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Sonic sat on the floor right next to a specially built fan courtesy of his little brother, with said brother on the couch in front of the TV, and watched the news.
Much to Sonic’s discomfort, every now and then they’d play another segment about his death. It just really irked him to hear about it. But what irked him even more was when the news that was on suddenly cut to Eggman. He was apparently assaulting a city with a horde of Badniks. The reporter on the scene spoke of his death again, but this time he didn’t care about that.
What had enraptured his attention was the fact his murderer was on the screen. “Eggman... He killed me...” Sonic practically growled his name.
“Um... Y-Yeah.....” Tails responded anxiously, uncertain what exactly to say in response to such a comment as he stood up. He took a deep breath before speaking again. “Sonic, you stay here for now. We ne-“
“No.”
“Huh?” Tails’ head swerved to look at him. “Sonic, remember what we discussed? We need to play this smart. I don’t know how the general public will react to your... odd appearance. And as much as you know I hate having to hide you, we talked about this.” He reminds him, taking care to not comment on the fact Sonic looks a bit scary.
“NO! He needs to pay...!” Sonic stands up and clutches his fists. “...Needs to DIE!”
“Wh-What?” Tails says with wide eyed shock and horror. “Sonic, no! You don’t kill, remember!?”
“BUT HE KILLED ME! SO NOW HE MUST PAY! THE FLAMES DEMAND IT!!!” He yells as the fire on him seems to flare, and with that declaration the room seems to get hotter.
“Sonic, you need to calm down!” Tails pleaded. Was this some kind of vengeful ghost thing??
“NO! HE MUST PAY!” Sonic leaps toward the door in one swift and floaty looking movement as the room gets even hotter. He swings the door open and dashed out, leaving Tails behind.
‘This is not good!’ is what Tails immediately thinks. He needed to stop Sonic before he did something he regrets! And with that goal in mind he rushes out of the house and heads toward the city currently under attack, knowing Sonic would undoubtedly be heading there now as well.
To say things were going great for Eggman was an understatement. He’d finally killed that bothersome blue hedgehog a few days ago and, having planned his assault, the world was now truly ripe for the taking!
The madman watched with a wicked smile as his Badniks ravaged the city and citizens fled in fear. Everything was truly coming up Eggman now that Sonic was gone.
Sooner than he expected, he got a notification about his Badniks being destroyed. The heroes had arrived. He pulled up the live feed and saw...
“Who the hell is that?!” Eggman couldn’t help but shout. He’d never seen a mobian quite like the one currently incinerating his Badniks like they were nothing. To make it worse, all and any hits went right through them.
They were mostly light blue and looked to be literally on fire. In lieu of the usual white, tan, or brown accent colors on most mobians was an almost pitch black. Their face also looked like it was in a weird state of constantly melting along with the mouth. Another oddity he noticed was that where there should be feet were only stumps and more of that black color that looked to be spattered on his legs, stopping halfway.
And then there were the eyes. They were pitch black with light blue glowing irises.
That’s what truly told him he wasn’t dealing with even an irregular mobian like Sonic and his friends. Heck, if it weren’t for the fact they had ears and a mobian looking nose he might’ve suspected it to be some kind of monstrous entity.
Whatever he was dealing with was definitely not normal and also very powerful. He would need to be very cautious with this unknown.
And perhaps he could even use them to his advantage if he played his cards right...
Despite the fact there was a horde of them, Sonic destroyed all the Badniks with ease. On rage fueled instinct he used his newfound fire abilities to burn and melt each and every Badnik around him as he casually walked further into the horde like he wasn’t surrounded by a bunch of robots trying to kill him. It definitely helped that they couldn’t even touch him due to his fiery and ghostly body.
The heat from his body was so intense due to his emotions that any close ranged Badniks began melting upon getting close. And any ranged attacks, wether they be bullets or lasers, passed straight through him along with any physical ones.
He was essentially invincible.
And knowing Eggman, as long as he keeps destroying Badniks he’ll inevitably garner the attention of the madman. The idiot was prideful and did love to monologue after all.
After what felt like a minute or two, his plan paid off as he heard a very familiar laugh. “Ohohoho!” A bit strangely, upon revealing himself, all the Badniks stood down.
Though Sonic didn’t immediately attack him as he wanted to make the moment count, he glared at Eggman as he talked while waiting for the perfect opportunity to interject.
“I must say, your destructive power is quite the sight to behold!” Sonic narrowed his eyes as the man spoke. “Do not worry, I’m only here to make a deal. You see-“
“A deAl?” Sonic spat the words with venom. Then he let out a chuckle. “i Get wHat’s goINg on hERe noW... You doN’T recoGNize mE.” He said as he floated up slightly above the doctor. And to be fair his voice wasn’t exactly like it used to be either. It had a bit of an echo to it and was a bit distorted depending on his mood- which was currently very bad.
“Should I? Last time I checked I haven’t met anyone quite like you.”
“welL, to be fAir, the laSt timE you sAw me I diDn’t quiTe loOk like tHis. No. The laSt time yOu saw mE, I looKed like THiS.” And with that last word, he let himself temporarily turn into what he called his Burnt Bones form- both his forms being pretty self explanatory. “rECogNIZe mE NOw..?”
Eggman seemed to be horrified at his current appearance, though that was probably because of the fact he turned into bones and not the fact he was Sonic. And honestly, why would he suspect such a thing? As far as the Egghead was aware he’s dead. Although, technically speaking, that isn’t exactly wrong either.
“Wh-What the HELL are you!? WHO are you?!” There seemed to be fear in his voice, much to Sonic’s amusement.
Then Sonic turned back into his Blue Fire form and smiled slyly. “DawWww, c’mOn Eggy, doN’t telL me yoU’ve foRgottEn aboUt whaT hapPeneD last tiMe we saW each oTher! About wHat you DiD to mE...”
Eggman’s brows furrowed for a moment before widening his eyes. The madman recoiled in shock. “No... I-It cant be... Sonic...?”
Sonic’s smile widened. “Glad to sEe you haVen’t fOrgottEn our lAst enCounTer. You knOw, wheN you kiLled Me.”
“Wh- H-How?! I burnt you to a crisp! All that was left of you was bones! So how the hell are you still alive!?”
“AliVe?” Sonic chuckled. “Ooohh hOw IGNOrANt yoU are. I’m nOt alivE, EggheAd. I’m stiLl as dEad as wheN you kilLed me. So teLl me EggmAn...” His smile grew even wider. “You evEr heArd of a vEngeFul spiRit?” He said as he got closer to Eggman, widening his smile to unnatural and creepy degree and, causing the man’s eyes to widen even further in fear.
“Y-You wouldn’t. I know you have morals!”
“mE, or tHe SoNic you knEw befoRe you KiLLeD HIm!?” He yelled as he flew toward Eggman in seconds and dug his claws into the Eggmobile, rendering it immobile.
Eggman suddenly whipped out a laser pistol and shot Sonic right in the head. His head flew back as the beam pierced right through his head, leaving a hole.
For a moment, Eggman thought he might’ve done something as Sonic’s eyes turned completely black and his creepy smile vanished... right until he looked back at Eggman as his eyes lit back up, the hole in his head closed itself, and his smile returned.
“oh EggmAn, diDn’t yoU know? GhOsts caN’t be kiLled.”
And for once in Eggman’s life he was truly terrified. There was nothing else he could do and Sonic’s ghost was clearly out for blood. His blood.
Sonic raised a claw in preparation for an attack. “I’m goiNg to enjOy thiS.” But right as his claw went down, he stopped and turned it intangible as he yelled “whAt are yOu doiNg!?” at the two tailed fox on the Eggmobile’s console that had subsequently blocked off Eggman.
“I know you don’t really want to do this, Sonic! This isn’t like you at all!”
“Get ouT of my wAy, Tails. hE neeDs to DiE.” Sonic said coldly.
“No!” Tails said with a head shake. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, perhaps a byproduct of your current ghostly state, but I know that if you go through with this you’ll regret it once you’ve come back to your senses.”
“YOU DoN’T KNOw ANYtHInG!” He yelled as the fire on him once again flared, his claw still in the Eggmobile digging further into it. “It’s the oNly way tO help maKe it go awAy! to heLp sootHe the PaiN! yoU don’t kNow whaT this FEeLs liKe!”
“Maybe I don’t know how you feel right now, how much pain you’ve been in, but what I do know is that you’ll regret this if you go through with it!”
“i doN’t caRe! I need To kilL him! maKe him pAy! makE him feEl eveN a FRaCTiON of mY paiN!”
Tails shook his head again. “You don’t have to kill him, Sonic. Things can just go back to like they used to, with you foiling Eggman’s evil schemes all the time.”
“buT i neEd to. I NEeD to! tHE FLaMEs DEMaND It!!”
“Then resist it, Sonic! You don’t have to listen to whatever these flames are telling you!”
“YoU CANnOT STOP tHIS. THEsE FLaMES ArE APARt OF ME NoW AND ThEY BUrN FOR HIs DEAtH. THE OnLY WAY ThE PAIN WiLL TRUlY BE RELeIVEd IN ANy WAY IS wHEN EGGmAN IS IN AsHES.” Sonic replied as the flames on him grew even bigger and hotter, his hand still in the Eggmobile beginning to melt it.
“But there are other ways to relieve the pain! Like that ultra cold fan I built you, remember? We can keep working on it. Make things that’ll help keep you cool. You don’t need Eggman for that.”
“i doN’t need EggmAn for ANyTHInG!”
“E-Exactly!” Tails decided to agree. It wasn’t really the point he was trying to make but it was the only thing Sonic had even technically agreed with, so perhaps this path of conversation would be best? “You don’t need Eggman to help relieve the pain. We can find ways to do it without him!”
Thankfully Sonic’s ghostly rage seemed to be faltering seeing as the flames had died down some. “But he’S stilL a thReat. A threaT that nEeds to be kilLed befoRe he caN burn anYone eVer agaiN!”
“We can work on that later, but you know killing is against what you do.”
“I-I knoW, but... whAt if it haPpenS agAin? anOtheR stroKe of lUck? whaT if he mAnagEs to buRn one oF you!? I don’T waNt that tO hapPen!”
“Then we’ll just stop him like usual!”
“buT stiLl, what iF he geTs luCky aGain? wHat if soMetHing gOes wRong?!” He said with fear.
“Then you’ll be there to rescue us. I mean you even have new powers like this, remember?“
Finally, Sonic unhooked himself from the Eggmobile. “I gueSs you haVe a poiNt...”
And after that sentence Eggman bolted out of the area in his Eggmobile as fast as possible, causing Tails to use his namesakes to keep from falling. The horde of Badniks followed behind the madman as fast as possible too.
“he’s gEttiNg awAy...!” Sonic said as he outstretched a hand in the direction Eggman had gone, causing Tails to quickly put a hand on the outstretched arm. It was still bordering on being pretty hot but at least it wasn’t burning him.
“And we’ll deal with him when he comes back.”
“I... okAy...” Sonic said as he floated towards the ground as Tails followed. Once they were both on the ground, Sonic dropped his head as his eyes looked at Tails with guilt. “I’m soRry...”
“About what?
His head snapped up. “evErythiNg! eveRythinG that jUst haPpenD! yoU shouLdn’t’Ve had to sEe me liKe thaT!” He looked down again in shame. “I bet i lOokeD like A moNsteR...”
“You’re not a monster, Sonic.”
“yeS i am! I maY not hAve seEn mYself iN the moMent, bUt I felT it. thAt ragE... that uRge to hUrt... it waSn’t liKe me aT all.”
“That last part might be true, but you’re still the guy who saves people’s lives. Anybody would be a fool to not still see that. After all, you just saved the city. Sent Eggman and his Badniks packing like usual.”
“maYbe, if oNly by a tEchniCaliTy...”
“But is it really a technicality if it’s true?” Tails smirked teasingly as he raised a brow.
A small smile appeared on Sonic’s face. “I guEss yoU’re riGht.”
After a few seconds, the sounds of cheering could be heard from behind Sonic getting louder and louder. He’d immediately snapped his attention to the noise to see both humans and mobians coming out of hiding to cheer for them.
Sonic just stared in shock. And despite a notable amount of odd looks he got, the cheers and thank yous continued.
“See, Sonic? I told you they’d still like you despite your appearance.”
A few murmurs broke out amongst the closest in the crowd at that, surprised that their strange looking savior was the (supposedly?) dead hero. But most didn’t really care about that in end. They were just happy that Eggman had been defeated once again.
And in the upcoming aftermath of it all, a celebration was held. Both for their city being saved and the return of their world renowned hero.