Dawn of a New Day

Palmtree Plaza, the famous market place of the gorgeous Sapphire Bay, where the ocean is bright, blue, and an absolutely wonderful view! A few stands selling produce or fast food were visible, as well as many businesses - most of them tourist traps like surf shops, the occasional hotel or restaurant, all by the beach.
Off the beach, out over the ocean, was an intriguing sight. No, it wasn't Angel Island, but instead another, man-made floating island that was just as ancient if not more so.
It completes the scenery, residents of this little beach town could look out their window and see its pretty, purple glow off in the distance. Even from this far, it radiates power...

But that's not Sonic was here for. It'd been a short while since his last fight with Dr. Robotnik, and he was just looking to relax. Walking down the street, eating a chili dog, he feels the warm Summer breeze blow through his spines and he sighs in pure bliss.
"Ah, this is the life. No robots, no Egghead, no ancient deities or whatever... just me, the Sun, some good food, finally!" The blue hedgehog chuckles before taking another bite out of his chili dog.
People certainly notice a world famous hero walking through their little town, but he was acting so casual and laid back that the most that people did was stare and politely say "Hello" with a sweet smile on their face.

Not that he'd know, but his peaceful day wouldn't last long. Though it was broad daylight, in the alleyways around and in a distant abandoned building, trouble was brewing...

Beach Time!
Clash was excited to go to Sapphire Bay with his family, or would have been, if his grandma hadn't got dangerously sidetracked and his dad wasn't busy with "work".
So instead he thought he'd visit the Plaza, get some snacks, maybe a new T-shirt (yeah right.) Or apparently see Sonic as a bunch of people were chittering about.
Eventually though, he ends up sitting on a bench and just kind of... meditate, despite his disappointment.

Sapphire Bay. As the many tourists were walking around, the sun reflected off the silver, metallic body of what looked to be a mobian robot. But this was no robot. This was an android. A gizoid to be exact.

The android got a few strange looks from passers-by, but no one really seemed to care why it was there.

-Everything is so peaceful now. How am I supposed to copy battle data if there are no wars?- the gizoid thought to themself. They continued walking along the beach-side boardwalk, contemplating where they should go now.

Yes, it truly was a peaceful day...
Maybe a bit too peaceful. Sonic did notice the Gizoid, which was a bit of an odd sight - only Gizoid he'd ever met was reformed, yes, but technically they tried to destroy the world twice so seeing a new Gizoid only put him on edge, though he tried not to show it.
Meanwhile, Sonic had no reason to notice or bother a meditating person on his own. This just won't do!

Sonic contemplated talking to the Gizoid, but was interupted when he heard the sound of glass shattering, and a low growl.
A few people shouted an expletive here or there in reaction, most people found themselves looking in the direction of the noise.
But nothing came out yet...
Sonic shoved the rest of his first chili dog in his mouth before running past the Gizoid, bumping into them slightly as he shouts out "Sorry, coming through! while rushing to the building in question.
Maybe this is the action this Gizoid needs to be able to copy abilities?
Maybe this will disturb Clash enough to deal with the interuption?

The sound of shock and glass shattering led him to get out of his state and look towards a building, which the blue blur was probably already at.

Still, Clash felt like he was compelled to follow behind, so he follows behind the hedgehog to the best of his ability.

"I guess I AM doing something today."

The gizoid took notice of the shattering glass noise. Then the blue hedgehog bumped past him to find the source of the sound before speeding off faster than a normal mobian should be able to.

-COPYING BATTLE DATA-

-BATTLE SCAN COMPLETE: SPEED RUN-

The gizoid then followed after the hedgehog. Matching his speed almost perfectly.

Sonic didn't know he was being followed yet, not that he really minded. He just needed to check out the damage and see if anyone needed help.
It wasn't long after Sonic reached the building that the Gizoid was right behind him.
"Woah, alright- uh, you here to help?" Sonic asks as Clash soon followrd up behind.
Seems he had company.
He looks back to the building, and continues hearing a growling...
Then crying.
What else was in there?!

"Yeah, I ho-"

Clash heard the crying, interrupting his thought and tried going inside the building, towards the noise, being sure to focus his chaos energy in case there was a threat.

=Yes. I am here to provide assistance.= The gizoid said to the hedgehog. They then turned their head towards the building.

=My audio receptors are picking up sounds of someone in distress. Up there.= The gizoid pointed upwards at the building.

=I recommend we get up there quickly.= The gizoid said as he then followed the brown hedgehog into the building.

His thoughts exactly, merely nodding in aknowledgement of the Gizoid before rushing in after Clash, with the Gizoid following close behind.
With sone help, this threat should be a cakewalk, right? Whatever was growling can't be that bad...

Sonic enters the building, and looks around.
There were a few glass boxes around, but they were all empty, and in the back of a room was a counter, though it was now barren of any electronics or cash register.
"Looks like an abandoned store... what would anyone be doing in here?" The hedgehog ponders out loud as he walks to the back counter, and finds a door leading to another section, likely where storage was held.

Despite it being Summer and there being no electricity, thus no AC, in this abandoned building, there was an awful chill accompanying the dust and the musty smell. The windows had all been boarded up, the only lightsource, barring what the gizoid or Clash might have, coming from the door they left open.
If one inspected the room close enough, there'd be scratch marks across the walls.
The crying and growling, the noises that made them enter, had stopped...
Dead silence for a good few minutes.

"Damn it! What happened?!"

Clash's bracelets would glow brightly to provide light for himself, before seeming to talk to himself.

"Carter, please, try to see if there are any souls around."

Clash then closes his eyes and concentrates, trying to find any souls or life other than Sonic or the Gizoid.

The lights scattered across the gizoid's body let off a faint blue glow to the room.

=I will proceed to scan the room for any signs of life.= The gizoid said. Two beams of light emitted from their eyes as they proceeded to look across the room.

-SCANNING-

-SCANNING-

-SCANNING-

The light beams deactivated before the gizoid said,

=I can find no visible signs of life in this room. I did find these marks on the wall as well.=

The gizoid walked over to the wall and sure enough, there were huge marks on the wall. Seeming to be scratch marks made by some kind of large beast. The gizoid then turned back to the two hedgehogs.

=I advise we take caution if we are to proceed any further.=

In the room itself, there was nothing but them. But, if Carter could expect the other rooms, it's likely they'd sense where the cold was coming from - above them all, up some stairs to another floor. An attic I guess?
Still, whatever creature was causing the disturbance, it was above them.

Sonic listens to the Gizoid and holds back from walking into the other rooms. He really didn't know what they were up against, and while he figured he could handle it on his own...
The help sure would be nice. So he waited impatiently.
"So it's a beast, I guess that explains the growling." Sonic commented, trying hard not to come off as sarcastic.
He waits on... whatever Clash is doing, so he can hear his input.

"A creature is above us, in the attic of this building, it's also where the cold is coming from..."

Clash's bracelets stopped glowing as he took them off, gaining a red aura and a menacing tone.



"Let's get this over with."

Clash says as he quickly climbs up the stairs.

=I concur. Let us find what creature is causing this chaos.= The gizoid said as he proceeded to follow the brown hedgehog up the stairs. 

=Are you coming, blue hedgehog?= The gizoid asked in it's robotic, monotone voice.

Before the Gizoid even asked, Sonic was through the door. The back room was indeed storage, with many boxes that have yet to be removed, but close to the door was some stairs that led to an open trap door leading to the... yes, I'm still going with attic. Stores don't have attics but what else do I call it.

The trap door was thumping, as if something was beating on it...
Who'd open it? Sonic was considering it, he wasn't worried and didn't bother with caution, but maybe someone else went for it first?

Clash went under the trap door and charged his chaos energy some more, eventually his hands glew red with the stuff as he fired a Chaos Blast as a laser upwards, into the "attic"

"I don't think that killed it, you two, get ready!"

-BATTLE SCAN COMPLETE: CHAOS BLAST-

=I will now activate my combat capabilities.= The gizoid said as he prepared to fight the beast above them.

=I should be the one to go through first.= The gizoid said as he attempted to move past the brown hedgehog.

=I am much more resilient to damage than carbon based beings. It will be safer this way.=

Sonic saw Clash fire a blast upwards and, given he was under the trap door and hadn't opened it yet, the door was blasted off its hinges and caught fire. After the door landed sonewhere above, a cool breeze as if from an AC unit blasted through the hole.
The building itself audibly shook a little, and Sonic looks around.
"Maybe explosions aren't our best bet, at least not yet." He says, as the Gizoid explains why he should go first and proceeds to go through the space where a door once was.
Even more boxes, stacked high and seemingly at random. There was a low growl, but it was hard to tell where it was coming from. It was from this room, definitely...
A strong, awful aura filled the air.

Clash put a hand towards the flames, making them slowly shrink, Clash follows the Gizoid inside, the cold didn't seem to bother Clash who, now feeling an intense aura, prompted him to go into a fighting stance.

"This... What IS this?"

The gizoid noticed that the hedgehogs felt a sudden chill in the air. The gizoid turned on the scanners in it's eyes and looked around the room. 

=Over there.= The gizoid pointed across the room to the mysterious beast that was causing the destruction. It's eye scanners lighting it up enough for the others to see.

Technically yes, whatever the Gizoid found was "lit up", but you certainly wouldn't be able to tell from staring at it.
It was almost entirely black for the most part, save for the lavender wisps of smoke appearing to radiate from its animalistic body. Whatever it was meant to resemble, it was deathly thin yet still large enough to be imposing, with six canine-like legs and no obvious facial features present - maybe the slightest hint of a toothy smile lost within the living shadow.
Staring at it for too long may give a strange feeling of being in a dream, like a suffocating atmosphere that you don't notice because you aren't lucid enough to realize it's not right - you might even want to pinch yourself to make sure it's real.
It was like something straight out of a Nightmare.

Of course, almost all of this was surely lost on the Gizoid, being a robot. Depending on the kind of things it could pick up on though, the most that could be said was that it was "otherworldly".

It roared like a lion upon being found, and Sonic immediately went on guard. The creature almost reminded him of the Dark Gaia Minions from around a decade ago when the Earth was shattered, just barely.
"So you're what's causing the mess! Where's the kid?!" Sonic calls out to the beast.
It didn't care, as it began walking toward the three, staying low as if it was prowling. Sonic's trigger reaction was to jump at it, but the creature smacked him away with a clawed front paw into some boxes with a hiss before lunging at Clash.

Clash looked at the beast while it was approaching, gaining a feeling of... Disappointment. To him, it was just another mindless demon that came to cause trouble Sonic attempted to speak to the beast, Clash now feeling sorry for him.

"It's not gonna respond, it's a demon."

Sonic then went at it with a spin attack but to no avail, prompting Clash to use his Chaos Barrier, creating a red dome around him.

The gizoid took note of everything going on. As Sonic attacked the creature, they stood back and watched.

-COPYING BATTLE DATA-

-BATTLE SCANS COMPLETE: HOMING ATTACK | NIGHTMARE CLAW-

The gizoid then noticed that the beast was going for an attack at the other hedgehog. The gizoid then rushed to meet the nightmare in between them. As they ran, their right hand transformed into the shape of the clawed hand of the creature.

=Let's give you a taste of your own medicine.= The gizoid said as they swung their own clawed hand at the demon.

Indeed, they were demonic in nature, but it wasn't just some demon.
Whether the Gizoid interfered or not, the creature can't exactly pass through barriers, but it did have an ace.

Sonic got up from the previous attack as the creature was knocked back. The creature didn't seem hurt, and in fact it was ready to try something else.

You are nothing but prey.

Suddenly, its eyes began lighting up, then the room was suddenly filled with s strobe effect.
Sonic was curling up into a ball, using this time to charge up a light dash - which would hopefully prove must stronger against them - but while the Gizoid might be immune to its paralyzing effects, would Clash know to close his eyes?

Those who look at the creature when it uses Fear Flash will suddenly be overwhelmed by their worst fears and memories, as if their brain is being attacked, and filled with nothing but panic.