Sonic peered open his eyes to be greeted by the sight of a sterile white ceiling. As his vision adjusted, he looked around from where he laid. He was in what looked like a hospital room. He thought that he was alone until he looked over.

Though a glass pane, the Freedom Fighters were standing in the hall, talking to Doctor Quack in a hushed tone.

Unbelievable, Sonic thought. They'd actually taken him back to Knothole. He didn't have time for this set back. He had places to go! People to roboticize! If he was here, then...

He tried to life his right arm. Not only did it ache from his injury, but it was jerked back. He looked down to see that his wrist was chained to the bed. The same proved to be true for his left side and both ankles. No... no no no! Sonic immediately cursed himself for letting himself get captured.

Luckily, the Ruby was still right where he remembered it, just under his hospital gown. Another thing that annoyed him: clothes in general.

He could make out wisps of conversation between his former friends and the doctor.

"He's woozy from the blood loss and he might have developed an infection in his arm,"

"Will he be okay?"

"Presumably. That Ruby though..."

"What about it?"

"I think it's the cause of all the carnage he's been causing,"

Silence filled the air for a moment until the person speaking to Doctor Quack- most likely Nicole cleared her throat. "What do you mean?"

"I need to run more tests to be sure, but I think that gem has a component that amplifies negative emotions,"

"So he's... possessed?"

The doctor clicked his tongue. "I don't think that's it. He's obviously capable of making his own decisions. The Ruby merely morphed his judgement. It changed his personality, to put it simply,"

Sonic drowned out the rest of the conversation. The Ruby was controlling him...?

NO! That couldn't be it! They probably knew he was listening in and were lying to get him to throw aside his newfound power! And once that happened, he'd be helpless so they would lock him up in prison. He couldn't. There was no turning back from this path.

The hedgehog was left to ponder until he caught another phrase by chance. "The Ruby must be surgically removed,"

He was suddenly alert and frantic, his gaze darting from side to side. They wouldn't even give him a choice! They were going to take the Ruby from him like a mother would take a toy from a naughty child! They were going to force him into submission to rot!

The idea of surgery itself felt like a violation. Sonic was never fond of hospitals. He recalled several times in the past where it took multiple people (sometimes including Tails or Sally) to hold him down for a mere shot. He simply hated needles, scapnels, thermonitors, and ANYTHING used in a hospital.

A few moments later, Doctor Quack walked in alone, clipboard in hand. He smiled, but it was a nervous one. Like he thought Sonic was a poisonous snake coiled and ready to strike. "Ah, Sonic. Are you ready for the operation?"

"Do I look ready to you?" Sonic asked cynically. He narrowed his eyes at the old duck. "Isn't there some law that says a patient can refuse treatment?"

"That doesn't apply if said patient isn't of his or her right mind," Doctor Quack countered. He counted on his fingers as he listed. "For example, drug addicts, alcoholics, suicidals, clinically insane people, the list goes on,"

"I'm not any of those things so keep your grimy little hands off me!"

"Your judgement is clouded, Sonic. That classifies as being not of right mind,"

Sonic growled lowly, feeling like he was being talked down to. He hated it. "My judgement isn't clouded," If his hands weren't bound, he would've used air quotes. "My motives just changed,"

"If your past self saw you now, what would he think?"

Simple. That Sonic had been broken one too many times and was finally lashing out against the world to drown out the hurt. It would've eventually happened, Sonic knew. Sally's death merely triggered it.

The doctor took his patient's silence as an answer. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Leave me be, doc..." the hedgehog hissed, his tone filled with warning. "I'm not afraid of you,"

"Good. I don't want you to be. I'm trying to help you," He pulled out a surgical mask hooked up to what was presumably laughing gas. "You'll thank me later,"

As Doctor Quack lowered the mask toward Sonic's muzzle, the patient summoned forth what little energy he had, willing it tomhelp him. Under his hospital gown, the Ruby glowed vengefully and a force field of energy sent the doctor flying back with a shout.

Sonic then reached down and by sheer force from the Ruby's boost, he ripped off all his chains and hopped to his feet. Doctor Quack was sprawled on the floor, holding the side of his face in pain. Almost immediately, Nicole, Bunnie, Antoine, and Rotor rushed in and surrounded him cautiously.

"Sonic! Cut it out!" Rotor demanded as Bunnie chimed in. "You ain't doing yerself any favors, Suggahhog,"

"Dis madness simply must stop for everyone's sakes," Antoine added. "Lay back down and let zee doctor do his job,"

Sonic scowled venomously and summoned forth two orbs of energy in each hand. Around him, small dark red cubes orbitted around him. His irises burned crimson red once again. The Ruby had filled him with a renewed power. He felt invincible. He felt powerful. He felt infinite. That was why he needed the Ruby. For the power...

"You can't tell me what to do!" he snapped at his former comrades. He flung the orbs forward. The exploded on contact with the tile floor, sending Rotor and Bunnie sprawling back.

Nicole charged forward, her right hand wrapped in virtual green light. Sonic met her blow full force with his own and the room was filled with a cascade of red and green sparks. The hedgehog and lynx both fell back. Sonic instigated the next collision, flinging orbs of energy at Nicole. The A.I lynx wraped herself in a green forcefield, blocking Sonic's blow.

The two repeatedly exchanged blows. The other Freedom Fighters aided Nicole at first but as the battle intensified, they fell back, realizing that is was too dangerous the moment Sonic and Nicole began using power beams.

Red met green in a blinding white light. The beams pushed out from their owner's hands and against each other. At first, they were evenly matched. But as Nicole started showing signs of exhaustion, Sonic's beam growed in length and pushed harder... and harder... and harder.

"Agh! No!" Nicole wailed as her beam dissipated and the red collided with her chest. She screamed as her physical form disintegrated back into the Freedom Fighter's mother computer, trapping her in walls of binary code until her nanite body regenerated, which usually took an hour.

The other Freedom Fighters gaped at the charred spot where Nicole had previously stood. They looked to Sonic to see him staring at the spot grimly, as if he was realizing what he had just done. The hedgehog quickly hid his remorse behind a victorious smirk. He put a hand against the window and it exploded in the form of red tinted glass. He hovered through the new opening and out of sight, out of mind.

A/ N: That sure didn't go well. Maybe next time Sonic will listen. Or perhaps not. We'll just hafta see, won't we?