Soul Eater but it's Sonic

Chapter 38

Shadow woke up in a stone room, alone. The walls and floor were composed of many different old, darkened bricks. There was a bed, sink, and toilet; it looked very much like a holding cell. The notion didn't help ease Shadow's mind, especially since the last thing he remembered was fighting the kishin alongside Sonic.

A knock on the solid metal door came before Shadow had spent too much time worrying. Eggman entering the room caused Shadow to blurt out a question.

"Where's Sonic?" After being taken aback by how suddenly he'd spoken, he tried playing it cool. "And the others?"

"We had them staying in a different area. They're fine now. I'm sorry you had to wake up in the dungeon, but it's actually the safest place for you right now,"

"Why do I need to be safe? More than anyone else, I mean,"

"Tikal had her eye on you before the kishin awakened. Now that she's accomplished her goal, there's plenty of reason for her focus to shift back on you and the darkling. The attention of other unsavory characters may be drawn as well,"

"She had her eye on me?"

Eggman nodded. "She has an interest in Black Arm series weapons. She created one herself after all,"

"If she's still alive, does that mean Starline lost?"

"She escaped. Starline had a reaction to the chaos waves and Vanilla was unharmed. Starline is recovering,"

Shadow thought back to his time in the crypt. "I saw the kishin. Why did he look like you?"

Eggman gave the same explanation he'd given Sonic and the others.

"Starline mentioned that the chaos waves would spread if the kishin were released,"

"Yes. Things won't change right away, but the longer this goes on, the more people will have their sanity affected,"

Shadow grew concerned. "I want to see Sonic,"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Shadow felt the sting of worry. He already knew of one potential reason.

"During your last mission, his blood was blackened. Were you aware of this?"

Shadow nodded slowly as fear grew inside him. "What does it mean? Is he okay?"

"He was in a worrying state when we found him. As of now, he's fine. The black blood left his system,"

Eggman explained the properties of black blood and Eclipse's weaponized blood as well.

"But Starline said I wouldn't corrupt Sonic. He said you knew it was safe,"

"We were wrong. It turns out that there was a trace amount of black blood that entered your system when you were first wounded by the darkling in Kingdom Valley. Your body responded to it, and it seems that anyone who resonates with you is at risk as well. Tikal knew this and was observing you while she was functioning as your doctor. She was studying how you and Sonic would be affected. Starline found out what Tikal was up to when she tried to give Sonic unlicensed medicine. The medicine would have made Sonic more susceptible to the black blood,"

Shadow sat down on the bed and He rubbed his face, then let out a long sigh.

"Sonic..."

"Don't blame yourself for this. There's no way you could have known,"

Shadow thought back on the nightmares and Mephiles. A demon in his mind promising power. He'd listened to Mephiles twice now. He'd nearly devoured Sonic's soul and corrupted his body. Embracing that power seemed so obviously stupid to him now. A hatred grew inside Shadow. It was intense and precise. It wasn't entirely directed at Mephiles, though. It was directed at himself as well.