Heart of a God, Soul of a Warrior

Down in the Underground

If there was one place Abyss called home, it was the Underground. The Earth's core. It was her only home and the place she lived in her entire life ever since she and her frenemy Lucius were created. She had just returned from a spying session, and wanted to report the news to Dark Gaia, well, Sonic actually. Abyss knew that Sonic would from now on be called Dark Gaia to some around the world.

Oblivion greeted her by nuzzling her cheek, and she patted him back. "Hey buddy," she told him in her special Dark Gaia language that only she knew. Oblivion nodded as the two walked towards a huge chamber room. There were hundreds of spawn surrounding the two of them, from Big Mothers to normal Nightmares to even different types of mages. They all told her hello and some even asked how the spying session went. Abyss told them that it was all the usual and such, yet sometimes at night she would take Oblivion with her on those spying sessions, since he was always the type who was curious.

The huge chamber room where Sonic slept or just spent his time to clear his mind in his bigger form was behind a lava waterfall which opened up on access. "Master Sonic?" she asked as she walked into the room. Abyss had to stop the habit of calling Sonic dad, since he would always feel uncomfortable about it. He was more of like her caretaker than her dad, so she settled on Master Sonic, which he preferred than being straight up being called Dark Gaia. "Master Sonic?" Abyss asked again. She sat down on the rocky ledge and spotted Sonic in his big form, curled up, asleep. She could hear his rumbly growls as he snoozed.

Abyss didn't want to disturb Sonic, but he woke up and saw her. "I'm sorry if I woke you up Sonic. I just wanted to report back on my spying session on your friends," Abyss told Sonic. He nodded and yawned. "It's fine. I was waking up anyways," Sonic replied. In a flash of purple mist, he vanished, and appeared in front of Abyss in his smaller Mobian God form. Abyss still couldn't believe how much different Sonic looked in his new form. He really did look liker her father, the original Dark Gaia. "Ahhhhh. That was one of the greatest snoozes I've ever had," Sonic said with a stretch. He left some lava drip from his tail as he and Abyss left the chamber room.

Sonic got all of the details from Abyss about the spying session. "Good to see that they're still thinking about me," Sonic said headpating Abyss. "I still can't believe they think I'm dead." Sonic also remembered when Abyss gave him that news too. When Shadow told his friends that he was dead and didn't survive coming out of the Underground. Yet, they still didn't know what happened to Sonic after turning into Dark Gaia and sacrificing his old life to save them. The memory still haunted him, along with the fear of never seeing his friends again. It came back to him as he and Abyss continued their conversation.....

Flashback

Sonic felt himself falling through lava. His mind was a bit rusty from what happened up there with Chip and Abyss, but surely they were ok. They had to be. Before Sonic closed his eyes one final time, he thought he heard Chip saying something before he closed his eyes and began to drift into a dreamless sleep. Or so he thought. Next thing he noticed was that he was no longer in lava but outside of it. Lava was even dripping from him.

He was speechless. He didn't know what else to say as he got up to his knees, shaking. His head racing from the immense pain he had just felt. Looking over at the lava puddle he just came out of, he noticed that there was no Dark Gaia. "Where did it go?" Sonic asked himself. He looked around the lava pools, but still couldn't see it. "Weird...." was Sonic's last out loud thought when he saw Abyss. "Sonic!" she said. She landed in front of him. "Did you-" she stopped when she got a glimpse of Sonic. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" the hedgehog asked the dragon.

Abyss didn't say anything but just stood there. "Do I have something on my face?" Sonic asked standing up. Again, she didn't answer. That was then Sonic found out he was shaking. He looked at his hands, which were shaking along with the rest of him. His gloves were still there, but the tips were ripped, revealing neon blue claws. "My hands..... what's wrong with my hands?" Sonic asked in a nervous tone. He was starting to get a bit scared, and then noticed something swishing behind him. When he turned, he saw that his own tail was a lot different from normal. It was longer and more dragon like. He was getting some weird feelings from seeing a bigger, longer tail hooked to his body.

Sonic looked at himself in a crystalized rock next to him. He placed his hand on his reflection, still scared by what he saw. "Oh Sonic.... what have you done? What's wrong with you?" he said to his reflection. His skin was darker, his ears were curved, and a third eye that blinked was perched on his forehead. He even had the Dark Gaia enemy patterns on the sides of his eyes and face, and his emerald green eyes let off an eerie glow on top of his now pitch black eyes. His upper side quills were raised, forming the mouth like structure the original Dark Gaia had on the side of its face. Sonic realized why he was scared. He WAS Dark Gaia.

He retreated from his reflection, still scared and nervous. Then he got on his knees and sobbed. Abyss walked over to him and hugged him. "It's gonna be ok Sonic. I'll help you though this. I'm sure of it," Abyss told Sonic as she hugged him during the rest of the day.

End flashback

"I didn't know what to do...." Sonic told Abyss with a sigh. "I was so scared. So nervous. Now look at me. It's been three years since I became Dark Gaia, and I've gotten used to my new life already." Abyss patted Sonic's shoulder, and Oblivion nudged Sonic's face. That made him feel a bit better that was for sure. The two continued onwards down the brightly lit passages of the Underground, with spawns coming in on them ever which way. Life was hard for Sonic, but he managed for three years, and he wasn't ready to break that streak just yet.