#no beta we die like sage did in the og ending

[wereh0gz]

Corrupted - Oneshot (?)

Final Horizon's ending, but things go very, very wrong.

This au is driving me insane enough to get me back into writing fanfic after months of not writing. Might do more maybe idk.

Anyways. Woe corrupted au be upon ye.

Word count: 1697

The End looms over Ouranos island, its overwhelming presence crushing those below it. The Titan floats before it, beaten and powerless, yet kept up by its invisible puppet strings. A golden star glimmers defiantly, his piercing blue eyes staring death itself down.

"Sonic! It's now or never!" Eggman calls out, readying the rifle stolen from the Titan.

Sonic quickly flies into its giant barrel, focusing his power, ready to unleash it and end this nightmare once and for all.

"Sorry, Master King," Sonic says as he turns to face his enemy, "Looks like I'm going all-out after all."

He closes his eyes, tapping into the cyber-energy he kept locked away per the Koco's advice. It tingles in the tips of his fingers like electricity, spreading to his palms, up his arms, to the rest of his body. He shakes uncontrollably, power surging through his very veins, burning, corrupting.

No, wait, this isn't right. This isn't–

He yells out, pain consuming his entire being like a raging wildfire as his body spasms. Noise floods his ears, his mind racing, thoughts turning into static as he feels something snap.

The chains break.

The rifle fires.

Everything goes white.

-

Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Eggman, and Sage all watch with bated breath as a blue spark shoots out of the rifle, flying sporadically towards the entity looming overhead. The blue bullet pierces it, causing it to explode into thousands of fragments, raining pieces of heaven over the isles as the hellish red sky fades to a pleasant blue dawn, and the Titan falls dead onto the marshy battlefield.

The blue spark falls with the rest of the glimmering stars, crashing like a meteor, leaving a crater on the ground and burning the grass around him.

Now free of their corruption and back in physical forms, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles rush after their fallen friend, calling his name worriedly. They freeze at the crater's edge when their eyes land on Sonic, shaking as he slowly pushes himself up, eyes unfocused, growling and baring his teeth. His body is consumed by glowing cyan corruption shifting and flashing like pixels on a broken screen.

"Sonic?" Tails mutters, reaching out to him.

Sonic's head rises, his eyes darting from place to place before stopping at Tails, a black spiral staring deep into his very soul.

"Watch out!" Knuckles exclaimed, pushing Tails and Amy out of the way as Sonic lashes out, snarling and lunging at them.

Sonic knocks Knuckles down, pinning him to the ground.

"What the hell?! What's gotten into you?!" Knuckles kicks him off, sending him flying into a nearby tree. Sonic screams out in pain as he collides and falls to the ground.

"Tails, what's going on…?" Amy asked while summoning her Piko Piko Hammer.

"I-I don't know…" he stammered, "Maybe… maybe he couldn't handle all that power after all..."

Knuckles pushes himself up. "Whatever's happened to him, we gotta snap him out of it!"

Before they can do anything, however, Sonic disappears in a flash of blue, leaving a shockwave that knocks the three to the ground, and burnt grass in his wake. When they come to their senses, Sonic is nowhere to be seen, but explosions boom in the distance.

Eggman descends in his Eggmobile, followed by Sage floating next to him. There's a grim look on his face.

"Foolish hedgehog," he said, "he got in over his head and lost all control. Should've known not to take that kind of power lightly."

"This… out of my infinite calculations, this is the worst-case scenario." Sage shook her head. "He's been completely corrupted. If he's in this form for too long, he will–"

"No!" Tails interrupted, "I am not losing my brother to this!" He looks up to her, brows furrowed and a fire burning in his eyes. "Sage! You can track his movements, right?"

"Yes."

"You!" He looks to Eggman, who's scowling, "You're going to help us catch him!"

Eggman scoffs. "And what makes you think I'll help you?"

"Well, Sonic could come back at any moment, and, in this state, it's very likely he'll send you into orbit with zero hesitation the moment he sees you," Tails threatened, "plus, you're the only one with any tech on hand that could help us catch him. So either you help us get him under control, or he ends you along with us and the rest of the island."

"Tch– oh, fine!" Eggman grumbled, "I'll do it, but don't you dare think I'll ever help you again. This is the last time, got it?"

"Hmph." Tails glared at him, earning him a glare back.

Another explosion reverberates nearby, followed by Sonic screaming, catching everyone's attention.

"If my simulations are correct…" Sage began, "It should be possible to repurpose one of father's energy generators to siphon the Chaos and cyber energy out of him. But doing so comes at the risk of his life." Eggman seems to smile at that last sentence.

"Guys, I don't think we have much time left! H-how are we supposed to catch him like this?" Amy asked, gripping her hammer tightly.

Tails' heart drops, but he shakes his head. "It's worth a shot. It's not like we have any other options." Tails turns to Amy and Knuckles. "We're going to distract him while Eggman gets whatever he needs to catch him and bring him back to us. We don't have any time to waste, so let's go!"

Amy and Knuckles nod, and with that, the three set off after Sonic, following Sage's lead while Eggman goes in search for the necessary pieces to bring him down.

-

Noise. Too much. Hurts. It hurts. Head hurts. Burning. Too much noise. It hurts. It burns. It–

"You think you can escape the inevitable, mortal?"

…?

"Fool. Don't think you have bested me simply because you have destroyed my physical form. You cannot kill me, for I am infinite."

…!

"Your arrogance shall be your End."

-

Sonic's screams echo throughout Ouranos, he screams until his voice cracks and gives out. The pain, the burning, he can't take it. Can't think. His heart pounds in his chest as his form flickers red. He can't stop moving. He can't.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

"There!" Sage said, pointing at Sonic as the rest caught up to her. "He's becoming more unstable! We need to act quickly!"

"Got it, kid!" Knuckles responded, "We'll take it from here!"

Knuckles immediately goes in for a punch, but Sonic is quick to dodge and retaliate, lunging at him and biting at his arm. Knuckles cries out in pain as he tries to shove him off.

Amy swoops in and, with a well-timed swing of her hammer, knocks Sonic away.

"I hate to do this to you, Sonic, but it's the only way!" Amy exclaims, but it falls upon deaf ears.

Sonic growls and pounces, bashing into her and knocking her down. Her hammer slips from her hands and falls just out of reach.

Before he can attack, Tails shoots him down with his arm cannon, the electric shot stunning him for a moment. "I'm sorry, Sonic," he muttered, seeing how much pain his brother was in.

Eggman and Sage approach from behind Tails, with some kind of device attached to the Eggmobile. A claw stretched out from the bottom of the floating vehicle, snatching Sonic while he's stunned.

He squirms and kicks and yells out in a vain attempt to free himself from the claw's iron grip. The device begins to rumble, and…

Sonic screams as the device drains him of his energy. Electricity sparks around him, the Emeralds finally leaving his body, flying off in different directions. It rips into his very being, tearing the corruption away from his body and into the Eggmobile's engines. The vehicle trembles, becoming overloaded with power.

"Father! Get out!" Sage cries.

Eggman hastily leaps out of the vehicle, barely landing on his feet, just as its internal mechanisms begin to explode under the immense pressure. The claw releases Sonic, letting him fall limp onto the grass as it crashes mere yards away and combusts.

"Sonic!" Tails, Amy, and Knuckles cry out as they rush to his side.

As he lies motionless on the grass, the voices of the crowd of five fade into merely distant echoes, until the burning pain that seared his body subsides, and everything goes quiet.

-

…

…

…

… It's dark.

His body felt so… drained. And heavy.

What's that noise? … Voices?

"I don't know how much longer I can keep him stable, father…" a younger, worried voice says, strangely sounding like it's coming out of a speaker.

"Just a little bit longer, Sage. The inhibitors are almost done… There!" an older voice says.

"Great! Now get them on, quick! Before the cyber corruption gets any worse!" a high-pitched voice exclaimed.

A hand gently lifts his left wrist, and something clicks around it. Then his right. Then around his ankles. Whatever it is feels heavy, and cold. But, somehow, the rest of his body begins to feel lighter.

"It's working! Oh my gosh, it's really working!"

"Pfft, of course it is! Thanks to my- and Sage's- ingenious design! And no thanks to you."

… What are they talking about…?

His eyes inch open, bright, white light filtering through, blinding him. He groans, closing his eyes again and rubbing them. His head hurt.

"Sonic? Are you okay? Can you hear me?" Another new voice spoke up.

"C'mon man, you've been out for almost two days now. Get up, sleepyhead!" Yet another new voice, deeper and rougher.

He feels a large hand push him. He jolts.

Suddenly, he found himself on the other side of the room, looking at five strangers that stared back at him with confused and worried looks on their strangely familiar faces. A fox with two tails, a pink hedgehog, a red echidna, and two humans, a giant clad in red with a dignified mustache, and a child that didn't look quite real.

His quills bristled. He felt his chest tighten, his breathing quicken, his hands trembling.

The fox looked at him with terrified blue eyes. "Sonic…?"

He tilts his head, confused.

Who's… Sonic?