Tales from the Phantom

Battle Scars

Author's notes/TW: This is one of the heaviest episodes so far, and includes themes of mental and physical trauma. TW for gore

"Ahh!" Sonic woke with a start, remembering the day.
"Man, I must have slept a lot longer then planned, I wonder what time it is?" It was pitch black, so it must have been late. Everyone must have gone to bed.

But after reaching for his phone, there was nothing there, and he fell out of the bed, which seemed to fade into the only blackness.
"What the heck is going on?" He looked around for a sign of anything besides the darkness, surprised to find a familiar figure faced away from him.

"Cream?"

Turning around, Sonic saw that she was crying, and she ran into his arms, "Oh, mr Sonic! I'm glad you're here! Where are we?"
"I don't know," Sonic admitted, "but I think that we should walk," he took her hand and the two started to venture into the bleakness, Cream gripping his hand tight.

"SONIC!"

A voice boomed out from the darkness.
"Tails?" Sonic looked over his shoulder and saw Tails, in that dreadful scene where he fell, hearing his friend's yells of terror before he fell unconscious
"I think that these are memories from the war," Sonic realized as the scene changed, showing Sonic cornered in a cell by a Shadow projection and Infinite, holding a sword.
"You may want to look away, Cream," he grimly said, watching himself as Shadow pinned him down as Infinite slashed his sword down his leg.

That had been how he'd gotten his scar in the first place.

The scene cut again, Cream gasping as she had to watch more of what they had done to her friend that always seemed to happy, and she now realized just how much they'd hurt him.

"You're useless"
"Nobody cares about you"
Where are you friends now?"
"If they're your 'friends', why did they leave you alone?"
"After all, you've always been there for them, and this is how they repay you?"
"Are you even worth anything to them?"

Cream had to listen all of those things that had been said, and watched everything they put him through.

They would then leave him, all alone, terrified, hurt and bleeding, tied up in the freezing darkness.

But the whole time, all he cared about was them

"Where's Tails!?" Sonic yelled, Metal Sonic glaring at him, "Tell me now!"
"That is none of your concern, you spiny runt!" Eggman came up to the cage.

"Then what about Cream?" He eventually asked, his voice breaking up

Cream gasped, surprised to hear her name.

"What about her? You better not have laid a finger on her!" He angrily yelled.
"Why do you suddenly care about that rabbit?" Eggman sneered.
"Because she doesn't deserve to grow up like this! She's so sweet and innocent, so caring! She doesn't deserve to have to go through a war."
Eggman just laughed.
"She's always there for people, and she never asks questions. She.. was like a sister to me," Sonic admitted, as the memory faded away with Sonic being attacked again.

By now he couldn't take it anymore, breaking down in front of Cream. He didn't care what they thought anymore.
"Mr Sonic it's ok now! That was just a memory," she tried to comfort her friend, but he didn't seem to hear her.

Unfortunately for them, there was one last flashback, this on the worst of all.
It showed a Phantom Tails attacking Sonic, who was chained to the floor.

This time, Sonic had to look away, but Cream saw the horrors.

And then, there was a flash of darkness, Cream finding herself face-to-face with another memory, this time Sonic was chained again, but this time they was so tight that they seemed to cut into his skin. He was cut in many places, and he screamed in pain through a gag, tears falling to the ground. Looking at his legs, the girl could tell that they was both badly broken.
He was an inky back, and almost seemed monstrous

She looked to her side, there was no Sonic there, and realized that this flashback wasn't actually a flashback, that was actually Sonic.

"I see.." Cream moved forwards, but the Dark Sonic only just tried to move away.
"I only want to help. Please, let me." She started to undo the chains, somehow able to undo the tight clasps, freeing him from them. Looking into his eyes, he found it hard to look back.
This is a reflection of his mental state, we're inside his mind Cream realized as he eventually found the strength to look into her eyes, his own misty and unsteady. Cream wasn't even sure if he could see properly.

For some reason, there was a first aid box nearby, and Cream to clean and dress some of his wounds, "You've been through so much, haven't you?" She watched as he tried to help himself, trying to stand, but failing.
"You can't do this alone," she told the mind-Sonic, "But let me and mother help you, we can help you to get better. You was screaming for help, wasn't you? But no one heard you, and it got overlooked and you thought that nobody cared,"
He seemed to nod, so Cream showed him part of his arm, free from any injury, color returned to it "Look, you're already healing," she smiled, and Sonic suddenly hugged her, tears still falling.

"Thanks, Cream,"

And that was when Cream woke up, in her own bed.
Sonic
She ran onto the guest room, where she found Sonic sat up, and as he turned to her, she saw a single tear roll down his cheek.
"Thanks, Cream,"
He said again, the rabbit knowing that all that had happened was real. They had both been in his mind together.

"Oh, Sonic!" She ran to the bed, "I didn't realize that was how much you was hurt!" She was crying herself now, and that was when Vanilla came in.

"What's going on in here?" She asked, confused at why both of them was crying.
"I'm not sure.." Sonic started, "But I think that I properly opened up for the first time in forever.."

Vanilla knew at that moment why he seemed upset, and immediately rushed to his side and sat on the bed, opening her arms for a hug.
He hesitated a bit before letting her, and he immediately felt safe. Something he hadn't felt in a long time.
He felt secure, warm, and loved, it felt.. motherly. And it stayed like that until he fell asleep again.

And that night, for the first time since his capture, Sonic Wachowski had a nice dream.
But one about torment and restrainment, but one of friendship and freedom.