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theofficialcharaverse · 1 year

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Sonic IDW Issue 56 Bad Ending

Summary: Surge claims she won't be free until Sonic is dead. Tails can't do anything but watch as it unfolds.

TW: Death, Electrocution, Strangulation, Murder, Attempted Murder

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"SONIC!"

He was right there.

He almost had him.

Even though Tails' eyes never leave Sonic, the distant flashing figure of Surge always remains within Tails' peripheral vision. The tenrec is just standing there, eyes glued on Sonic. It doesn't take a two-tailed genius to know that she's waiting for the first opportunity to strike. The ever-changing kaleidoscope of wisp energy and electricity flickering off of her sent the kit a very clear message. Tails needed to get Sonic out of the water now. It's not deep, so it'll be easier swooping his brother out. Surge, however, made it clear that she had other plans for the hedgehog. That message was made clear in the form of electric currents dancing in the water, pumping millions of volts into his system.

Tails pulls away on instinct. It could easily be written off as merely his astraphobia hindering him from saving the older hedgehog. The fox kit, however, knows that trying to touch his brother in this state is like touching a toaster in a bathtub filled with water. You don't touch it unless you have a death wish.

Much to his horror, he can't see anything that could get him close enough to his brother, let alone pull him out. Not without Surge's little lighting lake pulling him in as another victim.

He can't stop the source of the electric currents either because he has no way of defending himself from Surge. If he tries this time, she will target him instead. Sonic won't have enough time to get out of the water.

Tails had to do something. If only he'd stop shaking and staring at the flickering currents trapping his brother.

There had to be something he can do. If only he'd just snap out of it, and actually think of something.

Surge catches the hovering form of the blue rat's sidekick from the corner of her eye. He's not even trying to step in. He's just gawking at them uselessly. Without all those dumb gadgets, he can't do anything. The tenrec's pupils shrink with realization. This gives her the opening she needs to drive her message home.

To do what needs to be done.

She lunges at the convulsing blue hedgehog, screaming bloody murder.

"YOU DON'T GET IT! I was built to live in your shadow. It's in my blood, my bones, my BRAIN. There is no freedom for me..."

Her hands tighten around Sonic's throat, eliminating any chance he may have had left of getting air. The voltage invading the hedgehog's body kept him further restrained, allowing her to get a tighter grip on his windpipe without any pathetic attempts to fight back. Not that he can focus on that with his brain being fried. Her shark-toothed snarl is the only thing he can focus on as his vision dances to darkness.

"...NOT WHILE YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!"

The rainbow-like energy engulfing her body pulses with intensity thanks to the electricity flashing around her. However, Tails didn't shield his eyes from the energy's strong glare. He can't stop watching the scene unfold in front of him. The pounding in his chest urged him to dive down there and stop her. He know he had to, but something in his mind wouldn't let him. It kept him there in a helpless daze. His widened eyes match that of his older brother's.

The glass orbs in the dynamo cage glow a bright white before it suddenly shatters. With the glass no longer able to contain Surge's temporary power-ups, the five wisps emerge out. Their glow wasn't there, and their flight pattern was very wonky. To Tails' short-lived relief, however, none of them turned into nega wisps.

Surge stops sparking. The energy field around her dissipates. Her grip around Sonic's throat loosens. Her body drops face first into the water right next to Sonic. One of her hands lays close to his throat.

The wisps circle around the limp duo like a dim halo. Tails, snapping out of his trance, rushes over to his brother's aid.

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh--"

He lands next to the two fallen figures, stumbling onto his knees. His hyperventilating only made his coordination worse. He hastily pulls Surge off his brother, rolling her over onto her back. Before Tails can check for a pulse, he catches her chest rising and falling. He can only hope she didn't inhale too much water. Once he put Surge in a position where she wouldn't be able to inhale any more water, he scrambles over to Sonic's side.

The fox kit's heart plummets deep into the pit of his stomach. Sonic is decorated with bright red burns growing and branching out all across his skin like roots. The burns and fingerprints wrap around his neck in the sickeningly brightest shades of red. His mouth remains slightly agape. His muzzle has grown several shades paler with dull green eyes to complement it. His gaze never leaves the flickering white ceiling lights above.

"...Sonic...?"

Tails tries so hard to ignore the way his voice comes out barely above a whisper. The wisps surround them, getting a good look at their beloved blue hero, battered, burned and beaten black and blue. They look at Tails with doubt as one or two try to communicate something in their language. The fox knows what they're trying to tell him, but he knows better. Sonic will wake up, make some commentary about how that was shocking or gnarly or something, get up and get back into the fight. And all this will be done with a smile on his face.

It got harder to ignore the nausea bubbling in his stomach the longer the hedgehog's chest remains still. He's going to wake up. He has to wake up. He's done this so many times before. His brother has to be pulling a sick prank on him at this point if he's taking this long.

Tails calls out his name a few more times, each time getting louder and more desperate. He continues shaking his brother awake, begging him to wake up, His voice cracks more with each ignored plea. Not even his tears are doing anything to make his big brother answer him.

He places two fingers against Sonic's reddened neck, and all he felt is the skin losing its warmth.

No...

No, no, no!

There had to be a pulse. It's the adrenaline rushing at Tails' cold fingertips playing tricks. The pulse is just faint, that's all.

He did the only thing he could think of at this point: shake his brother awake with more force until the trembling of his voice made it impossible to get one more plead out. The boy threw himself at his brother's corpse, muffling his cries by pressing his face against his chest. The wisps circle around the sobbing kit clutching onto his big brother for dear life. There's nothing they can do but listen to Tails repeating Sonic's name over and over as if that will bring him back.

"Finally! Collect the dynamo cage and the tenrec!"

The unwanted sound of Eggman's voice commanding Metal Sonic breaks the kit out of his distress. Tails wanted to tell him off, to tell that cheater that this wasn't part of the deal. But the heavy lump in his throat wouldn't let him get any words out without the risk of breaking down again.

Fury burns in his lungs looking at the unconscious tenrec next to him. He doesn't see why he should even bother protecting Surge at this point. His brother's dead because of her.

No!

He promised Kit that he and Sonic would help them. Sonic would want to protect her from the doctor's clutches no matter what. Despite his fury burning hot, he inches closer to the unconscious tenrec. His body only partially hid her as he's adamant of keeping Sonic secure in his arms. He doesn't know how he's supposed to defend them and the wisps by himself. All he knows is that he'll do what he can to protect them.

Metal Sonic lunges at the group, only for a rush of water to rise up and slam the robot away. Tails looks up at a specific set of test tubes with a relieved, knowing look. Kit, no longer hiding between the tubes, hops down behind Dr. Eggman. Water tendrils slither around the fennec as he takes a few steps forward. His glowing magenta eyes are void of any emotion.

Eggman swivels in the boy's direction. He gets into a defensive position, but doesn't budge from his place.

"Stay out of this, you waterlogged whelp!"

Kit responds by merely lifting his hand up. Water tendrils sprout upon command. They proceed to coil around the doctor who can't help but yelp in surprise. Metal wasn't able to reach his creator before another set of tendrils wrap around his figure.

"What do you think you're doing? Unhand me, you little-- GRRK!"

The tendril squeezed the wind out of a raging Eggman before he could get another word out.

Water tendrils wrap around Tails who lets out a surprised yelp as he is abruptly snatched from his spot. He tries reaching out to Sonic only for his hands to be pulled away by the water around his wrist. He squirms in desperation when he feels his restraints coiling tightly around him. He tries to spin his namesakes, but to no avail.

"Kit!"

The water-bending fennec only acknowledges Sonic's sidekick with a passing glance in his direction. Tails can't pinpoint any sign of anger, disgust, or even sadness on the fennec's face. All that can be seen behind Kit's bangs is a pair of glowing magenta irises staring blankly at him. The water around him was rippling with rage, but everything in his body language is calm.

Menacingly calm.

"I know what's going on here. I've seen it before. Starline. Eggman. YOU. You're all the same. You don't need me or Surge. You WANT us. All that matters is what we can do, how you can change us. So you can prove that YOUR way is RIGHT. Surge killed Sonic just like she wanted. Now she can move on. And you don't have a purpose anymore. I'm going where I'm needed, and that's with Surge."

Everything that came out of Kit's mouth was spoken matter-of-factly. It leaves Tails with a chilling realization. They were never planning on calling it a truce with them. This was their plan all along, and they fell right into their trap.

With one set of tendrils, he brings Surge closer to him. With a flick of his hand, he sends another set to work on tearing apart the room piece by piece. The fennec watches the chaos unfold around him with a small unsettling smile. Every broken chunk of glass, concrete, and metal surrounding him left him with a startling sense of serenity. He wouldn't leave without delivering one final message to his enemies.

"I'll bury you all here along with our past."

Now that the water tendrils are no longer tampering with the room, everything began cascading down. Kit hovers out of the broken glass ceiling with Surge in his arms.

The water releases its grip on Tails. He scrambles to his feet, trying to maintain his footing. He panics upon realizing the wisps aren't with him. He tries to spot for any signs but only sees grey from the concrete and dust. From a distance, Tails catches Metal Sonic pushing Eggman up a slope. He had to give it to the man. He can run fast when his life depended on it.

"Such melodramatic histrionics... Faster, Metal!"

Tails turns around to find a familiar unconscious blue figure close by. Without thinking, he runs to Sonic. He can't leave his big brother like this.

But Sonic isn't waking up this time...

It hit him as he watches metal, glass, and concrete rain down on Sonic. There won't be any more jokes. No more quips, laughs, or reassurances that he was okay. Any hope left in the kit's chest is replaced with the suffocating truth.

Why did Tails think this time would be like all the other times?

At the other end of the room, Tails spots the five wisps. They're barely avoiding the raining debris while trying to stay together. Tail's mind screamed to go to them, but he feet refuse to cooperate. Everything moved slowly as he feels himself being overtaken by a whirlwind of thoughts.

If he leaves now, he'll be all alone again.

He doesn't want that life again.

He got so used to Sonic always being there with him, he can't imagine him ever leaving.

Maybe Tails doesn't have to be alone.

If he stays...

A roaring rumble from below snaps him out of his thoughts. The room is not going to hold for much longer. To his surprise, the wisps stayed in place. They're all giving him urgent looks. They want to get out of here now, but not without Tails...

He needed to get to the wisps and leave.

Now.

Whisper is waiting for them, and Belle is going to worry if no one returns soon.

With a heavy sigh and repressed tears, he flies over to the wisps, leaving Sonic to get buried in his new grave.

"Let's get out of here!"

The wisps cling onto Tails as he flies them through the raining debris. Even with five wisps on him, he has an easier time maneuvering past the raining rubble. That is until a fairly large chunk of concrete takes him by surprise and knocks him unconscious. The wisps wrap their tentacles around one part of the unconscious fox. Since they had no power to spare the fox, the wisps have to resort to being the ones to fly him out the old-school way. Even with five of them, they are straining themselves past their limit. They barely manage to dodge pieces of the ceiling.

A dark opening comes on sight. Getting a sudden burst of energy, they hightail it past the last bits of the rubble. They make sure to drop the fox kit gently before doing so themselves. The rumbling below overwhelms their senses for a moment before everything goes silent.

Right on cue, Tails groggily opens his eyes. He is greeted by a pounding in his head and the familiar silhouettes of five dimly colored wisps hovering around him, warbling their worries to the fox. He is exhausted in every way possible. All he wants right now is to go back to sleep and pretend this was just a nightmare. He'll wake up, and Sonic will be there like he should.

He slowly pulls himself up into a sitting position with the wisps' help. Every part of the kit is still shaky, including his breaths. He can't tell if it's nerves or the chill prickling his damp fur. Not that it makes much of a difference. He can't feel his legs, which doesn't bother him. He's not ready to stand up yet. It's taking all his energy just to stay sitting up. The wisps seem to be fine with that as some have clung onto him.

With his head in his arms, he bathes in the cold, dark, silence. Not even his soaked namesakes wrapped protectively around him can provide him warmth. That doesn't bother him. There's nothing and no one here left to bother him. No Eggman-

Come to think of it, Eggman and Metal Sonic got a head start in escaping and yet he's nowhere to be found. Tails hasn't seen hide, nor hair, nor metal. With Eggman, it would be impossible not to hear him. Could it be that they also...?

"Blah!"

Nevermind...

"Well, THAT was a waste of time..."

Eggman kicks away a large chunk of debris on top of him. Metal Sonic crawls out of the junk pile after his creator. Water drips off of both of them from head to toe. Metal is more or less indifferent to it, like usual. The doctor, on the other hand, is looking at his drenched lab coat sleeves with disdain.

"Metal, call ahead to the Eggperial City. I want a transport, a snack, and HOT BATH waiting for me when we get home. I have some important sulking to d-- Oh."

Eggman takes notice of the lone fox kit sitting with those meddling wisps, but no Sonic to be seen. Granted, he did see the whole pitiful display, including the damage done to the blue rodent. Under any other circumstances, the doctor knew they were as good as gone. But this is Sonic we're talking about here. He's cheated death an ungodly amount of times. If he's managed to survive having dark gaia energy in him or Infinite's illusions for half a year, then he very well could walk this off. Only this time the hedgehog actually bit off more than he can chew. And the worst part...

Eggman wasn't the one that succeeded in defeating that hedgehog.

"That duck-billed buffoon actually did it. He created an adversary that destroyed Sonic once and for all."

"And whose fault is that?"

Eggman scoffs.

"Don't give me that, now. I'm not the one who couldn't leave well enough alone! Starline should've known better than to think he can outdo me. I told him that I knew what I was doing, but no, he wouldn't listen."

"But YOU were the one who threw him out."

"That was perfectly well within reason!"

A switch went off in Tails' head.

"Reason?! You're the reason he created Surge and Kit! If you didn't throw him out, he wouldn't have found them. If you had just given him some recognition, he wouldn't have done all... THIS!"

"I made it very clear that I will not compromise my principles just for some kiss-up that didn't know his place. It's not my fault he couldn't get that through his head."

Tails looks at the man with disgust.

"What would YOU know about principles?"

"More than Sonic, it seems."

That got Tails to shut up real quick. Eggman took this as a sign to keep going.

"Everyone knows his principles revolve around freedom. What does he say? 'Freedom to go about his own way?' 'Live life the way you choose?' 'Free as the wind,' or something like that? Blech! Anyways, we all know how well that worked for him."

"Shut. Up-"

"Sonic ACTUALLY believed it would be a good idea to preach to Starline's little maniacs, of all people, about freedom, even when he knew they were conditioned to kill him. The idiot just wouldn't let it go. Both of us may refuse to compromise our principles, but that's the difference between us. My principles have kept me alive. His principles are the very reason he's gone."

"SHUT UP!"

Tails' chest tightens with every heave. His glaring blue eyes burn with more unshed tears. His lips drew back in a snarl, which only protruded the growing lump in his throat. Sonic's lifeless body flashes in the kit's mind.

'And you don't have a purpose anymore.'

This causes the kit to try growl, only for a whimper to come out of him instead. A whimper turns into a few choked sobs which unfurls into full-on sobbing.

Unable to spare the doctor another glance, he curls up into a little ball. The wisps are quick to come to Tails' side. They wrap their tentacles around the kit's trembling form, while warbling their condolences. Eggman and Metal leave the fox kit alone with the wisps, seeing as there is no point in reasoning with him in this state.

Kit's words repeat in his head like a broken cassette tape. The image of Sonic's glassy eyes won't go away. It makes him grit his teeth harder. The noise from the kit's throat came out as a mix between a growl and a scream, which worsened the pounding in his head. But he wants it to hurt. Maybe then the image of Sonic's lifeless eyes and the echoes of Kit's taunts will leave his head. It'll serve him right for being useless when Sonic needed him the most.

He just got Sonic back after six months of thinking he was dead. He swore that he'd be better, that he'd DO better. He wouldn't be a burden anymore. He wasn't going to run away or stand on the sidelines like with Infinite and every other crisis. He was going to be the little brother and sidekick Sonic needed. One that Sonic deserved. One that he can depend on.

But that's never going to happen.

Sonic's not coming back this time, and it's all his fault.

He almost had him, and he was right there.

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