Sonic X Fan Fiction ❯ Sonic X: Night of the Vampire ❯ The Dark Side ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The time was now 12:13 am. Sonic and friends traveled slowly so that they might not be spotted by the Giaki. They had to make it back to Tails' lab so he could hopefully find a way to defeat Gigex. It wasn't easy to navigate in the midst of the raging storm. At one point they had to hide in a ditch to avoid being spotted by a nearby group of Giaki. Chris was having the least trouble avoiding detection because his suit had a built in cloaking device.
 
“Chris that suit of yours is really sweet!” said Sonic.
 
“Thanks. Whenever I wasn't making improvements to the teleporter I usually spent my time designing this.”
 
“How's your family?”
 
“Oh they're fine. Sometimes my mom forgets I'm all grown up though… How's Tails been doing?”
 
“… Not well. He spends a lot more of his time alone these days in his workshop doing who knows what. I don't think he gets much sleep, he has a habit of dosing off lately. And whenever he does sleep he's usually moaning.”
 
“He must still be torn up about what happened to Cosmo.”
 
“I guess so.”
 
On Chris' planet it had been two years since he returned from helping Sonic and the others defeat the Metarex, but he still remembered how much Cosmo meant to Tails. Cosmo was willing to sacrifice herself to defeat Dark Oak, and Tails was the one who reluctantly pulled the trigger. Chris could only imagine what would happen if he was ever put in that difficult position.
 
Suddenly Tails stopped in front of everyone.
 
“What is it Tails?” asked Sonic.
 
Tails shivered and said, “The willies.”
 
Everyone stopped and looked around but no Giaki could be seen.
 
“I don't see anything.” said Rouge.
 
For a few minutes they continued on, then Tails stopped again.
 
“No wait. Something is here… Something that cannot be seen.”
 
“Computer switch to thermal infrared vision.” said Chris.
 
Automatically the visor on Chris' helmet switched from its normal setting to thermal infrared. He looked around until he saw a heat signature.
 
“Over there!”
 
Chris fired an energy blast in the direction he saw the heat signature. Upon impact whatever it was the blast hit yelled in pain, suddenly became visible, and collapsed to the ground. Tails ran over to take a look.
 
“Oh no, It's Espio!”
 
Espio's eyes opened revealing a bright crimson glow, then he shot up and yelled, “For the sake of Master Gigex we shall vanquish you!”
 
“We?” asked Knuckles.
 
Suddenly more Giaki jumped out of no where led by two more familiar faces.
 
“Vector! Charmy!”
 
“Where are the chaos emeralds!?!” demanded the vampire Vector.
 
“You want the Chaos Emeralds?” asked Sonic.
 
“Our Master needs them to realize his dream.” said the vampire Charmy.
 
“Now give them to us and we will make your end easy.” said vampire Vector.
 
“Well you're out of luck.” said Sonic. “I don't have the emeralds with me. And I'll never tell you where they are.”
 
“Then you will willingly divulge their location once you are one of us.”
 
“You want to turn me into a Giaki? You'll have to catch me first!”
 
Sonic dashed off in one direction at high speed expecting the Giaki to follow him, but when he took a minute to look back he didn't see anything.
 
“That's weird if I remember the stories correctly then the Giaki should be a challenge even for me. Something's not right here.”
 
Sonic turned around and ran back to his friends.
 
“Sonic! They got him!” exclaimed Chris.
 
“What?”
 
“When you dashed off they grabbed Tails and disappeared.”
 
Tails awoke to find himself in a dark room chained to a giant table that was bolted to the floor.
 
“What the… Where am I? How did I get here?”
 
Suddenly the room got very cold and the shadows seemed to take on a life of their own.
 
“Welcome to my home…”
 
“Gigex…”
 
“I need the chaos emeralds to realize my dream, and I want vengeance on the descendants of my enemies. And you're going to help me get both.”
 
“You'll have to kill me.”
 
“Willing to die for your friends? That would make Cosmo proud wouldn't it?”
 
“What did you say?”
 
“I know what's been on your mind Tails. You and I are not so different.”
 
“I am nothing like you!”
 
“You're not? You don't wish you could change the past, you don't feel like life is one big conspiracy against you, you don't wonder why things always seem to work out for other people and not you, you don't feel an impossible anger strengthening your guilt until the memory of your loved one is just poison in your veins?”
 
Tails opened his mouth to protest, but Gigex's convictions were hitting home. Gigex took what looked like a small golden heart shaped locket out from underneath his armor and stared at it in his hand.
 
“And in your darkest moments of despair you don't find yourself wishing the person you loved never existed… so you'd be spared your pain?”
 
Tails started to cry.
 
“Cosmo…”
 
Gigex put the locket back underneath his armor and said, “Don't you worry… I'm here to make it all better… Look into my eyes.”
 
Suddenly the whole world began to spin. Tails began to feel dizzy and nauseous. Then suddenly everything went dark. Suddenly Tails found himself in his captain's seat on The Blue Typhoon, and before him he could see the Dark Oak Planet, he could see Cosmo weakening it, he could hear the word “Fire” screaming in his ears.
 
“I can't.” he said, “I won't!”
 
But his hand seemed to have a mind of it's own and pulled the trigger to the Sonic Power Cannon.
 
“NO!!!”
 
It happened all over again, he watched the Dark Oak planet and Cosmo disappear in a giant explosion of light, and then all was dark again. Tails fell to his knees, his body supported only by his trembling hands, and he cried.
 
“She's gone… gone forever… I'll never see her again… I'll never get to tell her how beautiful she looked with long hair… I'll never hold her in my arms again… I'll never whisper in her ear… She's gone…”
 
Suddenly the images of Sonic and Shadow appeared before him, and then he started to get angry.
 
“You… why did she die and why not you two!?! If you two survived why couldn't she!?! Shadow… why did you survive and not her… you aren't even half the person Cosmo was!!! Why Sonic? Why does everything work out for you and not for me!?! You have always had the spotlight! You take the credit for everything! You don't deserve any of it!!! You don't deserve to live!!!”
 
Now he saw Amy, Cream, Chris, and the rest.
 
“All of you… All the same… You all stood by and let this happen!!! You are no different… Kill you all… you took my Cosmo away from me… I would have sacrificed all your miserable lives if it meant I could keep her… deserve to die… Kill you all… Kill you all… KILL! KILL! KILL!!!”
 
Tails' eyes shot open revealing the wicked crimson glow. A few minutes ago he was crying , now he was laughing his heart out. The color faded from his body, razor sharp claws shot out of his fingertips, two great big fangs erupted in his mouth. One minute ago he was bound to the table, now he tore through the chains like they were thin air. Now nothing could stop him. Gigex looked on with triumph and said, “Welcome to our family.”