[Sonic Forces] Spark

Electric Water Torture

A/N: Anyone else notice how dark the Sonic comics can get? And I don't mean just Archie's multiple continuities (I'm looking you Super Genesis Wave), I mean IDW with the whole infection arc is just freaking terrifying. The worst part is that I'm so poor, I have to wait for the collected volumes to come out, then wait for our library to get a copy so I can get caught up.

Suffice to say, the whole Infection arc makes me sick to my stomach because I don't know what's going on yet. X_X

Enjoy.

-.-

The world around her was so dark, Winnie wondered if anything even existed here. As she tried to get some sense of being, she became aware that Shadow was ahead of her. The hedgehog's expression was still and his arms were crossed. He was waiting for her. Or... maybe she had called him here? She couldn't remember and trying to think hurt too much. She just wanted to give in- she just wanted to sleep, and sleep, and sleep...

"Winifred." Shadow said to her- his voice in this darkness waking her slightly. "Do you need help?"

Even in this world, Shadow seemed too intimidating to look in the eye. "I don't even know where I am." she admitted, not taking the time to wonder why she using her voice for the first time in years.

"I'll know."

Winnie looked up at Shadow with wide eyes. "How?"

Now it was Shadow's turn to look away from her. "Long story." he grimly replied. But then he looked back up at her. Once more he repeated, "Do you need help?"

"I..."

Winnie was unable to answer before she was forced out of her trance. Confused, she looked around and realized that she had been trapped in a birdcage suspending high into the air. Classy.

"I don't know what you want with me, but at least let Winnie go. She has nothing to do with this." Sonic's voice demanded, irritation laced in his voice. Brought to attention, Winnie scrambled over to the side of the birdcage and looked down. However humiliating being stuck in a birdcage was, it was nothing compared to the contraption that Sonic was trapped in.

His body was suspended in something that looked like a glass bubble, each of his limbs were restrained in a pod that completely encapsulated his fists and feet, the spacing between not allowing room to even flinch, and on his head was a metallic band connected to the upper portion of the glass bubble. Not far in front of the contraption was Fay'lin, her hand over a dial on a rather long console. The console had far too many buttons to be practical, but there was no doubt they all did something sinister.

"Quite naturally hedgehog," Fay'lin boasted, "She's the reason we're here; might as well give her a front row seat."

"You're a freak, you know that? Not even Egghead is this messed up."

Something in Fay'lin's disposition changed slightly. "Oh, but Sonic," she playfully mused, "Doctor Eggman created this machine."

The blue blur gave an impatient click of his tongue. "'Course. Don't know why I expected anything different..."

The bird Mobian then gave a wide smirk. "You see, this machine is programed as a sort of... electronic Chinese water torture machine. At set intervals -but still on a random basis- you'll receive a slight jolt of pure plasma-based electricity. What's more, the controlled shocks even activate with the slightest muscle movement; you could be receiving shocks for several hours if you dare struggle." Her smirk grew even darker as she goaded, "Go ahead; try to run away from your binds."

Sonic cocked an eyebrow, but did as he was told by attempting to raise his right knee. You could see the electric bolt leave the pod connected to his foot and travel up his body to deliver a nasty shock.

"Yikes!" Sonic shouted in surprise. His sudden jerk from that shock caused another, making him yelp once more. Seeing the machine in action only fueled Fay'lin's blood lust. Eggman was a genius, he really, truly was.

"If you try to run, crack a smile, or even if your heart so much decides to race, you will get shocked." Fay'lin then warned him. "This beautiful machine will keep shocking you until you're an inch away from death- and then you'll know. Then you'll never think about disobeying the Eggman Empire ever again."

"Sounds incredibly humane." Sonic sneered. Fay'lin cast him a frown as she ramped the dial up a bit more before giving him a serious jolt. This shock had been worse than the previous ones- Sonic screamed.

Winnie let out a single sounded yell as she tried to reach out to Sonic. Once her fingers were an inch out of the cage, an invisible barrier gave her a shock as well. It was only a small jolt -like the kind you'd experience from a joke toy- but the sting was persistent. This brought her to the attention of both Fay'lin and Sonic. Fay'lin only looked to be more pleased while color almost visibly drained from Sonic's face.

"As for you," Fay'lin then mused, turning her attention to Winnie, "There's not much I can do while you are still tethered to Gerald's biological failure."

"Gerald...?" Sonic muttered to himself, wondering how the name sounded familiar for a moment.

"And so you will stay there. Perhaps I'll just let you die of hunger- not my preferred method, but all the more satisfying with your boyfriend here. It will be interesting to see who expires first."

Winnie growled down at Fay'lin, an act of opposition and defiance. Someone in this room was going to expire, all right, and it wasn't going to be her or Sonic. Fay'lin noted this small change and gave a dark chuckle to herself.

"There it is," she mused, "That little spark of defiance. Such an admirable thing to have... before you're captured, of course. Otherwise it's pretty useless."

As if on cue, a jolt of electricity zapped Sonic. Fay'lin turned to look at him for a moment. "Oh good, the intervals have started." she said, mostly to herself. To Sonic and Winnie she said, "This is where I make my leave. But rest assured, I'll be back for... adjustments."

Giving a villainous laugh, Fay'lin left with a dramatic turn of her heel and an incredibly gratuitous slam of the door. Silence was quick to take over, causing an incredibly discomforting ring in Winnie's ear.

"We'll think of a way out of here Winnie." Sonic then encouraged her, craning his neck to get a better view of the birdcage. "Nothing can separate us!"

For a moment, Winnie's heart felt light at his words. It was just like Sonic to give words of encouragement in the worst of situations. But then she frowned. Carefully, she moved her hand far enough out that the invisible barrier didn't touch her, but enough that Sonic could still see, and started to finger spell 'S-O-R-R-Y'

"Sorry?" he repeated once he interpreted the message. "Why would you be sorry?"

Winnie started to reply, but her hand was shaking too much. The tears clouding her vision made her refuse to look at him, instead retreating back inside the birdcage. Her quiet muffles could still be heard.

"Hey..." Sonic tried to soothe, "It'll be okay Winn. If we can't figure something out, then our friends will. It'll take some time, sure, but in the end everything will be alright. Trust me!"

As the second interval went off, sending a painful jolt through Sonic's body, Winnie flinched at the sound of his discomfort. The sounds of her weeping only continued to echo through the otherwise quiet room. Hearing her bothered Sonic more than he cared to admit; if this was anyone's fault, it was his. If not his, then Fay'lin for being a sick and twisted Eggman sympathizer.

But this wasn't the time for if and if nots, this was the time to figure out a way out of here. And the longer he had to think about it, and the more Winnie continued to cry, Sonic realized with a jolt of his own on just how dire this situation was.

He hoped their friends would find them soon enough, otherwise he and Winnie may just be screwed.