It was colder inside the tower than Sunshine had expected, especially compared to the humid weather outside. Blue eyes scan the area and black ears twitch as the hedgehog and his team make their way through each room, going up floor after floor in search of any signs of Sol or Pandora. It was eerily quiet, the only sounds being the hedgehog and his team’s footsteps on the metal floor and the soft whirring and humming of the machinery all around them in the dimly lit corridors.
Sunshine peeks around a corner before signaling his team and entering yet another corridor that was identical to every other before it, checking each room as he goes. Just as he reaches the end of the corridor a strange feeling washes over the hedgehog and everything goes completely silent, he forces a pair of sliding doors open only to be met with a long hallway with a large window stretching along the entire length of one wall that looked out into the endless vacuum of space with the planet spinning slowly below.
“What the hell? Is this…home?” He murmurs softly in confusion, turning to address his team and finding nothing but an empty stretch of hallway and a blank wall where the doors should have been. His teammates had seemingly disappeared into thin air, leaving him totally alone. Or so he thought.
"Well well well, what do we have here? Looks like a little rat has been sneaking about where he doesn't belong. Hello dearest, it's been a long time" an ominous voice purrs from seemingly nowhere and everywhere at the same time, sending chills down Sunshine's spine.
"Do not call me that, you lost your right to pet names four years ago. Where are my son and Pandora? I know that they've been with here with you this whole time" Sunshine calls out into the dark, a Chaos Spear forming in his hand as he looks around to try and spot the sadistic jackal.
"Your mind games won't work on me anymore so you might as well just give up, Zero. I know why you're showing me this place, you think that I'll still breakdown at the memories of what happened here. You're wrong. I've moved on from my past, I won't let it control me anymore!"
"Is that so? Then why do you still have nightmares about not only what happened to your sister, but what happened to Sol as well? If you have truly moved on, you wouldn't be here looking for the boy right now" Infinite laughs, warping their surroundings to what appeared to be a high-tech prison cell with various pieces of medical equipment and a hospital bed, as well as various surveillance cameras. The sound of agonized screaming and sobbing echo in the tiny room, leaving the hedgehog frozen when he recognizes the sounds as his own voice along with the cries of a newborn taking their first breath.
Screaming. Crying. Pain. Grief. Loneliness.
Those were the feelings that were buzzing around in Sunshine's head as he's consumed by Infinite's illusion, taking him back to one of the worst moments of his life and forcing him to relive it in vivid detail.
"N-No...please don't take him. I just want my baby. I just want to take my son home..." The hedgehog sobs from where he was kneeling on the floor, hands over his ears and head tucked between his knees as he tries to block out the ear piercing noises that were growing louder and louder around him.
He takes a deep breath and screams for help.
