Beyond the Abyss is a door- My 13000 word fanfic., Seeing as we have no fanfiction section.

-BEYOND THE ABYSS IS A DOOR-



First off, I MUST say I’m sorry. I returned from America recently, but even then, the wait seems… well. Anyway, this is it. The final chapter. The big finale. I just hope I still have enough readers for it to matter. Enjoy!

Chapter index:


CHWUN........Chapter one
CHTOO........Chapter two
CHFREE.......Chapter three
CHFUR........Chapter four
CHFIF........Chapter five
CHSIKS.......Chapter six
CHSEVY.......Chapter seven
CHAY.........Chapter eight
CHNUN........Chapter nine
CHTNN........Chapter ten
CHELVN.......Chapter eleven
CHTLF........Chapter Twelve
ENDGAME......Chapter thirteen
FAX..........Fun facts
RVYU.........Review!!





CHWUN
Beyond the Abyss is a door

I

Through that door…

I-it hurts…I can feel it… My-My blood is… Oh god… I’m ganna die… I can’t- I can’t do anything… I’m ganna die… I’m ganna die… I… Don’t want to…

Grim final thought’s, weren’t they? Those words left a cold ring in his head, even though they were unspoken. To this day it is still unclear who killed Sonic the hedgehog. There’s no reason, no motive, everyone loved him. That was the first thing Sonic thought when he… “woke up”.

Emerald green eyes opened slowly. Sonic lept up from where he was laying. He spun around. Where was he? It was a long, grey corridor, a black couch pressed up against a wall, at the end of the hallway there was a red door. Sonic thought nothing of his surrounding as he fell onto the couch. He stared at the grey, cracked ceiling above him. Sonic’s hand slowly reached for the back of his head. He found what he was looking for. Sadly. A giant crack in his head. No blood though. Not even dry blood. Sonic looked at the ground.

Some heaven.

Sonic now focused his attention on the red door at the end of the hallway. There was no evidence of a struggle, in fact, now he looked around there was no possible way he could of even gotten in there, unless he had come through the door, which seemed unlikely seeing as it looked locked. The hallway seemed to go on forever. At least, behind him it did. Sonic thought he should make a brake for it. Run as fast as he could. But there was something stopping him. An itch in the back of his mind. He slowly stood up, and began to walk towards the door. God knows what was on the other side. Was it even unlocked? Sonic grasped the handle and turned. It was open. Much to his dissapointment. Sonic stepped in the room.

What an odd room. Just as grey as the hall outside, but with a large wooden desk in the centre, along with a chair on either side of it. This was obviously for Sonic. Even stranger than the desk was the figure sitting behind it. A rather short red chameleon with a dark grey suit. And then, in a few seconds, all of Sonics fears were confirmed with but three wispered words:

“Welcome to hell.”

Sonic was only slighlty taken aback by this. “So… I am… Aren’t I?”

“Dead as an angel, Mr. Sonic.” The chameleon turned to look at the little grey clock that hung above him. “You’re seven years early… How unexpected….”

“You can tell that from a clock?”

The chameleon stood up, looking a lot taller. “So the first question when you reach the afterlife isn’t something cliché like why are we here or what's the meaning of life?”

“I don’t much care for those…”

The chameleon stretched out an arm. “Please. Take a seat. You can call me Rawlings…”

Sonic did as he was told. “Lets get down to business. The matter at hand. Where am I going?”

“Where do you want to go?”

Sonic was not expecting this. “W-well… I’ve saved countless lives, saved pretty much the entire planet and-“

“I said want, Mr. Sonic, not deserve.” Rawling almost spat the word “deserve”.

“… The good place.” Sonic smiled.

Rawling lent back in his seat. “You seem uneasy…”

“Well no shit! I just found out I’m FREAKING DEAD!”

“No… I mean… More than most…”

“…I- I just…” Sonic looked at the ground, trying to hold back the words. “I don’t want to believe it…” Rawling raised an eyebrow. “I’m- I’m just expecting someone to… to save me. To bring me back from the brink of death. I’d live every day of my life a saint, taking advantage of my second chance, making sure I…” Sonic looked at the man sitting across from him. “… don’t end up in… The bad place…”

“Once….” Rawling began. “We had somebody brought back right before he went into…lets call it hell… He was screaming. The doctor even wrote a book about it…” Rawling sighed. He did what said you would do. Ending up choosing the Eradicator…”

“The- the what!”

“Well… After you see your… Options… You can choose to go to neither… And go in the Eradicator…”

“What happens after that?”

“Nothing. Half the people who end up in hell choose the Eradicator. The easy way out. It’s like… Not being alive. Not a void, no awareness of death, not even darkness… It’s… Nothing…”

Sonic looked down at the ground. He hoped to God he wouldn’t end up choosing that. Sonic suddenly remembered he was not alone in the room. He once again looked at Rawling, giving him his full attention.

Rawling laughed and lent back in his chair, taking in what sonic was saying. “Don’t worry, Mr. Sonic. I don’t think you’ll be choosing that.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because your metal clone was just like you, and he didn’t choose that.”

That, Sonic did NOT see coming.


CHTOO

Beyond the abyss is a door

II

Dirge

Sonic leant forward. “M-my… double?”

“Yes… Metakku I believe was his name…” Rawling leant back once again, paying little attention to the clearly amazed Sonic.

“B- but he’s a robot…”

Rawling lent forward and got to his feet quickly. “What… do you mean by that, exactly?”

“ D-do they even-“

Sonic was interrupted by a hand coming smashing down on the desk. “And? What’s to stop him from having a soul! Just because he wasn’t born to your ideals doesn’t make him lifeless! He could still makes choices-“

“That’s what I was surprised by.” It was Sonic’s turn to interrupt. “The doctor really did create life.. He really was…”

“A god?” Rawling was now calm, he sat back in his chair and looked at the ground. “I see your point… That was… Impressive…”

“… Can I ask where he went?”

“Pardon? You expect me to tell you the most important part of a beings existance just like that?”

“You told me he wasn’t eradicated…” Sonic was quick to reply.

“…. Fine… He went to… the bad place.” Rawling looked like he had not been happy his entire life.

“He just… CHOSE to go there?”

“Yes… Yes he did… I’m sure you aren’t surprised.”

“Well, he wasn’t the kindest soul…”

There were a few moments of silence. Sonic was still in denial that there was really something after death.

“Let’s get onto the interview… Or should I say… The trail…”

Sonic looked up and gulped. He couldn’t even guess what was coming.

Rawling got up and walked over to a wall, just facing it, unblinking. “Come.” He said, coldly.

“To a wall?”

“Sonic, do you REALLY think this is just a wall?”

He had him there. After all, almost every law of physic’s was sure to be broken by the end of the day. Sonic stood up and walked over to the wall. Rawling, unblinking, snapped his fingers. A large window appeared where a crack once was. Sonic wasn’t in the least bit surprised.

“With this window, I can see anyone, anywhere, any time, any place.”

“That’s… Kinda creepy actually. Brings a whole knew meaning to ‘I think we’re being watched.’”

“Quite…” The window opened.

“Oh great. Is this ganna be us walking around in the real world, looking at my impact like a mix of the sixth sense and a Christmas carol?”

“No. This is much cooler. Wanna watch a home movie? You’re in it.”

“Is this a flashback?”

“No.”

“But I’m in it….”

“Yes.”

“But it’s not a- Oh. It’s my funeral isn’t it?”

“Bingo.” Rawling climbed through the window, followed by Sonic. It was a cold, dark day. Just like in old movie cliché’s. Except it wasn’t raining. The coffin looked just big enough to fit Sonic. His grave was in the middle of a bed of roses. The tombstone had something poetic and overly used written on it.

“Wow…”

“I know… You really were a hero to these people. They have a private sermon for just your friends here, and one for the general public in the town square.”

“They REALLY spent money on this…” Sonic approached the coffin and looked down. “I spoke too soon. This is…Um…”

“Cosy?”

“Horrible… Who picked it?”

“Your best friend.”

“Tails?” Sonic turned around. It was a huge surprise to see Tails there. They hadn’t spoken in years. They got in a fight. Tails was, simply put, a little jealous. Standing next to Tails was a miserable looking Knuckles. He was taking this much harder than expected. Rouge was among the faces, next to Amy, Cream, Shadow and… Wait, Shadow? Sonic was surprised, but quickly returned to scanning the faces. Espio and Vector were there. Charmy must have been too depressed to come. He was only around eight. The last face, however, was more surprising than Tails and Shadow. Thee, standing in plain slight was doctor Ivo. Robotnik.

“W-what the hell!”

“He had a lot of respect for you…”

“But he hated me!”

“He was never really planning on killing you ya know… I don’t think he ever really would…”

“You mean? Then who killed me?” Sonic ran over to the coffin again. Of course, he couldn’t open it. “How did I die! Who killed me!”

“Calm. That will be explained later.”

“I want to know-“ Sonic was interrupted by the priest begging to speak. “Why is he here? I’m not even religeous. Oh, crap, that won’t cost me anything will it!”

“No. It doesn’t matter. We’re all the same here.” Sonic and Rawling paid little to no attention to the preist’s words. They were standing right next to him but at the same time in a world of there own. “Oh… You may want to know this…”

Sonic felt a slight pain in his neck, then normal again. “Wh-what are you-“ Then it became clear. He heard Tails voice.

Too bad it had to be like this…

Then Knuckles.

We can never replace him…

Amy. Although Sonic could read her mind anyway.

Oh God… OH GOD! NO!

The rest were pretty basic. Simple regrets, tear were shed, people through flowers onto the coffin. As soon as the priest began to lower the coffin, Rawling spoke up. “We should leave. You won’t want to see this.”

Sonic knew what was best. He approached the window and climbed through. It dissapeared just in time for him to hear a “What have I done?”

“You don’t want to know what that was about…” Rawling got back in his chair. Sonic trusted him.

Sonic sat back in his chair. “Why did you show me that?”

“I think you know why.”

“I really don’t.”

“Sonic…”

“Fine…So… What next? Is that it? Is it over?”

“What a silly question.”

“… Rawling…”

“Yes?”

“Do you do this every day?”

“ No. That’s not my area.”

“ So I’m special?”

“ Yes, Sonic, you’re special. But I also dealt with Stalin.”

“Ah… So... Am I the good special?”

“I don’t know yet….” Rawling reached under the desk, after a while he emerged with a large white folder with the word “SINS” written on it in big letters. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

Oh joy.

CHFREE
Beyond the abyss is a door

III

Always hit the glass

Sonic let out a sigh of relief and lent back in his chair. He was now completely aware of the simple fact that he was dead. He was out of the stage of denial, he was done thinking he would wake up in a hospital bed at any second. He seemed a tad too relaxed for his situation.

Rawling was curious. “Care to explain why you’re so calm?”

“Well, I have saved the entire planet multiple times, so I think I won’t have much on my naughty list.”

“This isn’t like Santa writing a list you know, there isn’t a giant watching a thousand computer screens taking notes.”

“Then how is it done?”

“…. Sonic, even I dare not ponder that. There are some things that nobody will ever know.”

Sonic seemed put off by this, he sat up straight once more. “Too bad… I was really looking forward to learning the mysteries of the universe today.”

“You’re a chatty one… But Sonic, may I ask you a question?” Rawling ran his hand along the folder.

“Shoot.”

“Robotic souls still find there way here, and you’ve killed so many-“

“Shut up!” Rawling had hit a soft spot, for a brief moment Rawling was even shocked. “Every God damned day I regret that! Every day!”

Rawling was speechless. He had no idea how to react. “Well… That’s beside the point…”

“No it isn’t! I HAD TO! I didn’t WANT to! It was for the greater good! Send Eggman to hell for turning those people into robots!”

Rawling, surprisingly, hadn’t heard the word “hell” in quite a while. “You have a point. After all, you were not the terrorist… In a way you saved them from there very own private hell…”

Sonic looked down. “I-I don’t… If I had too… I would do it again… I wouldn’t let the innocent suffer… That insane man…”

Rawling was quiet a moment. Then he spoke up. “Sonic, this will hurt. A lot. Sorry…” A blue cloud engulfed Rawling, not even a figure was visible behind the thick smoke, when it drifted away, a smaller figure was left sitting in the chair. A fox.

“T-tails?” Sonic blinked and rubbed an eye.

“For now…”

“W-what?”

It was no longer Rawling sitting in that chair, even his voice mimicked Tails. “You’re greedy.”

Sonic was beginning to understand what was going on. “Greedy? Me?”

“Greedy with the spotlight.”

“You’re one to talk about greed. I thought you were my friend and yet you leave because YOU can’t play the hero. How can you call me greedy? I admit, I may have been a glory hog, but that was because I had the right to be. I went through hell to help people. And so did you. But to a lesser extent. I guess, I am sorry… For you…”

“Tails” was… amazed. That was an amazing comeback. How could he argue with that? “Well played…” Once again the cloud cloaked Rawling. Now where Tails once was, was a child. No older than ten. Sonic had never once seen her in his life, but she knew him all too well. “You’re no hero.”

“What? Who are you?”

“I am the face of the many that has suffered because of you. I am the girl who lost her parents because you were sloppy. You couldn’t save them. Crushed by a car you failed to spot when you were fighting Ivo. You are no hero.”

Sonic opened his mouth, about to say something. He then stopped. After a moment he began to speak. “How many more would of died if I wasn’t there at all?” Sonic smiled. He was getting the hang of confronting his “demons”. The girl looked in the folder, and another cloud covered the room. Now, this was a surprise. It was not Knuckles, Shadow or anyone else Sonic was expecting, but Metal Sonic.

“I don’t understand.”

“You wouldn’t…”

“Why Metal?”

“You know why! You aren’t upset that I died, or that I moved onto the bad place, you’re upset because YOU weren’t the one that killed me!”

“That… That…. That’s not true.”

“Yes it is! You know it is but you’re just a scared child too afraid to admit it! You wanted to kill me!”

“No! That-“

“Admit it!”

“Fine! I wanted you dead!”

“You’re an evil person…”

“I wanted you dead because you were a murderer!”

“You should never WANT to kill someone Sonic! With everything you go spouting off about peace and freedom! You’re just as much a killer as me!”

“Shut the hell up! You were an evil person and I’m glad you’re dead! I’m glad you’re rotting! I’m glad you’re suffering and I’m glad you’re in pain! You deserve it!”

Metal dissapeared in a puff of smoke. The last person Sonic would be facing he felt knew nothing about, yet knew too well. The person staring back at him… Was himself…

“… I think I understand…”

The faker Sonic leant forward, he was now face. “You have so many regrets… If you were strong enough…”

“But I wasn’t… I know… I know…”

Rawling was now inches away from Sonic’s face. “You hate me…”

“A little…”

It was now Rawling again. “That was… brave of you…”

“I’m a brave person.”

“I wish… I wish I was as brave as you… when I…” Rawling got up and went over to the wall, there was now a window there, over looking a graveyard.

“When you what?”

“For thirty four years I’ve been sending people like you to were they belong… When is it my turn to go? When do I get my paradise? Don’t I deserve one?”

“Rawling… You faced that challenge, didn’t you?”

Rawling said nothing, he just kept looking out the window.

“You didn’t pass… Is that why-“

“I can still feel. I’m not… dead… I don’t want to be… I want to go back…” The window seemed to “zoom in” on a grave. “But I know I can’t… I know…”

All that was readable was:

Lings

1949-1972

For…ten… ver…

“I…. Know I…” The window zoomed back out.

“… Rawlings… I’m sorry…”

“Every day, I stare at the past through this window… At my life… To the point were I’m sure… No, I know there is no window. That there is nothing stopping me from going in there and seeing those who I love again. From visiting a world I never wanted to leave. Every day I stare into my beloved worlds past… I know there is no window…There can’t be. Then, slowly, believing in hope, I reach out…” Rawlings hand tapped against the glass. “ But as always, my hand hits the glass. It always does. It always does… I think to myself, If I had waited a second longer,just a second, then I would of made it there. I would have been happy. There would be no glass. I could finally leave this prison Just another second.” Rawling slipped his hand down the window. “ My hand hit’s the glass… And it always will… It always will… I want to go home.”

Sonic couldn’t even imagine the pain Rawling must go through every day of his life. If it was that hard for him to just pass the trial, how hard would it be to try your hardest… and fail. Somebody proved that day that Rawling didn’t deserve happiness. How can he live like that. Sonic’s eyes widened. The realised: He didn’t.

“Sorry… I’m… This is besides the point.” Rawling sat back in his chair, leaving the window as it was. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. But he held them back. He had to. “Sonic.. Let’s move on… To your death…”

CHFUR

Beyond the Abyss is a door

IV

Reapers and Killers

Sonic took some time to soak this in. After a while, he shook off his doubts and turned his attention back to Rawling. “So… How did it happen?”

“You don’t seem as curious as I had expected… Are you frightened?”

“What? No, just… I’d prefer to get this part over with quickly… I… I know I was murdered… “

“How can you be sure?” Rawling almost seemed aggressive here.

“I felt it… I felt my blood trickle down the back of my head. I can feel a split in the back of my head right now… You ever said yourself ‘I was early’”

“… Well, I wish I could say you were wrong… I really wish I could say you died in your sleep… But then I’d be a liar.”

“So… H- how did I…?”

“You took a bullet. To the head.”

Sonic instantly felt his forehead. There was nothing there. “Why don’t I-“

“Got stuck in your Diencephalon. Painful… I should know…” Rawling took a deep sigh.

Sonic lifted an eyebrow. Sonic was curious, but felt like he didn’t want to know. Too late. Rawling undid his tie a little, showing the end of a giant scar, starting from around his collar bone, Sonic guessed it would end somewhere around his chest. “I’m… Sorry…” Sonic couldn’t help but wonder how many day’s Rawlings gotten up to face that… reminding him he can never go back…

“Murder… Is a gruesome thing… Is it not, Sonic? Knowing that because of somebody filled with hate, you can’t continue.”

Then Sonic said something he would later regret. “Who… Who did that to you?”

Rawling stared blankly for a moment, as if looking for something. “My father…”

For an entire minute, there was nothing. Just the sound of there own thoughts. Rawling then realised he was with a ‘client’. “Oh… I’m sorry… I’ve had a few years to think about this… I shouldn’t of brought it up now…” Rawling turned around and walked over to a wall, after a moment, a huge set of black wooden doors opened.

Sonic looked up and down the door, scanning for anything familiar. There where strange red carving around the gate, and gave off a very faint red mist. It gave the room an creepy feel. “So… What is that?”

“These, my friend, are the Ishter Gates.” Rawling ran a hand along the smooth wood. “ And in a short while, you will be stepping through these. These are the gates to the after-world.” Rawling pulled one of the mighty doors open. Sonic flew back slightly, he was half expecting an angel to fly through. But, when Sonic opened his eyes, all he saw was a supply closet.

“Oh. You’re probably wondering about that. You see, somebody up there wants to keep me here, so it’s just a supply closet for me. A supply closet, which currently has your entire life on record.” Rawling stepped into the dimly lit room, looking through shelves. “Where are they… Ah, here they are Sonic.” The instant Rawling stepped out the room the doors vanished. Rawling threw a very small and light weight folder in front of Sonic.

Sonic picked up the folder and flipped through it. Only six pages. “What exactly is in here?”

“That, Sonic, are the notes your Reaper took.”

“M- my reaper?” Sonic opened the folder once again and began to read.

Case: Sonic The Hedgehog, 18, murder.

So, we finally get to report on the imfamous hedgehog, do we? I admit, I was expecting you a lot sooner.

“Th- This guy killed me?” Sonic questioned.

“No, but he took your soul, and he delivered you here. He was quite the rood one. Keep reading.”

Well, I hate to do this, but I must fill you in. Sonic The Hedgehog was a… Well, he was a friend of mine. There I said it. He was also a rival. We had a sort of strange “friendship.”

Sonic once again stopped reading. “He knew me?”

“Don’t you know who he is yet?”

After hearing that Sonic got right back to reading.

In the time I knew Sonic, he had saved the world, saved a city, saved an island, a building, even went out of his was to save even to help a single person. I could never do that. I wouldn’t be interested.

Sonic stopped. “Shadow?"

“Bingo. He died a while ago fighting some alien. He felt he had to get his fate out of the way soon. He has WAAAAY to much unfinished business to walk through the gates. Heck, he refused. So, we decided to make him a reaper.”

“Wow… My friend the angel of death…”

“Well, not THE. There are around a hundred in every city.”

Sonic suddenly felt much less important.

But, moving onto the chain of events that led him here. He was walking home, after doing some shopping, I pretended to bump into him, my hand brushed his arm, and that was when I had his soul. He didn’t feel anything. I know I took it early, but, well… I knew him… I didn’t want him to truly live through that. It would be cruel.

What I saw was him get pulled into an alley, I ran to see what was happening, and was tempted to stop it. The person who pulled him in was pretty short compared to him, and had a black hood on. There was a small struggle, and then a gunshot. I knew this was personal. I then saw the figure dash off, but I saw enough to know who it was. When he ran, I saw two orange tails brush into a wall.

Shadow

Good luck, Sonic.

Sonic was in disbelief. He read over the note again and again until it all came back, bumping into Shadow, being pulled into an alley, hitting his attacked, begging to run, then the bang. After a short time, Sonics disbelief turned to anger. He crumpled up the pages, not bothering to read the rest. “That… That little jealous…” Sonic threw the paper to the ground, trying to hold back his rage.

“There is no limit to the simple hatred people can summon. Amazing, isn’t it? How he’s your friend one day, then an insane killer the next.”

“Well… I don’t care… Good place for me, bad for him. Right?”

“Let’s hope Sonic. Let’s hope.”

CHFIF
Beyond the Abyss is a Door
V
The other side of a haunting

Rawling looked down at the ground. He didn’t take this news anywere near as well as Sonic did. He remembered that day oh so many years ago. When he was still alive. When he still counted as a person. Unlike Sonic, Rawling new the identity of his killer. Sadly, that didn’t make it any easier. In fact, it was much worse.

Sonic grew impatient. “Well?”

Rawling looked like he was caught of guard for a moment. “ Well what?”

“What’s next for me? When do I go through the gates?”

“In… In a short whiles Sonic. Not much longer now…”

“Okay… What’s my next ‘test’?”

“…. I’m sorry, but I have to do this… You need to… Well, I’ll let you figure it out…” Rawling walked over to the wall and made the window appear out of nothingness again. It was still hovering over Rawlings grave. On closer inspection it seemed that a group of flowers had been placed on the grave. Who was left to morn? “Sonic… you have to go through the window now…”

“You mean you’re not coming?”

“No… I can’t, I’m sorry. I had my chance to do this… But I refused. I’m sorry. You have to go.”

“How long will I be in there?”

“You may never come back. Some face this challenge and lose, they wonder the present-life forever… That is how what you call ‘ghosts’ are born. They are mearly people who could not pass this test…”

Sonic seemed very uneasy. “Y-you mean… I could become a ghost?”

“… I’m sorry…. Look… Goodbye, if you don’t come back…”

Sonic approached the window, shaking. “Goodbye Rawling.” Sonic crept through the window.

For a moment, there was just silence, and an unbearable cold. Sonic was shivering, he felt like he was about to die again, a flood of cold air entered his lungs and was propelled out, for a moment, Sonic thought “this is it, this is hell”. He passed out.

Sonic awoke right in the middle of his own home, the city he had once fought so bravely to protect. Sonic still felt a cold unimaginable, but it almost felt like he was used to it, like he had always felt this cold. Sonic looked around. What was he supposed to do here? Repent? Revenge? It all seemed so misty here. Was this it? Was he doomed to wonder the earth searching for a purpose? Sonic walked around, scanning the city for anything of any importance at all. Nothing. He had almost given up hope, until he saw a familiar face.

“Shadow! Shadow!” Sonic ran up to his old rival.

Shadow, obviously with the ability to see the departed, spun around to face Sonic. “What are you doing here! Don’t tell me you’re a ghost!”

“No, I don’t know yet! This is supposed to be some test or something!”

“Thank God. I thought it was all over for you… I should of known better… So, you know I’m a-“

“Yup. A reaper.”

“Then you know about-“

“Yeah… That little…”

“I know. It’s a damn shame.” Shadow didn’t even seem to care that random strangers just saw him as talking to thin air.

“Listen… I need some help… What am I supposed to be doing?”

“I’m sorry, Sonic… You have to figure that out… I will give you a hint, you have unfinished business. ” And with that, Shadow turned his back to the phantom Sonic, ignoring everything else he had to say.

“What the hell does that mean! Hey! Damn it… What unfinished business do I have?” Sonic collapsed on a nearby wall. This would be his fate. He was going to stay here the rest of eternity. Until he remembered something. He knew something nobody else did. He knew his killer.

Sonic ran as fast as he had ever ran before, tearing through people who couldn’t even see him, he turned a corner and ran through a door and into a building, until he found what he was looking for. Tails apartment.

It was not a dark and gloomy place, it was nothing like you would expect a maniac’s home to look like. It looked like the home of… Well…. Just a person. Sonic had let time get the best of him, it was dark out, a lot darker than when he came back. Sonic made his way around the four rooms in the small apartment, until he came to Tails bathroom. Tails was brushing his teeth. For a moment, Sonic thought “this guy can’t be a killer. Rawling must have been testing me.” But after a while Sonic got a grip. He was dead because of this mans jealousy. Sonic had seen plenty of ghost movies. He knew what to do.

Tails washed the taste of toothpaste out of his mouth and spat into the sink. He hadn’t slept in days. Tails looked into the mirror in front of him, and quickly spun around and scanned the room. Nothing. He could of sworn he saw a shadow behind him. He turned around to face the mirror, and jumped back in horror. There WAS a shadow behind him. Tails splashed his face with water and looked around again. Nothing. Nothing there. It was his imagination. Tails left his small bathroom in a hurry. He sat on his couch and turned on the TV. Nothing but static. On every channel. Tails bit his finger and threw the remote on the floor. He ran to a lamp ad flicked the switch. Still nothing. Tails was getting hysterical. He ran into his bedroom and opened a door and inhaled two sleeping pills. And then he heard it.

I can’t let you sleep

Tails shrieked and took another pill.

You’re a killer.

Tails finally spoke. Screamed. “What do you want from me!”

Repentance.

Now in Tails drowzy and panic-striken state Sonic was as clear as day. Tails reached for the pills again.

YOU ARE A KILLER

“SHUT UP!” Tails now in his insane state downed almost all of the pills. Sonic had seen enough. In a short time, Tails would die. No, Sonic did not feel guilty, the simple truth being with Tails unstable mind he probably would’ve killed himself eventually anyway. Sonic was far from surprised to see the window once again appear. He walked through it, giving one last look at the now twitching Tails, and soaking in his final look at the cruel world that threw him away.

Sonic was shot through the black tunnel, once again feeling the warmth of death, and before he knew it he was back in Rawlings little office.

“Sonic… Y- you did it…” Rawling smiled and got up to greet Sonic. “I’m… Almost proud….”

“Rawling, what I did to Tails… That won’t lose any points, will it?”

Rawling did not answer Sonic, instead he walked over to the wall he was so familiar with, and made the giant dark gates appear. “Sonic, my friend, the judging is over.”

CHSIKS
Beyond the Abyss is a door

Finale

Through the Glass

For a brief moment, Sonic was in awe. “You mean… I can… I can move on? I can go to the next ‘world?’”

“Yes, Sonic. It’s finally over.” Rawling placed his hand on one of the gates doors and ran his hand down it. “You can go now.”

“Where! Where am I going!”

Rawling stared at the ground and laughed. “Do you REALLY think I know Sonic?”

Sonic was about to answer with a quick ‘of course you do’, but then he thought. Rawling had never moved on. How would he know what it’s like? “No… Can you guess?”

“Why would my guess be better than yours, Sonic?”

“… Wait… What are my chances of getting into-“

“The place everyone wants to get into? Average. There is a slim chance you may go… Well… The other place.”

Those words were haunting. Mocking him. There was a slim, tiny chance he could suffer for the rest of forever? How was that fair? Then he remembered something Rawling told him about. One of the first things he learnt about in the underworld. The easy way out. A way were you can sleep forever, were there is no judging, no torture, no suffering. The easy way out. Sonic pondered this a moment. He thought back to everything he had just gone through. The trials, the pain, the truth. Was it all leading to a dark tunnel? No. He was worth more than that. He knew he was. He had done too much with his life to end it like this. “Okay, Rawling, my friend. I’m ready.”

“Good. You had me worried a moment.” And with that, the glowing red gates opened and a brilliant white light made Sonic flinch. He covered his eyes at first, but then then grew used to it. Sonic walked upto the shining door, took in its glow, and then;

He stopped. Right before he walked into the gates he stopped. For some odd reason, Sonic wore a giant smile. Sonic turned to face Rawling.

“Rawling… before we say our goodbyes… could you… get me a folder out of your closet, the reaper one.”

“Why?” It had never gone like this before. Nobody had ever really said goodbye.

“Just… curious…”

“… Okay, Sonic, my friend.” Rawling walked into the gates, then there was a gold flash, and Rawling laughed. For a while, everyone was dead silent. Sonic still wore his smile, as he too walked into the gate.

But a few moments later, he emerged, wearing a grey suit, fiddling with a tie. Sonic sat down on the chair he had once seen Rawling sit in, and relaxed.

For you see, when Sonic entered the gates, all he saw was a closet.

CHSEVY
Beyond the abyss is a door

-

The last piece is missing

Ten years later…

Sonic, having not aged a day, found himself doing the same thing Rawling had done, denying it. He was staring out the window that his predecessor was fixated with, and the person before him was obsessed with. He was but another grain of sand in a giant hourglass.

In the ten years Sonic had been doing Rawlings job, he had said goodbye to many of his friends, better left unnamed, and he was beginning to wonder when he would move on. Sonic was coming to terms with the fact he was slowly becoming a clone of his own guide. But that didn’t seem to bother him. Sonic heard three knocks on his door, and sat down in his usual chair, wondering who he would be sending off today.

“Come in.” Was all Sonic managed to spit out. He had never really felt strongly towards his job.

The door slowly creaked open, and the most unexpected person walked through the door.

“Tails?” Sonic stood up from his chair.

“Sonic!” Tails almost collapsed.

“I thought I… You mean you… survived?”

“Obviously not for long… You… are you god?”

“No, I’m just your personal angel.” Sonic noticed a rope burn around his neck, and was able to fill in the blanks. “So… who got you?”

“The same person who got you…” Sonic was amazed how calm and accepting Tails was being.

“You… killed yourself?”

At this, Tails laughed. “You mean- oh god, you really don’t know?”

“What? Are you mocking me!”

Tails sat down, now shaking. “I can’t believe it. You’re supposed to be all knowing, yet you can’t even piece it together?”

“Tell me Tails, or I’ll send you straight to hell!”

“Yes, I tried to kill myself so many years ago, but not because I felt guilty about killing you, no. In fact, I didn’t even lay a finger on you that night. I felt guilty because I knew what happened, but didn’t say anything.”

“If you didn’t, then who did?”

“Sonic… Who else has motive, and a way of getting away with it?”

“You mean…” Sonics eyes widened as he came to a realisation. “Oh…”

-

A figure wrote into a book under dim light, taking care to make each stroke perfect.

I finally killed him. My game is over and I played every move perfectly. Of course, I made it look like a suicide. I even made him write a letter in which he confessed to killing Sonic. It was sooooo easy too. Although, I feel a little jealous he’s going to take the glory for my work. Tails is finally gone, my only witness. I have proven that you CAN get away with a perfect murder. I had every single thing planned, and it all paid off. Now, however, I feel I must kill again, I don’t want to lose this sudden high I seem to have obtained. Maybe I’ll get that rat Cream. Or Knuckles. Ohhh, the choices are endless. But for now, I must bid you farewell.

The figure closed the book and smiled. “For I am the ultimate reaper.”

CHAY
Beyond the Abyss is a Door

Grain 2

Days before my Death

Although it sadly isn’t that simple. It’s not merely “he got you dead.”. Let me begin from scratch, but a few days before I died.

The day a friend stumbles into my office is a grim day indeed. For any other, I imagine it would be a nice surprise, y’know? A friend stopping by. But for my job, it’s no fun at all. In fact, it’s depressing… tiresome, even. Which is why it was so tough to see Shadow AND Knuckles come by.

My name is Miles Prower, and I’m a CSI. I examine bodies, crime scenes, and weapons. You can imagine the trouble I went through when I saw the two limp figures wheeled into my office. If you have lost someone, and I pray you haven’t, you will already know what I went through. You would be familiar with what circled through my mind, and how my simple reaction was a basic one. One that I feel rather ashamed of. I wanted vengence. I made sure that the person who did this would see my face at their execution.

However, the biggest surprise was seeing another familiar figure walk into the building. A friend I had long forgotten about.

“Rouge?” I mumbled under my breath. I did that a lot.

“Hello, Miles. I’m sorry we have to meet under these… conditions…”

“I’m sure…” I walked over to Shadows body, and pulled down the white blanket that covered him. After years of this job, you never get used to a wide-eyed corpse. It was something that was almost… ghostly.

“Tails?” Rouge took a step forward.

“Oh, sorry… It’s Miles… Why are you here? Don’t you have things to blow up?”

“Show some sympathy. I came down here as soon as I heard… I’m going to help you.”

“You can’t. I can’t just invite friends to help, Rouge. You don’t have the prop-“

“May remind you that as a GUN agent, I outrank you in every meaning of the word?”

“No… I dislike being reminded of that, thank you very much. ” I spat out those words like an insult.

“What we have here is quite a simple case… Shadow was shot once in the head, while Knuckles once in the heart… What do you think?”

“… My simplest guess would be someone went after Knuckles, and Shadow simply got in the way.”

“Hmmm… You’re probably right… well, lets check it out…” With that a pulled on a white rubber glove, on of many that I went through every day. My job… well… ain’t pretty. I reached for some tweasers and slowly removed the bullet from Knuckles heart. There wasn’t a massive blood spurt, I already knew Knuckles didn’t have much more blood to give, after a blow like that neither would I. It was at this very moment I removed the first mystery in this puzzle. On the red-stained bullet was a very pale, slush-like material. Rouge was instantly overwhelmed with curiousity and stepped forward. “What IS that…” I muttered under my breath.

“It’s… no way… “

I spun to face Rouge, I had no idea she would be helpful for anything at all. “What?”

“It’s… It’s a peace of a freakin’ potato…” Rouge leaned closer.

“No way…” I examined it further only to find that it was indeed the vegetable.

“Miles… you didn’t have potato for lunch, did you? I mean, that stuff can get stuck in your teeth and-“

The look I threw her was far worse than simply saying “shut up”. I returned to the bullet, paying close attention to the grooves left by the barrel of the gun it was fired from, however I couldn’t tell anything, it was obscured by blood and other various disgusting gunk that we don’t need to go into.

“Potato… wow… tator… tator in a corpse…” Rouge rubbed her forehead, she knew something. “I remember now… when I was training this came under worse case scenario….”

“Don’t tell me they gave you cooking recipes in case you were in a plane crash and had to eat someone…. I’m sorry for that, ignore me, I have trouble sometimes.”

“Well, that wonderful nugget sure made my day. Anyway, I was told that when you didn’t have a silencer for a gun, and you had to fire, a potato could silence out the gunshot.”

“So it’s more likely you’ll have a potato on you than a silencer?!”

“… I dunno, shut up, at least I’m helping.”

“Wait, where were the bodies found again?”

“In an alley in Central square, we can assume it was crowded, which explains the silencer, we can also probably tell that the killer was probably on a tight budget.”

“You’re sharp. I better watch out or you’ll take my job.”

“… your job isn’t worth taking…” Rouge muttered.

“What was that, Rouge?”

“Bah! Nothing!”

We returned to Knuckles body, his eyes were shut… but… they were more than that… it was like he… he didn’t want to believe who was shooting him… he didn’t know why. It was like his eyes were forced shut, like he was forcing reality out.

CHNUN
Beyond the abyss is a door

Grain 2

II – My inner struggle

For some reason, it was at this moment, when I was hunched over the body of my dear friend I remembered something… I remembered why I wasn’t the best… I remembered why I never would be. I felt sick that this was what I was thinking about at a time like this… but that was all that seemed to concern me right now. I looked away from Knuckles and collapsed in a nearby chair.

“What's wrong?” Rouge looked away from Shadow, who she seemed to care more about right now.

“You know why I’m stuck at second place?”

“Wh-what? What do you mean?” It was easy to tell when Rouge was confused. Her ears would droop a little. That’s the main reason I could never understand how she got the job she had. I’ll be damned if she wasn’t good though.

“Why, why my entire life I’ve never been the best… it- it’s because I don’t believe in people. It’s because… because my entire life, my entire life has just been the facts… I look into the evidence, not the people. People- they’re a huge part of my job. A part I always seem to overlook… that’s why I’ll never be the best… that- that’s why I’m stuck being the sidekick. Always the sidekick.” I clenched my fist.

Rouge saw this, within second she shot back with “Sonic never cared for facts, did he? He would make an assessment when he saw the situation.”

At this very moment, I looked right into her eyes. She heard what I said and figured out something even I didn’t know I meant. She made up for my faults, when it came to work, she was my other half. I smiled, something I hadn’t done in a long time. “Rouge… thanks…”

“You’re welcome.” And with that, she walked over to Knuckles. “I’d say it was personal… the bullet went straight through the head, he didn’t try to avoid it. He didn’t believe the person was going to fire. He really was in disbelief. There was no struggle…”

“So we can say he knew the person well?”

“Not exactly. Just well enough that he didn’t think they’d shoot. He may of even thought it was a joke what with the potato.”

“Do you think they surprised him?”

“No… what I think happened was they walked up to him with the gun, he laughed, they shot him, just then Shadow appears. In a very brief moment of panic, the usually cool and calm killer panics and fires… here, however…” Rouge moved over to Shadows body, I swiftly followed, not wanting to be upstaged. Rouge lifted shadows hand, and examined the glove he always wore. “We can see the gloves here are worn, so we can assume there was a struggle…”

“Rouge…. I think we’re going about this the wrong way…. What if… what if the main target wasn’t Knuckles, but… what if the killer went after Shadow?”

“Hm? It’s a possibility….”

“That combined with the fact the bullet entered at an angle. Rouge, was there any potato on the bullet found in Shadow? I don’t think he would have had time to silence the gunshot.”

Rouge turned at me, and then quickly turned back. At the time I saw it as nothing, but, it did perplex me. “I… I don’t know… I imagine not, the killer didn’t have time if Shadow attacked them…”

I removed the bullet, once again paying no attention to the various other gunk. To my immense surprise, I found that there were no grooves whatsoever. Nothing. Even a toy gun leaves tiny grooves on the pellets. “What the hell? Hmmm…” I walked over to Shadows body, and lifted the hand Rouge examined. The glove was indeed worn and torn, but these were not marks that implyed he was putting up a struggle, no, these were… these were different somehow… strange… at this moment I realized just how close I was to Shadow, I was thrown back slightly, then returned to my usual calm state. It was a façade’. I hated being this close to Shadow. Memories I thought I had long since disposed of at the bottom of a bottle found their way flooding back. I was disgusted with Shadow, and myself. I felt my fist clench, and once again found my way to a chair nearby. I remembered all those things that haunted me, the burdens I had carried for so long… I thought that they would leave now… I was wrong, they would never leave. Even now I find them clinging on, a faint whisper in the back of my head.

Rouge walked towards me. “Something wrong?”

I turned to Rouge. I hated her right now, I hated everyone. “Rouge? Do you remember Sonics funeral?”

“Miles… Tails… don’t-“

“Answer me!”

“Y-yes… I remember…”

“Remember me braking out in hysterics? Remember that?”

“…” Rouge gave me a look that said she was both dissapointed and disgusted.

“Don’t stare at me like that! I had my reasons! I… I can’t tell you… I can never… I can never tell…”

Rouge walked over to me, and placed a hand on my shoulder. “All these years… it’s been eating you up…. Tell me, Miles, not for me, for you… for your sake… please, tell me.”

I hated her… actually, that wasn’t fair. I hated her of what she reminded me of, that optimistic child I had grown out of. Was it her I was really angry at? No… I was simply taking the easy way out… “Rouge…I had something to hide… I remember the day, the date is scolded on my mind, forever burning… I… I know who… the evidence, it was… he threatened to kill me. He said he would! He said he’d kill you and Cream and me! He said he would!”

“Who? Who said he’d hurt you?”

“… Damn you! Damn you to hell!” I regret what I did now, but I’m so thankful I did it. In a brief moment of hate and confusion, of turmoil and anguish, I rushed over to the body of the dearly departed Shadow, and with all the strength I could find I slammed both hands down as hard as I could. “It’s your fault!” Again, down came my fists. However, I was flung back in pain. This surprised and scared me the most in years. I looked at my hand, it still hurt. This was not normal, nothing in Shadow could hurt me this much. I cried out in pain, Rouge looked horrified, she ran over to me but I pushed her away. I had revealed not only a great secret of mine, but also of Shadows. I looked closely at Shadows body. This was strange. Very strange. In fact I could not describe this. I just stood there a moment, staring at my injured hand, confused. I turned to Rouge, who looked much calmer now. “Rouge… were did you say the bodies were found again?”

“A-an alley in station square…”

“Let’s check that out, shall we?”

CHTNN
Beyond the Abyss is a door

Grain 2

III- Nothings Real

The setting was that of any horror film. It was the kind of place you’d imagine they’d kill off the first character, just to make an example of them. It was the kind of dark, deserted (and now gory) gutter that would make your skin crawl. I felt a shiver go down my spine as I layed my eyes on the two chalk outlines seemingly scribbled onto the floor. They were reasonably far away from each other, and it was the kind of sight that really made you think. At least, it made me think. This whole time, I’d been thinking about who, but not why. Why kill Shadow in the first place? Why wait around long enough for someone else to come across you? Why not hide the bodies? Why go through the trouble of silencing the gunshot if you were going to make so many mistakes? There was a conflict here, and it could only mean one thing:

He was playing with me.

I descended into the dark area, that seemed almost decorated with police tape. Rouge followed, appearing to of slightly lost her cool. Maybe it was just the general gloom and despair floating around the area. I knelt next to the first outline, Shadow and Knuckles were too similar in terms of build for me to tell who it was. They were sprawled out, they had clearly had everything knocked out of them, they died exhausted, which is no way to go. Rouge went over to the second drawing, eagerly scanning the area. Rouges outline seemed to be more of a bundle, which in truth was much more realistic than mine, it almost appeared as the killer had placed mine here, being gentle. Rouge instantly found some potato near hers, so I assumed hers was Knuckles. I surveyed the area, searching every last tiny carve in the floor, examining every last groove. But to my despair, I found nothing. I had had cases like this before, I cannot explain how much of a struggle it was to leave a crime scene empty handed. So far we had absolutely no clues, except Knuckles knew the person. In my stupidity, I went over the list of people Knuckles knew. It was far too many to count. The person who found them phoned in at a pay phone, then split. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was the killer, craving attention. Then again, it may of just been a kid on his way home from school who didn’t want to spend hours in a police office. I can’t blame him. I got up, slowly and calmly, and walked over to Rouge. “Found anything?”

“No… this guy… I can’t tell if they’re a genious or a moron…” Rouge almost seemed to say that as a question.

But it was that that made me think. Those few words. The killer seemed to switch from lazy to expert, almost as if they had a split personality. Then it hit me, something I hadn’t really even considered. “Rouge… what if there were two murderers?”

I could see Rouge pondering this, and I think she mumbled something under her breath. “I guess it’s possible…”

“Lets go home for now, there's nothing here that can help.” I let out a tired sigh, confused and angry by the failure today had brought.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Take a breather. I’ll be expecting to see you tomorrow morning at 8:45.”

“Okay, Miles…. Don’t strain yourself, okay?” She turned, and walked away slowly, not looking back for anything.

I made my way back home, blissfully unaware of the world around me, stuck in my thoughts. Two killers… I was finding it hard to think of a single person who would want both Shadow AND knuckles dead, let alone two. Sure, there were many who hated them each, but none who would actually go out there own way to kill them, and nobody who would go through all the trouble only to be sloppy. Before I knew it I was back home, left to stew in my imagination. I walked up the long twisting stairs to my apartment, and just stood there at the door, silent. I had nothing in there to do but wallow in my misery. I needed something else to do, but alas, I was alone. I went into my apartment and just collapsed on the couch. It wasn’t long before I was in bed, staring at the ceiling. I went over what I knew…. Nothing… just great…

I remember waking to the familiar screech of the alarm clock, 7:50. Just enough time to make it to work. I only really wanted to go in to see Rouge, everything else about that job was… depressing…

I walked into the room to see Rouge had already gotten there, she was looking closely at Knuckles. “Hey.” I said, throwing my jacket on a nearby chair. I obviously surprised her, seeing as she jumped about two feet in the air. “Watch doing?”

“N-nothing really… just looking…”

“Looking at dead people?”

“Yes…”

“…. Okay, I won’t question what you do on your free time. See anything?”

“No…. same old nothing… I’m afraid we’re going nowhere - slowly…” She sighed, her ears flopped down.

I stared at Shadow. I blamed him right now. I blamed him all the time. For everything. Everything wrong with me, my life, my home, my friends, it was all his fault. He did this to me, he ruined me. His idle threats, his occasional “invitation”, his smugness, his… everything. Everything. Every little problem in my life I could blame on him. He was my enemy, and here I was trying to catch the guy that offed him? How much sense did that make? I told myself I was doing it for Knuckles… I also told myself that when I caught who did it I would thank them myself, in the flesh, right in front of the electric chair. I hated Shadow so much. I was going insane because of him, him and his horrible secret! The thing only I knew! The burden he gave to me! He was a killer, and now he’s dead and I have to save him! What kind of world is this? Am I being punished? What had I done! “God damn you!” I flung my fist down on Shadows body, only to get the same recoil of pain once again. Rouge looked up at me, but there was no way I was concerned about her right now. Not at all. I stared at my hand, then Shadow. I was about to take the biggest risk I would ever take in my life, Rouge stared at me wide eyed.

I plunged both hands into Shadows chest, and pulled.

I closed my eyes, and bit my lip as hard as I could, almost drawing blood. I felt the peeling back of flesh, then suddenly it was over. I heard a snap. That couldn’t be normal. I still hadn’t opened my eyes, I was scared. I heard Rouge gasp behind me, and slowly brought my eyes open. What I saw was insane, it made me question everything that had happened so far. Everything I knew so far was wrong. For what I saw was not flesh and blood, no…

It was steel. Solid steel. I was amazed, but probed further, further into the mystery. I saw wires, screws and circuits. I reared back. “This- this isn’t Shadow… This- this is a robot… One of Robotkniks old clones… Shadow…. Isn’t dead… but… we- we were only looking at where he had been shot, that’s why we never noticed… who would want us to think Shadow was dead? Who? It doesn’t make sense.” I stood there a moment, then remembered Rouge hadn’t said a thing since I opened him up. “Rouge, what do you think?” I turned around, quickly, only to come face to face with the barrel of a pistol, and Rouge on the other side.

“I think you’re too smart for your own good. You’re coming with me, Miles.”

Then she raised her gun, and brought it down, and then it all went away, blackness.

CHELVN
Beyond the Abyss is a door

Grain 2

IV-Benevolence and Omniscience don’t mix.

I woke up slowly. Well, saying I “woke up” isn’t exactly right, I actually jolted upright, and let out a small scream. I looked around, there was a single light in the ceiling shining down on me, light a spot light, and God knows why I would need one. I was tied down to a chair. Poorly...I could probably brake free after some painful jolts, but right now I was more interested in where I was. The room was completely black except for my spot light, and I could hear a very faint sound. Music. I was locked up in a club somewhere. I could hear various cars driving by. Not very loud, but it was enough. I was in a club in a bust area of the city… no good, there are around fifty clubs in the city, all of them where packed to the brim all the time. I STILL had no clues. Damn you, Rouge. Now all I had left to ponder was the why. I wasn’t good with people…

Rouge had always hated Knuckles… well, not so much “hated” as “hated his type”… I wouldn’t say she was as much embarrassed as she was ashamed. The way she saw it, she had worked hard her entire life, trying to get to the top, fighting with every last fiber of her being, spending days training her body and mind, all together her work WAS her life. She had worked hard to be the best, and she was the best. Knuckles, however, had seemed to achieve her life with half the pain. All he did was sit around a rock all day, and he was just as strong as her, and had far more friends. No, Rouge wasn’t ALLOWED friends that would get in the way. To Rouge, Knuckles represented what she hated: Victory without work. That’s what her obsession with the Master Emerald was, a way to prove to herself that she was indeed better than Knuckles. It’s not that she thought she wasn’t, she just needed some proof. And Knuckles corpse was all she needed.

Shadow, on the other had, was admired by Rouge, and looked up to. She would do anything to help him… Why would she kill him? It didn’t make sense… then I remembered it wasn’t Shadow, it was a Robot. Then it made even less sense. I was getting nowhere, incredibly slowly.

The sloppyness… Why? What was THAT about? This was the biggest hole in the mystery. Rouge was a highly trained, incredibly smart, talented agent. So much so, she had received direct orders from the president himself. If she ever had to kill somebody, nobody would even notice they were dead for weeks, and when it was found out all the evidence would be switched, faked or long gone…

Faked.

The potato… Rouge would have a silencer… the poor work, the evidence laying around… it all pointed away from her. Hell, she even joined the investigation just to push her to the bottom of the list. She would be the last person I would ever guess would do this. Damn, she got me good… real good… I was right, she COULD get my job.

There was only one more question left… what was she going to do with me? Was I to be left there and starve? Did she plan all this, too? Was the music fake? What about the sound of the streets!? Did she know this was going to happen? Damn! For all I knew I was in my own home! I have nothing! My body could never be found! My life would be gone forever! I was her puppet now; I could already tell she planned all this out… I had lost… badly…

The door was swung open, and I saw her shape slowly form. My fate was already planned out. I wondered how she would do it…

“Miles…” She faced away from me, avoiding eye-contact.

“Yes, Rouge?”

“You win… I can’t do this… I can’t play the game…” She fell to her knees, with her hands pressed up against her face. “I’ve done something big, Miles…”

“No! No, Rouge, do it!” I had no idea what I was saying, but at the same time knew exactly what was going to happen.

“Excuse me?” Rouge looked up at me, her eyes stained with tears.

“Do it, Rouge! Kill me! Your plan was perfect! Amazing, beautiful, even! I won’t let you ruin it…”

“You’re crazy…” Rouge let out with a laugh. “B- But your wrong…”

“What?”

“My plan… wasn’t perfect… look at me now. Does this look like a perfect murderer? No. Miles, if my plan was as perfect as you say it is you wouldn’t be alive… I can’t do this Miles. I can’t kill you. I can’t. My plan isn’t perfect, I spent so many hours focused on the minds of others, but I never considered my own. The truth is my plan would be perfect if I was perfect, but I’m not. My plan was flawed because of my own weakness.”

I suddenly felt uncaring after Rouge had finished the last sentence. All the years I spent looking for a perfect murder I couldn’t solve, but every case that came through my door always ended the same way: the killer either behind bars or being executed. The thought of a murder nobody would solve was like the Holy Grial to me. However, it appears Rouge had failed, and my ideal kill had been ruined. I felt a hatred for Rouge now. My perfect murder had been ruined. “Are you ganna let me go now?”

“Y-yes…” Rouge wiped a tear away.

“You realise if you do that, I’ll tell them it was you, get this address, and they’ll make sure you never see the light of day for a long, long time.”

“I don’t care. I’m staying here. Do what you want to do.” With that, she got up, walked over to me and cut my ropes. She turned from me without saying anything, and walked downstairs.

I just sat there a moment. I just sat there, motionless. Had what just happened actually happened? In mere minutes, I had plunged deep into the mind of a murderer, expected and accepted my death, even been HAPPY about, try to kill myself, and witness the perfect murder slip away into nothingness. I stayed there for what felt like hours as the blinding light burst in through the open door. I managed to get up and walk down the stairs, everyone was leaving the club. Everyone, except Rouge of course. I was in HER club. Of course it was, it seems obvious now. Before I became one of the faceless shadows in the crowd, I looked back at Rouge, who was just standing in a hallway. Our eyes met, and we were gone. I found the nearest payphone and made the call. Gave the cops the address. Told them she wasn’t going anywhere. We even guessed the execution date.

Was I a killer now?

CHTLF
Beyond the abyss is a door

Grain 2

V-No more winners.

I don’t why I went or even why I felt I had to go, but I did. It somehow meant something to me. The double murder and attempted murder of a CSI had obviously given Rouge the death penalty. This wasn’t the first execution I had attended, heck; I had gone to more than half of them. However they never meant anything until today. Not until someone I knew… thought I knew… was going to die. Rouge was a GUN agent, and had met with people some would say were higher than the president, so there was a bunch of blather going on about it.

The room I was currently sitting in was shut away by glass, there were a few other people sitting near me, I could only guess how they knew about this or why they wanted to come. Beyond the glass was another white room, except this one had a large flat table, a table that bad people lie down on to make them go away. I had seen the injection chair many times, but had never become familiar with it. I had only just realized that this chair had killed hundreds, and was close to being a weapon of mass destruction. A large man in black came up to me slowly, moving through the few faces around me. “Are you Miles Prower?”

“Y-yes… why?” I knew what was going to happen.

“Miss Rouge would like a word with you… She only has a few more minutes…”

That last sentence. A few more minutes… Would someone be saying that about me some day? I got up from my chair and walked down the long turning cavern of brick, occasionally peering into one of the cells around me. I saw a few faces I actually remembered… and they remembered me. A red cat mouthed he was going to kill me. I wasn’t scared, unless he turns out to be the Judges long lost son he was ganna be here a while. I finally arrived at my destination, there was a man waiting outside Rouges cell. She was currently staring at the ceiling on her bed, thinking. The guard let me in, and I sat beside her.

“Hello Miles…” She said, sitting up.

“I-it’s Tails…” I could barely stand to look at her. This was my fault… my fault! I was as much a killer as she!

“Nah… never was. I know you want to talk to me about this.”

“How can you be so calm at a time like this Rouge?”

“I’ve come inches to death around fifty different times. I guess I’ve just gotten used to it… cept’ this time it’s for real.”

“Don’t… don’t say that…”

“Hmm? Think I’ve got a chance? Why?”

“You- you can call in a favour! God knows how many people owe you! You can still make it!”

“But then I’d be a killer, wouldn’t I? I. Broke. The law. Now I’m going to accept my punishment with grace… with… strength… I’m going to be strong, for once.”

“Rouge… please… doesn’t do this…”

“I have, Miles… I already have.”

The guard turned to face Rouge. “Miss, it’s time.” I looked at the guard, wide-eyed, then to Rouge, to find she had already stood up. I got up to, shaking with nervousness. The guard opened the door and grabbed Rouges arm. She turned to me, put a hand on my cheek and said to me;

“You win, Miles.”

I went back to my seat, following the guard. I looked at her. A tear streamed down her cheek. She shouldn’t have done that. It all fell together then. Why would she cry? Yes, it’s emotional, yes it’s sad but surely a strong woman like that would have come to terms by now? She had never cried in front of anyone before, and I doubt she ever had. Then more questions smuggled there way into my mind. She had killed before, tons of people, maybe even somebody who was innocent, she had more than likely been trained to torture family members, killing me to save her own life should have been easy. Why a robotic Shadow? There was no need for it. None. She would have fooled me just the same with just Knuckles; the Shadow android took time and money. In fact, why didn’t she dump the body? She had the time, the strength, Knuckles wouldn’t have been found for months. Rouge had always been amazing with people; she could tell what anyone was thinking just by looking at them. Shouldn’t she know she didn’t have the guts to kill me? All these problems she could have forseen, nay, I KNOW she did. The only explanation to all this was… no. I deny it. It can’t be true.

It was planned.

It was all planned. I had been far beyond a pawn. I had done everything she wanted. But why? An amazing form of suicide? Had she gone insane? No, Rouge always kept her calm and had plenty of reasons to live. Why? Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. She was covering for someone. Who would she give her LIFE for? Who?!

The final piece fell into play. Shadow. He wasn’t dead. The android was there to make him less than the last possible suspect. He killed Knuckles, called Rouge. It explains everything, the silencer Shadow didn’t have, the sloppyness combined with skill, the android. It was all perfect. It all fit.

Rouge was going to die for him! Rouge was going to leave forever because of him! HE was the killer, not I! I was nowhere near smart enough to kill her. I stood up, and started to move for the door, I had to stop it! Then I heard something.

“Do you have any last words? Rouge?”

I turned. She was already strapped in. The needles were in her arms. Her tears were gone. She looked me in the eye, almost unaware of everyone around her. She was talking to me and me alone.

“I know by that look you understand now… I can tell. I’ve always been able to. It’s… funny what we do for love, isn’t it?”

I ran for the door, only to be held back. I realised it wasn’t going to happen. There was no happy ending here. I didn’t care; I struggled, but couldn’t get free. A guard was holding me as firm as he could, and I couldn’t best him. I looked at her one last time, as the needles liquids drained. She smiled, and I saw her mouth something to me.

“Goodbye, Tails.”

Rouge the bat, still young, still smart, still beautiful, died staring at the ceiling that day. I wasn’t the winner here. Nobody was. She DID have the perfect crime, but it came with a price.

I remember leaving a bar later that night, almost blind. I couldn’t see anything, I couldn’t hear anything. I didn’t want to. I staggered into an alleyway, unaware of what I was doing. A pale circle appeared in front of me. I didn’t know what it was. I got a little closer, still unsure. I finally got close enough, and then realised what it was:

A potato.

“Later, Tails.”

Bang.

ENDGAME
Beyond the Abyss is a door

Grain 2

VI- The games Gods play.

Sonic sat there, motionless, thinking. Not about what he just heard, not about Rouge, not about anything. Matters of the living no longer concerned him. He was thinking about the truth. About what HE believed happened. He stared into the eyes of Miles Prower, still only seeing the child he had saved, and not the self-destructive maniac he appeared to be. Sonic stood up, facing Tails. “This is the truth.”

“Y-yes…” Tails said, trying his hardest to keep eye contact.

“… I trust your word.” Sonic sat back down, and leaned forward in his chair, pushing a small button on his desk. Sonic faced a speaker, no bigger than his thumb. “Send in Shadow. I need a quick word.”

A few moments passed, Sonic remained his slightly emotionless glare. The door knob turned, and shadow walked into the room.

Tails jumped. “How-how?! You- you’re alive!”

Shadow slowly turned, zombie-like in his movements. “Not quite, Tails. Sonic, why did you want to see me.”

Sonic, wasting no energy got straight to the point. “Shadow, no hard feelings. Actually, that’s a lie. Many, many hard feelings, you mudersome son of a bitch. I want you to know something...”

Shadow spun to face Tails, his pupils themselves shaking.

“Look at me. I want to see your face.” Shadow turned, not saying a word. “Killing people while their backs are turned does not make you a God; neither do your ‘powers’. I, however, AM. I don’t want to inflate my own ego here, but I decide where you go, I can send saints to a big, big giant pit of fire.” Sonic motioned with his hands, now faintly smiling. “Or I could send a person like you to heaven.”

Shadows arms slowly stopped to shake.

“Sadly for you that isn’t going to happen. You’ll see your precious Maria again soon.”

Shadow lunged forward, screaming. “How DARE you speak of her in such a way!!” Sonic extended his arm and Shadow was flung against a wall, if he were alive the bones in his body would have turned to dust upon impact. Sonic looked at Tails. “Say something… He killed Rouge. Your partner. Your friend. Your idol. She's gone and he’s to blame. Show me some emotion.”

But Tails sat there, shivering, unsure of what was truly going on. He hated Shadow with every fiber of his being, with every last drop of energy he had. But he couldn’t move.

Sonic faced Shadow, who was getting up, slowly. “Fine. Shadow… this is the end of days for you… I know not where you’re going, but I promise you it will be very nasty. You, being a reaper under these conditions, may get your own special place. Won’t that be nice? A layer of hell just for you. Goodbye, Shadow the hedgehog.” Sonic put his finger on the button once again, and spoke into it. “Shadow, you’re… fired.”

Shadows eyes widened, and then a tiny, almost meaningless flame licked his cheek, making him flinch. “You- you think this is the end of me?! I AM THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM! THE ULTIMATE REAPER! THE MOST POWERFUL GOD!!” He turned to face Tails, sitting in front of Sonic, but eyes fixed on Shadow. He then looked at Sonic again, more and more flames racing across his body. “You… I’m sorry, but you don’t get your fairy tale ending, the bad guy doesn’t ‘get what he deserves’. There is no happy ending for you…”

With that, Shadow lunged once again, but not for Sonic, but for Tails. Shadow wrapped his arms around Tails, bloodying his own hands with the force. “Come to hell with me.”

Tails couldn’t break free, a flame shot across his face. Tails faced Sonic; they both knew it was too late. “Sonic. I’m sorry.”

The flames then engulfed what used to be two beings, Sonic stood up and cried out, but it was too late. The bad guy got what he deserved, however, so did the good guy. Sonic stood there, shaking, being crushed by his own wait. He blinked a few times, lips quivering. He collapsed in his chair, watching the last few embers float away in his office. He looked up at the ceiling: the leant back on his desk .He pushed the button once again, and spoke one more word.

“Next.”

The End.

FAX
Words: 13228
Published: 4-5-06
Finished: 2-3-07
Story published: Number 4
Other:
One ending I thought of for grain 2 was that Shadow would go for sonic, and Tails would replace Sonic. That, however, would be WAAAAAY too original.
OTHER other:
To start off, grain 2 was a completely different story. However, a quarter through writing it, I came up with a way to completely tie it in with BAD, AND have some stuff cleared up.

RVYU
http://www.fanfiction.net/secure/live_prev...450&chapter=13/
Review please!

Okay, bear with me, because everything I am about to say is un-subject to bias or anything that might spur my opinion any which way. This is the same thing I would say if I read a story from a complete and total stranger...

That story was freaking amazing. I kid you not, you had my eyes absolutely captivated. Beginning to end, absolute, complete perfection. You see, what I was going to do was read the first two or three chapters than finish the rest later. I couldn't bear to do it because of how incredibly captivating each chapter was. I ended up finishing the entire story without skipping a beat.

I am not exagerating/sucking up/biased whatsoever. Awesome plot, awesome characterization, and incredible writing style. Almost professional. Don't take it lightly when I say that you have a serious talent for writing!

The best part was your little twist! The tails-was-killer thing getting completely turned around at the end of the 'last' chapter? Holy shit, I swear to you that it had me shocked.

If I have to say anything at all to jade my credibility, it's the fact that you're being reviewed by a hardcore Sonic fan. Other than that, I'd say you could trust my peer-editing skillz.

Nice story, man! I'll be sure to check out some of your others later!

Heheh... I'd like to ask you not to, I strongly feel this is my best, all my others were done years ago, and are sub-par.

Uh, ok, I suppose...

Anybody else who happens to click on this thread, READ THIS STORY! Trust me, the lenght of it put me in a mood to not read it, too... Half a minute into it, it throws a hook at you that you can't remove.

How did you feel about grain 2? I enjoyed the ending to the first, with Rwling leaving, however I felt uncertain about the second arc...

Eh, both 'grains' were fine. Just, I dunno, both a little depressing.