Wheres The Beauty In This Beast?: Chapter 4

Where’s the Beauty in this Beast?: Chapter 4

It proved to be the easiest thing to do… nothing. Simply sitting on his hunches and waiting passively for the tension to die down between the two canine-like types, and for realization to dawn on the tiny creature that he meant no harm. It seemed to be working, the little male’s brows knitting together in confusion at Sonic’s behavior, before amber eyes widened a second later. Red-violet fur peeked out from behind the stone and cautiously tip-toed closer, visibly ready to sprint if the need would arise.

Although excited at his progress, Sonic steeled himself and resisted any temptation to greet the creature again; that reaction would only be his downfall. Tentatively walking closer, the small creature stopped about a foot away and curiously warbled another line of nothingness. Sonic frowned at the garbling but sensed the meaning through the little one’s tone and voice. Pulling his ears back and smoothing out his fur, Sonic stooped down and rumbled softly, making sure to hide his fearsome fangs from sight. The small creature tilted its head slightly before baring its stubby canines and beaming happily. Enlightened by this accomplishment, Sonic’s tail happily wagged behind him, the whirlwind stirring up swaying grass, and he leaned forward to sniff his new acquaintance. The bubbly little male laughed at the touch and gently shoved Sonic’s muzzle back a few paces, still giggling to itself.

An energizing warmth swelled in Sonic’s chest that trailed down to his speedy tail and he panted excitedly, happy to have changed the little guy’s mind of him. Little guy? He paused from his playfulness and perked up, gazing at the rising sun poking over the horizon and the light encompassing such brilliant beauty. That same warmth seemed to have spread throughout his body and now was basking him in its heat, a sudden new awareness taking place in his mind all the while. By the time the light and warmth dissipated from his body, thousands of questions came tumbling through his mind, more specifically… What just happened? He peered down at his form and was surprised to see his original cobalt fur coating his body, along with peach arms and a tan stomach painting his features. His brows knitted together again. “Wha—” He felt for his throat in alarm. He could talk again. What the heck was going on?

“Um… e-excuse me… Mister Monster Guy?”

Sonic peered down at a much clearer version of the stranger he was just interacting with. Indeed, it did seem to hold certain dog features, a Chihuahua hybrid of some sort, with maroon fur and tufts of white fluff coating its underbelly, tail, and hair. Like he witnessed before, fairy-like wings were jutting out of its back, and on the center of its chest… Was that a green stone? Sonic rubbed his head at the new information and looked back at the awaiting stranger. Clearly it had said something from before and was waiting for a response. Embarrassed at the predicament, Sonic scratched the back of his head and chuckled, “Sorry, little guy. I couldn’t get the last part you said. Mind repeating that?”

The little chihuahua blinked at him, hearing Sonic’s true voice for the first time, but then shrugged it off. “I was wondering how you did that. That was amazing!” It was clearly a he, with the scratchy tone in his voice, and the ball of fluff jumped into the air, beating his wings incessantly and flying around Sonic from all directions, his mouth going at blinding speeds. “First you were with those teeth! And those claws! And then BAM! You’re now a… a…” He halted his chatter, clearly trying to find what to call Sonic.

“Hedgehog.” Sonic scratched under his nose lazily. “Sonic the Hedgehog.”

“Sonic, that’s a cool name! I like that name!” The little guy pumped up a fist in mid-flight and then looked back at Sonic curiously. “But how did you do that changing stuff?”

Sonic suppressed a sigh and placed a hand on his hip, “Honestly, I have no idea.” He off-handedly muttered, “but I hope I don’t go through that again…” His friend cocked his head at that. Sonic turned back towards him, “You got a name?”

The maroon fella frowned in thought till looking down in worry, contemplating over something. “Hmmmm… huh?” He jumped in alarm, “what IS my name?” He dropped to the ground and started running in circles. “AHHH! I don’t know! I can’t remember!”

Sonic was taken back by this news. Can’t remember? Does that mean… He hoped he was wrong, but only one way to test that theory. “You forgot who you are?” He had run into amnesiacs before, Shadow being the most popular, and adding another one to the list was not something he was looking forward to. The Chihuahua’s little nod was all the confirmation he needed.

“Yep. I remember something falling from the sky…” He reenacted the scene, quite clumsily, and continued, “and everything just going all white… and then nothing! I can’t remember a thing past that!” He sulked in defeat, clearly troubled by his dilemma.

Uh oh, did I fall on him? Sonic sweat dropped. It was bad enough when someone lost a sense of who they were, but to be the one to cause it? This couldn’t possibly get any worse. His thoughts were interrupted by the poor amnesiac again.

“Oh, MAN, what am I gonna do?! What CAN I do? Where do I go from here?!” He was flying in every which direction, talking to almost any innate object (or Sonic) around in his panicked state. “What’ll I… Oof, I’m hungry.” He fell from the air like a sack of potatoes, Sonic’s quick reflexes being the sole savior for the little guy. Catching him with ease, Sonic chuckled to himself.

Reminds me of Charmy. He hadn’t spent much time with the Chaotix in a while, but just spending a day at the trio’s HQ can prove how much of a handful Charmy can “bee.” Looking on the bright side, Sonic chose to be the voice of reason. “Hey, don’t worry! I’ll help you get your memory back.”

Amber eyes blinked owlishly at him in awe, and he fainted a smile, “Really? You mean it?” He leapt out of Sonic’s hands and plopped on his head, Sonic not minding at all.

“Absolutely!” He takes a couple steps, beginning his new quest. “I’m sure we’ll find somebody who knows you if we look around.” Though talking-dog-fairies might be harder to find.

A maroon-and-white- face leaned over his head and peered into his eyes with a wide grin, jumping off and resorting to flying side-by-side. “Oh, thank you! You’re the best, Mister Monster Gu—I mean, Sonic the Hedgehog!”

Sonic grinned at lifting his friend’s spirits and slapped five with him before looking out into the distance and spotting the towns from before. He glanced back at his flying buddy and jabbed a thumb in said direction. “Wat’ya say we check out that town then. There’s bound to be something they know, and who knows, good grub too!”

His companion excitedly nodded and seated comfortably on his head, holding onto his quills for support. “That sounds great! Ready when you are!”

And with that, the Blue Blur took off and without knowing, was on the start of a new adventure, one that would be changing him in many ways for the better.

Blue Titans (Continued): Chapter 4

A last thwack left a minion crumple to the floor and Robin and Starfire were left standing. Starfire dimmed her glowing eyes to a normal green and Robin hooked the staff to his belt. They looked around at the dazed henchmen sprawled out on the ground and glanced at each other with suspicion. It seemed a little peculiar for Slade to strike them at a deserted building.

 Almost as if he didn’t want us here, Robin said to himself. He pressed onwards through the ghostly warehouse and Starfire followed behind.

 Her gentle voice was touched with worry as she passed over a groaning minion. “Do you think he may be hiding here?” He didn’t answer, but his silence gave her the answer she needed.

 The former sidekick of Batman had grown accustomed to matching a villain’s lair with their personality. For Slade, it just showed the rat he was, able to escape the clutches of death numerous times. Robin growled and clenched his fist. Starfire is right, he reminded himself, we still have a chance at stopping him. He searched the oncoming darkness with darting eyes. Something isn’t right.

 He slowed his pace and signaled Starfire to stop. The young detective crept to one of the cement walls and felt around it. Before the two got here, Robin took the initiative to study the blueprints of the warehouse and any details about its architecture.

 Where did those minions come from? They couldn’t have dropped through the roof, only hide near the ceiling, and they would have been spotted earlier if they used the entrance. He couldn’t answer the nagging question in his mind till he wiped the cold wall with a finger. He inspected his gloved hand and found what he was looking for. No dust.

 The rest of the place was layered with dirt and cobwebs, yet this section was recently cleared up. He studied the wall some more and found two notches slightly protruding out. To an on-viewer it would look like part of the wall’s rough texture, but the Titan knew better. He rested his index fingers on the small bumps and pressed. Instantly, a click sounded and the hidden door unlatched as it slid to the side. Starfire’s gasp was heard and Robin’s eyes widened.

 There standing before them, was Slade himself.

 ___________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile…

 Tree, tree, tree, rock, tree—wait, rock?

 Beast Boy backed up and looked inside the bracken. Indeed, there was a rock hidden underneath, but had a grayish tint to it. The shape-shifter groaned and continued on. How were they supposed to find this emerald? It’s been a three-hour search and still no luck. A constant blue blur raced around him and snaked through the forest. It returned to him and stopped, revealing the cobalt hedgehog. A shake of the speedster’s head had Beast Boy flop on the ground.

 “How much longer do we have to search?” He glanced up at Sonic with frustration, “it IS here, right?”

 Sonic scratched his head and chuckled. “Yeah, about that… it could have warped anywhere.”

 Beast Boy’s eyes widened at this and his head fell back down. He outstretched his hands to the sky in exaggeration, “Then why are we even looking here?!”

 Sonic shrugged and stretched out. “I said, ‘it could have warped anywhere.’ But usually one’s around the last spot it was used…” Sonic froze at his words. A confident grin formed on his face and he dashed back the way they came. “Race ya back to Cyborg!”

 Beast Boy stared at the cloud of dust left behind and pulled at his ears. “After this is over, I’m playing ‘Mega Monkeys 4.’” He pushed himself up and transformed into a cheetah as he followed the fastest thing alive.

 ___________________________________________________________________________________

 Cyborg was operating his arm while rotating a miniature satellite embedded in his shoulder. So far, no change in locking on a coordinate; the emerald was popping up all over the place. Before he could tear his arm off, a gush of wind whirled by him and he turned to see Sonic standing next to him. The Titan raised a brow at the hedgehog. “Anything?”

 Sonic shook his head with a smirk, “Nope, but I’ve got an idea.”

 A rustling of bushes startled them and they turned to see a cheetah with sticks and leaves stuck to his fur. Sonic covered his mouth to hold back a snicker and Cyborg couldn’t help but grin. The large cat turned back into Beast Boy and the teen jabbed a finger at them.

 “DON’T. TELL. RAVEN.”

 That was the breaking point. Sonic dropped his hand and started laughing his head off. “What…” he managed to say between breaths, “you don’t want a STICKY friendship?” He fell to the ground and rolled in laughter. The two Titans looked on in annoyance.

 Cyborg twitched an eyebrow, “Man, that was cheesy, even for you.”

 Sonic snickered as the humorous moment passed and he got to his feet. “Sometimes they’re the best.” Beast Boy pulled the debris off his suit as Sonic continued where he left off. “Before I warped here, I was fighting Eggman at his base.” His iconic grin showed, “I think the emerald warped to those coordinates on this world.”

 Beast Boy was stumped. “Why didn’t you and the emerald warp together?”

 The hedgehog shook his head, “At the speed I was traveling, I probably got teleported to a random place. But the Chaos Emerald…” He tapped his foot in thought, “it was last used on the base and it would have been sent to the same spot here.”

 Cyborg pondered on this and nodded. It seemed logical the emerald would stay rooted to its spot whereas Sonic’s velocity would have carried him miles away; he could break the sound barrier after all, so who’s to say warp-speed wouldn’t further stretch the distance? He opened a plate of armor on his other arm and started up his navigation system. “Do you have the coordinates?”

 Sonic gave a thumbs-up and chanted, “40.8655 Degrees North, and 73.8092 Degrees West.” Cyborg and Beast Boy stared at him dumbfounded, but Sonic shrugged it off. “I watched Tails punch it in a hundred times on the Tornado.”

 Cyborg, still in a state of shock, slowly nodded and typed in the coordinates. Instantly, his hardware picked it up and tracked it from halfway across the city in another woodlands area. “I’ve got a match,” he pointed diagonally to his right, “Northwest. I’ll send the T-car here while you go ahead.”

 “Sounds like a plan,” Sonic did some final stretching before turning to Beast Boy. “You coming?”

Beast Boy looked back at Cyborg, then to Sonic. He groaned and dragged his feet to the hedgehog. “Fine, but I’m not dashing off again.”

 Sonic chuckled and bolted into the woods while Beast Boy tailed behind as a peregrine falcon. Cyborg watched them disappear and homed in on his car.

 “Hope the others are in better luck.”

 ___________________________________________________________________________________

 The city cameras were still up as Raven continued her investigation; her short, lilac hair hung above her shoulders with her hood down as her eyes focused on every detail displayed. A soft groan sounded behind her but she didn’t bother looking. “You’re up.” Her comment was left unanswered and the footsteps from behind grew louder.

 She spotted Shadow through her peripheral vision leaning on the door. He scoffed and Raven braced herself for his prideful lecture. “I am the Ultimate Lifeform,” he huffed, “I don’t go down so easily.”

 And there it is. She rolled her eyes and kept typing.

 Shadow walked up and stood beside her in front of the screens. “What are you looking for?”

Raven kept her eyes on the monitors. “Not what,” she corrected. “Who.” She enlarged one camera view, saw no one was there, and carried on. “And as for your answer, Slade.”

 She noticed Shadow fold his arms and study the screens. “Is he the foe of your world?” She gave a small nod and Shadow closed his eyes and sighed. “Some things never change.”

 Raven’s curiosity got the best of her and she paused to look at the hedgehog. “Do you have a lot of enemies on your world?” Shadow turned his head away with arms locked.

 “Tsk. That’s none of your business.”

 Raven glared at him, but before she could say anything, a yellow blur whizzed past them. The two stopped to look and watched the colored streak circle around and stop on the dime before them; the newcomer was grinning from ear-to-ear and Raven instantly recognized him. She turned back to her work while calling over her shoulder. “Hello, Kid Flash.”

 The native speedster’s voice echoed in the room. “Hey, Raven.” A long silence followed before he quipped, “who’s the black Sonic clone?” Raven’s eyes widened and she twirled around to shut him up, but it was too late.

 The hedgehog didn’t take this lightly. He marched up to the yellow-and-red clothed teen and sneered, “WHAT did you call me?”

 Kid Flash backed away with hands in defense, “Easy fella,” he stuttered while keeping his distance. “It wasn’t personal.”

 Shadow’s eyes narrowed on the superhero before he huffed, “He’s the faker, not me.”

 Kid Flash looked back at Raven wearily, but she gave him the hint to drop it. She started with introductions, “Kid Flash, meet Shadow.” She glanced at the ebony hedgehog and pointed at the spandex-wearing teen. “Kid Flash visits Jump City once in a while and helps us sometimes.”

 Looking back at Kid Flash, she dawned on their last encounter, the robbery fight against Plasmas and some others, not long ago. She remembered Kid Flash sweeping Jinx off her feet and wordlessly taking her to get cleaned up, and honestly, Raven couldn’t blame her; both girls were drenched in Plasmas’ slime after the heroines worked together to bring the monster down. Raven for one, could attest to how gross that moment was, and given that Jinx took pride in her beauty, there was no telling of her reaction if she stayed.

 In speaking of Jinx, she wasn’t with Kid Flash right now as usual. Raven’s brow quirked. “Where’s Jinx?”

 The speedster pointed out to the city. “She’s hanging with the Titans East. Bumblebee is still getting that stuff out of her hair. I wasn’t staying there for long… There’s no telling if she’d bring down the house.”

 Literally, Raven mentally added.

 A fond smile drew over the speedster’s face. I actually came to check on Sonic; he’s got a long road to recovery after that fight. He looked around the room, lost to recent events. “Where is everyone?”

 Raven’s passive eyes hardened and her monotone picked up. “Slade’s back, and the others are on separate missions. We’re trying to find him before he gets his hands on something beyond his control.”

 Sky-blue eyes quirked in confusion to that. “Sonic’s with them too?”

 Raven shrugged. “He got his rest. There’s no sense in keeping a hyperactive hedgehog here.”

 Kid Flash took this in and nodded. He turned to Shadow, who apparently was giving him a death stare. “What?”

 The Ultimate Lifeform glared at him. “So you’re a speedster too.” He scoffed, “and here I thought Sonic was my only rival.”

 The teen held up his hands again, “Woah, I wouldn’t say rivals. I’m more--” He stopped mid-sentence and gaped at the hedgehog. “Wait… you’ve matched Sonic’s speeds??” His sudden threw Shadow off, the emo having little time to register the kid invading his space. “How fast were you going?!”

 Shadow, for once, stammered and tried to find the words to say. “I-- uh-- it’s—uh…” It took all of Raven’s strength to not chuckle and anger the dark being more. Shadow shook off the shock and answered, “he may have tied you, but I have won several times.” He threw another menacing glare and warned, “and my top speeds are none of your concern.”

 Kid Flash leaned closer and grinned, “Think you can beat me?”

 Shadow scoffed. “Don’t patronize me.”

 That’s it. Raven stood up and faced the boys. “Shadow, you’re in no condition to run. Go back to your room or I will make you.” Before Shadow could object, she faced Kid Flash, “and if you’re staying, could you order some pizza for us? I’ll pay for it.”

 The speedster grinned and did a quick stretch. “It’s fine. Sonic already treated me when I was saving you guys, so it’s my turn. I’ll be back in a flash.”* A yellow blur followed his words as he left the Tower out to the city.

 Raven turned back to Shadow and the two did another ‘glaring contest.’ Shadow eventually yielded and muttered as he left to his room. Raven seated herself and caught up with what she missed on the cameras. Great, she ran a hand along her face, now I have two to babysit.

 *Easter Egg: Flash’s slogan

🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

Very late but happy pride everyone!!!

masterpost / patreon

WTF?!!!!! 😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I like Mikey's face

Blue Titans (Continued): Chapter 1

Continuation of "Blue Titans." Sonic warped into Jump City and met up with the Teen Titans. Now that he's settled in, things can't possibly go south... Can they? Shadow's now with the gang and Slade is ready to strike again. This will be out of this world... or dimension. Credit to Squidkid11.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVjtm116ShA&list=PLTiXGyUnW7a6pYRV1MVLRtmY7vQaBF4i2

A devastating fear hung in the air as Sonic stared in the sky where Shadow appeared from the now vanished portal. His one ticket home slipped through his fingers and now he was stuck for good in Jump City with 'Mr. Sunshine.' Starfire broke the silence.

"Sonic, who is this with you?"

The Blue Blur rolled his head, more out of exhaustion with fighting his rival, in her direction. His glossy stare met her bright eyes. He could barely stand, let alone breath, and his dead weight was supported on Shadow. All he wanted was a nice long nap to get his speed going, but his ego got the best of him and he straightened up a little to appear his normal self. His cocky grin showed and he looked to Shadow.

"Right, introductions. Shadow, meet the Teen Titans," he gestured to the group. "They're the heroes of the city." Then vice versa. "Titans, meet Shadow, the 'Ultimate Moody Life Form.'"

Beast Boy held back a snicker.

"That's Ultimate Life Form to you, Faker," the ebony hedgehog's snarl was heard. Shadow took a moment to observe the scenery around him. "So this is where you've been the entire time?"

Sonic gave a small shrug. "Yeah, tried finding the Chaos Emeralds to get back... but no such luck."

His dark rival sighed under his breath. "I can see how you FAILED," pointedly jabbing at Sonic's pride, "you in this condition."

Sonic leaned back on Shadow and chuckled, "Says the hedgehog who came without an emerald."

Wrong move.

Shadow stepped back and took Sonic's platform with him; the speedster ultimately (no pun intended) fell on his face with a thud.

"Ow!"

"Dude!" The green kid with elf-like ears stepped forward, "why'd you do that?!"

Shadow crossed his arms and looked down on the blue rodent. "Tsk. He deserved it."

Robin gave a long stare at the newcomer but finally softened his gaze; Sonic figured he connected the dots of this being an ongoing thing. The Boy Wonder packed his gear and faced the team. "We better head back to the tower." He turned back to Shadow and his tone was firm, "you'll have to come for questioning."

Shadow scoffed. "Like I'd go with you freaks."

Sonic tensed at his words; this wasn't going to end well. He pushed himself up on his knees and glared at his doppelganger. "Shadow..."

Cyborg marched up to the black hedgehog; his torso met Shadow's head as he towered over him. "Wanna say that again?" To Cyborg's surprise, Shadow turned away and walked on.

"I'm better off on my own."

Sonic shakily rose to his feet. "Uh, Shadow?" He'd seen this way too many times and knew it wouldn't end in Shadow's favor.

Shadow glared behind at Sonic, "I'll find those emeralds you've failed to recover." He crossed his arms and shouted, "Chaos... Control!"

A bright flash lit the streets and the Titans shielded their eyes. Sonic squinted through the white haze in hopes he was wrong; but sure enough, Shadow was still standing there. The explosion of light already dissipated and Shadow staggered around, holding his head.

"Ugh..." His swaying turned into a fall and Sonic lunged out to him.

"Shads!"

Somehow, the Blue Blur gathered enough energy to reach Shadow and stop his fall. He settled the dazed one down and tried catching his breath; this was taking too much out of him. Even with his hyper nature, his eyelids were practically pulling him to sleep. He heard Shadow's groans of fighting unconsciousness and approaching footsteps.

Raven's voice followed after. "What happened?"

Sonic glanced up at her; although her tone was dry, her eyes told another story. He turned back to help Shadow up but said hedgehog smacked the lending hand away and growled weakly, "I don't need your sympathy. I can get up myself." He stood up abruptly but immediately collapsed again.

This time, Sonic didn't have the strength to catch him and the air was sucked out of his rival as Shadow landed on his back. Sonic drew in a breath and sighed. "He's lost a lot of chaos energy." He stared at the Ultimate Lifeform with weary eyes, "unlike me, he lives off it."

Beast Boy piped in, "But didn't you say there's no chaos energy here?"

Sonic's blood froze over and he didn't move. He hadn't thought of it before, but Shadow wouldn't be able to recover like he could. No chaos energy meant no life source and no life source meant... Sonic looked up with cold, green eyes and answered Beast Boy. "Bingo."

The Titans took a moment to process this and Robin was the first to speak. "Then we better get him to the tower. We'll figure it out from there." He turned to the girls, "Starfire and Raven, help them out to the T-car." Starfire nodded and flew to Sonic.

She softly landed and propped him on her shoulder. "Come, Sonic," she slowly led him to the backseat, "we will heal your friend."

He didn't lift his head but a soft chuckle proved he was awake. "If that's what you call him."

Coincidentally, he heard Shadow's warning growl behind. "Don't even try it... I don't need your sympathy." Sonic didn't need to look to know who he was talking to. He heard Raven's voice afterwards.

"I can carry or levitate you." Her tone hardened, "you're coming with us."

There was a long silence as Starfire helped Sonic into the car and his head fell facing away and his eyes growing heavy. He could imagine Shadow's grumbling about being carried behind him; he was proven right when his rival's muttering about self dignity was heard.

Shadow's growls grew more and more distant as the sounds lulled him into a deep, deep sleep.

Where’s the Beauty in this Beast?: Chapter 2

Little to Sonic’s knowledge, given that he was currently held hostage in Eggman’s ship and had sickening violet sparks electrocuting the daylights out of him, the base of the spacecraft twisted out of socket till hissing to a stop, the entire structure still firmly connected; what originally looked like a spinning top with a ridiculously long (and thick) needle was now turning into something far more sinister… a cannon, not much different from the ARK, was slowly hatching out of its exterior shell, metallic plates unfolding at the seams like a cracked chestnut (if said nut held the power to obliterate planets, of course!). Springs inside the tubular cannon unlatched and stretched out of the nozzle, now giving the base a satellite-like feel to it, crackling energy prepping for fire upon the little blue planet below. Inside the madness of this ship, our little blue friend was also in peril, as Eggman smashed down onto a button in manic voice, calling out, “FIRE!!!”

And with that, Eggman’s latest scheme was unleashed. The cannon went into ignition and swirls of raw negative energy, filling the chamber to the brim, were sent blazing down the bore in powerful magenta flames that scorched anything in their path, the metal of the cannon holding strong with no sign of caving in or combusting. As a single flame, this energy was nothing, merely a lick of destruction for the Earth’s atmosphere, but united with an infinite number of the same, a beam of violet light was formed and was sent shooting down the barrel, out the nozzle and into open space… breaking the sound barrier twice… till smashing into the ocean of Earth’s crust and exploding in a ball of light, the energy burning a hole deeper into the core and growing evermore terrifying. A shockwave from the blast sent all unfortunate life blown miles away from the burning source and inevitably shaking the entire Earth, enough for anyone to feel.

In speaking of feel, that’s all Sonic could do at the moment; that and scream in agony of course, but even that was dying down to desperate growls for any meaning of escape. Wait… growls? He didn’t have time to second guess as more pain flared up his spine and sent him crawling on the ground, the bloodthirsty violet sparks that dug into his flesh being his only companion.

Something was emerging, and he couldn’t quite place it, but intriguingly was connected to the brutality the planet below him was facing. The cracking of bones and plates sounded as both shifted in their designated owner, the latter crumbling at the seams and making way for the something to emerge out of the depths. The former was more metaphorical as a new darkness swelled in Sonic’s mind, his fur mutating into thicker, courser, navy blue fur and his eyes shooting open as he faintly eyed his change through the blinding sparks of light and fire consuming pain. The something started stumbling in its everchanging form. The something had claws breaking out of its shell and scratching the hard ground, Sonic’s pale fingertips bursting out of gloves and carving into the metallic floor. The something finished its last transition, Sonic’s short, stubby canines elongating into long fangs and his tail growing ever longer till bristling alongside his body, as the beasts from both ship and planet howled (or screeched) into the open night sky.

Finally, the lightning and suffering ended, followed by clanks of stones around the poor… hedgehog? The beast was breathing unsteadily, most of his weight held by his shaking arms till giving out and collapsing effortlessly, the numbing feeling of pain coursing through his veins. Pain… pain… breathe… It was all he could muster to think through ragged breaths as he slowly (and clumsily) tried to regain focus of his surroundings. A muted rough but scratchy voice sounded in his ears, and they flicked away at the annoying sound. Whatever it was and wherever it came from, he had an unrestrainable urge to attack it.

Wait… what sound was it making? It wasn’t anything simple like his clouded mind could produce or catch on. A bark, a laughter, a growl… when had it gotten so hard to understand words? He tried to formulate a complex sentence in his mind, which was a menial task for him usually, but found none of the sounds could quite fit together as one. No, instead, they separated themselves into simple sounds of little meaning or purpose, refusing to work in any which way. Not like the other sounds he strangely felt natural to falling back on. In frustration and exhaustion, both physically and mentally, the beast yielded and chose instead to open his eyes to see dim blue lights glowing in the shadows.

The disgusting voice was now laughing with no sign of stopping and the beast growled as he swayed his head in said direction. A red blob seated a few paces away, cackling with glee and… was that a sense of dominance under that blob’s skin? The beast snarled at the potent smell and that seemed to silence the laughter. Good. Then there was the sound of talking again, nothing but a muted noise in the beast’s ears.

“… Sonic…”

Sonic? That sounded familiar to him, as if it were something important, and the blob was directly looking at him when saying that, so… Was he… Sonic? The clarity in his mind over the word seemed to confirm such suspicions and he silently agreed to it, that he was Sonic and Sonic was him. But all thoughts froze as an invisible wall slid down in front of the red blob and suddenly, the beast felt a pulling at his fur. It grew stronger, pulling at his very being and he clutched onto the small engravings in the floor with his mighty claws, but all was futile. A final gush of wind blew him back and he was swept away into black nothingness with a startled cry, a broken ball of fire and land waiting for its savior down below.

Then, there was nothing.

______________________________________________________________

Before I get any flames, NO, Sonic does NOT have amnesia when a werehog, rather he has a different mentality in approaching his surroundings and life itself. It might be mistaken as amnesia because he is contemplating of his name, but let me clarify...

Sonic is not contemplating the name, he is contemplating of the word itself. Remember how words hold no significance in his mind unless it's something truly important (or sentimental), so his name would fit in that alley. The same can be said about dogs (believe me, I know from my own Min-Pin mix) for they can be taught words and phrases but do not grasp on the meaning behind the word other than the expected behavior.

Since Sonic's mind is already complex, I'm not degrading his intelligence, and therefore, he can hold more meaning behind words or phrases if they are truly important to him (especially on a subconscious level). This includes his identity (Sonic as a word), relationships (friends and family), and even commands if they are engrained in his head or are purely instinctual.

Whew!! That was a lot. I hope that clears things up and helps you folks get prepared for what is to come. In the meantime, be on the lookout for Chapter 5 of "Blue Titans (Continued)" coming at the end of September (or something)!