𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜: 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬

      The blue hedgehog was calmly running through the forest, when he suddenly stopped near a small cave. — Look! I just had to accelerate, and my new vision led me to the next fragment! — he said to himself and without hesitation he decided to immediately go there. He accidentally presses a certain button plate on the floor without noticing it and a long stick with a sharp spike suddenly comes out from the floor, which almost hit Sonic in the right eye. The latter was frightened in time and immediately jumped back. With his new vision, he looked down and saw the very same button plate that he had accidentally stepped on. — Okay okay. From now on I will think before I go anywhere. — he added to himself and looked around more carefully with his new vision. — Hm-m... A room with trophies?... — he was not mistaken. Around on the stone walls hung wooden frames on which hung the heads of various anthropomorphic animals, as if a real maniac or cannibal lived here, who eats Mobians and leaves their heads as souvenirs. Ahead was a fragment of the tablet, which he was actually looking for. — Wow! Is this really our Mr. Shard? Right on a silver platter. This can only mean one thing... He took a couple of slow steps forward. A huge boulder immediately fell on top of him, from which Sonic managed to jump forward, jumping and somersaulting like a roller. Then darts began to shoot from the walls on the sides, from which the supersonic man managed to dodge, bend down, crawl, and on the last path jump over the shooting that was below. — IT. IS. A. TRAP!!! — he pronounced one syllable each time he attempted a dodge. He approaches the counter on which the fragment lay and takes it in his hands. — Yes! Well, it wasn't that difficult. — but he was just too early to rejoice, because while he was distracted by the fragment, someone from behind blocked the exit with a huge pile of stones and the only exit was blocked. — OH, YOU ARE KIDDING ME!!! EGGMAN THIS IS NOT FUNNY ANYMORE!!! — he shouted, but instead of the answer of the old and familiar crooked voice of an elderly mustache, he heard the giggle of a girl. — This laughter! — Have you really forgotten about me long ago? — he heard that same girl’s voice from afar. — Sticks? What kind of joke? Why did you do that? — Are you afraid of water here?... Right?... — he heard from her, and instead of darts, water began to flow through the holes in the walls without stopping and the water slowly filled the entire cave. — Try to find a way out of here if you are still afraid of water. And if you hold out long enough, I'll let you leave with this piece of stone. — Ha! You don't know me well now, Sticks. Consider me leveled up! — the hedgehog grinned in response and began, with the help of his new vision, to look for an alternate way to get out of here. He saw that Sticks was still standing behind the rubble at that exit and had not yet moved anywhere, as if she was waiting for him to get out of the cave through that exit, although it was already blocked and Sonic did not have time to drip it. Looking around even more carefully, he noticed that there was an opening on the ceiling between the bricks, through which light was leaking and the stone was shaking a little. Sonic immediately realized that he could get out of here through the emergency exit to the roof. Hiding the fragment in the needles on his head, Sonic began to spin around in place and from time to time, like a cannonball from a cannon, hit the loose brick on the ceiling until it slowly fell out onto the floor. The emergency exit was open and Sonic immediately escapes through it. — Tada-a-am! I am free! — but he rejoiced again early, because something flew into the back of his head. He took the thing out of the back of his head and looked at it. It was a dart with a mini syringe. Apparently a sleeping pill, because Sonic himself began to see, even with new vision, how everything around him was blurring. He fell to the floor and ate holding on his hands, in an attempt to at least see behind him the one who shot at him, and he ate to see Sticks herself, holding a reed straw in her right hand, through which she apparently spat a dart into the back of his head. — Rest, my prey. Gather your strength. When you wake up, we will continue... the HUNT! — the badger smiled sarcastically. After hearing what he heard, the hedgehog cannot hold his eyelids and covers his eyes with them, letting out his last breath.

Some time later

      Sonic woke up with blurry vision in the middle of the forest in a wooden cage. — Oh, my head! — he said to himself, clutching his head, when suddenly a dart flew into the back of his head again. — AH!!! What the hell? — he cursed, tearing the sharp end of the needle off the dart from the back of his head and throwing it away. — There was poison in that dart. So you are now at death's door, my prey. — Sticks grinned behind the trees, but Sonic heard her voice perfectly. — But if you hurry, you can get the antidote. The first thing Sonic did was to run up to the cage and, taking hold of the bars, began to shake the cage with himself inside. But strangely enough, the cage door was open. Either Sticks forgot to close the cage, or she deliberately left it open, but slightly closed it to make it easier for him to obtain the antidote. The hedgehog did not stand still and think for too long, because the poison could quickly kill him at any moment if he did not hurry up. Using his echolocation vision, he examined the forest around him and, to the southwest of him, he discovered that Sticks was jumping from a tree branch to the branches of other trees and thereby trying to escape from him. — Yeah! I’ll catch up now, it won’t seem enough! — Sonic himself grinned and ran only below, along the grass, so that she would not notice him from above. Sticks at this time continued to run and jump from one tree branch to another from other trees. She knew that Sonic was running after her below and deliberately pretended that she did not suspect him, although in fact it was the other way around. Sonic really didn’t suspect that she had noticed him and didn’t show it to him so that he ran after her. Noticing where she was running, he ran, having become confident, removed the new vision from his eyes and ran faster than Sticks, overtaking her and running in the same direction as her. He hoped to wait for her there and suddenly attack. But as soon as he found himself on a new slope on a new rock, a bamboo cage formed below, which quickly grabbed Sonic into a trap. He did not have time to foresee it with his new vision and fell into the trap of Sticks. — “Don’t always be confident of victory ahead of time, Sonic! Think first, before...” — Watchguardian in Sonic’s head immediately spoke until he interrupted him. — WELL I UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING, PLEASE BE SILENT!!! YOU'RE ONLY INTERFERING WITH ME!!! — he shouted and, accelerating beyond sound speed, tried to break the cage, running along the walls of the bamboo bars. But only halfway there he got tired and fell. He was really exhausted and fell to the floor and began to catch his breath. - What's wrong with me? — “The Poison Sticks is slowly destroying you. Your strength is running out and you begin to quickly get tired at supersonic speed. I tried to explain this to you, but before you listened to me, you didn’t even want to think about what the poison was doing to you and wanted to finish everything quickly. This is what happens when you rush without thinking first or listening to me first.” — the keeper lightly scolded the naughty hedgehog, and the latter, having already caught his breath, stood up and answered: — Okay okay. Now I understand everything. — So you got my prey. — Sticks herself grinned, appearing behind Sonic. — What?... Not so fast and dexterous anymore?... — she asked mockingly and chuckled quietly to the side. She took out a knife and, cutting the rope of two bamboo sticks tied together, destroyed the cage with the hedgehog inside. — Come on! Catch me! What are you worth? Or are you already tired? — “She’s only mocking you and deliberately provoking you. You have to outsmart her so that she comes to you on her own and doesn’t have time to figure it out.” — Watchguardian’s voice answers, and the hedgehog, having listened to him, began to think: — “I think I understand.” — he thinks, pretends to hiss through his teeth with anger, takes a step forward and deliberately falls to the floor, although in fact he still had a little strength to run up to the badger at least with the speed of a mortal Mobian. Then he began to lie there and pretend to catch his breath. Sticks's grin immediately changed to excitement: — So... Sonic?... What are you doing?... Did my poison affect you so quickly?... You should have fizzled out in half an hour, after which I should have cut off your head so that you wouldn’t suffer. — she thought out loud, and Sonic just continued to pretend and even said: — Well, do it!... I won’t live anymore anyway. — he said through inhalations and exhalations, and Sticks took pity and, taking out a flask with an antidote, decided to give it to her victim so that she would not suffer so quickly and ahead of time. As soon as Sticks approached Sonic and raised his chin with her palm, the hedgehog immediately managed to grab her hand with his right hand and throw the badger to the ground, pressing her muzzle to the ground, and he took the flask with the antidote from her other hand with his other hand and drank it all content. Although Sticks hoped to give him only half, so that the poison would not disappear, but would only weaken slightly and last even longer. And now, freed from the poison, the superspeeder again felt freedom in his lungs and heartbeat. — You bastard, you are my prey, and I am the hunter. It was I who should have caught you, not you me! — What's the matter with you, Sticks? I do not recognize you. You and I were close friends, and you only loved watching animals. Why did you become a hunter and kill animals for trophies? — You don't know me well, Sonic. — Sticks grinned and hit the hedgehog between the legs with her right foot. When Sonic let go of her and grabbed his weak spot, the badger stood up on her hands and kicked her in the face, throwing Sonic away from her, and then ran away. — COME BACK, STICKS!!! — he shouted and ran after her downstairs, while she again ran only along the branches of the trees, that is, on top. Sonic continued to run after her below her, hoping to overtake her, and then suddenly slowed down, deciding that suddenly she was luring him into a trap again and decided to follow her so that she would run in front of him, so as not to repeat his mistake. This time the badger ran into another cave, and Sonic now followed her with slow steps. — Come in, don’t be afraid! — “I have a very strange feeling.” — thought the hedgehog. He found himself in complete darkness and could not see anything, but he moved on. Luckily, his new vision told him where the stone walls were so he wouldn't accidentally bump into or trip while going up or down. He slowly walked towards a small tunnel that was divided into five paths and with the help of his new vision, he noticed that Sticks was hiding behind the right tunnel and why she was sitting with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head down. The passage there was blocked with large stones. Luckily, there was a large iron stick lying nearby, resembling a crowbar. After thinking a little, Sonic picked it up, stuck it into the free tip, resembling a hole, and pulling the crowbar, like a lever, parted the pile of stones, thereby opening a passage. — Sonic? — She suddenly raised her head when she saw him. Sonic attacked her before she did anything and grabbed her by the throat, preparing to strangle her. — No, no, Sonic, stop! I beg you, believe me! It was not me. That Sticks who tried to kill you and is teasing you is an impostor. — So I believed you. — Sonic hissed incredulously through his teeth, but Watchguardian immediately intervened in his head: — “She’s not lying at all, Sonic. I feel like this is a different Sticks. And she emitted the energy of the fragment from herself.” After listening to him, he immediately released the real Sticks. — Sticks, is it really you? — Surely! Are you crazy, attacking your own people and strangling them? — the badger tried to catch her breath, holding her throat. — Sorry, I didn’t understand right away. I thought it was you and that you were trying to deceive me. But who is this impostor? — I don't know. I was just walking through the forest last night when I suddenly found a glowing pebble and, out of curiosity, picked it up in my hands. Suddenly she appeared. At first I thought it was my reflection in some kind of mirror, but then she attacked me, putting me to sleep with poisonous gas, for one thing she told me that she would kill all my close and familiar friends, and first of all she would start with you. And then I woke up here. I tried to free him, but the only exit was blocked and I lost hope even of salvation, since I only heard the evil laughter of my voice. She told all this almost bursting into tears. The hedgehog hugged his friend to calm her down and continued the conversation: — Don't worry, Sticks. I'll deal with this impostor. In the meantime, run away from here and be careful. And next time, if you suddenly see something strange, don’t take it into your hands again, but first of all tell us all, so that we too know. — Fine. — Having calmed down a little and wiped away her tears, she got to her feet and ran away from the cave, and Sonic, with the help of his new vision, determined where that other Sticks was and went along another tunnel, which led him to her. Sticks was waiting for the hedgehog at the very end of a large round room, somewhat reminiscent of a large stadium. When he entered there, all the torches around him lit up at once and illuminated the entire stadium. The stone cave stadium was not that big and looked more like a battle arena. The exit behind the hedgehog was closed by a wooden gate, and above the small passages, reminiscent of windows or balconies, sat the inhabitants of the dungeon, the passage into which Sticks had once blocked at home. They sat, watched and applauded Sticks herself. The latter nodded and waved her hands in gratitude, after which she took out a knife with her left hand and a wooden stake with the other. — Don't play with the predator, prey. You are my prey. — I think I understand who you are, an impostor. — Really? — Sticks grinned. — You are not the real Sticks, but just her clone. And not just a clone, but a negative one with all the negative qualities, unlike the original. The real Sticks never behaved like a huntress who would hunt her friends and collect their trophies. — explained the blue hedgehog. — Enough chatter! — the badger hissed through her teeth. At that moment, the real Sticks, armed with a pole, burst through the wooden door. — Sticks? — Sonic asked. — You? — Her evil double was surprised. — You can’t defeat my evil side alone, Sonic. But we will defeat it together. — she said, to which Sonic smiles and gets into a fighting stance. — Let's kick her butt! The evil version of Sticks ran screaming to attack first, waving sharp objects. Being almost closer, she jumped up and was preparing to plunge the knife with the code into Sonic’s heart, when the latter managed to jump up, and the other Sticks jumped to the side. The evil twin looked up and hissed: — What are you doing there, coward? Get downstairs immediately! — Not really. I don’t want to. — he deliberately teased her. The evil Sticks got angry and jumped up after him, and Sonic jumped forward. She missed again and jumped after him, trying to injure or at least scratch him. — Why, you’re too slow for a predator. You're slowing down again. No, no. No, no, no. — he mocked her, dodging each of her attacks. At one point, she was able to stab him in the stomach with a stake, leaving a small scratch. — Ah! Okay. I'm tired of you yourself. — he added and tripped the villainess from her feet to the floor. She stood up again, but Sonrk knocked the stake out of her hand from her leg, and good Sticks knocked out the knife from the evil one with a pole, then pushed her in the stomach with the end of a stick and, placing the pole on the ground, spun on it like a stripper, throwing the evil one off her feet against the wall. — COWABANGA!!! — Good Sticks shouted, curling up into a ball and trying to hit herself in this state on the fly, but only crashed into the wall, since the evil Sticks managed to figure out how to dodge. Evil Sticks tried to hit the good one with her fists and feet, and the latter deftly dodged, perfectly predicting all her actions, since she is she, which means she loves the same thoughts. — Stop predicting my actions and stand still. I can't hit you. — she grumbled. However, the kind Sticks continued to deliberately bounce and dodge, and Sonic, as if mature, could only stand still and admire the spectacle. Of course, this was a cunning plan by the kind Sticks herself. She simply deliberately forced her to try to attack and at the same time waited for her to get tired. And her plan worked. Evil Sticks exhausted herself, allowing the good version to grab the evil one from behind and hold her down. — Let me go, faker. — Faker? And it seems to me that you are the fake badger. Although you're a real disgrace considering how evil you are. If I were you, I would never wish harm on anyone. You don't even deserve to be called my copy. — said the good version, and the crowd of spectators only rejoiced and even whistled with admiration. — Sticks, she is you. I think it's all about the shard you picked up. He divided you. Good and evil essence. She is your evil essence while you, on the contrary, are a good essence. That's why you deny that you would never do something like that. When you were whole with her, you just thought about all this, but I try to restrain myself so as not to do that. — Sonic explained to them what the keeper himself told him while they were fighting. — You need to unite again. — No, I have long sought to be free and always dreamed of being like this. I don't want to go back. — the evil version of Sticks tried to free herself. — Let's. We should be together. — good Sticks did not let go of the evil one and hugged herself. Suddenly, both Stickses shone with a bright glow from a look at which even Sonic closed his eyes. When the radiance stopped, Sticks alone was already there with a fragment of the tablet in her hands. The crowd of spectators only thought that this was part of the production and applauded. Sticks, finding herself as a single whole, began to remember everything. She really thought about something bad and about the dirty tricks that she wanted to do, but she always changed her mind and tried to do only good things. — Now I remember. — You remembered. Is it over? — the blue hedgehog asked her. — Yes. I assume this is yours? — she asked him and handed into his hands the same fragment that was still shining. — Thank you, Sticks. Sonic in this reality was able to get one fragment and at the same time save one of his friends from his evil essence. How did other versions of hedgehogs act at the same time?