It was the afternoon, the sun heating up the jungles with intense, unnatural heat. The trees and plants shimmered and shined with a bright green color as the sun shined on them. Birds chirped still from the morning before, and a wide open sand path leaked across the Great Forest. A trio of outcasts walked along it, keeping themselves alerted to the presence of a threat; whether it be natural or robotic. They took careful, silent steps that did not seem to disturb anything nearby, making them feel comfortable with their routine.

Firon, believing in his navigation skills, believed that he was heading the right way towards the Freedom Fighter camp, he's only suggestion being the sand path that resembled a yellow scar across the vast green forest. Violet showed little fear then the first time she had entered the forest, trailing along by Firon's side, holding the gray hedgehog's hand gently. Fists held her mission pack, with his own strapped to his back. His old and frail body did not slow him down, but rather made him feel lucky to have powerful strength in his arms to carry a lot. His yellow fur had become a dark shade of gold, resembling a type of yellowish dirt all over the echidna. Firon's gray fur had grown darker, not because of terrible care, but because it naturally did so in the sun light. His black shoes had become smudged with dirt, with a few parts covered in mud and grass from running in the woods. Violet's red and black dress had gotten marked by mud, much to her disappointment, and she no longer wore her red and black-marked boots because they torn to bits by the dangerous thorns of the plants and no longer useful.

They contiuned walking casually and quietly, as so to not disturb any of the wildlife and to avoid letting any of Dr. Eggman's robots hear a sound from them. It was easy for Violet, whose feet simply made prints and little noise with each step in the sand. Firon and Fists were more likely to break something with their shoes, thus creating loud enough sound. They stayed on task, avoiding the urge to stop and rest after miles of walking, with a few running moments involved. The sun was burning on them, and the heavy mission packs they carried, except for Violet, was weighing them down and absorbing the heat, which burned badly for both Firon and Fists. Firon's face was coated in sweat, and his arms and legs felt weak. Fists seemed to only have a problem with the unbearable burning on his backside, groaning a few times when the sun wasn't hidden by a cloud in the sky.

As they walked, they were unaware of a deadly presence in the dark upper parts of the trees, where a pair of red eyes stared at them, a blood lust forming into its mind like a savage monster. As it leaned its eyes past a leaf in the tree as the trio walked further from it, the creature revealed some pale skin and orange fur that darkened in the sun light. It hissed as the sun's heat made contact with its fur, but soon went back to the task it had in mind. It disappeared in a flash, jumping from each tree to another as its blood lust grew to amazing heights, making it use all fours like a predator that was too savage to be civilized.

Firon and his two companions continued to walk quietly, the gray hedgehog feeling as though they were getting closer to their destination. He was about to lay another step, until a unfamiliar noise caught the attention of his ears. He spun around to look into the forests, holding out his hands to make Violet and Fists stop in their tracks. The gray hedgehog narrowed his eyes deeply into the leaves of the trees, the darkness behind the tree trunks, and the bushes that lay out randomly outside the darkness. He kept hearing the unfamiliar sound, making his ears twitch violently as it got louder. Violet walked slowly to his side, whispering.

"What's going on?" she asked confusingly. Firon didn't take his eyes off the forest, feeling the fear of something jumping out and attacking him. He was only able to turn his head slightly towards Violet in order to see where she was. The purple hedgehog was behind him, hoping for the gray hedgehog to defend her. He quickly replied before his head disobeyed.

"I think there's something following us..." he said as he continued watching the forest, glancing at the tree tops. The sound had stopped, but he had seen a small part of a shadow hidden deep within the branches and leaves of a tree. He kept his eyes staring into the darkness, his powerful eye sight catching the glance of a pair of devilish red eyes that stared accurately at him.

Without a moment's hesitation, the dark shadow jumped out of the tree, leaping straight into the sun's path before landing with a loud thud not too far from Firon. The gray hedgehog continued to stare at the stalker, the darkness lifting off of the shadow and revealing its true form. What stood before Firon was the demon hedgehog, Demonica. His red eyes glowed with absolute hatred, and his fur quickly disposed of all the darkness, lighting up brightly and nearly blocking out Firon's eye sight.

As the light dimmed, Firon could finally see the entire hedgehog perfectly, seeing the small specks of blood coated on his muzzle and chest, and his blue shoes being all-too familiar to the gray hedgehog. Curiosity began rising at the back of Firon's head as he saw some similarities between this demonic hedgehog and his half-brother, Speedix. Soon, it became too much for the gray hedgehog, forcing him to speak.

"Who are you?" Firon asked in strict curiosity, staring carefully at the orange hedgehog to make sure he didn't try anything. For a long while, there was a pause, and Demonica did not reply, as if he couldn't hear the gray hedgehog. Firon grew impatient and frowned viciously.

"I'll ask again..who are you?" Once again, Demonica did not reply. Before the gray hedgehog was driven to rage, the orange hedgehog lifted his hand to silence the anger and impatience, allowing him to speak. His voice carried his straight edge, allowing him to nearly sound like Speedix.

"I am Demonica, the most powerful entity of the universe," he answered in a holy-like matter, raising both hands to the air as if thanking the gods. Firon's eyes widened in shock as he reorganized the familiar voice of Speedix. It was then that Firon knew the truth instantly. He pointed accusingly at Demonica, as if cursing him.

"You...you killed Speedix!" he yelled in hatred, stomping his foot hard to the sandy trail, with a small pack of birds flying out of the tree tops and away from the scene permanently. Demonica smiled, showing his razor sharp teeth with blood staining them into the color red. He then laughed sickly, enjoying the pain he sensed in the gray hedgehog. After a long and time-consuming moment of deathly laughter, Demonica finally regained his civilized-self again, staring at Firon with renewed joy.

"Yes, and I enjoyed it to...plus, once you and your two friends are dead, the freedom fighters will be next, and so will Dr. Eggman and his empire! All of them will be dead!" the demonic hedgehog yelled out harshly, trying to push Firon's anger further to its limits. Violet and Fists watched in disbelief behind the gray hedgehog, both of them even more shocked then Firon was. They all knew they stood in the presence of a monster, one that turned a close friend and brother into a traitor by taking his free will away. Demonica licked his teeth to taste the blood still fresh on their smooth surfaces, cutting his tongue on purpose to taste some of his own blood.

"You'll pay for that!" Firon screamed out in vengeance, charging at full speed towards the demonic hedgehog, stealing the powers of the chaos emeralds in an instant and transforming into his chaos form in a flash. Demonica's eyes widened in surprise as he did not see this coming, and was too late to dodge the vengeful hedgehog's deadly attack. Firon clashed his head into the stomach of his opponent with extreme force, making the orange hedgehog gasp, with some of the blood from his tongue spilling out. Firon withdrew as Demonica was sent flying into the forest, crashing through the trunks of many trees violently until he finally came to a stop. Firon landed on the ground without a sound, staring brutality at Demonica through the darkness of the forest. He watched carefully, seeing the blazing red color of a chaos attack as it blasted its way through the forest, lighting up the darkness. Firon hurriedly lifted his hands to block it, pressing against the extreme force of the attack. He turned his head halfway, looking at his two companions with concern.

"Hide somewhere! Quick! I'll take care of this!" he yelled out in warning, turning back to the task at hand, lifting his foot and kicking the energy into the sky, not expecting the approach of Demonica as the orange hedgehog appeared and rammed his shoulder into the chest of the vengeful hedgehog. Firon felt no obvious pain, for he did not gasp, but the force of the attack bashed him right through the air and clashing along the ground, marking it for meters with an deep engraved path of dirt and ruined grass. Firon kept his eyes on his opponent, his green eyes flashing with pride at how foolish he believed Demonica really was. He stood up from the ground as soon as the energy from the blast faded away, with a long stare off taking place between the two hedgehogs, as if physical or verbal abuse would not do anything for now. Demonica's red-coated eyes glowed and dimmed, sometimes reflecting the light of the sun and showing moving particles through the outer layer, revealing the red color to be blood. Firon focused on any weaknesses the demonic hedgehog may have, but seemed to find none as no wound appeared across his chest from Firon's earlier attack. Demonica displayed his mock concern as he saw the fully-transformed hedgehog standing not too far away from him, smirking in amusement.

"Interesting...how your hatred and anger is used. Can you feel it? Your hatred will be the end of you...as well as the end of the Freedom Fighters...the end of Dr. Eggman, and..." Demonica paused dramatically, childish and twisted amusement written all over him. Before continuing, the demonic hedgehog smiled pleasantly "Let's not forget to mention the death of...Violet...What a slow death she'll suffer...with every last bit of screaming of pain heard by none other then me...Oh, what joy!"

As the message was heard by his ears, Firon's rage grew to tremendous heights, his energy seemingly unlimited as it oozed out of his hands and body, flashing into a bright blue color with his aura. His eyes lost their irises and pupils, replaced by breaking blood vessels, with his teeth growing into sharp needles that struck his own tongue unexpectedly, forcing blood to spill out and drip onto the dirt engraved mark across the grass. His breathing slowed, making him wheeze as if he lost control of his lungs, or suffered from a fatal wound. His fists were clenched tightly, with the grip being so powerful that his fingers penetrated through his gloves and into his skin, forcing him to bleed from his hands as well. He was firmly placed in that one spot, charging seemingly unlimited amounts of chaos energy from out of thin air into his body. Demonica watched carefully, his amusement and joy no longer present, replaced by concern and worry.

Firon seemed to be in agony, although he did not scream or yell out in pain, his breathing was severely getting slower and slower with each passing second. The lack of blood was making it harder for him to breathe, his heart beating faster then before as it tried to maintain blood flow, but to no avail. Demonica had realized what he did, but was no longer concerned about it. The demonic hedgehog charged at full speed towards Firon, fist forward. He locked onto the deranged and vengeful hedgehog as he came closer within a split second. Without even knowing it, Firon raised one of his hands, catching the fist and holding Demonica above the ground with shocking and unbelievable strength. Fear finally struck Demonica as he realized the threat that had now taken form in front of him. He could hear Firon's faint wheezing and slowing heart beat, looking up towards the face of this threat, seeing the broken eyes of the green hedgehog stare down at him with renewed hatred. Firon grinned, showing off his new needle-like teeth, with the tips covered in fresh blood.

"Most powerful entity in the world? Quit telling me lies..." he threw his hand up, then down, releasing his grip and smashing Demonica into the dirt mark. He bent down on his knees, still looking at the fear-filled hedgehog lying on the ground before him, his grin still intact. He continued with a cold, menacing voice that seemed to stun the burning soul of Demonica "The only truth you can give to me, is your own death..."

With newfound and twisted joy in his body, Firon lifted Demonica off the ground with one hand, withdrawing the other behind him, coiling it into a fist and charging every inch of his hand to his fingers with energy, then releasing the blast that was born into Demonica's face. A brutal and bloody display was made from the attack, revealing the shattered remains of teeth, skull fragments that had punctured through the thick head of the orange hedgehog, with one of the eyes smashed deep into the face, the other being mortally damaged beyond medical care.

Firon's rage wasn't complete yet however. He dropped the pain-soaked body of Demonica, only to catch his throat with intense speed. He proceeded to crush the throat slowly, using his senses to give all the pain necessary to his opponent. Snapping and cracking was heard, pleasing Firon's ears as he heard each sound become louder and louder, until finally, the sounds stopped completely as he withdrew his hand, revealing a inhuman, broken neck. Without any air to breathe, Demonica fell to the ground without resistance, breathing in his last breath, then finally dying.

Firon watched carefully as he saw Demonica die, seeing a white flash happen in an instant. His eyes became blocked out by the intense brightness of the flash, but as the brightness dimmed, he looked back and saw the shocking sight of the dead body of his half-brother, Speedix.

With all his rage and hatred spent, Firon reverted back to normal. His eyes rehealed quickly as the pupils and irises returned. The blood from his hands and tongue disappeared, with the wounds on both areas rehealed completely, the needle sharp teeth falling off, with Firon's regular teeth back in place. His green fur and eye color disappeared, with his gray fur and blue eye color replacing them. Soon, in a few minutes, Firon was completely normal once again, the powers of the chaos emeralds returning back to the jewels inside Violet's mission pack hidden behind a rock.

The gray hedgehog stood before the dead body of Speedix, the red hedgehog's face severely and brutally torn, as well as the rest of his body. Blood streamed from every wound on his body, including the mouth. One arm looked as though it were bitten, revealing chewed muscle and shattered bone. Firon held no expression on his face except extreme shock which stunned him and literally froze him into place. He felt the cold touch of death as he laid his eyes on every single wound, cut, and chewed piece of skin on the red hedgehog's motionless body. Violet and Fists came out of hiding, leaving the bushes to return to the gray hedgehog's side. They walked up slowly to the sides of the cold hedgehog, seeing the horrible sight of Speedix's decaying dead body on the dirt mark. Fists, now realizing his son was not the true villain, began to feel powerful sorrow and pain from by the loss of his son, kneeling down on his knees and crying hard into his hands. Violet was also overtaken by sorrow, stuffing her head into Firon's chest, holding onto him, and crying out as many tears as her eyes could give away. Firon, now finally feeling the pain for his own loss and tradegy, let himself cry out the sorrow that now overwhelmed him.

All three of them cried over the loss of one close and very wise friend, who had been used and deceived by an evil that the three of them would never forget. This loss was too great for the old gold echidna, who's only son had died and the guilt he felt from hating him without knowing the truth made him feel even worse. Their tears soaked the soil, liquefied the dry blood and made it drip onto the dirt, and began forming a small stream of tears across the grass nearby.

Soon, after long minutes of crying, their tears finally dried and the waterworks finally stopped. Violet backed away slowly as she tried to regain her balance, eventually helping Fists as he could get rid of the guilt that weakened him. Firon, feeling the responsibility as a leader and a brother, stepped forward and lifted the dead body of Speedix the Hedgehog from the ground, gently. He cradled the body with both arms before turning back to his two companions, who stared at him with saddened eyes. He spoke in a calm, quiet voice that seemed unnatural of the gray hedgehog.

"We'll set camp here...I'll go give him a proper burial...it's the least we can do..." Fists and Violet nodded sadly, walking back to the rocks and bushes to retrieve the mission packs. Firon walked far down the sandy path, eventually finding a nice batch of soft soil that seemed undisturbed by plant life. Firon focused the remaining chaos energy in his body to pick up a large section of the soil, laying it aside, and placing Speedix's dead body in the make-shift grave hole. As he withdrew from the grave, he hesitated to bury it, sighing in sorrow once more. Remembering his responsibility, he focused his chaos energy to lift the dirt once more, holding it above the grave, but once again hesitating to drop it. He sighed, more sorrowfully this time. He closed his eyes, and prepared to give his brother the burial.

"Sayonora, Speedix the Hedgehog," he spoke suddenly in a quiet voice, dropping the dirt as he withdrew his energy, burying the body completely, and finally putting Speedix to rest.