darkly and throws back his hood. He is a male echidna with white fur, crazed amber eyes and black strapped dreadlocks, almost like black sports tape. His hands glow with malevolence black energy.

"That is correct. I am Yoshiaki Tokawa, the designer and head developer of Blade Wars X. Who would I guessed I joined the project just so I could do virtual killing?"

What is it with people being Japanese!? Seriously!?

"Y-You're a serial killer…you're the Black Jack."

"Correct, my fair Autumn." Yoshiaki (I'm sticking to Rellik from here on out) chuckles. He then eyes Occult. "Well done, my valiant Occult…you have done well."

"You…know him?" Candy asks. Occult nods at this and, much to our surprise, he starts talking.

"You can call me Taro. Taro Tokawa. Rellik is my father. I just hacked the game to give myself a bat appearance. In reality, I am full echidna. And no, I am NOT mute."

"And you have made me proud, Taro, my boy." He pats him on the head, earning in a sly but embarrassed smile and some muttering. "Now…who to kill first?"

"Not before we kill you! Let's ram him!" Striker directs, running towards this psychopath. Autumn and her two friends follow.

"Let's get him, Team Universe!" We all activate our Soul Armour. I now have ruby red armour over my body with black details on. They cover my quills, head, arms, chest, legs and feet. Maria has a blue armoured bodysuit on with armour on her legs, arms and she has a headphone-like band replaced her headband before. Estyn has a pink armoured skirt on with white details as well as body armour. Lara's is a lighter red to mine and she has a full on jumpsuit of armour. All of us have metallic boots. Everyone is ramming into Rellik and Occult/Taro but they are also fighting each other. Typical. Striker gets rammed by Occult, with them also being evenly matched. Unfortunately, Striker misjudges Occult's attack. He goes in for a full swing and severs a deep wound into Striker's torso, making his avatar frantically flash scarlet in warning.

"BRO!" Cass screams as Occult lands a final attack, making Striker's avatar vanish. The spectacle was so big that everyone, even Rellik, stops to take it in. Heartbroken tears are running down most faces, especially those within his team. Cass, too. She lets out a sharp wail. At that moment, the overhead clock strikes midnight. I look over. Cass is doing something and wanders over to a patch of darkness. I guess she's going to heal herself. She's down to a quarter of her health. Occult is about to kill Pacific when a hand grabs his wrist from the wall. Everyone stops.

"W-What…!?" Occult whimpers, trying to fly out of the hand's grip. He succeeds but three more grab both ankles and his other wrist, dragging him towards the wall slowly as he lets out a scream.

"TARO!" Rellik shouts, reaching for his son's hand. He grabs it and tries pulling his son free but fails. Occult gets reeled back and gets dragged into the rock formation, gone. I turn around after hearing a weak laughter, my jaw dropping. Cass is standing there triumphantly, scarlet thread in her hand, tears staining her cheeks.

"…No…she didn't…"

Your grievance shall be avenged.

Rellik turns towards Cass in a heartbroken rage.

"W-What have you done…!?"

"I sent him to Hell." She says, looking at the thread in her hand. "I hope you'll be happy now, bro…" I see the black brand on her chest.

I gulp. I hate to think of what is happening to Occult…

XO

Ugh…what the fuck!?

I jolt up to my feet. Where…am I? I'm surrounded by machines that control the game. Did I get sucked to the game's core? Cool. I reach for one PC but a wire whips out like a snake and starts wrapping around my body. It's hot as hell, burning into my fur, my body, my soul. It ensnares my neck. It's agony! I see someone watching me. Striker.

"S-Striker…" I mumble. "H-Help me…p-please…"

He doesn't reply. In fact, he snarls a sinister smirk and turns, leaving, leaving me in my pain.

"S-Someone…" I collapse onto my knees, the pain now unbearable. I try activating my inventory but it's empty. "W-What…?"

"You are not the only cheater around here." I look up. A female cat in a kimono is looking down at me with amusement. "We removed everything from your inventory. That is what a murderer like yourself deserves."

"I-It was his fault." I manage to say. I'm struggling to both keep myself breathing and conscious. "H-He…he killed too…my leader…my friends…my father, he would h-have my revenge for me…P-People only exist to die. I d-don't care about any of them…" I see two more figures: an elderly grey hedgehog and an echidna. The hedgehog sighs and shakes his head sorrowfully.

"Well, you know what to do Master."

"O pitiful soul lost in the darkness, bringing torment and pain to others." I weakly turn, falling onto my side as I start seizing in agony. The hedgehog over me has blue fur, red eyes and a cloak with impossible motion definition. "O damned soul wallowing in your sin…perhaps…it is time to die."

I black out, burning pain searing its way into my soul and it suddenly dispels. I force my eyes open. I'm on a boat, surrounded by lanterns. That hedgehog is driving the boat. I glare at him.

"Alright, cut the crap Striker! What is this about!? Send me back, now!"

He doesn't reply. Hands grab at my wrists and ankles and I see a ghostly sword above me that stabs into my torso over and over.

"This is vengeance…so I am to ferry to Hell…"

XO

The fight continues for some minutes until Rellik finally has enough and starts shouting at the top of his voice.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" He yells. "I SHALL KILL YOU ALL NOW!" He sends shockwave after shockwave of electricity across the floor and swipes his scythe across the room in a hammer throw-like manner, though we all just about dodge. Rellik ferally growls as he activates a gem on his chest. The Soul Crystal. Crystal formations jump up and surround us, immobilizing us. Not even Autumn, who is flying, escapes as it drags her down to the ground. "Playtime is over, little flies. Now…who to kill first?" He eyes me. Great. "How about you, little black hedgehog from another stupid dimension? You have had the audacity to come here…but you will die here too." He starts firing up a laser. "…SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR PITIFUL EXISTENCE, STRIPES!"

He suddenly groans as a cyan laser strikes him in the chest, cancelling out the laser. He twists his head around. I crane my head to look at who attacked him.

There's only one person it could be. Sonic, donned in his armour. He looks at me and back at Rellik. I look at the doors. They're open, albeit in pieces. Rellik growls but looks interested.

"Well, well, if it isn't the little coward." I cringe, fearing Sonic's reaction. He meets my eye contact again for a second but slyly smirks.

"You've got the wrong guy. I ain't a coward."

"Oh, snarky. I like it. That attack was sneaky. Double impressive. What name do you go by?"

"I'll give ya three guesses."

"Are you mocking me!?"

"Heh, maybe." Rellik's face goes red with rage.

"I'M KILLING YOU RIGHT NOW!" He launches a punch but Sonic swiftly dodges.

"Ah! Too slow!"

"You little…!" He fires lasers, missiles, electricity and rapid fire bullets. Sonic dodges every single attack effortlessly.

"Not too bad. I'll give you a B for effort but an E in execution."

"YOU ARE IMPOSSIBLE!"

"What you see is what you get. Just a guy who likes adventure. The name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. And you are hereby history!" He fires a massive cyan laser that lasts several seconds. It strikes Rellik's chest, making his body crack and explode into small fabric fragments. The crystal ensnaring us crumbles. Unfortunately, the ground gives way, making all of us fall through several floors. We end up back in the field where we first landed: Floor 98. We all groan as we make contact with the ground. Luckily, the grass slightly cushions us. We are then met with rockfall from the previous floor and water from floor 100. Branch punches several holes in the ground so the water drains away. We're forced to dodge the rocks. Eventually, everything settles down.

"Everyone alright?" I ask, looking around. Everyone is bruised and heavily hurt. I notice that all the players lost a bit of health from the fall. Pacific is flashing scarlet and the same goes with Cass but both get healed.

"That was awesome!" Autumn cheers. "That guy tore Rellik apart!"

…Wait, where is Sonic, anyway? Is he still on Floor 101? I look up at the holes and I can still see the night sky. I don't see him peering down.

It's not just Sonic. Estyn's missing too.

"…So…you stopped me again."

As I turn, the landscape changes. I'm met with a ruby red sky with a setting sun. We're on a hill with a massive sakura cherry tree with red spider lily flowers dotted in clumps. Standing by the tree is Sasaki. Not him again.

"Alright, you. You have some questions to answer! Why do you send people to Hell!?"

Sasaki only blinks once before answering. "Because I am contacted to do so."

"The Master has to do his job as dictated by Agor, the God of Hell." The cat, Tsubaki, explains, materializing with Ren and Ishimoto.

"Then why is Sonic getting these visions!?"

"Only Tsubaki knows that and she won't tell." Ren mocks. Tsubaki sighs.

"I would…but I can't break my promise to Fujioka…not until I see him again, anyway."

"…Who?"

"Maurice Fujioka…he was a dear friend to me before I came into Sasaki's service. We were friends, lovers…but then…he died…and he went insane from vengeance and resurrected himself and was sent into another timeline as punishment; he became another person…I promised I would never tell anyone where or who he was…and I will keep to that promise."

"Shadow, I must ask you not to intervene anymore." Sasaki says. "I have to carry out my duty. Yes, I punish the guilty…and sometimes the innocent…but curses always come home to roost."

I black out and I'm back in the field when I open my eyes, only I'm looking at the sky. I'm on my back and I can hear breaths of relief.

"…Shadow…? Are you alright? You passed out." Lara is over me. I fan her away as I sit up straight faster than a jackhammer.

"Yeah…I'm fine." I rub my head. It's sore. "Any luck in finding Sonic or Estyn?"

"We're trying to. Our trackers aren't working."

"Shit…" I try standing. Lara helps me. "Wait, where is Cass and everyone?"

"They logged out. The game's unlocked now so it's easy come, easy go." I nod at this. I'm guessing that's the end of the mission then.

"Hey! Shadow! Over here!" I hear a familiar voice. 5 hills away, I see a shadowed figure waving with both arms. A rabbit. Estyn. That makes one. We go over to her. She's looking really panicked. This is not good.

"What's wrong, Es?" Lara asks, taking her BF by the shoulders. Estyn's trying to talk but no words are coming out of her mouth. "What? What is it?" She meets my gaze and gulps.

"Is it Sonic?" I ask in alarm and, when she slowly nods, I bite my lip. All kinds of scary thoughts are whizzing around in my head, so much so that my speech becomes all jumbled. "I-Is he…a-a-alright?"

I have never stuttered so much in my life.

Estyn's fists clench alongside her teeth. Her body tenses and she's starting to cry.

"…He…he…"

I feel my heart drastically sink. Please…don't say it Estyn…don't say what I think you're going to say…please…

"He, what?" Lara pushes, annoyed at the lack of answer but also after seeing the amount of terror on my own face. "Estyn, he what!?"

"He…he…" She takes in a deep breath of air to stabilize her nerves. "…I think he's had a fit…"

I freeze. A fit…? As in…a seizure…?

"…You mean, a seizure?" I shakily ask. She nods. Part of me is calmer, seeing as the worst hasn't happened but a seizure…that creates a new kind of alarm. That's something I wouldn't be able to watch. Estyn leads us down a hill and I see Sonic lying at the bottom of it.

"The seizure ends seconds ago. I couldn't leave him alone…I had to stay with him until it ended." I notice something strange about Sonic.

His pendant's jewel…instead of the blue it was before, it's a solid and murky grey, like mist has swallowed up the colour.

"What's up with his amulet?" Maria asks.

"I'm guessing he used all his remaining energy in that last attack…" Estyn sadly reveals. "…all that, just to save us…"

I ignore everything she's saying. I kneel next to Sonic and I check him over. He's fine…I think. Estyn notices and gently pulls me away from him.

"He's just unconscious still…but what about the Soul Plate?"

She's right. I haven't seen it yet. That's when I see a dark swirl of mist dart from the sky into the wreckage on one of the floors above. In his hand is Striker's club, which moulds into the Plate. The mist materializes into Zielo.

"Who is that guy?" Estyn shivers. I growl.

"Remember Aethon mentioning a guy called Zielo?" The group nods. "That's him." Gawks. Zielo cruelly smirks.

"You may shine, Spark…" He starts. "…but it will not be long until…"

A sudden golden slash interrupts him.

"Come back here, you BASTARD! You can't escape me by zone-hopping, y'know!" He turns. Another version of Sonic…? This version looks like a blend of Super Sonic and Dark, with his amber eyes and dark fur. He is wearing a dark blue cloak and a pendant with a dark blue circle. He has black marks around his eyes and he looks absolutely pissed. He sees us and fires a shot at us without mercy. It gets blocked by someone though. White dreadlocks, meta….oh, nevermind. It's just Infinite. "This fight does not concern you!" This Sonic yells, firing two shots out of two purple Chaos Guns. Infinite growls and eyes us.

"Consider this a warning: get out of here. Now. I'd rather me finish you off than this incomplete soul."

"INCOMPLETE!?" Comes a raged shout from the caped Sonic, ramming hard into Infinite with a spin dash. It takes Infinite off-guard and he reels back, crashing into a hillside. Zielo also eyes us.

"I would leave, if you value your lives. Me and Infinite have a…slight problem."

"He's right. This is one hell of a warzone." Estyn calls, yelping when Zielo shoots black balls of energy at the caped Sonic. Without a second thought, we all teleport back to the citadel, happy to get away from that damn fight, though we've lost the second Plate on the trot. Lara and Maria go to report to Aeon and Aethon while me and Estyn carry Sonic to the infirmary. The moment we lie him back, he wiggles and moans. He opens his eyes, cringing from a shot of pain. Estyn takes over, shushing him.

"Quiet now." She gently assures, fussing his ear. Sonic subconsciously purrs. I blush. It's such a…cute noise coming from him. "Everything is alright now…shush." He whimpers.

"…W-What…?" He weakly asks, holding his hand to his forehead in pain. I hug him.

"…You had a fit, Sonic." Estyn explains, perching on the side of the bed, interlocking her hand with his own. "…Are you epileptic, do you know?" Blinking in surprise, Sonic shakes his head. "Hmmm…"

"When you say a fit, you mean…l-like a seizure…?"

"Estyn, it might be a result of…well…you-know-what." I murmur to her and she nods in joint agreement. Sonic sighs at our secret exchange. He sees his blacked out pendant. He pulls it off in some sudden rush of angry and throws it to the other side of the room, pushes Estyn off him and burrows under the sheets. He's not crying, but I can imagine he's struggling not to. "Hey, hey! What's wrong?" I see Estyn's gone to retrieve the amulet. "Come on." I pull at him but he swats me away. I gesture to Estyn and she gets it, leaving the amulet on a small bedside table before leaving the room. When the door closes, I feel Sonic relax a little. He peeks from under the covers, teary-eyed but not actually crying. I really don't like it when he's upset like this. It makes me feel helpless and lost, always not knowing what is really going on in Sonic's head. He just gets upset so easily and so often. "Hey now, talk to me Sonic. What's the matter?" I gently ask, stroking his head. He nuzzles my arm in response, obviously liking what I'm doing. He sits up and wipes his eyes, though he tightly grips the sheets to release some pent-up stress.

"…"

I wait. I decide to be patient, seeing as I'm giving all control over to Sonic. He takes it as he sighs at long last.

"…I just…I just feel so…so…" He's trying to think of the right words to use. "…so lost."

"Lost?" I repeat, head to one side in confusion. Sonic nods, his grip on the sheets so tight I can imagine that his knuckles have gone white.

"It doesn't matter what I do…doesn't matter if I do millions of good things…I act and laugh like I'm normal…but I'm not."

So…him showboating earlier was just him acting…

"I just feel lost and empty." He continues, his head now hanging low. "I don't wanna feel this way anymore, Shadz…yet I don't know what to do…"

"You don't have to do anything." I say, earning in a look. "I know what you're talking about, feeling like nothing is going to change, like your emotions are static and won't ever change for the positive, right?" He nods. I hook my arm around him, cradling him close to me. "I am going to make things better for you…I'm still figuring out how, because…" I gulp. "…I'm going to be honest for you. Having depression and knowing how you feel is one thing, supporting you is another. I sometimes feel lost too, because I feel powerless and helpless…sometimes I don't know what to do either, and that's not your fault. I'm always here for you and I'm never going to leave you." He rams into me for a death hug, crying. Yet, he's smiling.

"…You always know what to say, Shadz…you always know how to make me happy…even if it's just for a minute."

"You have to relish in these little happy moments. You have to think that, with time and support, things will get better. I'm going to be here every step of the way, and the others too. Lara especially."

"Really? Lara?" He sounds seriously perplexed. "…How does she know…?"

"I found out in the Techopolis mission that Lara has depression too but she takes it one step further. She burns her wrist." Sonic releases me in shock as he cups his mouth.

"Y-You serious…!?"

"Yeah, dead serious. She didn't even tell Estyn. She only picked on you to release all her bad feelings."

"So…it wasn't like I seriously pissed her off or anythin'."

"Definitely not." I run my fingers through his quills. I think. I jump up and I push a second empty bed against the one Sonic's lying in.

"What are you doing?"

"I figured, since we're not doing the next mission to tomorrow due to everyone being literally exhausted, the least I can do is stay with you tonight."

"As in…we're sleeping together?"

"You'll have that one and I'll have these one. If you want to cuddle up, fine. It's your shout." I slip into the second bed, waiting to see what Sonic does. Sighing, he shifts over and lies against myself, his head meeting my chest. I can't help but smile. I tuck the sheets around him and I kiss his forehead, earning a cute little purr. "Sweet dreams Sonikku." His eyes momentarily flicker open as he leans in to kiss my cheek.

"…You too, Shadz. You too."

Plates Collected: 3/300

Plates Lost: 2

ED: Wonderful Wonder World by Yui*chi (Log Horizon 2)