find the truth of who i'm meant to become [pt3]

GREEN HILL

"What the heck is that?" Knuckles yelled from somewhere not too far behind Sonic.

It was unlike anything Green Hill had ever seen before. A huge, black tunnel was snaking down from the sky, emitting a strange blue light which kept sparking. Aquamarine lightning zipped around the edges. It looked a little like a tornado, but thicker and as black as night. As it approached the tops of the hills, bits of rock and grass broke off and swirled upwards to meet it, forming a ring of debris.

Unfortunately, it was something Sonic had seen before. His frown deepened.

"It looks like the Void." He said it half to himself, but his friends heard.

"What's the Void?" Amy shouted over the roaring darkness and a crack of lightning.

An image flashed through Sonic's mind of Shadow falling towards a black pit which was somehow inkier than the darkness of the rest of the gap between the shatterspaces. The green chaos emerald slipped from Shadow's gloved hand, vanishing into the Void - lost. Gone forever. Shadow would have gone too, if Sonic hadn't caught him.

He glanced back over his shoulder at his friends: Knuckles charging forward, a red streak; Amy right behind with her hammer at the ready; Rouge and Tails flying overhead, their faces grim. Tails caught his look.

"Sonic?" His voice held a warning note. "What are you thinking?"

There's nothing we can't do if we all stick together. Sonic had said that himself, right after they defeated Eggman the last time. His mind flashed through scenes - Nine's face contorting into a scowl as he pulled himself away from Sonic's touch; his friends appearing in the Grim in full battle gear; everyone working together to take down the alphas. There were times when he couldn't do it alone.

"Alright team!" He yelled back. "Don't get sucked up by that thing or it's game over. We need a plan to shut this thing down. Tails?"

Tails pulled one of his gadgets off his belt and started punching buttons. Amy hit away a piece of debris with her hammer that would have knocked him out of the sky while Rouge protectively flew in closer. Knuckles started hopping up a cliffside while Sonic zipped up vertically, pausing at the top to wait for the others to catch up. Blue lightning flashed above him, briefly illuminating his azure fur. He hopped from one foot to the other and ground his teeth. What was taking Tails so long? Lightning flashed once more, lighting up his fur again in a glow which seemed to last a little longer this time.

"Sonic!" Amy had taken up a defensive position further down the cliff side to protect Tails while he fiddled with his gadget. She waved her hammer at him. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Sonic glanced down at himself. The glow persisted, and now blue sparks were dancing across his body. He didn't have time to speculate. The blue sparks tugged at his fur, lifting him up into the air. "Woah!"

He spun his legs, but without solid footing couldn't get anywhere. Tails shouted something he couldn't hear. The last thing Sonic saw before he got sucked up into the Void was a red streak shooting across the grass as Knuckles raced towards him, too late.

Darkness closed around him. The Void seemed to retract with him, like a venus fly trap retreating once it had caught its prey. Blue lightning flashed, illuminating the debris spinning around him.

"Not again!" Sonic yelled as he and the Void vanished, leaving behind a peaceful Green Hill aglow under the warmth of a setting sun.