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Sonic rolled over, shifting uncomfortably in his sleep. The concrete slab sticking out of the wall was a sorry excuse for a bed. It may as well have been worse than nothing.
Man, when Eggman said he planned on torturing him before finally finishing him off, he meant it. The doctor had yet to lay a hand on him, but a tiny cramped jail cell with no one to talk to?? Sonic could have died. It went beyond cruel and unusual. This was inhumane. A crime against humanity, really.
Even so, Sonic refused to let his despair show on his face. He spent most of his time sleeping, or pacing the cell, whistling to himself, holding on to the hope that someone would be coming for him before he could die of boredom.
The fluorescent lights pulsed and flickered a little brighter behind his closed eyelids, and Sonic roused from his nap. He dragged himself up, sitting to the best of his ability (he'd find a way to break those handcuffs eventually).
When he opened his eyes, he was startled to find someone else in the cell with him. Now, sometimes Eggman would pass by to look in and taunt him, or a patrolling Egg Pawn would march by. Sometimes he would even catch Infinite peering in, eyeing him like he was a slab of meat being sized up. Like the jackal was trying to decide if he was worth lunging at. But he'd never had company.
It wasn't just any company, either. Shadow the Hedgehog himself was leaning against the wall, crossing his arms and glaring at the floor the way he did when he got all moody. He looked up when he caught Sonic moving, glaring at him instead with ruby red eyes that felt unnaturally cold.
Sonic threw him a casual smile, but it must not have reached his eyes, because Shadow continued to stare without an exasperated scoff or eye-roll. Sometimes, if he was really lucky, Shadow would laugh, but that definitely wasn't going to happen this time. "Come here often?" Sonic asked, kicking his legs over the edge of his seat. (He wasn't calling it a bed. It wasn't a bed.)
Still nothing from the brooding hedgehog in the corner. Come on. Taunt. Laugh. Say something.
"Alright." Sonic sighed, gently smacking his knees. "What's your angle, faker?"
Shadow bristled at the nickname, his brow scrunching. "What are you talking about?"
The memory flashed behind Sonic's eyes. Getting ganged up on in Sunset City, with Shadow as one of the assailants, (In front of Tails, too. Oh, Tails. What happened to him? Sonic knew better than to ask) before being hauled off to some prison as Eggman laughed maniacally.
"You wouldn't do this for no reason." He leaned forward, his foot idly tapping against the metal floor.
The tension in Shadow's shoulders eased a bit. He cocked his head to the side, gaze calculating in a way that looked cruel on him. "Wouldn't I?"
"Nah. This is a new low." He met his eyes with an intensity of his own. Sonic never really looked at him like that unless he was trying to dig into the deepest crevices of his soul, stare into his murky heart and find an answer. "So what's goin' on? Did G.U.N send ya? Or is Eggman dangling some piece of your past above your head?"
Shadow did finally smile, but it was thin, mocking. Like he was laughing at Sonic but not in the good way. "And you're really convinced there's some deeper meaning behind it all?"
"Uh, yeah." Sonic stood up with a heave, cracking his neck and making a show of stretching. "You've come too far to just switch it up like that. This isn't who you are."
"You're certain you know me that well?" Shadow stepped away from the wall, a challenge glimmering in his eyes.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Sonic felt like the two of them were fifteen again, bickering like enemies and throwing down like it, too. Seriously, they were practically connected at this point! They'd been speeding and twirling around mingling Chaos energy for as long as he could remember. A cool wind on a blazing summer day. A warm fire on a chilly night. Twin streaks of gold in a starry sky. "You wouldn't turn your back on the world, and you wouldn't turn your back on me. So what's. Your. Problem?"
Shadow threw the first punch. Sonic dodged, lumbering about as he tried to maneuver around his bound wrists. He took a jet-boot-powered kick to the ribs, and another to the back of his knees, sending him reeling over. He was on the floor when Shadow kicked him onto his back, and barely rolled over before his face could get fucking curb-stomped.
Weird. Okay. They hadn't fought like this in a long time. Even when they found themselves on opposite teams, their fights were really more of spars, or at least simple attempts to bat the other away. So why was Shadow kicking him down like he actually wanted him dead?
Catching his breath, Sonic crawled up into a kneel. He looked up at Shadow with teary, blurry vision.
Shadow stared back, not a shred of remorse, or anger, or anything in his eyes.
Maybe it was the lack of emotion, the lack of anything to work with, that set Sonic off even more. He got to his feet and headbutted Shadow in the chest, only knocking him over with the element of surprise. They tussled and tossed each other around, before Sonic's back hit the floor again.
Sonic realized his face was about to be a victim of Shadow's fist, so he did the logical thing and hooked his wrists over Shadow's head, tugging him down close.
The two sat still, breathing in the same space, and Shadow finally looked a little surprised.
"You know, I hate it when you don't talk to me," Sonic sighed.
"And why would I talk to you?" Shadow replied, once again donning that malice Sonic had come to hate.
"It all falls apart eventually, faker. But you know I don't mind seeing the wreckage."
Shadow finally smiled, but it wasn't the nice one he would let slip when Sonic cracked a joke, or the fond one he'd give into when he recalled a memory. It was cruel. It was everything Shadow wasn't.
Sonic idly remarked the weight of him in his lap was wrong. This wasn't the first time they'd ended up like this, but never had Shadow felt so light and frail. And- and that glint in his eyes- all cold and sharp. That flash of ruby was nothing like the heat his gaze normally carried.
Shadow laughed in a voice that wasn't his.
The lights flickered and the edges of the room warped, and when it all came to a stop, someone else was sitting in Sonic's lap.
At first, he was relieved it hadn't been Shadow this whole time. Then, the sight of Infinite's mask iced his nerves.
"You!" he gasped. He tried to pull away, but he was stuck thanks to his stupid handcuffs- maybe not the best play on his part, but he thought he'd been dealing with Shadow!
"Apologies for the…compromising position, hero," the jackal drawled, a golden eye wandering curiously over the prisoner stuck beneath him. "Then again, you didn't seem to mind until now."
Sonic rolled his eyes. "Ooh, you're nice and creepy. I think I liked you better on the other side of the bars."
"Well, forgive me for wanting to get a closer look at the so-called hero." He leaned in uncomfortably close, tracing a hand up Sonic's side. Creepy.
"Could you, like-" Sonic shuddered- involuntarily, of course- trying to retreat with nowhere to go. "-back the fuck up?" He could see Infinite's smile in his eyes.
"I'd love to, but you're the one holding me here."
Sonic's mind blanked for half a second. Why was this guy hitting on him? Literally the only time they met, Infinite beat him up! Though, Sonic did have a habit of picking up guys that way… Uh- not the point.
"Yeah, yeah, sure, uh- Could you like- Can you just move your head a bit?"
Infinite complied with something mischievous glimmering in his eyes, pressing in so close they'd have touched if it weren't for the mask. He stayed still as Sonic slowly extracted his arms from around his neck, but as soon as the hedgehog's wrists were above his head, he pinned them there.
"Should have seen that coming."
"Does Shadow touch you like this?" Infinite mused, his hand nearly as hungry as his gaze was.
Sonic winced. "Uhh, what?"
"You've made it clear you two are close." He traced one of the scars on Sonic's chest with his thumb, the tip of his claw brushing against his fur in a silent threat. "Listen, little hero, it's nothing personal. Shadow and I simply don't get along very well, and I need to hurt him." His tone was light and airy, like he was telling a story to a child. "And what better way than to pick off everyone he holds dear?"
Sonic wondered how the hell Shadow could have pissed someone off this bad. "Hey man, I know a lot of better ways to get under his skin. I'm sure I can spare some embarrassing secrets!" He avoided the jackal's narrowing gaze and tried for the life of him to ignore his feverish closeness. "Like, uh, he listens to Sabrina Carpenter and drinks lavender oat lattes. You didn't hear this from me."
Infinite chuckled, the low timbre sending shivers down Sonic's spine. "Sorry, little hero, but I intend to ruin him."
"Great," Sonic grumbled, his voice almost giving out. "Awesome and not creepy at all." He looked Infinite up and down the best he could, noticing matching scars on the jackal's chest. "Hey, you got top scars too! That's something we got in common." He tried not to roll his own eyes at the desperation in his voice, buying himself time as he slowly dragged his leg up. "Don't you think maybe we could get along?"
Infinite huffed in a way that might have been a laugh. "It's kind of cute, the way you're scrambling for mercy." God did he have an ego. "Unfortunately-" He lifted his hand from Sonic's ribs and flicked his nose. "-you do have to go."
The hedgehog deflated, looking up at the ceiling past the jackal's head. "Welp, if you're here to kill me now, you've fumbled your chance."
Infinite failed to smooth over a surprised jolt. "And how's that?"
"Don't watch the mouth." In a flash, he kicked Infinite in the stomach hard, knocking him off and sending him across the little cell. He got to his feet and braced for a spin-dash, when Infinite got to his knees and extended a hand.
A wave of magic shot out in Sonic's direction, washing him in pins and needles when it reached him. Everything went red, the shadows warping and twisting like the edges of a nightmare.
Shadow emerged in the middle of the room, taking slow, heavy steps towards him. Sonic backed away, but then he was braced against the wall, with Shadow caging him in, staring at him with soulless eyes that felt so wrong to look into.
No, no, no, this wasn't real. This wasn't the real Shadow.
"Stop," Sonic whispered under his breath, pushing at Shadow's chest to get him away.
"What's the matter?" came Infinite's voice, echoing and resonant like a cymbal. "Not close enough to the real thing?"
"Not in the slightest." Sonic frowned at the pathetic mimicry of his rival. It looked like him well enough from a glance, but all the little things were wrong. His left ear had that little notch, sure, but his right wasn't pierced, and the heart-shaped patch of fur on his chest wasn't as soft. It was obvious the clone wasn't made by someone who cared.
Infinite's hands appeared on Shadow's shoulders, before he roughly pushed him away, and the illusory hedgehog vanished into red smoke. "You didn't let me finish," the jackal said, taking Shadow's place in trapping poor Sonic against the wall. "I truly do have quite the dilemma, and I'd like your input."
Sonic averted his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure."
Infinite gave him that same look he'd given him through the bars every now and then. Like he was something to earn, something to devour. "Ideally, I'd like to kill you in front of Shadow. Make him watch every second." He trailed a hand along Sonic's cheek, gently guiding his gaze towards him. "But, if I kill you now, he'll have to live with the fact there was nothing he could have done."
Sonic sucked a breath in through his teeth. "I don't like either of those options."
"Well, you're in luck," Infinite practically chirped, patting his cheek. "Dr. Eggman called first dibs, and he'll be pissed if I kill you before he can."
"The Doctor is gonna kill me? Officially?" Sonic flinched, hitting his head against the wall. "When??"
Infinite shrugged. "Who knows? And why would I tell you, anyway? Now I get to watch you squirm."
"Fucker," Sonic sighed, exasperated, as Infinite finally gave him some space and pushed off the wall. The jackal brushed his hands together like all this was a job well done, smirking at Sonic over his shoulder.
"Well, have fun sitting with that!"
The prison cell went back to normal, vivid red melting back into dreary gray, and Infinite was gone.
With another sigh, rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms, Sonic collapsed back onto his not-bed. Man. Tiny cell, nobody to talk to (save for uh. That guy), threat of death looming over his head. This really was torture.