Sonic grinned, waving farewell to the former rookie as he left to help with the restoration and rescue efforts that were soon to begin. Rookie? Buddy? Gadget? His name didn't really matter; only the friendship they'd made that had saved the world and sent Eggman packing. The fat megalomaniac had nearly succeeded in conquering the world, not to mention nearly ending the blue hedgehog off once and for all, after months of being painfully held prisoner, bound securely hand and foot by energy shackles that left him weak and vulnerable. But thanks to the orange wolf, Sonic's rescue had succeeded and he'd helped take back the world, restoring peace. In a matter of weeks Sonic knew that the last of the roaming robots would be destroyed, good riddance to bad rubbish, and the rebuilding would begin.

It was a freeing feeling, Sonic whooping as he picked up speed, running carefree into the countryside and away from the ruined city. He was free! The jackal known as Infinite was gone. The phantom ruby was destroyed, along with its copies. His friends were safe, and with one final victory all was right in the world. But most of all, he was free; his hellish months of captivity behind him.

But all too soon, Sonic's grin faded as the unexpected happened. What the heck was going on; he was still running, his feet moving so quickly they were a blur. So why were his surroundings slowing down?! Sonic grimaced with a growing worry as he ran faster, his feet picking up speed, worry turning to fear as his surroundings slowed until they stood still, even as he strained to run as fast as he could. "What?! I don't understand, what's going on?!" He was running- boosting in fact- but as Sonic's feet slid uselessly against the ground fear turned to terror, then terror to panic as a familiar sound vibrated through the air; transforming the beautiful scenery to red, shifting energy as the trees and grass dissolved in cubes.

And leaving the hedgehog within a cold, metal room. "NO!" Sonic cried out in despair, not wanting to believe what he saw; surrounded by the cell he was all too familiar with, a familiar blue beam surrounding each limb, and an even more familiar sound behind him. The hero whirled at the fat dictator's laughter, and the amused chuckling of the masked jackal. "I stopped you! We destroyed the death egg!" Sonic shouted at Dr. Eggman, anger on his face as he swiped his hand to one side in denial of what was before him.

The cruel doctor merely smirked at him condescendingly, pleased with what he'd managed to do. "Did you? Or did I merely let you think you'd won? What do you think, Infinite?" The black and white jackal merely laughed at the illusion of freedom he'd created. "All too easy." Then reality hit Sonic like a brick wall, chilling him to the bone as he realized how deeply down the rabbit hole he'd been thrust. His rescue and escape, his fighting, his victory, had all been one, long illusion, created by Infinite and directed by the doctor.

It made all the tortures he'd endured look like so much kindness. The blue hedgehog shuddered, eyes wide as he stepped back from the front of his cell, still trying to find some way to deny that this had all been some elaborate ruse. "No, I beat you! I STOPPED you! BOTH OF YOU!" Sonic shouted, not wanting to believe this, but his own mind betraying him as he knew this was all too true, his own body betraying him as he fell to his knees in shock.

The doctor laughed at his prisoner's horrified confusion, savouring the look of defeat of his hated enemy's face as reality finally sank in. "That's right, rodent. These last days you've not left your cell for even a moment, trapped in an illusion created by the phantom ruby at my direction. I must admit, I didn't expect you to buy into Infinite's falsehoods so eagerly. A final, fitting torture for how you've been resisting me over these last months." Another chuckle from the jackal came forth, enjoying the suffering expression of his prey.

What hurt most for Sonic now was how right Eggman was; he'd believed it, hook, line and sinker. It had all been so real, too. His friends, his surroundings, even now it felt like he couldn't tell which was fantasy and which was reality. But this- him in his cell- was all too real to doubt. "You fooled me, I'll give you that." The hero said through gritted teeth as he pinned his ears back in anger. "But my friends are still out there. They'll stop you." That was right- their victory might've been an elaborate virtual reality illusion, but his friends were stronger than that, and would still be fighting on the planet below.

What reactions he got from his two enemies was anything but a comfort, sending another shiver down his spine. Dr. Eggman grinned gleefully at the enemy that had become nothing more than a plaything for his amusement. "Your friends? Really." The doctor waved for an eggpawn to come forwards, dumping the contents of a box onto the ground in front of Sonic's cell, making the hedgehog gasp. "They tried, I must admit, but their fighting days ended while you were living within Infinite's illusions. I'll cut to the point and just say your friends no longer exist, the world is mine, and I had them all properly cremated out of respect for how long they defied me." Before Sonic's cell were an assortment of tattered garments, familiar shoes and gloves bearing battle damage, dirt, and rust-brown stains that he both recognized and didn't want to see for what it was.

The blue hedgehog felt his body betraying him again, shaking as he stared at all that remained of those he once knew and loved. "Tails...Knuckles...Amy...even..." A pair of broken headphones, a small and cracked helmet, and a familiar gauntlet glove showed the Chaotic hadn't stood a chance. Even the familiar gold rings and gold bracelets lay before him, showing that the nearly white and the dark black hedgehog had both fallen in his absence. He couldn't save them; feelings of guilt joining the grief that made moisture drip from his eyes. He could've done something. He could've been there to help. "You couldn't save them. A pity you were simply. Too. Weak." Infinite gloated, making Sonic jerk his head up to look at him.

The gloating soon ended when Dr. Eggman pulled out a small remote, pressing a button and making Sonic yelp as his wrists and ankles were pulled back together by the energy shackles around them, once more restricting his movements. "Enough is enough. No more rescues at the eleventh hour, no more determined turning-around of my plans. The part about your upcoming execution still stands." The door to his cell opened, a pawn grabbing Sonic by his shoulders and lifting him from the ground. For once the hedgehog didn't fight, dangling limply in its grasp, head hanging with defeat; he'd lost everything, and he knew all too well he couldn't escape his restraints.

The pawn carried him along down the dimly lit halls of the death egg, the only sounds heard being the clanking steps of the eggpawn, the padding of Infinite's shoes, and the clicking of Eggman's boots against the metal floor. No time was wasted in shoving the defeated hero into a pod, Sonic's mouth opening for one last defiant statement, but not given the chance for the words to be heard as the hatch slid shut; sealing his voice inside with him. A push of a button and the pod entered the vacuum of space, rocketing away from his home planet into the void that awaited before bursting into a bright, final explosion.

Years later the enslaved populace would still tell of the spark of light in the night sky; the last sighting of their hero that and their hope that they'd ever see under the unrelenting rule of the Eggman Empire.