Issue 7: Open Your Heart

## Open Your Heart

* Cover A
* Cover B

**Open your Heart** is the seventh issue within *The Murder of Me* comic series created by Gigi Dutreix. It was first published in October 6 2014, and reached completion February 2 2015. It proceeds **Issue #6: My Friend, My Enemy**and proceeding Issue #7 is **Issue #8: Paradise**.

### Plot:

**Sonic, Shadow** and **Silver** battle a soulless sea creature under the control of **Zielo**. Can they defy the odds and win? What becomes of them with their new-found power? And who's the Coyote?

## Summary

The issue starts exactly where issue 6 left off: Triple S face to face with a giant stage 3 Soulless (Perfect Chaos) with a mark on it's tongue. Shadow and Silver prepare for battle while Sonic lags behind, exhausted and still trying to come to terms with what just happened back in Tin-Can. Shadow scolds him and Silver tries to encourage him, but the conversation is cut short as the tentacles from the monster split the ground around them. Sonic is thrown back before he remembers Zielo's words, "You are going to play a game with god."

This motivates him to fight against Perfect Chaos and he speedruns on the water while Silver and Shadow fight from above. Silver is getting cocky as he's able to freeze the monster's water tentacles from harming him, which leaves him open to attacks from behind. Before he's struck, Shadow calls out to him and fires a purple projectile from his hands. Silver didn't realize Shadow could do that, to which Shadow eagerly says that he didn't know either.

Sonic is determined to win Zielo's stupid game for his friends and family whom he has lost. He jumps to a plot of land far enough away from danger as he tries to think of a plan. He sees a large glowing orange spike on the creatures head and calls over Silver. As they discuss a plan of action, they're about to be attacked before Shadow, who's quickly running out of energy, zaps it and saves them. Shadow and Sonic argue about doing something (as if Shadow hasn't been helping them the whole time) before Sonic starts to talk about his plan: have Silver throw him up high enough so he can spindash into the monster's head. Silver takes aim, but is thrown off balance the second he throws Sonic, sending him higher into the air than planned. Sonic gets his bearings and curls as he strikes the beast in the skull point blank.

It dissolves into the water and all is calm for a moment. The boys, now exhausted and too tired to continue on, get up and look around to see that they are \*still\* surrounded by waves of Soulless who were presumably watching the fight. Silver weakly mutters that they need to go or hide somewhere, which Shadow responds that there isn't anywhere to go. Sonic looks to his friends who are beaten, bruised, and worn out before proclaiming, "***Rise.**"*

Like a lightswitch, the boys each become enveloped by their god powers and able to walk on the water. the Soulless begin to rush them one by one. Stage 3s stomping their ways over to Sonic, only to be flung back and have the energy that fuels them through their marks be sucked out, killing them instantly by turning to ash. The same waves of multi-powerful Stage 3s and 2s begin to surround Silver and Shadow and, like the others, are murdered instantly with a touch of Silver's powers or Shadow's god-powered pistols (the first god-powered weapon we see). Sonic approaches the remaining landscape that's littered with stage 1s, many pleading for mercy to Sonic who shows none. He is the second to form his god-powered weapon: his dagger, which slices through all of the Soulless as he runs through.

The three are ready to fight more until a cracking sound is heard and they all scream in agony before blacking out.

They barely regain consciousness to find Zielo watching them. He disappointedly says that he expected more of a show and has now grown bored of them. He lifts them up and his mouth begins to split open, their souls starting to be torn away from their bodies.

Before he can swallow their souls, there is a bright flash of light from the sky that lands in-between Triple S and Zielo, cutting his hold on them off and leaving their souls intact. Zielo excitedly proclaims a half-breed has joined in the game. The being that landed is a coyote that glows with an otherworldly aura and points a sword at the dark god, saying that this is the end of his game, which Zielo unexpectedly agrees.

Sonic begins to fade from consciousness as he catches a glimpse of the coyote and dark god as Zielo says, "*one game ends, and another begins anew.*"