Calling All The Monsters (Sonic Halloween Fanfic)

Chapter Four

Outside of the cave, a forest stretched for miles ahead of me. All of the trees were bare, but there were so many of them that their branches obscured the full moon above.

I walked through the forest, chills going up my spine, and it wasn't from the breeze blowing through the bare trunks. I can't say that about many other things, so obviously whatever was going on was freaking me out.

After what felt like an hour of walking, even though it was probably just ten minutes, I came across a clearing in the trees, which soon gave way to a cliff. Right on the edge of the cliff was a huge castle. Its structure was kinda lop-sided, the top of it tilting precariously over the edge of the cliff. The lights were off in the windows, all but one at the very top tower. Light flashed inside that room, making it look like strobe lights.

I cautiously approached the castle and walked up to the tall mahogany door at the top of the stairs. I grasped the bronze door knocker and knocked, then stepped back away from the door. As I waited for somebody to get the door, I noticed that the door and its frame were coated in cobwebs as if nobody had been through it in centuries.

I waited a good two minutes before reaching out to knock again. Though before my fingertips even touched the knocker, the floorboards below my feet gave way, and I fell through the trapdoor into darkness.

*****

I guess I had hit my head on the ground after I fell, because when I woke up later, my head was throbbing. Again.

I brought my hand up to rub where it hurt, only to find out that it was strapped down. I lifted up my head and looked at my body, seeing that my other arm, my legs, and my torso were strapped down as well to a metal table I was on. Everything but my head were pinned down.

It looked like I was in some kind of laboratory. The place was a mess, with wires and cords hanging from everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. The walls, the ceiling, the table I was on, there were even a few wires hooked up to my arm, chest, and head. There were a few work tables here and there, all of them coated with tools and various sparking machines. There was only one window on the far side of the room, and the moon filled up the entire hole.

I wriggled my arm around in the bonds, trying to get my hand in a position to get the wire out of my arm. I was about two inches from it when I heard a familiar voice out of my eyesight.

"There's no point in trying to get out of those restraints. You'll be out soon enough."

My ear flicked as I heard whoever it was speak. "...Tails?"

I heard footsteps walk around the table, toward my line of sight. Sure enough, there was my little bro, still in his costume, except all the stains and stuff on it seemed more...real.

"Tails, thank goodness I found you! What's going on? Why am I tied down to this table?"

Tails gave me a weird look as I asked my questions. "...who is this...Tails, you speak of? I am Dr. Frankenstein."

It was my turn to give him a weird look. "Dr. Frankenstein? I know you dressed up as him for Halloween, but you're taking this wayyyyy to far."

Tails, or Dr. Frankenstein, rolled his eyes. "Insolent hedgehog...no matter. In a matter of minutes, you will be no more."

"What do you mean 'no more'?" I asked.

Frankenstein smiled. "I'm glad you asked." He walked away from the table I was one and walked over to another I hadn't noticed before. Something about my size was also strapped down it, but I couldn't see what since it was covered in a sheet. "This is my latest creation. It is nearly complete, it just needs the finishing touch."

"Lemme guess. Me," I said.

He smiled. "You're smarter than you look, but not quite. I need your blood. In order for my monster to truly be alive, it must have the blood of a mortal, the purest of the pure."

"How flattering," I said sarcastically. "Look, it was nice playing your little game, Tails, but we gotta get out of here and find the others." I pulled at the restraints, but they didn't budge.

The doc chuckled. "Silly boy..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large needle. My eyes widened, and I struggled harder against the bonds. Frankenstein walked up to me and grabbed my arm with an iron grip and injected the needle, filling up the tube with my blood. He probably took almost a pint in that one needle, because I felt light-headed as he took the needle out and went back to his monster.

"Why...? Why are you doing this...?" I managed to croak.

Frankenstein didn't answer. He tore the sheet off the monster, and there on the table, still in his heavily applied paint and costume, was Knuckles.

My eyes widened when I saw him. "Knuckles?! Tails, what did you do to him?!"

Frankenstein whirled back around to look at me. "I don't know who this Tails is, but that's not me. So stop calling me that!" He yelled.

"Yeesh. Fine, Frankendork."

He turned back to Knuckles and injected my blood into his arm. He then went to one of the sparking machines on a table and pressed a button. A long metal rod connected to the machine sparked to life, electricity traveling up the rod all the way to the other end, which was connected to the monster's metal table. The electricity reached the bolts on his neck, spreading all across his body. He shook violently for about a minute, then he went still when Frankenstein shut off the electricity. Just when I started to think the doc had killed him, Knuckles groaned and sat up slowly on the table, the bonds holding him down breaking as if they were made of dental floss instead of metal.

"He's alive...he's alive!" Frankenstein laughed evilly, but since he still looked and sounded like Tails, it was more cute than creepy.

"Okay, you brought your thing to life. Now will you let me go?" I asked impatiently.

"Once again, silly boy. This is the monster's first moments of life. It must be hungry."

My eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

"I beg to differ, but it's not my choice, or yours." He looked back at the monster, which had gotten off the table and was taking slow, shaky steps towards me. "I'd better go before he tries to eat me too." He left through a door behind me.

Knuckles approached the table and slashed through the metal straps holding me down with his spiked fists. I scrambled up and off, putting the table between us.

"Look Knux, I know I've teased you in the past and called you dumb and gullible, but do you really have to go as far as eating me?" I asked. His reply: he grabbed the table and pried it out of the concrete floor before tossing it across the room. "I'll take that as a yes." I gulped, and dashed out through the door Tails had gone through.

Outside of the door was a long spiraling staircase leading all the way back to the ground level. I ran all the way down, looking back every few seconds. Knuckles had followed slowly at first, but as he kept going he gained speed, and soon he was just a few feet behind me.

When I got to the bottom, I jumped down the last few steps and burst through the front doors, running across the clearing and into the forest. I ran through the trees, bobbing and weaving through the trunks, hoping to lose him. At first it didn't seem to be working, but then I heard a loud THUNK and something hitting the ground. I skidded to a halt and looked back, seeing Knuckles laying on the ground next to a large oak tree, out cold. I cautiously walked over to him and prodded his side with my shoe, but he didn't budge. I reached down to try and pick up his motionless form, but before I could touch him, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.