Mirror Image

XXIII - Code Black

This wasn't fair. There was no way he could face this. Why did it have to look like him? Why did the thing he feared the most take the form of the only one who could ease his terror?

The cognitive dissonance within him strangled his guts and tore at his mind. Before him a twisted mockery of his best friend laughed with sadistic glee, and the glow of fire emanated from inside that gaping predatory mouth. Tails had never felt so powerless; he felt like dying, wanting to lie on the floor sucking his thumb and let the flames wash over him. His vision grew dark as something came between him and the burning light of Super Sonic. Something red. Time slowed to a crawl as he watched Knuckles approach the fiend.

"I'm taking you down, monster!" said the red echidna, raising his fist to strike.

"Knuckles, don't!"

"Oh very good, Knuckles," said Super Sonic, clapping his hands slowly, "people must think you're so noble, so brave..."

Tails didn't even see the yellow hedgehog move. There was a flash of light, and all that followed was a heavy crash as Knuckles head impacted the nearby desk, smashing it to pieces and sending him tumbling to the floor, holding his head.

"But I know you're just stupid," continued Super, "still, at least you saved your friends the trouble of deciding. It's time to die, Knucklehead!" No more laughter, instead only a face that burned with anger. He held his hand up, ragged fingers splayed and curled like a hunting cat waiting to strike, fire dancing along the matted surface of his glove.

"Wait!" cried Tails, "not like this! Killing him this way would be too easy. It wouldn't be any fun for you. Let us give you a challenge." Super Sonic took his eyes off Knuckles, fixing Tails with that burning gaze, before breaking out into a wicked smile.

"You're right, fox boy," he said, lowering his hand, "how about I give you a little head start instead? I want you to think you have a chance of outrunning me, and when just when you're about to escape, I'll find you and tear you limb from limb. So go on, run away, run from the big scary monster."

Knuckles rose to his feet, joining the others. His face was covered in cuts and bruises, and he panted heavily, but otherwise he tried to keep his composure. The three Mobians hesitated, unsure whether running would do them any good.

"Are you deaf?" said Super Sonic, "I said... RUN!"

He threw back his head, and from his dragon mouth a savage roar emerged, like a legion of damned souls writhing in agony, while around him the air surged with heat. The floor began to blacken in an ever-increasing circle, glass and metal melting and electronic equipment exploding as the fire consumed everything around it.

Tails turned to run, but before he could take a step he was lifted off the floor, whisked away by Knuckles. As they passed through the lab doors he caught one final glimpse of the inferno raging around the yellow hedgehog. Once in the corridor, Rouge slammed her hand onto a large red button, lowering a metal plate across the door with a heavy clang. The muffled sounds of the devastation within still caught their ears.

"That won't stop him!" said Tails as Knuckles lowered him to the floor.

"I know," said Rouge, panting, "but it might slow him down a bit. Right now we need to find a way out of here."

"We can't go out the front," said Tails, "the ground floor's crawling with Chaos Robots." Rouge pondered for a moment.

"We go back to the fifth floor," she said, "where we found you before. We can fly, and in Knuckles' case, glide from the broken windows."

"What about Sonic?"

"Sonic's not here, Tails!" she snapped, surprising him, "he's run away from his problems, just like Shadow! Forget about him!"