Issue 8: Paradise

## Paradise

Paradiseis the eight issue within *The Murder of Me* comic series created by Gigi Dutreix, and serves as the conclusion of the First Arc. It was first published in February 8, 2015, and reached completion June 29, 2015. It proceeds **Issue #7: Open Your Heart**and proceeding Issue #8 is **Issue #9: Gettin' to Know You**.

This is the final issue in **ARC 1: The Beginning**.

### Plot

The plot of Paradise is introducing the Sons of Heephis to Paradise and its residents.

## Summary

The issue starts with the President's Office approximately 5 years ago. We see a handcuffed Sonic being forced into said office to speak to the president of the human territory. He is uncuffed by the president and is told that the president wishes to use him as a peace treaty with the mobians. Sonic tries to argue that the humans hate mobians and questions why they would want a peace treaty, but the president pulls a gun on him.

The blue hero doesn't see this as a threat and tries to make an escape. The gun fires and manages to shoot Sonic's feet, resulting in the bullet holes and wounds seen in issue 4. It is revealed that the president had bullets specially made just for Sonic in order to trap him in the human territory to keep him as a prisoner. We also see that the president was a stage one Soulless. The scene turns chaotic, showing Eggman and repeating his name as the page finishes, revealing he was executed in front of Sonic.

The flashback sequence ends and we see that it was a dream from Sonic. In a panic, he freaks out in confusion and tries to kick away Bunnie, who is tending to his wounds. She reassures him that he, Shadow, and Silver are safe here. She explains that the three hedgehogs are in a different dimension called Paradise, a seemingly endless heaven-like plane of existence with a large palace surrounded by water. Sonic notices that he has the same bed as he did back home, which Bunnie explains how the room changes depending on what the boys are most comfortable with. Silver thinks to himself and wonders if that is why his bed is so soft, prompting a shocked expression from Shadow and Sonic equally-- they can hear each other's thoughts now.

Bunnie tries to calm the trio and sits Sonic down with his brothers. She presents Sonic with some food and instructs him to eat for Silver. Sonic doesn't understand, which leads to Bunnie explaining that Sonic Shadow and Silver have powers and they used them to defeat the Dark God previously. The boys begin to recount moments where they "black out" and "something else takes over", including Shadow protecting Sonic from the Soulless back in issue 3, Sonic protecting Shadow in issue 3 as well, and Silver freezing Shadow and Sonic when they began to argue in issue 4. Bunnie connects the dots and says their powers only seem to activate when the boys are in danger or in the presence of Zielo. Speaking of him, Sonic asks where he is to which Bunnie timidly says he (or 'it') won't bother them in Paradise. She reminds Sonic to eat, which makes him ask more about these powers, one of them being the ability to transfer nutrients to each other.

Sonic and Silver wonder how that's even possible. Sonic says he couldn't hear their thoughts before they woke up and asks why he can suddenly hear them now. Bunnie explains that their powers and connection must be getting stronger the longer they're together. Sonic and Shadow start to bicker in their minds to Silver's annoyance. Bunnie also informs them that they've always had these powers ever since they were born, saying they've been transferring all sorts of things to each other (although not the same as Sonic transferring nutrients to Silver). Before she can explain further, she instructs them to put on their capes. The boys are confused at first, but reluctantly don them.

Bunnie directs them to a mural of events of the Old Gods. She says these are their origins and also reveals that Zielo was one of the old gods. She says she does not know much about the old gods other than they used to be very peaceful. It is here that the boys realize how similar they are in appearance to the old gods, and it is revealed that Heephis is the creator of their souls, made with the memories of his brothers. According to destiny, Sonic Shadow and Silver are supposed to use their powers to defeat Zielo. Silver asks if they're meant to replace the old gods, prompting an interestingly timid and dismissive response from Bunnie telling him not to worry about that. Sonic then makes a cocky remark about him being the one to take down Zielo, which is brought into question by Antoine. The boys recognize Antoine as being the one who saved them from their souls being devoured. He questions Sonic again how he would defeat Zielo, to which Antoine scolds him for his childish behavior and response.

As Antoine walks them down the hall, he begins to explain that his name is Antoine and that he should introduce them to the other residents of Paradise. Sonic tries to say that Paradise isn't their home, to which Antoine asks the three of them if they still have a home back on Earth. With no response to the question as Antoine anticipated, he begins to explain some important things the boys should know... which is when Sonic and Silver start to space out, talking about going home or kicking back and drinking cola on the beach, and Shadow being fed up with hearing their thoughts. Antoine loudly clears his throat, silencing them and explaining that while it is a lot to take in, the other demi-gods aren't as forgiving as he is. Bunnie explains that the demi-gods are very formal and can be offended very easily. Sonic throws caution to the wind and pushes open the door to the demi-god's chambers.

The demi-gods, Sol, Blaze, Mogul, and Chaos are surprised by their sudden entry and bow to them. Blaze steps forward, exclaiming that they have been awaiting their arrival for a long time. Before she can speak further, she stops and analyzes their souls, realizing that they have pieces of their souls gone. It is argued whether or not they are soulless until Blaze clarifies that the pieces that are missing seem old, as if the dark god had taken the pieces when they were very young. The boys press questioning over what a soulless even is, which is when Antoine clarifies to them. Soulless are the product of Zielo; it is an act of torture where Zielo takes away half of your soul, leaving only a half of your soul in your body. You can feel yourself rot away until your eventual death. Antoine continues, explaining that there are three stages of Soulless: **Stage one**: newly turned soulless that can possibly be saved if you get the other half of their soul back. **Stage two**: the half of their soul in the body has began to rot and will not likely accept the other half of their own soul. **Stage three**: impossible to save, unrecognizable in appearance, and it is advised to put them out of their misery and kill them. The more of the soul rots, the more of a monster they become. Sonic drops his bowl of food and starts to have an emotional reaction to what he was just told, remembering that his friends and his mother had become these monsters. Silver and Shadow bring him back to the present and ask if he's alright, to which he laughs it off. Shadow asks why they're called Soulless if they still indeed have souls. Miss Sol explains to him that if they let themselves become soulless in the first place, then they're nothing but a walking corpse with no hope of making out of it alive. Silver exclaims that that thought is awful and in the end, the soulless are still human in some way.

Mogul wishes for the boys to fight with them to end Zielo, but Antoine says that their powers are slowly awakening, but he knows a way that can speed it up. He reveals that Zielo had given him their energy controllers back when he saved them. Before he is able to give them to the boys, Sol interrupts him and demands that they can only have them if they wish to assist in defeating Zielo. Without skipping a beat, Sonic Silver and Shadow all agree to bring down the dark god for the better of the universe. Antoine then places the amulets on the boys. Their powers activate for a moment upon wearing them, revealing that they are now connected to the amulets and that they are a part of them.

We cut to Zielo in an unknown location, surrounded by his loyal soulless as he ponders the previous events. He admits that he expected more of an interesting event, confirming that he did give Antoine the amulets and hopes that it'll lead to something more interesting. He wishes for something to break. That is when he sees his soulless Amy standing idly by. He gives a cruel laugh and ARC 1 ends.

## Characters introduced

* **Miss / Madam Sol:** A blue demi-goddess cat dressed in fine regal attire.
* **Chaos:** A red echidna demi-god decorated in gold with stones that possibly resemble the chaos emeralds.
* **Mammoth Mogul**: The largest demi-god, dressed in valiant gold plated armor.
* **Blaze the Cat**: Presumably one of the younger demi-gods. Her 'hair' is an ever burning flame of purple and she wears a pink and white bodysuit.
* **Antoine D'Coolette**: The demi-god coyote who saved Triple S from having their souls devoured back in issue 7. He wears an old French military uniform and appears to have seen many battles evident of the scar on his eye and tattered cape.
* **Bunnie D'Coolette**: An immortal mobian southern rabbit who inhabits Paradise. She is the wife of Antoine.

## Issue Trivia

* This issue has the most exposition out of any of the issues.
* We see that despite everything the boys have been through, they still retain their true personalities.
* For a split second when Antoine is explaining soulless, you can see Sonic turn darker when he grasps the torture of being a soulless.
* In the comic dub, the voice actor for Shadow mispronounced the word "bathed".
 The cloud that is feeding Silver has been confirmed by Gigi on tumblr to resemble an iv bag or feeding tube.

When the comic first shows the outside of Paradise*,* on the top three windows of the palace are the images of the three old gods: Heephis, Celios, and Zielo. This can be assumed that the dimension that Paradise resides in used to belong to the old gods or was a sanctuary of sorts.