"Darkness and Light"
Authors: Robert Brown and Francis Tolbert
Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Sega of
America, Inc. and Archie Comics (except where noted, in which case
they were created and copyrighted by us or by another and we have
permission to use them). The authors hereby give permission for
this story to be downloaded and/or printed at 1 copy per user as
long as (1) no changes to the story are made without our express
written(not e-mailed) permission and (2) no attempt is made to
profit from this story. If either or both rules are violated, it
will be considered a violation of copyright law.
Author's Note: Where to begin? 2008 was not a pleasant year in many respects.
I lost my job because of the time I had to take off to care for my mother in
her final months. I got a temp job where I only worked 25 hours a week that
lasted seven months with the promise of hiring me full time, but it never
panned out. My weight has been on a balloon ride, shooting me back up to
nearly 280 lbs. Francis' hip operations did not take as well as we hoped they
would so he now needs to have one of them replaced. And, of course, a day
hasn't gone by when I haven't felt the void in my life that was left by my
mother's passing.
But then, it wasn't all bad. I got a full-time job near the
end of October that seems perfect for me, except that I often leave my house
before the sun rises. I've managed to reconnect with an old friend that I
thought I'd never hear from again. And it marked 10 years since Francis'
kidney transplant and 20 years since I first met him. I only hope that I can
build on these positives in 2009 and eliminate most of the negatives. And I
hope the same goes for all of you who read this.
On March 17, 2009, Francis went in the hospital to have his
left hip replaced. An unfortunate side effect of the medication he takes to
keep his body from rejecting his transplanted kidney is that it eats away at
the bones of his hips. The surgery was a complete success and he is expected
to make a full recovery. However, the surgery knocked around his transplanted
kidney a little, causing us to believe the worst. We thought it would fail,
that he would need to go back on dialysis, and that he would need a new
transplant. Fortunately, that now seems not to be the case as his bloodwork
is returning to normal levels indicating that his kidney is back on top of
things. On March 31, 2009, he was moved to a physical rehabilitation facility
here in the Bronx where we expect him to stay for 3 to 4 weeks before
returning to his apartment. I know it's short notice, but any well wishes you
want to send his way I'd be happy to pass along. Take care everyone and till
next time, Happy Reading!
Cast of Characters(in order of appearance)
The Unholy One***
Tanin###
Krella###
Crown Princess Alicia Rose Hedgehog***
Nicholas###
Bunnie Rabbot
Nadine Osaya###
Amy Rose
Miles "M3" Prower III***
Sarah Prower***
James Echidna***
Lissette Lexford***
Edgar "The Owl"###
Desirée D'Coolette***
DJ Osaya###
Juice***
Angela Shi-rat***
Donovan Osaya###
King Sonic Hedgehog
Queen Sally Alicia Hedgehog
Darrin D'Coolette***
Rouge
Metal Sonic
Destín###
Charisma###
Kelly Min Hedgehog**##
Maxwell Kavenoff###
Hugo###
Tanis Shi-rat***
Rosie Shi-rat
??????***
Maurice Hedgehog***
Patricia Hedgehog***
#46
"I truly hope you get the artifact this time," the Unholy One said from
the throne of his Dark Castle, looking down at two of his Fallen Ones who were
before him on bended knee, his scarred and gnarled fingers tapping on the
armrests. "I would not appreciate having to take matters into my own hands...
again."
Tanin bowed his head so that it nearly touched his knee. "We will not
fail you again Father," he swore.
"Yes well in case you fail, I trust you know what to do."
Krella's fingers clenched into a fist before she forced them to relax.
"I still think this is a bad idea Father," she said, her voice shaking.
"But," she hastened to add, "I will follow your orders to the letter. You
need have no worries about that."
The dark magic that had been gathering about the Unholy One's hands
slowly faded away. "Your doubts are noted," he said, his eyes burning from
within his hood. "Now go and prepare yourselves. And find Charisma and
Destín. I wish to discuss their part of this plan with them."
"Of course Father," Tanin said, taking hold of Krella and teleporting
them both from the room before she could say anything. "What do you think you
were doing?" he hissed as they reappeared on the other side of the doors.
"Why must you tempt fate like that?"
"This is a bad idea Tanin," she said stiffly, smoothing down her orange
fur. "You were there when I found out about this; you know what it's capable
of. If we follow Father's orders, we might just doom us all. But don't worry
about me," she said, seeing him about to speak. "I do know my orders and I
will follow them. Just be prepared for the worst if I have to." Tanin stared
at her for a moment, worry written clearly in his eyes, but he just nodded.
Though the mood was somber in the Dark Castle, there was no somberness
to be found in Knothole. An even better wrestling match than the one that had
occurred just about a month ago. Alicia lay on her side in the center of the
ring, trying to both block out the pain and regain her breath. Of course,
that was not the easiest thing to do with Nicholas driving his weight into her
side, trying to squeeze the fight out of her with a sideways bearhug, not to
mention the blood trickling from her nose.
A grunt was forced from her lungs as he tightened his grip, the edges of
her vision graying for a second. She stuck her forearm under his nose,
forcing his head back just enough to get a bit of breathing room. She'd been
stupid to take Nicholas lightly; even if wrestling wasn't his usual fighting
style he was an excellent fighter. After all, she'd done the same with Nadine
and had almost lost.
Bunnie had insisted on the match taking place, which Alicia had no
problem with. Nadine, however, hadn't wanted any part of it, even trying to
intentionally lose by countout. Alicia had not been about to allow that and
had forcibly dragged Nadine into the ring.
Alicia had taken control of the match easily, wearing down Nadine slowly
as was her preference. But she'd gotten too complacent, taken her mind off
the match. When she'd tried to slam Nadine's head into a turnbuckle, Nadine
had blocked it and caught a surprised Alicia with a cross-leg over the
shoulder kick. Alicia had staggered back a step, just enough for Nadine to
connect with a Super Kick.
It had been instinct alone that had allowed Alicia to get her shoulders
off the mat before three; she had been so dazed that she didn't even hear
Bunnie's hand hitting the mat. Nadine had tried to quickly take advantage,
kicking or kneeing Alicia again and again and then following each strike up
with a pinfall attempt.
Alicia had gotten very lucky when she'd caught one of Nadine's kicks and
spun her around to lock in a full nelson, using a butterly grip instead of the
conventional laced fingers. But even then, Nadine had been able to hit some
of the strangest kicks Alicia had ever seen, even catching the vixen in her
face! Alicia had tried to swing Nadine around like a ragdoll, but every time
Nadine had had one foot on the mat the other found its way into Alicia's body
in some manner.
Finally Alicia had just started spinning around, cranking up the
pressure on the submission hold while forcing Nadine's legs outward. It had
been a risky move; if she'd done it too long she would've been too dizzy to
even stand. But Nadine had tapped out before that occurred, much to Alicia's
relief.
Yet here she was, making the same mistake against a far more dangerous
fighter. From watching his training sessions, Alicia had pinpointed a
weakness she could exploit in this match. But like her brother before her,
she had underestimated his ability to absorb punishment and his unwillingness
to submit or surrender.
Like the match with Nadine, Alicia had dominated through the early
minutes. She had spread out her attack, not focusing just on his weakness so
he wouldn't be prepared for her strikes. She had Irish whipped him to a
corner and followed him in only for him to raise one of his feet to meet her
charge. She had been expecting it though and caught the foot easily, letting
her guard down for just a second.
And a second was all Nicholas needed to turn the tables. He had slammed
the foot she held forcefully down to the mat, bringing Alicia with it. Her
nose had impacted on his shin, bloodying it if not outright breaking it.
While her tears had blinded her for a moment, Nicholas dropped all his weight
down on her back with a vicious elbow drop.
It hadn't been pretty, but his strategy was obvious. Without a stable
back, she could not launch most of her offense. Any attempt she'd made at a
comeback was stopped by a single hammer blow to her spine. And now, in his
grip, she was quickly running out of options.
Knowing that the match would be over if she didn't do something, Alicia
fought through the pain and pushed both herself and Nicholas up to a standing
position. She turned into him, which unfortunately put all his crushing grip
squarely on her back, but it had to be done. It was only from this that she
could use her hands to chop both sides of his neck at the same time.
He didn't show any reaction to the blows, but she felt his hold on her
weaken just slightly. She did it again to the same result. But before she
could do it a third time and possibly escape, he lifted her up and made to
slam her down in a spinebuster.
She didn't know if it were the blows she had landed or the sweat on his
hands, but Alicia felt his grip give out. She swung her body out of his arms
but grabbed his head as she twisted around, bringing him to the mat in a
version of the Diamond Cutter. She didn't have the weight to make that move
especially effective against someone his size, but since his momentum was
already toward the mat she was able to pull it off.
Even after such a move, Nicholas was already getting to his feet. But
Alicia was quicker. She slipped around behind Nicholas and locked his arms in
a double chicken wing before forcing her pained spine to bridge backward,
bringing his massive form over in a tiger suplex. She had intended to keep
the bridge for the pin, but her body just wouldn't cooperate and she had to
release him.
She wasn't really surprised when he rolled through the impact to end up
on his hands and knees, but it still pissed her off. With a growl, she rushed
him as he rose to his feet, too fast for him to stop. She ducked low and
grabbed him around the thighs, using most of what was left of her strength and
adrenaline to pick him up and get him in as high of a flapjack as she could.
It wasn't much, but it was enough to let her spin around, grab his head as he
came down, and drop him in a Stunner.
Nicholas bounced off her shoulder and fell to the mat. But this time
she was on him before he could get up, hooking his leg and shooting a half
nelson around his neck while trying to lock her hands. It was almost more
than her injured body could take, but she fought through it and butterflied
her hands though for only a split second before he uncurled his body and
forced his shoulders off the mat and her off him.
Alicia staggered to her feet before dropping to her knees, completely
spent like she had never been before. She saw Nicholas advancing on her and
knew she had to get up before he ended the match, but suddenly Bunnie was
between them calling for the bell.
Bunnie smiled as they both looked at her in confusion. They'd been so
caught up in their match that neither one had realized that she'd counted
Nicholas' shoulders down. It was close, but Bunnie knew she had felt her
hand hit the mat before Nicholas got his shoulder up. It was only when she
raised Alicia's hand in victory did the truth sink in to both their minds.
Alicia collapsed on the mat, the shock of her win robbing her of any
strength she had left. Nicholas simply rolled out of the ring and walked to
the back area, one hand holding the side of his neck. Bunnie watched him go
as she tended to Alicia, wondering if this loss would do him good or do him
harm.
Up in the seats, amidst the cheering crowd, two animals sat quietly and
worried. Nadine wasn't surprised that Alicia could give a good match against
Nicholas, not after the match she'd had with her. But to come back after the
beating Nicholas had given her, actually pick his massive frame up in the air,
and pin him? She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own
eyes. And now that she had, she wished she hadn't.
"Uh oh," Amy murmured, burying her head into Nadine's side.
"'Uh oh' is right," Nadine agreed, smoothing down the young hedgehog's
hair quills gently. Even though Bunnie had taken over their training, she
still allowed Nicholas to put Nadine and Amy through morning and evening
exercises. For as long as they'd known him, there had been one thing they
could count on: when Nicholas lost a fight he trained himself, and by
extension them, harder. Neither one was looking forward to what he would
dream up for them that night.
M3 took Amy's hand in his from where he sat on her other side. He too
knew of Nicholas' idea of training, but only secondhand. There was no
question that he would ramp things up for both her and Nadine, which in turn
meant that Amy would be exhausted until she adjusted. That could take up to a
week or more. While that wasn't necessarily a bad thing since she usually
tried to catch a few winks while leaning against him, it did make him worry.
But then, he wasn't one to talk. Ever since Nicholas had moved into the
palace, M3 had seen him as someone he could look up to that wasn't related.
He'd even tried to run through one of Nicholas' training areas, almost losing
his tails in the process. But he had been inspired to add things to his own
personal training.
He looked down at his empty hand sadly. It looked like his ability to
use crystalline powers like his mother and sister had been a one time thing.
No matter how he tried, he had not been able to trigger them again. Some
nights he had even trained himself past the brink of exhaustion in his
attempts to find the key. Sarah had often done the same, but at least all she
needed to do was build up her energy reserves because she didn't have the Void
to draw power from anymore.
"Hey!"
M3 jumped at least six inches into the air, dragging an unfortunate Amy
Rose with him. They whirled to see who had yelled at them to find a grinning
Sarah standing there. "Why'd you do that?" M3 whined, blushing when Amy
giggled at his tone.
"I was trying to get your attention for a few minutes now," Sarah
answered, crossing her arms. "You were just too busy with your girlfriend to
notice. Anyway," she continued, cutting off their stammers, "Mom has lunch
ready and she sent me to get you. You two coming?"
"We're coming," Amy said, standing up and waving to Nadine. "Might as
well enjoy my last meal."
"He lost?" Sarah asked, getting the crowd to part so they could get
through.
"He lost," they both confirmed.
"My condolences."
In his dressing room, Nicholas sat on a bench irritably trying to work
out the knots in his neck caused by that match. He couldn't believe that he'd
been beat, but he had no cause to doubt Bunnie's officiating. Still, like all
his defeats, it rankled in his soul. Had this been a real fight and not a
spar, he would likely be dead and Lily and Amy would be lost. He would've
once again failed them.
"You have nothing to be ashamed about Nicholas," Alicia said from where
she stood next to his locker. When the only acknowledgment she got was an
annoyed grunt, she walked over and sat down next to him. "You pushed me to my
limits and beyond today and I think we'll both grow stronger from it."
"I still lost," he grumbled, looking down at his feet.
"Only because I knew your weakness." That got Nicholas' attention and
he looked up at her, wincing as he moved his neck faster than intended, just
in time to have a scroll lightly bop him in the nose. "I've watched you train
and I've watched you fight. That was when I noticed that no matter what you
put the rest of your body through, you do nothing for your neck. That was my
point of attack and that was why I beat you. I doubt anyone else would've
figured that out even if they had the knowledge I do."
Nicholas picked up the scroll, studying the wax seal embossed with her
family's crest. "What is this?" he asked, looking at it without opening it.
Alicia smiled, scratching lightly at her nose. "I prepared a series of
exercises for you in case I won. Add these to what you already do and you'll
strengthen your neck. Just take it easy at first. As I said, your neck is
pretty much the weakest part of your body."
"I'll take it easy," he promised reluctantly. "How's your nose?"
Alicia suppressed a giggle. She was still getting used to this new
Nicholas that actually showed at least a little care for others. "Angela
wouldn't let me leave the ring until she healed it. The only problem is that
I can smell better than before so I can tell how much we both need a shower."
Nicholas grunted and Alicia figured that was as close to a laugh as she was
going to get. "I need to get going; Bunnie asked me to find Desirée for
training. I think I know where she is, but seeing as Darrin is otherwise
occupied he can't contact her. We'll discuss this more at the usual time and
place."
"Good luck with that," Nicholas said, opening the scroll and perusing
its contents. "And Alicia?" he said as she turned to leave, looking up at
her. "Thanks.... For this I mean."
Alicia couldn't keep the giggle back this time. "Just taking my job as
your trainer seriously, which I think I have just proven myself capable of.
See you tonight Nicholas."
Nicholas waved, waiting until she left to look back down at the scroll.
He could easily see the benefits of these exercises but knew he would never
have thought of them himself. It was true, having her as a hand-to-hand
combat trainer was the best he could hope for under the present conditions.
And he had Bunnie to thank for that.
Bunnie had made sure to assess his and Nadine's skills the day after
they had returned from her family's burial ground. That had included hand-to-
hand fighting, weapons skills, and basic endurance tests like running,
climbing, and swimming. Nadine had fared average at everything except her
weapons skills, which were poor but showed excellent promise. Nicholas had
passed all of Bunnie's expectations easily except for one thing: he could not
swim.
He hadn't even wanted to go near the pool, but Bunnie would not let him
out of it, even invoking Victoria's name to get him to agree. He had intended
to just walk along the bottom of the pool as long as he could hold his breath,
but Bunnie had made it a condition that his feet not touch bottom. At hearing
that, Nicholas had simply turned around and left. It had taken a little
doing, but Bunnie had coaxed the truth from him.
The next day, Bunnie had informed them both that she had figured out a
training regimen for them both. She would oversee it for the most part, and
had at that point put special emphasis on teaching Nicholas to swim, but had
arranged for special teachers for the both of them. She had then set down a
wrapped packages in front of each of them and told them to open them.
Nadine had done so first, finding within a sword like her father's. It
only made sense; after all Bunnie had convinced Donovan to train his daughter
in the art of the sword. Though Antoine or even Darrin would have been a
better choice, it was obvious Bunnie was trying to help re-establish the
strong bonds that had once existed between father and daughter. Nadine had
agreed immediately and gone to hug Bunnie in gratitude before seeking out her
father.
She'd had something different in mind for Nicholas. In his box had been
a wrestling singlet, similar to what he was wearing today. While he'd tried
to figure out what it was, Alicia had come in and announced that she would be
his trainer in the art of grappling. He had already seen what she could do in
the match against Nadine but he'd had doubts over her ability to teach him.
Doubts that she had completely eradicated this day.
He found he was looking forward to having a talk with her tonight.
Since the firing of her old tutor, Alicia had received a new one that
challenged her to do something more than just memorize outdated laws and
archaic customs. Each meeting a situation was set before her, be it military,
political, or even personal. She was expected to have a solution ready by the
next meeting as well as her reasoning to back it up.
Much as she had done when faced with how to discipline Juice for his
actions regarding the Challenge of Succession, Alicia had sought out Nicholas
for advice and debate. But after each question was answered, she had stayed
and just talked to him, something Nicholas had been very guarded about at
first. The questions she asked were pointed and direct, especially about his
personal life. It was not something he was at ease discussing, but now he was
glad she had persisted.
Part of Bunnie's training, though he was reluctant to call it so, was to
get Nicholas to act on his emotions rather than keep them bottled up inside.
Though her first few attempts failed, she had persisted until she finally
found the one thing that could break through his barriers: Lily.
Bunnie's plan had been completely unexpected. He didn't know how much
coaxing she'd had to do, and he really didn't want to, but somehow Bunnie had
convinced Lily to seduce him. The plan would have failed had Lily not said
the one thing he thought he would never hear from her lips: "I love you."
Had they been still out traveling, he would've simply berated her for
letting her emotions get involved and forcibly put the incident from his mind.
But here in the palace, especially so soon after seeing Victoria again, he had
found himself admitting his love for her before he realized it. She hadn't
given him the chance to take it back, launching herself at him and kissing
him intensely. It had been no less awkward than their first kiss so many
years ago, but this one had been backed by a love that had matured despite
efforts to keep it from doing so, not one that had just barely begun to bloom.
Kissing had led to touching, caressing. Clothes had been discarded as
the need to be closer had grown too great to ignore. His memories of what
came next were indistinct and fragmented, but he knew he had never felt so
loved in his life. They had not regretted it then, and they did not now. Nor
did they regret any of the times it had occurred since.
If there was one bad thing that came from this, it was the release of
his emotions. Now while this was the effect Bunnie had desired, she could not
have foreseen the chaos it would bring. For the first few days, he had been
completely unable to muster his usual dispassionate state; too many emotions
had cluttered his mind and his heart. On top of that, he found himself much
more appreciative of the female form, any female's form, which brought along
many feelings of guilt.
It was during one of their talks that Alicia had noticed the change in
him and had quite innocently quizzed him on it. He'd intended to be curt with
her and brush her off, but he couldn't do it. Words came tumbling out of his
mouth, full of fear, anger, and bunch of other emotions he didn't know how to
name. And through it all she had sat there and listened, like his well-being
was more important than learning how to run the planet.
Once he had exhausted himself, she had very quietly started to talk.
Bunnie had told him that emotions were a good thing if used right, but hearing
Alicia say it had bolstered that fact in his heart. She'd also explained the
difference between physical attraction and love to him, no matter how hard it
made them blush. She'd even told him about the ogling that had occurred at
the gravesite as an example, something he had been unaware of. The knowledge
had, unfortunately, not allowed him to look any of the girls in the eye for a
day or two. Still, without Alicia's help he wouldn't have been able to start
moving on from it, and his relationship with Lily would be suffering.
While Nicholas had just finished musing about the recent past, someone
else was just starting. Alicia had just finished taking a quick shower to
clean her form of the sweat and grime she had collected during the wrestling
match and was now wrapped in only a towel, staring at herself in the mirror.
During the match, she had conveniently forgotten about the state she was in.
But now, with the proof staring at her, she could no longer ignore it.
She reached a trembling hand up to her head where her very short, very
damp hair stuck out at almost every possible angle. True to her word, when
they had all returned from Bunnie's ancestral resting place Alicia had allowed
Angela to drag her off to a nearby room and cut and style her hair however the
mouse had seen fit. And, of course, she had picked short and spiky. Alicia
was anything but happy with the result, nearly going to tears over the loss of
so much of her hair. But in the end it was only hair and she had made as much
peace with it as she was going to.
Shaking off those thoughts, she dropped her towel and quickly got
dressed, making sure to clip Nicole to her boot. Her stomach growled a little
so she decided to see what was cooking in the various huts. But before her
nose could pick up on anything delicious, she remembered that she had promised
Desirée she would check up on how she and DJ were doing as soon as the match
was over. With a groan, she spun on her heel and headed for the outskirts of
the village so that she could teleport back to the palace, which was the only
place she could teleport to the Great Library from.
She could have run, but she found that even with her family's speed she
enjoyed the simple pleasure that walking brought her. Besides, it was hard to
take in all the little details around her while moving at supersonic levels.
Details like James and Lissette making out in an empty hut, for example.
A giggle escaped her throat before she could stop it, making the couple
spring apart to opposite ends of the hut. "Oh, Princess," James said quickly,
straightening out his robe. "I...didn't realize you were there."
"I'm sure you didn't," she said with a wide smile. "You looked rather
distracted actually."
A blush broke out on his lavendar cheeks and was mirrored on Lissette's
pale ones. "Umm, you didn't see anything Alicia," she stammered, tying her
hair back in its usual ponytail and resnapping the one side of her overalls
that had come undone. "Nothing at all."
"Right," Alicia agreed sarcastically. "Just like I don't see anything
on James' lips."
James casually rubbed the back of his glove across his lips, gulping
when it came away with a smear of purple the exact same shade that painted
Lissette's lips. "I gotta go," he said quickly, teleporting away in a swirl
of light.
"Coward," Lissette muttered under her breath before edging out of the
hut. "I think I left something running in the lab," she said as Alicia turned
an amused gaze on her. "See ya!"
Alicia held back just long enough for Lissette to run out of sight
before falling to her knees in laughter. The James-Lissette relationship was
the worst kept secret in all of Mobius. Everyone knew that they were an item,
so the fact that they continually acted to hide it was the source of much
amusement. Whether it was that he was a Holy One in training or that she was
the daughter of Snively, no one knew. And to be honest, no one cared.
After her mirth faded, she hopped up to her feet and walked to the path
that led back to the palace. Seeing nothing else interesting, she unclipped
Nicole and opened her up as she stepped on the path. "Nicole, I need you to
teleport me to the palace and then from there to the Great Library."
"I can do that Alicia," Nicole said in that more conversational tone
that Alicia had not fully grown accustomed to yet, "but I don't see the need.
With my new processors that Edgar made for me, I can cut through the wards
surrounding the Great Library and teleport you there directly. The same goes
for any point in the palace and Knothole itself."
Alicia stared at Nicole for a moment before shaking her head. "One of
these days I have to sit down with you and see just what you're capable of.
But for now, please teleport me to the entrance of the Great Library." To her
surprise, she was there before she was even ready for it, and there was none
of the dizziness or vertigo she suffered when using Donovan's teleporters. "I
can definitely get used to that," she thought, closing Nicole and replacing
the computer on her boot.
A flash of light caught her attention, but it was gone before she could
get a look at it so she thought she may have imagined it. She pushed open the
doors and walked down the marked path to where she knew her friends were doing
research. She had been down this way a few times, one of the only paths she
knew through the library, but something seemed a little off today. Nothing
seemed out of place but there was something in the air that unnerved her.
Something in the...air? She took a long sniff and her face scrunched up
in disgust. "They have to do that here?" she moaned, shaking her head. A
heady scent of sweat and musk hung in the air, both masculine and feminine.
Considering they were the only sexually active couple in their generation that
would come to the library, it didn't take a genius to figure out what was
going on over there.
As she rounded the last corner, she slapped her hand over her eyes
before she saw something that might potentially scar her for life. "You two
better knock it off right now!" she called loudly, knowing it was one of the
few ways to shock them out of their activity. She expected to hear them
scrambling off the table and diving for their clothes. But that wasn't what
she got.
"This...can't be good."
Alicia's hand dropped away from her face at hearing the familiar voice.
When her eyes readjusted to the light, she saw a badger in a graduation gown
trying to slip away. "Edgar?" she called, taking a step forward. When the
form flinched at the name, she knew she had him. "That is you!"
"This really can't be good," Edgar muttered. Taking a minute to compose
himself, he turned around with a small smile on his face. "What can I do for
you, my future queen?"
"Well the first thing you can do is call me Alicia," she said with a
soft smile. "And then you can let me apologize for the actions of my friends
as well as clean up after them."
"It's not the first time they've left this table in this shape. Really,
that is not--" he began to protest before she stopped him.
"I insist," she said, knowing he wouldn't argue further. "Besides, I've
been hoping to get the opportunity to talk to you for a while now."
Edgar's hands stilled for just a second as he reached for the pile of
books on the table. "You have?"
"Of course," she said brightly. "I gave you my signet ring in the hopes
that you would visit at least once in a while. I've even wanted to invite you
over so we could talk and get to know each other better."
"There's nothing I want more," he admitted, nudging a bucket filled with
cleaning solution over to her and indicating a rag hanging over the back of a
chair. "However, I have restrained myself because there are things I know you
will want to ask of me that I cannot reveal. It's not a matter of want, I
truly cannot."
Alicia thought about it for a bit as she soaked the rag in the strong
reagent. "I understand your concerns," she said, wringing out the rag and
beginning to wipe down the table, "but I just wanted to talk to you, nothing
more. The last time I saw you, you told me that you loved me. I need to see
if that love is real or just based on some unrealistic view you have of me. I
also want to see if what I feel for you can grow into that kind of love that
my parents share. If it will help, then I swear on my family's honor that I
will ask you nothing about what you might or might not know about what's going
on."
Edgar considered her words carefully, so carefully that he actually put
a couple books back in the wrong place. They held more than a ring of truth
to them, bringing up possibilities that he himself had considered over the
past few weeks. "That will suffice," he said through a sigh. "The next time
you wish to invite me over, just have Nicole contact me and I will be there."
"Expect it to be soon then," Alicia quipped with a gentle smile. "And
I'm talking about within the next two weeks." Edgar nodded, a smile touching
his lips as well.
They continued to work to make the Library respectable, passing the time
with idle small talk. Edgar commented on her new hairdo seeing as it was a
great difference from her usual look. She told him the story behind it,
grimacing the whole time. But after he heard everything he just told her that
he respected her more for following through on a bet made as a child. His
praise brought her smile back and sent a delicious thrill singing through her
nerves.
But there was one thing they both failed to realize. The actions of DJ
and Desirée had done more than mess and stink up the place. A large amount of
pheromones had been released into the air, pheromones that were even now
working their effect on the two. Without knowing why, their talk was getting
less and less innocent, now filled with their inexperienced attempts at
flirting.
The flash point came when they both reached for one of the last books on
the table and instead grabbed each other's hands. That innocent touch, which
normally would've sent them both to opposite ends of the table blushing and
stammering, instead brought the fire that had been building inside them to a
sudden inferno.
Alicia was the first to move, grabbing Edgar and kissing him hard and
deep. He was taken aback for just the shortest of moments before he returned
it. Neither one quite knew what they were doing, but both were determined to
find their way together. Somehow she found herself laying back on the table
they had just cleaned. A small part of her mind wondered if she was about to
discover just why Desirée and DJ found this table so interesting before she
embraced the possibility.
Edgar's mind, however, was putting up more of a fight than Alicia's.
Not because he wanted it any less, but he knew what could happen if this were
not stopped. Still, he could not find the strength to resist until he felt
her legs glide up his hips. "No!" he said, tearing himself away from her.
"Edgar...." Alicia whimpered needily, reaching out for him.
"No," he repeated firmly, keeping his face averted to only view her out
of the corner of his eyes. He knew that if he faced her directly what little
will he'd managed to gather would quickly dissipate. "I will not ruin you nor
will I compromise your position. I'm sorry."
"Don't--!" Alicia called but couldn't stop him from teleporting away.
Even though she knew he'd done the right thing, she couldn't help but feel a
sense of loss. That emptiness soon filled with anger as she remembered who
the true cause of this situation was. "Nicole," she growled as she took the
computer from her boot, "teleport me back to the palace now!"
The guard who was monitoring the teleporter point in the palace jumped
when Alicia suddenly appeared in front of her. She thought about asking her
if everything was OK, but the expression on the princess' face made it clear
that everything was not OK. The guard stood to the side, not daring to step
in her way. As Alicia stomped down the hallway, every animal got out of her
way anyway they could; no one wanted to deal with an Alicia on the warpath.
Unaware of what was heading their way, the other Chosen Ones and DJ
chatted idly while they waited for Alicia to appear. Desirée and DJ both
figured they had just missed Alicia and she'd figure out soon enough the same.
In the meantime, they were having a little fun at Juice's expense, a favorite
pastime of late.
All five of them jumped out of their seats when the door slammed open to
reveal an extremely pissed off Alicia. She took no note of anyone but the two
in her sights, marching right over to them and picking them both up by their
necks. "The next time you two feel the urge, clean up after yourselves!" she
screamed in their faces before dropping them back in their chairs. Utterly
embarrassed, Desirée and DJ both turned bright red while the others in the
room politely averted their gazes.
Alicia sat down in a huff, her anger only partially appeased. Her eyes
roamed around the room until they landed on Juice. For some reason, his nose
was bandaged up and it looked rather uncomfortable. "What happened to you?"
she snapped irritably.
Juice flinched from his sister's tone, wincing as it jarred his tender
nose. "Why don't you ask Angela," he muttered, sounding like he had a bad
head cold. "She's the one who did this to me."
"You wouldn't be like this if you had been upfront with me from the
beginning, my love," Angela said sweetly, making Juice flinch again by
cracking her knuckles. "You see," she said, turning her attention to Alicia,
"Juice here has been training under Donovan for a couple weeks now and I just
found out about it today."
"I was going to tell you," Juice insisted nasally. "But it's not like I
had much choice in the matter at first," he said to himself, remembering just
how it all got started.
A day or so after the Magma Stone was taken, Donovan had ambushed Juice
with a canister of sleep gas. When Juice had awoken, he'd found himself in an
empty room with only one door. Not only that, his usual red sneakers had been
replaced with a yellow pair. "What's going on here?" he'd demanded.
"I'm glad to see you're awake," Donovan's voice had sounded through a
speaker Juice couldn't see. "Welcome to my Labyrinth. You're about to get a
small taste of what your father went through to prepare for his final battle
with Robotnik. I'll be waiting for you at the exit."
"Forget that!" Juice had yelled, revving up his legs. He hadn't even
gotten started before the sneakers he'd been wearing sent a painful shock
through his body. A second shock had come when he had tried to remove the
sneakers.
"You'll have to rely on your instincts to get through, not your speed,"
Donovan's voice had warned him. "You've already felt what will happen if you
disobey the rules. Now get moving; the clock's ticking."
It had taken over a half hour for Juice to finally stumble through the
exit. The first thing he'd done was kick those sneakers off his swollen,
tender feet; the second had been to glare at Donovan. Donovan had been
unaffected by the hedgehog's glare and had simply squatted down in front of
him. "That was level one. Your father finished level seven in the time that
was available to him. As a favor to him, I agreed to put you through this
session one time only, unless you think the training would be worthwhile. You
have until I am done with my vacation to let me know."
Despite all the pain, Juice hadn't argued. He remembered his father's
stories and how he swore Donovan's training had been the deciding factor in
Armageddon. Back then he didn't believe a word of it; now he knew better.
Still, he'd known that Donovan would not take a quick answer so he'd forced
himself to think about it.
Even after a week, Juice had wanted to give the training a shot, asking
Donovan for three more sessions before making a final decision. Donovan had
agreed to the terms but had warned him to inform Angela about his decision.
Juice had brushed him off, resolved to tell Angela only if he decided to
undertake the training fully.
Donovan had just shaken his head. "If Angela finds out before the
three sessions are complete, she may take it out on both you and me. When
your mother found out I was training your father, she hooked my nose in a
way that Rosie did to us when we were naughty kids. If Angela is anything
like her mother, I don't want to end up with my nose bandaged." Juice had
had the audacity to laugh at the warning and pay it no mind.
This very morning had been Juice's third session. As he'd exited the
Labyrinth, pleased with the progress he was making, he'd been shocked to see
Donovan on his knees with pained tears streaming down his cheeks. The cause
had been immediately obvious: Angela had two fingers rammed up the squirrel's
nose and had been jerking and twisting it painfully while screaming at him.
Juice's instincts had been to retreat back into the Labyrinth, but the door
had closed behind him and he'd backed into it with a loud smack.
Any hopes of remaining undetected had disappeared at that moment.
Angela had been on him in a flash, dropping Juice to his knees by hooking her
fingers into his nose. The pain had been almost too much to think about
anything else, but Angela had made sure to keep his attention focused on her
words. She had been upset that he had agreed to do the training in the first
place, but that he had not even bothered to talk to her about it had made her
cross the line from upset to true anger. No amount of pleading had been able
to sway her, even telling her that Sonic had ordered it only fueled her ire.
Finally, when she and she alone had decided that enough was enough, she had
released him and teleported away.
Juice had looked over to Donovan who, despite his injured nose, was
glaring at him in a decidedly "I-told-you-so" kind of way. "I will never
doubt you again," Juice had promised, something that seemed to mollify Donovan
just a bit. "Might as well go through with the training though; I've already
been punished for it."
"We have," Donovan had corrected him.
Juice was brought out of his thoughts by Alicia snickering. Apparently
Angela had taken that time to relay the situation and his sister obviously
found it extremely funny. He wondered how funny she'd find it to know that
Sonic had suffered the same fate for being the one who set things in motion.
Sally certainly hadn't seemed too upset, smirking at her husband while taping
up his nose.
"Now that we're all feeling better," Desirée said, smiling despite
having heard the story already, "DJ and I found our next targets."
"Targets?" Darrin asked, leaning forward intently. "We will be going
after more than one?"
Desirée nodded, pulling a book out of a bag by her feet. "Legends tell
of a black meteorite that crashed to this planet ages ago. From that rock was
forged two artifacts: the Dark Stone and the Dark Sword. Both are said to be
imbued with pure evil, perfect for recharging the Shadow Emerald."
"But why do we have to go after both of them?" Darrin asked. "We've
never tried to acquire two artifacts at once."
"Apparently the Unholy One likes what happened with the Magma Stone,"
she answered with a frown. "That ferret went after both of our Fire artifacts
and managed to get away with one. So he's dividing his troops up to hopefully
catch us napping. Destín and Charisma are going after the Sword while the
other four are going after the Stone. Thanks to DJ's friend, we know all this
and we know where we have to go."
DJ nodded, happy that his friendship with Rouge continued to bear fruit.
She'd been in a rather playful mood last night, teasing and flirting with him
nonstop until he'd given in and given a little of it back. Happy with his
reaction, she'd dropped a light kiss on his nose and told him what she had.
Metal Sonic, who at that time had been seeing Lissette for some minor
repair work, had been the one to actually get the information. Scanners that
Lissette had installed on the previous trip to the palace had been able to
penetrate the walls of the Dark Castle far more easily than his old ones. Not
only had he been able to pick up on Tanin and Krella talking, he'd even been
able to take a picture of the scrolls they had been arguing over. It was only
with that information that he and Desirée had been able to pinpoint the
locations of the artifacts.
Darrin frowned as he studied the map. "The Sword is about three days
journey from here," he observed. "Maybe one if it were Juice or Alicia, but
they are going with Angela to retrieve the Stone. They will all be needed to
counter the Fallen Ones going there."
"I can teleport you where you have to go," Angela offered, "but I may
not be immediately available to bring you back if we run into trouble."
Any further brainstorming was interrupted by three loud beeps coming
from Nicole. "If I may," she said when Alicia opened her up, "if Alicia is
willing to loan me to you, I can teleport you there. Unlike Donovan's chip
based teleporters, all I need are the proper three coordinates and I can bring
you to any place on the planet."
"Three coordinates?" Alicia asked, confused. "What do you mean three?
And why didn't you need any to get me to the Great Library?"
"The coordinates for the Great Library were uploaded into my system with
the upgraded processors," Nicole explained. "The three coordinates I need are
latitude, longitude, and altitude."
Alicia glanced at the map and nodded. "The map shows the elevations of
the land so that's easy enough to do. All right, looks like we have a plan."
As the remaining details of the Chosen Ones' plan were being finalized,
Charisma and Destín appeared at the site where the Dark Sword rested in a dark
whirlwind. "Why is it just us again?" Destín whined for what Charisma felt
was the hundredth time. "Wouldn't we be better off with some backup like Hugo
or Maxwell?"
"Like I told you before," Charisma snapped, her tail lashing the air in
agitation, "we represent the best chance of slipping in, getting the Sword,
and slipping out without being seen. We're not supposed to cause a ruckus
this time so the less you complain, the faster we can just get back!"
Destín took a look around and sighed. "That's not likely to happen,"
she muttered past a yawn.
Charisma was about to ask what she meant when she noticed it herself.
They had landed in some sort of excavation site, like an archaeological dig or
something. But instead of an orderly hub of activity, there was nothing but
chaos and destruction all around. If she didn't know better, she'd swear this
was Maxwell's doing.
Before they could even search for the Dark Sword amidst the wreckage,
two figures shimmered into view. It took Desirée and Darrin only a few
seconds to take stock of the situation and, seeing two Fallen Ones nearby,
readied themselves for a fight. "You're not getting away with this," Darrin
said, drawing his sword.
The last thing Charisma wanted to do was fight Darrin, but if she didn't
Destín might rat her out. That would cause a lot more problems than she could
handle. Reluctantly, she unsheathed her claws and dropped into a fighting
stance, trying to figure out the best way to get away without injuring either
Darrin or his sister too badly.
"Wait!"
The two sides stumbled at the sudden call, looking to see where it came
from. One of the site workers, a middle-aged buzzard, was slowly pulling
himself from the wreckage despite the obvious pain it caused him. "It wasn't
them," he gasped, pressing his wing to a bleeding wound in his side. "It was
Kelly."
"Kelly?" Darrin, Desirée, and Charisma all yelled, though only the last
of those three covered her mouth and hoped that no one else noticed her slip.
"Who?" Destín asked, not really caring but curious all the same.
"We'd...just entered the Sword chamber," the buzzard groaned, prompting
Darrin and Desirée to kneel beside him and start treating his wounds. "Kelly
was so...happy that the Sword was actually there that she...forgot protcol.
We begged her to wait until we could get some kind of containment in place but
she insisted she'd be fine. And she was...until she picked the Sword up."
"Easy," Desirée soothed, "save your strength."
The buzzard continued on like he hadn't heard her. "The moment she
touched it, it was like she was possessed or something. Her eyes completely
blanked out and she started charging forward in a straight line, obliterating
anything in her way. We were lucky none of us were caught by the brunt of her
charge, but the cave-in she caused trapped us all. I...I think everyone's
still alive down there."
"And that's our cue to leave," Charisma said, grabbing Destín by the arm
and dragging her off.
Darrin thought about following but there were more pressing matters to
attend to. "We'll help with the recovery efforts," he said instead.
The buzzard shook his head, grunting as Desirée wrapped his ribs. "No,
there's a crew coming back from break soon who will be able to help. You have
to stop Kelly before she gets wherever she's going."
Darrin nodded, taking Nicole from Desirée's hands. "Nicole, please
inform the palace of the situation and that we will do our best to take care
of it."
"Already done Darrin," Nicole said. "Based on the path that Kelly left,
I have identified a few places that may be her target. Would you like me to
teleport you to the most likely one?"
Darrin raised his eyebrow at his sister in silent question. "No,"
Desirée answered. "If she's after something not in your databanks we might
miss her completely. It's best if we just follow her and try to catch up
with her."
"Works for me," Darrin agreed. A few startled shouts signalled the
return of the workers, making both D'Coolettes stand. "And that's our cue to
leave," he said, unconsciously echoing Charisma's earlier words. Desirée
looked at him oddly, but said nothing as they ran down the path of destruction
left behind in Kelly's wake.
At the same time but far away from the excavation site, the other Chosen
Ones found themselves in a pitched battle with the remaining Fallen Ones deep
within a redwood forest. The Fallen Ones had recovered the Dark Stone first,
easily breaking open the hidden vault that had protected it. But as Tanin was
preparing to teleport them away, he was struck by an orb of light that
disrupted the spell.
Krella hid inside the vault, the Stone clutched safely in her hands.
For now anyway. Tanin was squaring off against Angela, Hugo against Alicia,
and Maxwell against Juice. Tanin and Angela fighting did not surprise her,
they always singled each other out whenever possible. But she'd been sure
that Alicia would go after Maxwell with the history they shared. After
watching the battle for a few minutes, she understood why.
Juice was developing Holy One powers! They were very weak, barely
effective against Maxwell at all on the level of an annoying bug. But he was
able to defending himself against any of Maxwell's attacks that he could not
dodge. She knew he was being trained because of Charisma's information but
hadn't known that he had progressed this far. And worse still, she couldn't
even blame Charisma because of how secretive the training was.
At least Maxwell didn't seem to care. If anything, it was making him
fight harder. Juice was hard pressed to keep up, getting more and more
desperate with his movements. The former prince was now completely on the
defense, unable to get a single blow in.
Or was he? From where she stood, it seemed like he was holding himself
back a little. There were times when he was poised to deliver a blow but
restrained himself. This was not the brash hedgehog she was used to seeing.
Some of it was probably due to his training, but her instincts told her it was
more than that, especially when Juice took a fall though Maxwell's attack
missed. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going on. "Look out
Maxwell!" she yelled.
But her warning came too late. Before Maxwell could turn around Alicia
was on his back, her arms locked around his throat and her legs around his
waist. Maxwell swung his body around wildly to try and throw her off, but
Alicia was tenacious. Even his body could not operate long without oxygen and
he was forced down to his knees.
An angry bellow plus the loud sound of splintering wood drew her
attention away from Maxwell's struggles. Hugo was charging over at full
speed, wood chips flying off his face and cheeks and fists. A nearby tree was
broken nearly in half, tilting dangerously to the side. It didn't take a
genius to see that he must've gotten himself caught in the tree while fighting
Alicia, a mistake he was trying to correct now.
Juice tried to get in his way, but he was brushed aside by the
unstoppable force that was Hugo. Alicia let go of a now unconscious Maxwell
and turned to meet the rush. But she couldn't even get her feet set before he
lowered his shoulder into her and sent her unwillingly into a tree. Hearing
the sound of Juice's distinctive run heading his way, Hugo spun around with
arm outstretched, looking to clothesline the hedgehog. But Juice ducked it,
kicking out Hugo's knees. It was a great idea, dropping the bulldog, but he
dropped right on Juice. Both of their heads hit rocks on the way down,
resulting in a double knockout.
"This is not looking good," she muttered, scanning the battlefield for
Tanin. She knew his powers were close to if not matching Angela's; their
direct battles were usually very long, drawn out affairs. But Tanin was
already down on his knees, looking like he was barely staying conscious. One
spinning knee strike from Angela had him knocked out before he hit the ground.
Angela took a deep breath and slowly brought her powers back inside her
body as she had been taught, the white glow fading from her hands and legs.
Tanin had entered the fight slinging dark magic at her, like he always did.
But instead of returning fire, Angela had only dodged the blasts, working her
way closer to him with each movement. By the time he'd figured out something
was wrong, it was too late.
She had only needed one enhanced punch to drop Tanin to his knees. The
spinning knee strike that followed it up, also enhanced by her powers, ensured
he wouldn't be waking up without help. Julie-Su's training was truly
remarkable; she would have to remember to thank her and her mother the next
time she saw them. But for now, she had other business to take care of.
Krella backed away as Angela approached her, but there wasn't really
anywhere she could go. "You have a choice," Angela said in a calm, measured
voice. But there was a clear threat behind her words that Krella had no
trouble picking up on. "Either you give me the Stone willingly or I take it
after I knock you out. Your call."
The red-haired vixen looked around frantically for a means of escape,
but nothing presented itself. She looked at the Stone she held, then at
Angela, then back to the Stone. Her orders were clear, but still she
hesitated. "You don't want this," she warned, her tail puffed out in a mix
of fear and concern.
"The Stone, please," Angela insisted, holding out her hand.
"Don't say you weren't warned," Krella sighed, lobbing the stone to
Angela. Angela caught it easily, staring at it in surprise. She had just...
given it up? There had to be more to this situation than that.
A cloud of pure darkness sprang from the Dark Stone, surrounding her
faster than she could blink. She didn't even have time to put up any defenses
before it began to force its way inside her by any means it could: her mouth,
her nose, her eyes, even the pores of her skin. Such horrible pain filled
her, like her soul was being consumed in the fires of the Abyss. She opened
her mouth to scream, but she couldn't even draw air into her lungs.
Pulses of dark energy began to radiate outward from her, causing the
unconscious Chosen Ones to whimper in pain while reviving and rejuvenating the
Fallen Ones. Krella scrambled over to Tanin, helping him sit up. "Get us out
of here," she hissed at him. "I don't want to be around when that Stone's
done with her."
"You forget," Tanin said, standing up with her aid, "I have my orders as
well." He walked toward Angela as the dark energy faded and her body relaxed.
"Hello, Sister."
Angela's head snapped up at his words, a cruel sneer twisting her lips.
"Hello, Brother," she returned sarcastically. "To what do I owe the sudden
surge of familial love?"
Tanin frowned, shoving his hands into the sleeves of his robes. It was
disconcerting to see Angela like this, but such was to be expected if he were
to turn it to Father's advantage. "I have been asked to extend the offer to
join us. Help us to revive Chaos and you shall be well rewarded."
Angela slowly stood, stretching each muscle individually as she moved.
"Well rewarded?" she asked, pinning Tanin with her grey gaze. "Riches maybe?
Or power? Is that the best you could come up with?"
Tanin stared Angela in the eye as long as he could, but he eventually
had to look away. The streaks of red shooting through her grey irises was
making him feel less and less at ease. "What do you want then?" he asked,
doing his best to project a calmness he did not feel. "What would it take for
you to become a Fallen One?"
Angela rested her fingertip against her lips and pretended to think
about it. "Become a Fallen One? Revive Chaos? Why dear Brother," she
purred, the sound making Tanin step away from her, "why would I want to revive
Chaos when I can become Chaos?
"Oh wait," she continued with a dark laugh, "I suppose I wasn't supposed
to let you know about that, was I? Oh well. Time to die!" She extended her
hands toward the standing Fallen Ones, wisps of red energy being drawn between
them. "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows, buried in
the flow of time."
"Uh oh," Tanin breathed, his eyes going wide. "OK Krella, now we get
out of here."
Krella hurried to his side, closing her eyes against the power she felt.
"What spell is that?" she asked, having to yell to be heard above the painful
keening that sounded like it was all around them.
"The Dragon Slave!"
Angela heard what they were saying, but to be honest she didn't really
care. All that mattered was getting rid of these annoyances. "In Thy great
name I pledge myself to the Darkness! Those who oppose us shall be destroyed
by the power you and I possess!"
"I told you this was a bad idea!" Krella yelled over the dark wind that
sprang up to teleport her and the other Fallen Ones away.
Angela pouted as her targets fled. The nearly completed spell was still
between her hands, the chaotic energy begging to be released so that it might
destroy. Who was she to deny it what it wanted? She spun around, aiming the
sphere of crimson light at the vault that had once contained the Dark Stone.
"DRAGON SLAVE!" she cried, shooting the energy forward. A series of
explosions rocked the forest as the spell tore forward, obliterating anything
in its path. Trees, rocks, even a small hill vanished from the face of Mobius
under the power of the Dragon Slave.
Even in their battered state, Juice and Alicia were roused by the
intense feelings of wrongness that accompanied the destruction. "A...Angela?"
Alicia breathed, her chest feeling strangely heavy.
"They got away," Angela grumbled. "But at least I got the Stone, right?
That's what matters."
Juice pushed himself up to his feet, wincing as he held his head. "Are
you OK?" he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders.
Angela flinched when he first touched her, but turned into his embrace.
"I...I guess so," she said, lifting her hand to heal his head wound. "I guess
I'm just a little stressed."
Juice closed his eyes when she touched him, so he did not see that the
normally soothing white light was a roiling black now. But he certainly felt
the difference. "C-cold," he moaned, shivering at both the temperature and
how wrong it felt.
Angela snatched her hand away and looked for Alicia to see if she had
seen it. But the princess was too busy studying the damage left in the wake
of her attack. "Come on Alicia," she said, keeping the relief from her voice.
"We need to get back to the palace. I think Dr. Gray should look both you and
your brother over."
Alicia nodded distractedly, wrapping her arms around herself as she
stared down the path the spell had taken. "Such devastation," she murmured, a
tear falling from her eyes at the loss of such a large section of the forest.
"Is that what we have come to?" The whirlwind rose up around her suddenly,
making her shield her eyes against the wind. Was it her or did the wind look
black? No, it had the be from the dirt and dust it kicked up. Right...?
As troubled as Alicia was, even more trouble was brewing elsewhere. In
a small village that was of no consequence to anyone but the animals who lived
there, life moved along at a steady pace. Many of the older animals were
content with it, but a number of the younger ones wished that something
exciting would happen to break up the monotony. Whenever these wishes were
voiced, those who were old enough to know better laughed it off and jokingly
reminded them that they must be careful of what they wish for, lest they
actually get it.
Today, they would. A cry of alarm sounded when they heard the first
tree fall in the distance. The alarm only grew and expanded as more trees
fell at an alarming rate. It didn't take long for them to realize that
whatever was causing this was heading straight for them and would be there
soon. The bravest among them gathered what makeshift weapons they could find
and stood at the village gates, ready to defend their homes.
But when they saw a female hedgehog with grey fur, blonde hair-quills,
and blank eyes swinging around a black sword that could cut through anything,
their bravery fled. "The Kavenoff!" they cried, breaking ranks and running
any which way they could.
The initial panic nearly did more damage to the village than Kelly did.
In their fear, it was every animal for themselves. Those that did not move
quickly were pushed aside and left to fend for themselves. The unfortunate
few that could not get out of her way were treated the same way as the
buildings that were in her way: quick and efficient destruction. She cut a
swath of devastation straight through from one side to the other, never
deviating from her chosen course by so much as an inch.
When she had left the village and continued on her way, the survivors
gathered together to make what sense of it they could. The huts could be
rebuilt, the living would bury the dead, and life would move on. But the
sense of community, what bound them together, was replaced by a sense of
betrayal. They all thought they were close-knit, that they would stand with
each other no matter what happened. But when it came down to it, it was every
animal for themselves.
Darrin and Desirée came upon this village a few hours later. They
helped where they could given their time constraints, but their main objective
was to catch Kelly and to stop her. "I wish she'd slow down a little,"
Desirée complained, sweeping her sweat-soaked ears back behind her.
Darrin poked his sister in the side as they ran. "Just be glad she's
not running," he said, trying to keep his breathing under control. "Even if
we have to make a three-day journey without stopping, we'll eventually catch
up to her."
"If we have to do that, I'm going to hurt you," Desirée gasped. Darrin
said nothing in reply, keeping his energy for running instead of talking.
The next morning, Nicholas awoke at his usual time, leaving Lily still
slumbering in bed. He knew he should wake her up and get her to training, but
he had to admit she needed her rest after quite the...active night. If he had
not scheduled a training session with Bunnie, he would probably have stayed
there with her for a while.
After showering and getting dressed quickly, he stepped out into the
hallway, closing the door behind him softly. Not many animals were up at this
time of the morning, but those that were awake were familiar to him. He
didn't know who they were by name, but he tended to see the same animals on a
day-to-day basis. A few of them acknowledged him as he walked past, though
they knew not to wait for one from him in return. Still, the easy routine
allowed him a sense of normalcy and, though he wouldn't admit it even to
himself, belonging.
What he saw when he reached the next intersection, however, was anything
but normal. It appeared to be Angela, but not any Angela he had come to know.
Instead of her grey robed and runed belt, she was wearing the type of bodysuit
Julie-Su was now known for training her in. But it was solid black, not the
white and grey that had been described to him. The overlarge white boots had
been traded for skin-tight black ones that stopped just above her knee and had
at least a three inch heel on them. Black fingerless gloves adorned her hands
and forearms, coming right up to her elbow; the left one had an unusual black
jewel sown into the back of it. Thin black strips of the same material as her
boots encircled both thighs, her right bicep, and her neck. She was even
wearing black eyeliner, eyeshadow, and lipstick to add to the effect.
Nicholas had to stare. Seeing someone who normally played down their
looks basically show off every curve with very little left to the imagination
was doing a number on his mind and his body. He actually had to slap himself
to look away, then he had to duck around a corner as she glanced in his
direction, looking for the source of that sound. She shrugged after a moment,
turning away and sashaying down the hallway.
Nicholas nearly zoned out again at the way her backside rippled under
that bodysuit, but he forced himself to keep focused. There was something
very wrong with Angela. Forgetting all about the lesson he was supposed to
have with Bunnie, he tailed her, keeping to the shadows to see what he could
see.
DJ also found himself wandering the halls early that morning, but for a
different reason than the other two. Rouge would be heading back to the Dark
Castle today with Metal Sonic and he didn't want to miss his chance to say
goodbye. He had been up for a half hour now mentally preparing himself for
the upcoming encounter with his friend; she tended to be extra playful in the
morning; he'd lost count of the number of kisses she'd tried to steal from him
already. The only reason Desirée had not tried to kill Rouge yet was because
she knew, as did DJ, that Rouge would have succeeded by now had she really
been serious.
So yes, he was ready to deal with Rouge. He was not, however, ready to
deal with who he ran into before he even found Rouge. "Angela?" he asked
through a jaw dropped so far he felt like it was around his knees. "Is that
you?"
"Of course it's me DJ," she said with a throaty chuckle. "Who else
would it be?"
DJ rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands, just in case he was
seeing things. "Doesn't look like you."
"Oh this?" she asked, running her hand up and down the front of her
bodysuit. "I'm just experimenting with a new look, that's all. So, do you
like it?"
DJ looked her up and down once, twice, even three times as she spun
around slowly for him, lifting her hair out of the way to let him get a full
view. "It's...different," he said, clearly uncomfortable at the change.
Angela chuckled again, stepping up closer to him and resting her hand
on his cheek. "You'll get used to it," she purred, patting his cheek
lightly. "I'll see you around."
DJ stood perfectly still as she walked around him, close enough to let
her breasts brush against his upper arm as she trailed her fingertips across
his lips. He watched as she brought her fingers to her lips and licked them,
giving him a sultry wink to let him know that she was doing it for his
benefit. She walked away with an extra swing in her hips, one that kept him
looking until she turned a corner.
He shuddered, leaning against the wall as he tried to find his balance,
both mental and physical. Angela was...not Angela. She should not be acting
this way, and he should not be having to fight off those kinds of thoughts
about her. Something was seriously wrong here and there was only one animal
he could think of that might be able to help.
In a nearby guestroom, Juice lay on the bed snoring up a storm. He'd
been up late thinking and had only managed to drop off a few hours before
sunrise. Fortunately his sleep was unbothered by such thoughts, which was why
he was so reluctant to leave it this morning. If no one bothered him, he
would likely sleep past noon.
A knocking at the door told him that the day had other plans for him.
He cracked open one eye and glared at the door, willing whoever it was to go
away. For a few seconds he thought he'd been successful, but the knocking
returned, growing louder and more insistent. "Go away!" he moaned tossing
one of his pillows at the door.
That just made it worse; whoever was on the other side of that door was
now rapidly beating on it with both hands. Juice dragged himself from bed and
yanked the door open, making DJ fall forward onto the pillow. "What is your
problem DJ?" he asked, biting off each word in his annoyance.
DJ hardly paid any attention to how Juice sounded, so worried was he.
"Something wrong with Angela," he said, picking himself up.
Juice was fully awake in an instant. "What? What's wrong with her?"
he demanded, just stopping himself from grabbing DJ by the arms.
DJ shrugged, glancing out the still open door. "She's...not herself.
She's dressed funny and acting like Rouge. Worse than Rouge."
Juice closed his eyes, the thoughts that sleep had managed to push aside
returning in full force. Since their return to the palace the day before,
Angela had been acting weird. She hadn't wanted anyone to touch the Dark
Stone, much less put it in protective storage. She'd also been more
physically affectionate, constantly holding onto him and pressing up against
him. He hadn't minded at the time, but on later reflection it had been very
out of character for her. There was also her refusal to return home to
Sanctuary, even though he had thoughts things were mostly sqaured away with
her parents.
But perhaps the most disturbing of all was when he had gone to bed and
found her waiting there for him. He'd been amused, at first, but increasingly
less so as she tried to press him to allow her to spend the night with him and
not necessarily just sleep. It had been hard to turn her away, but he knew
that as Holy Ones, they could not lose their virginities until they were
married. And it was her willingless to throw that all away that really
concerned him.
He opened his eyes slowly to find DJ looking at him hopefully. "I'll
handle this DJ," he promised, smiling as the younger squirrel relaxed. "Just
let me get my robes on and I'll take care of it." DJ nodded thankfully and
stepped outside, closing the door behind him. Juice rubbed his face and
walked to his small closet, hoping that his words would be able to have some
effect.
It only took him a few moments to get ready, thanks to a nifty little
spell Tanin taught him that replaced the need for a shower. The spell lost
effectiveness the more it was used in succession, but occasional use allowed
him to save time. Neither Rosie nor Angela were fans of the spell since they
insisted it did nothing about stink, always slipping sachets of flower petals
into their robes. But both Tanis and Juice were convinced they didn't know
what they were talking about.
It didn't take him long to find her, especially because she was looking
for him as well. "Why hello there Juice," she smiled, slinking up to him and
draping her arms around his neck from behind. "Just the hedgehog I was hoping
to see."
"Angela?" Juice asked, prying her hands off his chest and holding her
at arm's length. "What is going on with you?"
Angela huffed in annoyance, twisting out of Juice's grasp. "It's just
some new clothes," she grumped, folding her arms across her stomach as she
leaned against the wall. "Why does everyone think something's wrong?"
Juice took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to find his
mental footing despite the very distracting view Angela's new clothes were
affording him. "It's not that I don't like it," he said honestly, "it's just
that it's so...not you!"
"Like I told DJ, you'll get used to it."
"It's going to take a while to get used to," Juice said evenly. "Not
just for me either. But as long as you brought up DJ, what did you do to him
this morning? You have him really freaked out."
Angela's gaze dropped to the floor, but Juice swore that he saw a glint
of red in her eyes before she did. "I've never really flirted with anyone
before," she said softly. "I figured with his relationship with Desirée and
his friendship with Rouge, he could tell me if I was doing it right."
"Why would you want to know how to flirt?" Juice asked, a worried edge
creeping into his voice.
"For you of course," she answered, fidgeting. "Juice, we're a real
couple now. No more hiding, no more sneaking around. I want to do all the
things couples do: flirt with each other, go on dates, kiss and cuddle.... Am
I wrong for wanting that?"
"Of course not," he said quickly, walking over and taking her in his
arms. "I'm sorry, I've been so busy with everything I didn't even consider
all the stuff we can do now."
"No, it's my fault." She buried her face into his robes to keep him
from seeing the satisfied smile that she was having trouble keeping off her
lips. "Look, if it's too much trouble then tomorrow I can go back to how
everything was."
Juice bit his lip, struggling within himself for a long moment. "You
don't have to do that," he sighed. "If looking like this makes you happy,
then don't let anyone tell you otherwise. We'll just have to get used to it."
"Thank you!" Angela said, lifting her head and brushing a thankful kiss
against his cheek. "I knew I could count on you Juice."
He chuckled, happy to see his Angela back. "You always can," he
promised, hugging her close.
She returned his hug for a few seconds before stepping away. "I've got
a few things to take care of," she said, kissing his other cheek. "I'll see
you later Juice!"
Juice watched her walk away, unable to keep from admiring the view. He
reached up and touched his cheek, glancing at his fingertips to see them come
away stained with black. "Oh yeah," he whispered, shaking his head, "this is
going to take a lot of getting used to."
DJ paced the hallway by Juice's door, hoping that the former prince
would be returning soon with good news. Despite Juice's confidence, he was
still worried over the whole thing. He turned around as he heard footsteps
approach and tensed up when he saw it was Angela. But she was smiling at him
like she usually did, kind and gentle. He relaxed and returned her smile,
glad that Juice had in fact gotten through to her.
Angela waited until she was only a foot or two away before springing
forward, grabbing DJ around his throat and slamming him up against the wall.
"Listen here you little shit!" she growled, a snarl marring her features.
"Don't you ever cross me again, you got that? The only reason I'm leaving you
alive is because I know your death will raise too many questions I can't
afford to answer.
"The next time you get in my way I will destroy you!" she swore,
squeezing his neck a little tighter. "You'll be gone without a single trace.
But unlike your sister, you will not be coming back! This is your only
warning."
DJ pulled and scratched desperately at her hand, coughing and choking as
he tried to breathe. Just as he was beginning to black out she threw him
across the hall and through Juice's door. He landed hard on the floor, crying
and gasping as he drew air into his lungs. He forced his body to move, even
though he had not fully recovered yet. He had to get out, he had to get away!
He ran as fast as he could, wanting to put as much distance between himself
and Angela as he could. But no matter how fast he went, he could not outrun
the image of her red eyes as they glared at him from within a patch of greying
fur. As he ran, a large hand reached out from a doorway and pulled him in.
He opened his mouth to scream, but another hand covered his mouth.
"Easy," Nicholas hissed in a low voice, restraining DJ until he stopped
struggling. "It's just me." DJ tapped Nicholas' hand to show that he
understood despite his still ragged breathing. "I saw what happened, and I've
been following Angela all morning," he explained, pulling his hand away from
DJ's mouth. "Something has happened to her in the past twenty-four hours and
I can only think of one possibility."
He turned DJ around and dropped to one knee to look him in the eyes. "I
need you to dig up any and all information you have on this artifact she
recovered yesterday. Can you do that for me?"
DJ raised an eyebrow as he looked at Nicholas. He wasn't confused at
what Nicholas was asking of him; the truth was he had thought the same thing
at first before his most recent confrontation with Angela. But what was
surprising was that he was asking and not ordering. He nodded, trying to look
intense even while rubbing his still sore throat.
Nicholas nodded curtly as he rose to his feet. "I will go to Sanctuary
in the meantime to speak with her parents. Perhaps they can shed a little
light on the subject." He backed up against the nearest wall, letting the
shadows envelop him until he disappeared from sight.
DJ would have normally been freaked out by it, but too many things had
already happened to him that day. He hurried from the room and made for his
original destination, hoping he was not too late. Fortunately, Rouge was
still sitting at the gates, though she did look sad as she swung her legs back
and forth. "Rouge!" he yelled, waving his arms as he ran up to her.
Rouge's expression brightened as she hopped out of the chair to greet
him. She should've left when Metal Sonic did almost an hour ago, but she had
promised to wait until DJ had come by to see her off and did not want to break
a promise to him, no matter how long it took. "Hey there DJ," she said, using
that lighter, perkier voice that he was becoming accustomed to hearing. "Glad
you could make it."
"I'm glad you're still here," he gasped, trying to catch his breath.
Rouge chuckled softly as she rubbed his back, helping him relax. "Like
I would leave without saying goodbye to my best friend?"
"Not that," DJ interrupted quickly. "Is there anything else you know?"
Rouge blinked in surprise. "About what?" she asked slowly, not
following his train of thought.
"About the artifacts."
She tapped her lips with her finger as she thought. "I told you
everything we found out," she said after a moment. "We couldn't even figure
out what they were after, just where they were looking. I'm glad that was
enough to help you figure it out though."
DJ sighed, leaning his head against the wall. "Then I guess I'm going
to have to find out more about it in the Great Library."
Rouge crouched down in front of him, making him look at her. "What's
going on DJ? You've got me worried here."
"It's Angela," he said heavily. "She's acting very unlike herself."
At Rouge's prompting, he continued his explanation. "She's dressing and
acting more like you do, only more revealing."
Rouge started to laugh, but caught herself at the serious expression on
DJ's face. "You're joking, right? 'Little Miss Pure and Proper' Angela?"
"No, I'm not," he said, starting to get a little agitated. "I told
Juice that she was flirting with me and he went to confront her. Then she
came and confronted me." He stared Rouge right in the eyes with as cold a
stare as he could muster. "She threatened to make me disappear like my sister
did."
To say she was shocked was an understatement. That was easily the worst
thing anyone could ever say to DJ. "Why...how...what would make her do such a
thing?"
"That thing they found. I have to go find out what I can about the Dark
Stone and see--"
"Dark Stone?" Rouge asked sharply, cutting him off.
"Y-yeah. One of the artifacts was the Dark Stone."
Rouge stood up and spewed out every curse word she knew. "How did I not
realize that?" she asked herself, her voice shifting back into its regular
tones.
"Realize what?" DJ asked, though he was afraid to interrupt her rant.
She slammed her fist into the nearby wall, not even flinching at the
pain. "The Dark Stone can turn anyone who touches it evil," she said. "The
more aligned with good you are, the more jarring the transformation. And
since Angela is not only a Holy One in training but a Shi-rat as well...."
She didn't finish her thought, but then she didn't have to.
DJ started shaking as the full impact of Rouge's words sank in. "I
gotta go," he said, starting to run off.
Rouge grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him to her. "No,
what you need to do is find out where this guy is," she said, taking a piece
of paper and writing down a name. The writing wasn't as neat as it could've
been, but her hand was still hurting.
DJ looked at the paper, then back to her. "What does he have to do with
this?"
Rouge's lips twisted wryly to the side. "Before I was contracted by the
Unholy One to acquire Amy, one of my jobs was to get the Light Stone for this
individual. I was warned not to touch it directly because of what it could
do, which is why I know what the Dark Stone can do. So I figure if there's
anything that can counteract the Dark Stone, it's the Light Stone."
"OK," DJ said, seeing the logic behind it, and glad he had something to
work with.
Rouge sighed softly before squaring her shoulders. "I'm going to get
ready to retrieve it. When you have the information, come to my room."
"Shouldn't you let Metal know?" he asked, clutching the paper tightly
in his hand.
"No time," she said, shaking her head. "The longer she has the Dark
Stone, the more dangerous she becomes. We need to act now." She placed her
hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze before flying off toward
her room. DJ shuddered at the thought of Angela being even worse than what
she was, and ran off himself. With time of the essence, he knew that he would
have to go 'there' to get the information that he needed.
While DJ and Rouge were busy making their preparations, Juice was in his
room thinking over his earlier conversation with Angela. While at the time it
had made sense, now he wasn't so sure. In all their time together, she had
never expressed an interest in doing any of the normal couple things. They
weren't exactly a normal couple after all. Even DJ and Desirée had never been
on a real date, knowing that their focus had to be on training and defeating
the Fallen Ones. The more he thought about it, the less sense it was making.
He didn't even look up when his door opened, figuring it was DJ coming
to see how the talk went. When he felt someone that was decidedly feminine
press up against his back, he stiffened in surprise. "I really hope that this
is Angela," he muttered, closing his eyes.
"And who else would it be?" Angela hissed, sliding around in front of
him.
"No one!" he answered quickly, surprised at the anger and hate he heard
in her voice. "You know you're the only one for me!"
She slunk into his lap, making herself comfortable while doing the exact
opposite to him. "And it better stay that way," she pouted.
He cleared his throat, picking her up and putting her on the bed next to
him. He started to ask her what she wanted when he noticed something very
disturbing. Her normally pristine white fur had turned a dingy grey color.
"Are you feeling OK?" he asked, his stomach plummeting as her fur seemed to
get even darker as he watched.
"Hmm?" Angela asked, noticing what he was looking at. "Oh, don't worry
about that," she said, waving off his concerns. "Listen," she added, cutting
him off, "there's something I need to talk to you about."
"What's going on?" Juice asked, not dismissing his concerns but putting
them aside for the moment.
Angela shifted onto her knees, bring her feet under her body to sit on
them. "I've been thinking. We've been very reactive about this whole war.
We try to stop them from getting artifacts or get them first, but the real
battle is over the Emeralds. Why don't we go after them directly? If we get
all the Emeralds, it's over!"
Juice's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "Angela, do you have any
idea what you're suggesting?"
Her eyebrows drew together and her lips twitched as she attempted to
keep her expression neutral. "Don't patronize me Juice," she said sharply.
"I thought long and hard about this and I know exactly what I'm suggesting."
"But we don't even know where they are Angela," Juice said placatingly.
"And even if we did, we're down two Chosen Ones at the moment. Six on five
is bad enough, but seven on three? You know the Unholy One will be there and
none of us have any idea of the kind of power he is capable of. Remember what
happened to Alicia when she just went after an artifact? We'd be lucky to
escape so lightly if we tried this."
"I see." Angela stood up slowly, tears gathering at the corners of her
eyes. "I was wrong about you Juice. I thought you would stand by me and
support me no matter what. I thought you were in love with me. Guess not."
"Angela...." Juice said, reaching out for her as she stormed out his
door. "Angela!" He stumbled after her, almost tripping over his own feet.
But she was already out of sight by the time he got into the hallway. "What
is going on here?" he wondered, going to search for her again. "Did I wake
up in some alternate dimension this morning?"
He wasn't the only one wondering that. "This is troubling indeed,"
Tanis said, placing his hands on the bench on which he sat. "If I had not
heard your story with my own ears, I would denounce it as the cruelest of
lies. But I hear the truth in your words, and that is perhaps the most
troubling thing of all."
Nicholas nodded, trying not to fidget. Though being at Sanctuary did
bring him peace the likes of which he'd never known, it made him uncomfortable
to feel this way. He needed the edge that fear gave him to stay sharp; here
his senses felt muted, almost like they were dormant. It was not something he
ever wanted to get used to and he would be glad to leave. "If I had not seen
it with my own eyes, I would have thought the same," he admitted.
Rosie walked to stand behind her husband, laying her hand on his
shoulder. "I knew she was having anger management issues," she said softly,
"but I had no idea it had gotten this bad. It may have been wrong for her to
nosegrab Sonic and Donovan like she did, but at least it was understandable.
To threaten DJ's life? Nothing could ever justify such a thing."
"I believe it to be more than just that," Nicholas said respectfully.
"Angela has an artifact sewn into her left glove, a black stone that she seems
very loathe to part with. I'm sure that's the cause of this."
"You may be right," Tanis allowed. He stood up, his robes swishing
lightly around his ankles. "I believe it is time we confronted our daughter
and got to the bottom of this. Would you like us to return you to the
palace?"
Nicholas shook his head. "My mastery over the shadowwalk is not
complete. I have to return to where I started before I can use it to go
anywhere else."
Tanis smiled to show he understood. "When this is over, I believe I may
have something that can help you." Nicholas raised an eyebrow, but Tanis just
held up his hand, indicated that they'd talk about it later. Before he and
Rosie could teleport away, the doors to Sanctuary were sliced apart, blown
inside the building in many pieces. "Who dares?" he yelled, power crackling
to life around his and Rosie's hands.
Nicholas started to move into a defensive stance, but stopped in
surprise as he saw who stepped through the wreckage. "Kelly?" he said, his
voice breaking. He took a step toward her but Rosie grabbed his arm. "What?"
"Kelly's not there right now," she answered in a quiet voice. "That
sword she holds, I've heard of it before. It's the Dark Sword, a weapon that
was forged for one single task: the destruction of Sanctuary and the Shi-Rat
family. It is so powerful and evil that it takes over the wielder and forces
him or her to fulfill that task, no matter what gets in their way."
"What can we do?" he asked, wincing as Tanis unleashed a blast of
magic at his friend, even though it didn't seem to have any effect.
Rosie pulled Nicholas to the altar and pressed a hidden switch,
revealing a stairway beneath it. "At the bottom of this stairway you'll find
a storage room where we keep a lot of important holy objects. There's a sword
down there, one that I was entrusted with two decades ago. If anything can
fight the Dark Sword, it's that."
"I'll cover you," he started to say before Rosie pushed him onto the
first step. "But--"
"You'll be cut to ribbons the moment you engaged her. You get the
sword; we'll keep her busy." Nicholas tried to argue, but Rosie was already
moving to join Tanis in the fight. Scowling, he ran down the stairs as fast
as he safely could.
As this fight was beginning another fight was ending. When Angela had
arrived at the Dark Castle, a wave of dark magic had felled Krella, Destín,
and Charisma before they even knew she was there. Tanin and Maxwell had
hurried to stop her, attacking at the same time. But Angela was used to
fighting multiple opponents thanks to Bunnie's training sessions, making them
hit each other more than they were hitting her. One well-timed enhanced kick
to Tanin after an errant blast from Maxwell's sword sent him to the stone
floor, blood pouring from a cut on his head.
She thought it would get easier now, but Maxwell was surprising her. He
must have been holding back with Tanin in the mix, but now that it was one-on-
one he was going all out. He had unlocked even more powers since she had seen
him at the burial grounds, all of them probably quite lethal to her normally.
That it still affected her under the influence of the Dark Stone spoke to his
power, and she was forced to draw on the Dark Stone to overwhelm him.
The use of the power sent her to her knees, momentarily drained. The
Unholy One chose that moment to appear to take advantage of her weakness.
"You made a great mistake coming here," he said, taking her head between his
hands and making his power arc through her head. "I will enjoy taking the
Stone from your cold dead body."
Angela cried out as the magic passed through her brain, her limbs
jerking as her nerves misfired. Her eyes rolled up in her head as he
intensified his attack and he was sure that he was mere moments away from
victory. But just as that thought crossed his mind, she gripped his wrists
with bruising force, disrupting his attack.
Her eyes snapped back onto his, glowing bright red. "The bad thing
about Chaos magic," she hissed, standing up and forcing his hands up in the
air, "is that it doesn't matter who it hurts so long as it hurts someone!"
The Unholy One tried to pull away from her grasp, but that just made the
bones of his wrist grind together. He could feel himself being forced to his
knees by the pain and he surged his magic forward, trying to throw her away.
When he felt one of her hands give way, he thought he'd succeeded. But then
that hand thrust into his hood surrounded by dark flame, grasping his face.
Angela laughed darkly as she felt twisted flesh under her hand crackle
and burn. She reveled in his scream of agony, holding him in place until she
was ready to blast him away. "Pitiful fool," she sneered, her body thrumming
pleasantly with the power of Darkness running through her. "I should put you
all out of your misery now. Be thankful that I will have need of flunkies
when I choose to remake this world." She held up her hand, using her magic to
call the Emeralds to her, making them float around her once before she
disappeared with them in a dark whirlwind.
In the mere moments it had taken for Angela to all but decimate the
Fallen Ones, Nicholas had retrieved the sword and hurried up the stairs as
fast as his legs could carry him. He spun around to find Rosie to give her
the sword, but one look told him that it would be pointless. Both Tanis and
Rosie were down, unconscious or worse; he couldn't tell from where he stood.
But it wouldn't matter in a few seconds as Kelly Min held the Dark Sword high
above her head, ready to bring it down on both their necks at once. "No!" he
cried out, leaping over the altar despite knowing that he would not reach them
in time.
Her head snapped up to look at him just in time to be caught in the
chest by a blast of pure holy energy that rocketed her out the ruined doors.
Nicholas looked at the sword he held, noticing that it was glowing with a
white light that it had not been before. He had no time to think about it
though as the Sword he held, the Light Sword, the very same sword that had
been used to imprison Chaos within the Chaos Emeralds, dragged him forward to
engage in battle with its eternal foe. Irregardless of his great strength,
Nicholas could neither resist the Sword's pull nor let it go, and he was
forced to fight the one animal he considered his best friend.
Juice was aware of none of this, and that was a good thing for his
sanity's sake. He was still looking for Angela, but what he really needed was
to find some sense of normalcy. But no one could offer that to him; Alicia
wouldn't even let herself be drawn into one of their old arguments. There had
to be someone or something that would prove to him that he wasn't the crazy
one.
Turning down another hallway, he found what he hoped would be his
salvation. Rouge was gliding down the hallway toward him with a purpose, and
with any luck that purpose was him. Not that he'd give in to her overtures,
but at least it would be a normal thing. He intentionally stepped into her
path, letting her see him instead of running away like he usually did.
Rouge saw him and glided over to where he waited, touching down lightly
in front of him. "There you are Juice," she said, looking him right in the
eyes. "I've been looking all over for you. You can certainly be a hard
hedgehog to find at times."
"Finally," Juice thought, heaving an internal sigh. He got ready to
run, glad they could play their game again, when she did something totally
unexpected. She reached out and grabbed his hand, dropping a faintly pulsing
white stone into it. "What the...?" he asked, looking from the stone to her.
It was only then that he noticed that she wasn't dressed normally.
Instead of her usual skintight clothes, she looked like she had been
wrapped from neck to foot in rolls of black cloth; her fingers and toes were
the only parts of her body below her neck that were uncovered. A separate
strip of cloth laying on her shoulder had probably served as a combination
head covering and mask. Though not nearly as revealing as her normal outfit,
in fact making her look less endowed than he knew she was, it lent her an air
of mystery and intrigue that somehow made her far more appealing to him.
Rouge drummed her fingers against her hip, huffing irritatedly when
Juice continued to just stare at her blankly. "While I would normally love to
be the center of attention like this," she drawled, "don't you think your time
would be better spent saving Angela?"
That brought Juice's thoughts back into focus. "Do you know where she
is?" he asked eagerly.
She shook her head briskly. "No, but you can use the Light Stone to
home in on her position, if you can figure out how."
"Light Stone?" Juice wondered, looking down at what he held. Now that
she mentioned it, it did look like the Dark Stone that Angela was wearing in
one of her gloves, just white instead of black. "What am I supposed to do
with this?"
Rouge massaged her temples, trying to stave off an approaching migraine.
"I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet," she muttered. "Look, you
and I both know Angela's been acting weird. Hasn't it occurred to you that
maybe, just maybe, the powerful magical artifact that she acquired in the last
twenty-four hours is to blame?"
"The Dark Stone? Are you sure?"
"Positive," she declared. "It makes anyone who touches it evil. The
more good you were when you touched it, the more evil you become."
Juice had to lean against a wall as the magnitude of the situation
struck him. "So then what can we do?" he asked listlessly.
Rouge had to fight down the urge to slap him, especially because he was
their only hope right now. "Think Juice," she said through gritted teeth.
"If the Dark Stone turns you evil, what do you think the Light Stone does?"
Juice smacked himself in the head for overlooking such a simple point;
Donovan would not be pleased with that oversight. He grasped the Stone in his
hand and closed his eyes, trying to feel its power with his own. For a moment
all he could feel was a nearly overwhelming warmth that soothed his frayed
nerves. But then he sensed the slightest of tugs, like it was trying to lead
him somewhere. "Got it," he said, opening his eyes. "Wish me luck!"
Rouge's eyes widened and she flattened herself against the wall to avoid
the Sonic Boom that Juice unleashed in his haste. She wanted to be angry at
him, she really did, but she just couldn't be. She took a few deep breaths to
calm herself before winging off toward her room where she could remove this
accursed outfit and keep a promise. She truly hated wearing this, and this
was only the first time she had worn it for anything other than training. But
desperate times had called for even more desperate measures.
She'd known it wouldn't take DJ very long to get the address for her
when she'd left him in the hallway earlier and she'd needed to make full use
of what time she'd had. As soon as she'd reached her room she'd dived into a
shower as cold as she could stand, scrubbing her body to remove any hint of
makeup or perfume. When she'd been satisfied, she'd walked back into the
other room without even toweling herself off.
She'd pulled a black candle from one of her bags and set it on her desk,
lighting it with a black match. She'd stared into the flame while her body
dried in the chill air, endeavoring to clear her mind of all extraneous
thoughts. Normally she would've continued to meditate until the candle had
burned itself out, but she hadn't had that luxury today.
As soon as she'd felt she was prepared enough, she had walked to her
dresser and opened a secret compartment, drawing out a number of rolls of
black cloth and setting them on her bed. She had used the first to bind her
large breasts down, making her appear smaller than she was. It was
uncomfortable to say the least, but necessary. The second roll of cloth had
been used to cover her groin, protecting her sensitive flesh from the elements
as well as allowing her the illusion of being at least partially normally
clothed.
As she'd been using one of the remaining rolls to wrap up her left hand
in a thinner version of a boxer's taping, someone had started knocking at her
door. "If you're DJ, you can come in," she'd called without looking up from
her work. "Anyone else, go away."
It had been DJ, however, and she had been vaguely aware of him slipping
inside and shutting the door behind him. He'd looked very nervous as he'd
clutched a manila folder to his chest; it had not been hard to figure out that
he either was or would be in trouble for getting it. "Is that it?" she'd
asked, tying off the last of that cloth before moving onto her other hand.
DJ had nodded, placing the folder down on the bed next to her. She
glanced at the location printed on the front, grateful that it was inside
Mobotropolis. She'd known it was likely the only thing that would go right
for her that day.
To make matters worse, DJ had been obviously uncomfortable with her curt
and cold attitude, perhaps even growing a bit afraid of her. She had told
herself to ignore it, that only thing that had mattered was her objective, but
the thought of him fearing her had cut right through the facade she'd been
trying to hastily erect around her emotions. "DJ," she'd said as calmly as
possible, starting to wrap up her feet, "in order to get the Light Stone I'm
going to have to do things that are not really legal. And I don't mean just
stealing it. It's likely I'll get into a fight, and I'll have to strike once,
strike hard, and make sure they never get the chance to strike back."
DJ's eyes had nearly bugged out of their sockets and he'd started
shaking despite all his attempts not to. Rouge had blinked away a couple
tears gathering at the corners of her eyes and continued talking. "I don't
have a choice DJ," she'd said firmly. "If I had more time, and the situation
wasn't so dire, I could use my normal tactics. But if I tried that, by the
time I got the Stone, if I got it at all, it would be too late to stop Angela
from doing her thing."
"But you haven't even looked at the file," he'd protested. "You don't
know that for certain."
"Trust me DJ. All the information in that file is about the businessman
and not the bastard. I've pulled a few jobs for him in the past and I know
just what he is capable of. He even had his closest guards chemically
castrated to make sure I didn't pose a threat to him. I bet that's not in
your file." A shudder running through the length of DJ's body had confirmed
her suspicions.
"I know that you're not used to seeing me like this, but I promise
there's a good explanation for it all. I'll tell you everything when I get
back, if you can even stomach looking at me then." She'd turned back to her
preparations, not expecting a reply, but had stopped when she felt a hand on
her shoulder.
DJ had waited until she turned to look at him before speaking. "I will
be here when you get back," he'd said quietly. "Just be Rouge when you do get
back."
"Careful what you wish for," she'd teased him before turning back to her
wrappings.
The infiltration had gone better than she'd hoped. She'd managed to
knock out most of the guards with a minimum of fuss. Anyone she'd had to use
more force on were woefully undertrained and the worst she'd had to inflict
was a broken leg.
But the boss, a rotund stoat, had been more clever than she'd counted
on. When she'd gotten to where the Light Stone was, he'd been waiting for
her. Before she had been able to react, he'd flung the Stone at her from the
box it had lain in, making her catch it by instinct. She'd frozen, expecting
to feel the Stone working its magic on her soul. But she'd felt nothing, a
fact that could only have been explained by her soul holding more good than
evil.
When he'd noticed his error, he'd tried to call for more guards, but
there just hadn't been any left conscious. She'd offered to return the Stone
to him, making as if to drop it right in his hand, but he'd run off at the
threat, knowing the effect it would have on him. So she'd quickly left and
had made all haste back to the palace.
Rouge sighed and rubbed her face, standing outside the door to her
room. She was really glad she hadn't had to kill anyone, even if she'd been
ready to. The thought of killing had never sat well with her, unlike one
other she had trained with. She only hoped she would never become like her.
When she opened the door, DJ was still sitting patiently on her bed.
She began to undo the black cloth wrappings she wore as an excuse for
gathering her thoughts. "DJ, have I ever told you about my life before I met
you?" she asked hesitantly, her fingers stilling just for a second.
He looked surprised at her question, but when he shook his head in the
negative she knew she had him hooked. "You may not believe this, but I grew
up on a farm."
"You? A farmgirl?" he said in disbelief.
Rouge nodded, fully understanding his skepticism. "I lived on a farm
for thirteen years. My parents were both very peaceful, pacifists even, and I
was raised with the same beliefs. All we wanted to do was live in harmony
with the land and treat everyone with the same respect that we wanted to be
treated with.
"Unfortunately, not everyone shared those views on life," she said
bitterly. "A group of bandits heard about my family and figured they had an
easy score. They were right. Mom made me run while Dad tried to reason with
them. I didn't run far at first, hoping that Dad would be successful. But
they cut his throat, laughing as they watched him die. And Mom...."
She nearly broke down at that point, but DJ took hold of her hand,
helping her find the strength to continue. "I was on the run for days, not
daring to stop in case they caught up to me. One day I woke up from a sleep
of exhaustion and hunger to find I was not alone. I was frightened at first,
but he had food, and he seemed kind. I poured out my entire story to him and
he listened.
"I swore to do whatever it took to get revenge for my parents. He asked
me if I was serious, if I really was willing to do anything. I didn't care; I
was going to make them pay. He offered to train me if I wanted and I agreed
to follow him without question.
"Imagine my surprise when I found out that he was a master of sexual
combat," she admitted wryly. "He trained me in everything, and I do mean
everything I know. I won't go into the details of my training, but suffice to
say he was very, very thorough. I learned more than enough under him to
extract revenge for my parents.
"He did warn me, however, that sexual combat was not always going to be
effective. He cautioned me to seek other training, to have options available
to me. I saw the wisdom in his words and apprenticed under a different kind
of master. This one taught me the style of fighting I mentioned earlier:
strike once, strike hard, and never give your opponent the chance to strike
back; the way of the ninja."
"Ninja?" DJ asked, interrupting her. "I thought they didn't exist."
Rouge just sighed, tossing her cloth wrappings aside and sitting down
next to him clad in just her breast and groin bindings. "That's what we need
you to believe in order to be effective at what we do. We get in, get the job
done, and get out leaving no evidence in our wake. The only things that get
left behind are fear, whispers, and rumors all designed to make your enemy
more vulnerable from within."
"No evidence?" he whimpered. "Does that mean no...witnesses?"
She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. "That is how I was trained,"
she said, "but it has never been how I have fought. Think about it DJ. If I
had used everything I know to get Amy, not even Nicholas could've stood
against me. So why didn't I? Because putting on that costume makes me feel
dirty, like I'm no better than a Fallen One. This was the first time I've
ever worn it outside of training to keep my skills up. And even though I
didn't kill anyone, I still feel like I need about ten showers right now."
"You killed no one? That's a relief." The smile he had at that news
slowly turned into a frown as he thought about it. "But wait, what about
leaving no evidence?" he pointed out.
Rouge shrugged her shoulders, laying back on the bed. "I could have
killed them, but I wouldn't have been able to live with myself, or look you in
the eyes again."
"Glad to hear it," he murmured, feeling himself relax for the first time
today. "Let me leave you alone so you can take that shower." He stood up and
started to walk to the door only to be pulled back onto the bed with a yell.
Rouge rolled on top of him, straddling his hips and pinning him down on
the mattress. "How about you help me work up a good sweat for my shower?"
she purred, sounding more like the Rouge he was familiar with. "After all,
you did ask to have your Rouge back, didn't you?"
DJ let out a tiny "eeep" and broke out in a full body blush. He tried
to stammer out something that would make Rouge let him go, but he wasn't even
making sense to himself. Rouge smiled and leaned down to press herself more
fully against him, her lips just a hair above his. "Maybe next time," she
breathed before sliding off him and sashaying off to the shower. The moment
the bathroom door closed, DJ shot out of the room. He wasn't about to take
any chances, and he made a mental note to himself to be more careful about
what he asked for.
Throughout all this, the fight between the Light Sword and the Dark
Sword still raged, no matter how much Nicholas was trying to stop it. They
had fought from Sanctuary, through the Great Forest, and both around and in a
small freshwater lake. It was clear that the Light Sword had the upper hand;
it would have probably destroyed its nemesis by now had Nicholas not been
actively holding it back from hurting Kelly.
A wild swing from Kelly was easily parried with enough force that she
was knocked off her feet, landing in a crumpled heap. Her body was jerking as
if trying to rise, as the Dark Sword commanded, but her muscles just would not
respond. The Light Sword raised itself high above Nicholas' head, ready to
strike the final blow. Nicholas knew there would be no stopping it this time;
he was already beyond his limits having resisted this long. But if he could
not stop it, perhaps he could redirect it....
The Sword came down, flashing brightly with its own inner light. At the
last second, Nicholas turned his wrist and forced the Sword to the side.
Instead of slicing off her head, the blade impacted the Dark Sword near its
hilt, sending it clattering from her grasp. The moment she lost contact with
the Dark Sword, her eyes lost that vacant look as reason returned. "Nicky?"
she whispered weakly.
Nicholas dropped to his knees as she went limp, cradling her in his
arms. The Light Sword tried to tug him over to where the Dark Sword lay to
finish the job, but with the threat gone its power over him was much reduced.
It still was able to pull free of his hold to make its own way over there, not
that Nicholas cared about holding onto it anyway.
The Light Sword flew through the air straight toward the waiting Dark
Sword. But before it could strike, it was wrapped up in tendrils of dark
magic. "I'll be taking these," Angela said, walking out from behind a tree to
snare the Dark Sword as well.
Nicholas knew he should try to stop her, that if she got away something
far more evil would occur. But his eyes drifted back to the unconscious
hedgehog in his arms and he wavered. That single moment of hesitation was all
Angela needed to get away, her laughter mocking him.
"Angela!" Juice yelled, bursting onto the scene with a Sonic Boom.
"You just missed her," Nicholas said, groaning as the exertions of the
day started catching up with him.
Juice muttered under his breath before focusing his power into the Light
Stone once more. "At least she didn't go far," he said once he had gotten a
fix on her location. "Are you two going to be OK?"
"Don't worry about us," Nicholas said even as his body started to
tremble from exhaustion. "You're the only one who can stop Angela now. Don't
mess this up."
"I thought I got away from this kind of pressure when I gave up the
throne," he quipped. A smile touched his lips briefly before being replaced
by determination. "Count on it," he promised before speeding off.
Nicholas slumped to the side, cushioning Kelly's fall with his own body.
There was still much to do; Kelly needed medical attention and he should look
in on Tanis and Rosie. But his body just would not respond, no matter how
much he willed it to.
He didn't know how long he lay like that, but it was least a few minutes
before he heard footsteps. They were approaching from behind and he didn't
know if they meant a threat or not, but he couldn't even roll over to face
them. "Easy Nicholas," he heard a familiar voice whisper. "We're here."
"See to Kelly," he rasped out as he felt more than heard two animals
kneel down next to him.
Darrin nodded and crawled over to Kelly to check on her. Desirée helped
him sit up, then put his arm around her shoulders and lifted him to his feet.
She barely was able to get him up and keep him up; nearly two days of constant
running had almost gassed her. As she walked him over to Sanctuary, she knew
that all four of them were in need of major healing and rest. Unknown to her,
so were the Shi-rats inside.
But all that would be useless if Angela succeeded in her current task.
After stealing the Swords, she had retreated to where she had hidden the
Emeralds. Complex magical symbols blanketed the area, forming a perfect five-
sides pentacle with her at the topmost point. A Sword was stabbed into the
ground at each of the side points while the Shadow and Life Emeralds sat at
the lower points. Chaotic magic swirled around the area so thickly that the
air shimmered and warped with its power.
Though the Swords kept trying to fight each other and her, she was
strong enough to keep them both restrained as she prepared her spell. She
checked each component and nodded to herself as they reacted as they were
supposed to. A spoken word in a long-forgotten language was all it took to
set it all in motion.
The symbols burst into black flame, starting where she stood and
spreading out along a predetermined path. She could feel the Swords trying to
pull away, trying now to protect themselves from destruction. But it was too
late; her magic had them too deeply ensnared. A nearly invisible thread
connected each Sword to an Emerald as she forced power from one to the other.
A cruel smile found its way to her lips. In just a few moments she would be
able to take Chaos' power as her own.
Everything was going fine until the power suddenly backlashed against
her, nearly knocking her off her feet. "The Swords are more powerful than I
realized," she thought, pouring more of her own energy into the spell. For a
second it looked like she was going to force the power into the Emeralds, but
a stronger backlash struck her, hurling her into a tree and shattering her
carefully designed spell.
Her eyes nearly glowed red as she shot to her feet, ready to blast the
Swords into tiny pieces. But she stopped herself, though just barely.
Destroying the Swords would be counterproductive to her goals. Besides,
unless she was mistaken, the Emeralds were the ones rejecting the power, not
the power that was rejecting the Emeralds. This required for her to calm
down and think this through.
She had just managed to calm herself when an approaching and very
familiar sound made her snap to attention. Magic crackled wildly about her
hands as Juice ran up, stopping right in front of her. "What are you doing
here?" she sneered, letting her power surround them both. "You made your
views very clear."
"As did you," he returned calmly, unperturbed by the darkness that
licked at his robes. "And you were right. I love you Angela, and that should
be all that matters to me. I'm sorry to have doubted you my love. If you
could find it in your heart to forgive me, then I will follow you to the ends
of Mobius if that's what you want."
Angela stared intently at him, the magic slowly dying away. "Really?"
she whispered in a small voice. "You really want to be here with me?"
"Always and forever," he promised, leaning forward and kissing her.
A tear escaped Angela's eyes as she returned his kiss, wrapping her arms
around his neck. "This means more to me than you know," she murmured against
his lips as they parted. "Now come on, I could use your help. I know I was
doing everything right, but maybe you can think of something I didn't."
Juice smiled and nodded, seemingly eager to help. But as soon as she
turned away, the smile slipped from his face. He reached forward like he was
going to put his arm around her shoulders, but instead placed his hand on the
back of her neck, the hand that had held the Light Stone hidden from her view.
The moment the Stone touched her, Angela screamed in pain, her body jerking
uncontrollably. "Angela!" he cried, trying to pull the Light Stone away from
her but repulsed by a powerful wave of energy.
Both Stones flared to life, trying to cover her body in their respective
glows. They met about halfway and started pushing against each other, the
light fighting the dark. But the battle was too even, their powers too equal.
It looked to be a stalemate, one that wouldn't end anytime soon. Then the
lights started swirling around each other, forming something like a yin-yang
symbol. With a surge of power that blew Juice back, the two lights separated
and fell to the ground.
Juice had no idea what had just happened, but he had the feeling that it
wasn't good. As the lights faded away, he saw not one but two female mice
laying crumpled among the grass. One looked like the Angela he knew, robes
and all, except for the fact that her hair and robes were completely white.
The other one had dark hair like she was supposed to, but everything else
about her was also dark. Her fur, that revealing bodysuit, and her boots were
all solid black. Her tail, unlike the one with white fur, ended in a spade
tip. "Angela?" he whispered as they both started to stir, looking at them
both in turn.
The white-furred mouse looked at him, her eyes white against a blue
background. "Yes?" she asked, her voice musical in its beauty.
But the black-furred one growled angrily, her black eyes peering at him
from their red background. "Don't ever call me that again," she hissed, her
voice darkly seductive as it would around a set of sharp fangs. "My name is
Demona!"
"So it has come to this then," Angela said, taking the Light Stone from
her neck and placing it on the back of her hand. "Please stay out of this
Juice. This must be decided between me and her."
"I agree with her," Demona sneered, calling up her magic to lift her up
into the air. "But this will be the only thing we agree on this day!" Angela
rose up to meet her, her robes billowing around her.
Juice could feel the magic building up in the air, crackling between
them like oppositely charged electrodes. He backed away as far as he could
without losing sight of them, knowing that if he tried to interfere he would
cause more harm than good. As soon as he was out of harm's way, the battle
was pitched. Demona launched the first blow, a sphere of pulsing red energy
aimed at Angela's head. Angela dodged it easily, blasting a ray of blue light
at Demona in return that was also avoided.
The fight only picked up in intensity from there. Juice soon lost track
of who was doing what except by the color of their magicks. What spells
couldn't be avoided were nullified with a counterspell, but each one was
coming closer and closer to hitting. And then, it did. Demona was blasted
out of the air with a white bomb-like projectile that impacted her stomach.
But before Angela could follow up, a shot from Demona that she thought had
been fired wildly boomeranged around and struck her in the back of the neck,
dropping her as well.
The silence that fell over the forest was nearly deafening. Juice
looked around for them, but the blows they had taken had knocked them out of
sight. He entertained the idea of searching for them, for both of them, then
he heard something to his left that made him pause. "Darkness beyond
twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the flow of time."
From the opposite side, he could hear another chant begin. "Brightness
beyond daylight, azure beyond the clearest sky. Protected in the flow of
time."
"Uh oh," Juice yelped, diving back for cover.
Demona stalked forward, blood-red light gathering between her hands.
"In Thy great name I pledge myself to the Darkness!"
Angela glided forward from the opposite side, a blue sphere of light
growing quickly in front of her outstretched fingers. "In Thy great name I
pledge myself to the Light!"
"Those who oppose us shall be destroyed...."
"Those who oppose us shall be vanquished...."
"By the power you and I possess!" they yelled together, the energies
they held threatening to escape their grasps.
"Dragon Slave!" Demona cried, shooting forth the chaotic energy she had
gathered.
"Holy Wrath!" Angela answered, loosing the holy energy she had called
up.
Red met blue in an electric display. Neither side made any progress
and neither side retreated. When the spells ended, it was like they had never
been cast. "That was pointless," Angela breathed, sliding into a defensive
stance.
"This won't be," Demona snarled, charging forward with dark energy
surrounding her fists.
Under any other circumstance, the combat magic fighting that Demona knew
would have taken down any opponent she faced. But because she and Angela were
two halves of the same being, Angela was equally as adept. Blows were traded
and blocked with such speed that they appeared as blurs to Juice's eyes. A
few grunts and exclamations of pain could be heard, but he couldn't tell who
it was coming from. Once again, it was a stalemate.
They realized this about the same time as Juice did and sprang apart,
putting about twenty feet between them. Both were breathing heavily and
looked a little worse for wear; Angela had a bruise adorning her right cheek
and Demona was bleeding from a split lip. They paused for just a moment,
trying to figure out how to proceed. Then Demona flung her hand out to the
side, a smirk on her lips.
Angela watched her warily, not sure what she was up to. Her senses
suddenly blared a warning and she dropped to the ground, diving facefirst into
a pile of dirt their battle had stirred up. A sharp object whistled just over
her prone body so close that she felt it slice off a few of her hairs. She
glanced up and saw Demona now holding the Dark Sword, twirling it expertly in
her hand. "It figures you would cheat," she said, spitting out a mouthful of
soil.
"I don't remember agreeing on any rules," Demona taunted, making the
Sword's blade burst into black fire.
"Then I shall fight fire with fire," Angela said, calling the Light
Sword and ignited its blade into a column of white flame. "Let's do this."
If Juice thought they had been moving fast before, it was nothing
compared to what they were doing now. The sound of metal clashing against
metal reverberated so loudly that he felt it jar his senses. And that was
before they started mixing combat magic with their swordplay. Not only did he
have to worry about a stray spell, he had to watch out for flying sparks as
the Swords clashed.
Demona was by far the more aggressive of the two, comfortable with the
deadly weapon in her hand. Angela was more reserved, staying on the defensive
and obviously ill at ease at using such a weapon. But the fight and the Sword
compelled her forward, and she was at least holding her own.
Then it happened. Demona got in under Angela's guard and buried her
elbow into the white mouse's stomach. "Now it ends," she murmured sibilantly.
She shoved Angela back and pointed the Dark Sword at her, a ball of black fire
forming at the tip. Angela had just enough time to channel her own spell
through the Light Sword, but it was noticably weaker than Demona's. The best
Angela dared to hope for was that her spell would weaken or possibly deflect
Demona's, allowing her to dodge it.
But the two spells passed right through each other, each impacting with
the Sword opposite the one it had left. The Swords began to vibrate wildly,
letting out a strange keening that grew more and more shrill. Cracks appeared
in the blades, creating a spiderweb of lines from hilt to point. With a
violent explosion of power that knocked Angela, Demona, and Juice off their
feet and flattened everything around for a mile, the Swords shattered into
many small pieces that were soon disintegrated.
Two small balls of light hovered in mid-air, one white and the other
black. They remained motionless for a moment before the black one took off,
streaking upward. The white one followed not even a second afterward, slowly
gaining on its nemesis. "No!" Demona cried, casting out a net of dark magic
to try and catch them before they could escape, but the lights passed through
her power like it was simple air, rocketing off into the stars.
"That's that then," Angela said, rising gracefully to her feet.
"Without the powers behind the Swords, your plan has failed."
Demona screeched in anger and unbridled hatred. "So be it then," she
snarled, launching herself into the air. "If I cannot rule this world then I
will destroy it!"
"You would choose this path," Angela whispered sadly. "But if it is the
only way to stop you, I will see this through to the end."
Demona paid no attention to Angela words, thrusting her hands out in
front of her. "Darkness beyond the blackest pitch! Deeper than the deepest
night!" she screamed, black lightning rushing into the space between her
hands and gathering there.
"Brightness beyond the brightest sun! Shining through the darkest
night!" was Angela's answering cry, waves of white lightning mirroring what
was happening in front of Demona.
Demona's fingers twitched as she commanded the chaotic energy to
coalesce into an ever growing sphere of black. "Lord of Darkness, who shines
like gold upon the Sea of Chaos!" she continued, her voice straining.
"Lord of Heaven, who shines like gold upon the Sea of Clouds," Angela
whispered, controlling the magic in front of her far more easily than Demona
was doing.
"I CALL UPON THEE AND SWEAR MYSELF TO THEE!" they yelled at the same
time, the energies they had gathered growing larger than they were.
"Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed...."
"Let the evil that stands before me be purged...."
"By the power you and I possess!" they called together, their spells
nearly complete and pulsating with power.
"GIGA SLAVE!"
"HOLY VENGEANCE!"
A beam of the deepest black, like a piece of endless night, shot toward
the surface of Mobius. But it was met halfway by a beam of pure white light,
more pure than anything imaginable. Once again the spells forged a stalemate,
though this one was significantly more violent than all the others. The
magicks themselves looked to be fighting each other, the light battling the
dark in a fight as old as the universe itself.
Unlike the other spells that had a set duration, these would last as
long as the caster had the strength to allow their bodies to be used as
conduits for such power. As they were two sides of the same whole, they both
had the same amount of strength. "You cannot win!" Demona crowed, increasing
the intensity of her spell. "We may have the same power, but all I need to do
is hit the planet in some way. The moment you cannot block the Giga Slave,
it's all over!"
"You're right," Angela said, levitating slightly above the ground to
better maneuver, "we do have the same power. But unlike you who wishes only
to destroy, I wish to save all those I love and I will do whatever it takes to
protect them."
With the utmost concentration, Angela transferred the entire spell over
to the hand that bore the Light Stone. She nearly lost control of the spell,
but she removed her runic belt, the one that had belonged to Iridal Shi-rat,
with her free hand and wrapped it around her other hand. The runes flared to
life with blue fire, helping her to stabilize the spell. She reached out with
her free hand toward Demona as a white ball of power began to form in front of
it. "Brightness beyond the brightest sun! Shining through the darkest
night!"
"What are you doing?" Demona demanded, fear creeping into her voice for
the first time. "You'll destroy us both!"
Angela nodded, sweat pouring down her face as she split her focus
between maintaining the current spell and gathering power for the new one.
"Lord of Heaven, who shines like gold upon the Sea of Clouds, I CALL UPON THEE
AND SWEAR MYSELF TO THEE!"
"Don't do it!" Demona cried wildly, trying to free up one hand herself
but unable to for fear of losing control.
"Let the evil that stands before me be purged by the power you and I
possess!" Angela yelled, her voice strong though her body was clearly
weakening. For just a second her resolve faltered and she glanced over to
where Juice was hiding. "I love you Juice," she murmured, a single tear
leaking from her eyes. "Please forgive me." Then, summoning all her
remaining strength, she forced the end of the spell to come from her lips.
"HOLY VENGEANCE!"
The ghostly image of a white robed figure, its face hidden within its
hood, appeared behind Angela. It placed its hands over hers, letting her draw
all the energy she needed to in order to complete her spell. The twin beams
of white light completely engulfed the Giga Slave, nullifying it before moving
on to Demona.
Demona screamed in pain and terror as the spell consumed her, ripping
away at the blackness of her soul. The holy magic ripped away at her soul
until there was almost nothing left. Her magic gone, she plummeted to the
ground headfirst, her eyes closed so that she did not have to see her fate.
Two strong arms wrapped around her body before she hit, cradling her
safely. She cracked open one eye, the small movement using up nearly all the
energy she had left. "W-why?" she croaked.
Juice set her on the ground gently, combing his fingers through her
raven locks. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry for what I had to do.
I know you must hate me."
Demona shook her head weakly, moaning as a fresh wave of pain shot
through her. "N-nothing to be sorry about my love," she murmured. "You did
w-what you had to. I know that. Besides, I could never hate you. Even now,
with all my evil, I never hated you. D-don't forget me."
"Never," he swore as her breathing became more and more labored.
"I know I have no right," she gasped, "but if I could have one favor
before I die...."
"Anything," he agreed quickly.
"J-just let me have one...one kiss...."
Juice knew she didn't have long. He quickly lowered his head, covering
her lips with his own. He felt her lips move weakly against his before her
head lolled back. She breathed a soft sigh of contentment and he knew she was
gone.
A soft thump against the ground made him look up. "No!" he yelled,
terror gripping his heart. He lurched over to where Angela lay in a crumpled
heap. "Angela! Angela!" he cried, taking her shoulders and gently turning
her over on her back.
Angela's eyes opened wearily and she smiled as she saw Juice. "I'm glad
you're here," she whispered, a trace of blood staining the white fur at the
corners of her lips. "At least I'll be able to say goodbye."
"No," Juice ordered, not even trying to fight back his tears. "Don't go
Angela. Don't leave me alone! I need you. I love you!"
"I love you too Juice," she said, using the last of her strength to cup
his cheek in her hand. "And I'm sorry I have to leave you. Please forgive
me."
"There's nothing to forgive," he said through his sobs. He tried to
cast what healing magic he could, but her body rejected his attempts. "Angela
please--"
Angela shook her head, her breathing harsh and uneven. "Don't waste
your energy," she gasped. "It's no use. I knew what casting that spell twice
would do to my body. But it was worth it to save you and to save the planet."
"I'm not worth your life!"
Angela gazed at him with the serene look of one who had found ultimate
peace. "Yes, you are," she sighed, her eyes fluttering closed. Juice leaned
down and kissed her, willing her to stay with him. There was a brief twitch
of her lips against his, then nothing. She was gone.
Juice threw back his head and howled his grief to the sky, the mournful
sound echoing over the flattened landscape. So consumed was he in his grief
that he never noticed the Fallen Ones teleport in. Maxwell made to attack him
but was stopped by Tanin. He just shook his head, gathered up the Emeralds,
and returned to the Dark Castle with the Emeralds and the other Fallen Ones in
tow.
He screamed, cried, and yelled until he was hoarse, and even then the
tears did not stop. It might have been a short time or a long time, but at
some point he realized he wasn't the only one crying. Both Tanis and Rosie
had felt their daughter's pain as clearly as their own. Despite their own
serious injuries, and the Echidna family trying to stop them, they had both
teleported to the spot where they felt it coming from. They didn't know what
was going on or why it looked like they had two daughters, but they both knew
in their hearts that Angela was dead.
They clutched at each other, trying to find comfort where none could
exist. "Why did I wait so long to put things right with her?" Tanis sobbed.
"Now I'll never get the chance."
"You know she forgave you," Rosie hiccuped through her tears. "Even if
she acted angry, she forgave you a long time ago." That little bit of
knowledge came too late for Tanis to make him do anything but feel more grief.
Or did it? On Angela's right hand, the Light Stone started to glow
softly. It was answered by the Dark Stone on Demona's left hand. The lights
spread until they covered both Angela's and Demona's bodies, looking once more
like a yin-yang. The unexpected display of magic caused Juice to slowly back
away, crawling over to where Tanis and Rosie were watching with wide and
hopeful eyes. The yin-yang started spinning, slowly at first but quickly
gaining speed. It was moving so fast that it all appeared to be a disk of
a uniform grey color, and was still spinning faster. The faster it went, the
more transparent it became, until finally it was gone, leaving only a single
body behind.
"Angela!" Juice cried joyfully, rushing over to her and falling down
next to her. It was really her! The black hair, the white fur, the grey
robes, everything was how it should be! Well, not quite everything. Her
belt was still wrapped around her wrist, allowing her robe to part enough to
see that underneath it she still had on that black bodysuit, boots, and even
her gloves. The Light Stone rested in her right glove, slowly turning it
white while the Dark Stone remained in her left.
"Out of the way Juice!" Tanis all but snarled, shoving him out of the
way to check on his daughter.
"Is she OK?" Juice asked, trembling at the thought that she may not be
back after all.
"She's breathing," Rosie said, helping her husband heal their daughter,
"but she won't be for long if we don't get her someplace safe. We'll work on
keeping her stable, you'll have to get us back to the palace."
"Me?" Juice asked, incredulous that she'd even suggest it. "You
haven't even let me teleport myself yet."
"Either you do it or she dies," Rosie said, her fear giving rise to her
temper. Juice took a deep breath and nodded, taking a brief moment to
remember all the lessons he'd had on this. Whispering a quick prayer to the
Almighty, he focused his power around the four of them, willing it to become a
whirlwind to bring them where they needed to be.
As Juice attempted to bring them to the palace safely, the Unholy One
sat on his throne in the Dark Castle, the seven Chaos Emeralds spread out in
front of him. Their defeat this day was troubling to him. To be so easily
taken down by one girl, strong enough to even destroy him if she'd been so
inclined, was hard for him to accept. He had to find a way to increase their
training beyond what the Holy Ones had accomplished, as well as his own powers.
That was very painfully obvious now.
But what disturbed him more than that was Tanin's report. From the
traces of the magical structure that he had been able to remember, it was
easily deduced that the Shi-rat should have been able to recharge both the
Shadow and Life Emeralds. But for whatever reason, she had failed. He wasn't
foolish enough to think it was from a lack of strength or skill. No, there
had to be something else, some unexpected factor that prevented her from
reaching her goals. So while he made the Fallen Ones train, he would have to
figure out how to succeed where she had failed. He had the feeling it would
not be easy.
The next day, the Hospital Wing in the palace was abuzz with activity.
There hadn't been this many residents since the Chosen Ones' ill-fated attempt
to capture the Amulet of the Four Winds! And just like the last time, the
doctor on duty was hard-pressed to keep all the patients and visitors under
control. But where Dr. Penders had turned over the majority of their care to
Alicia, Dr. Gray worked diligently to make sure his patients would fully
recover in as little time as possible.
One of these patients was Kelly Min. She had awoken early that morning,
confused and disoriented. Her parents had urged her to go back to sleep,
saying that she needed the rest, an idea she had been all too happy to act on.
But as soon as she had, everything she had done under the influence of the
Dark Sword came rushing back in her dreams, turning them all into horrible
nightmares. She'd barely gotten any sleep before she had awoken screaming.
Maurice and Patricia had been at her side in an instant, holding her and
trying to calm her. "I should've known better," she kept saying over and
over. "I should've known better."
"Maybe you should have," Maurice said, ignoring the pointed looks his
wife was giving him. "But what's done is done. Everyone makes mistakes; you
just have to learn from them and make sure they never happen again."
Kelly regarded her father with a dull gaze. "Most mistakes don't cost
fifteen animals their lives," she whispered with a lot of hate directed
inward. "How can I ever live with that?"
"One day at a time," Patricia told her. "Every day, you remind yourself
that you were not the one who did this, it was the Dark Sword. It's going to
be hard, I know that, but it's what you have to do if you're going to keep
your sanity."
Kelly closed her eyes and pulled away from her parents, turning on her
side. "I'm tired," she whispered, reaching for the stiff white blanket and
pulling it up to cover herself.
Maurice tried to say something more, but this time his wife's glare had
its intended effect. "We'll leave you to rest," she said, pressing a soft
kiss to her daughter's forehead. Maurice still looked unsure, but Patricia
pushed him from the room before he could protest, pausing only to turn the
light off.
Kelly lay there, feigning sleep were it not for the tears still leaking
from her eyes. She knew her parents meant well, but how could they understand
what she was going through? They'd never had control of their body ripped
from them, able to see but not to stop. To feel a weapon you held slicing
into another's flesh, spilling their life's blood. An anguished cry welled up
in her throat that she was only just able to bite back.
"Kel?"
Kelly sat up quickly though her body protested the swift movement almost
immediately. "That you Nicky?" she asked, looking around the shaded room.
Nicholas walked forward from a deeply shadowed corner. "How are you
feeling?" he asked, sitting down awkwardly in the chair by her bedside.
"Just about how you think I do," she said with a strained smile. "What
about you though? Are you all right?"
"I'll live," he said dismissively. When she narrowed her eyes, he
rolled his. "I am in pain, but it's nothing I can't handle. The doctor says
that I should be fine if I don't push myself for a week."
"So shadowwalking into a girl's room in the middle of the morning isn't
pushing yourself?" she teased.
Her comment got the intended blush and even made Nicholas rub at the
back of his neck. "It was the only way to get here without being seen," he
admitted. "I couldn't rest until I had checked on you."
Warmth blossomed in Kelly Min's heart and spread throughout her body.
Was it...was it possible? "N-Nicholas," she whispered, "there's something I
need to tell you."
As sore as he was, alarms immediately went off inside Nicholas' head.
The conversation he'd had with Nadine where she'd reaffirmed her feelings for
him had started with the exact same words. He knew this delicate situation
had to be defused carefully; too bad he wasn't known for being careful.
"Before you say anything else," he cautioned before she could continue, "you
should know that Lily and I are together as a couple now."
A pained look flitted across her face for just a second before it was
replaced by acceptance and loss. "I gave her the chance," she muttered
sadly. "I am happy for you Nicholas, I truly am. But it doesn't change how
I feel. Out of respect for you and for her, I'm not going to say it. But I
know that you know what it is."
"I do," Nicholas said. "I never meant to hurt you Kel."
"You can't help who you fall in love with Nicky. But it's OK; you two
complete each other. That's why I gave her the chance I gave her."
"I'd understand if you didn't want to be friends anymore."
Kelly Min swatted him on his shoulder for that comment, glaring at him.
"I can't believe you'd even think that of me," she snarled, though it was
marred by a cough. She grabbed his hand, hooking each of his fingers with one
of her own. "Best friends forever, remember?"
Nicholas smiled as he saw the handshake they had created as their own so
long ago. He'd forgotten all about it, even in the time they'd spent together
around Christmas, but now he swore never to again. "Best friends forever," he
agreed, pumping her arm up and down twice.
Kelly smiled warmly at him, nodding happily. He pulled his hand back
but found she wasn't letting go. Her smile turned devious, giving him a few
seconds warning that she was up to something. But it wasn't enough. She
yanked hard on his hand, pulling him toward her and catching his lips in a
quick but passionate kiss. "I couldn't let you get away without at least one
kiss," she explained once she let him go. "I always said you had to be my
first kiss; it wasn't going to anyone else."
Nicholas nodded to show he understood, not trusting his voice at the
moment. He stood up and walked over to the corner he had shadowwalked in
through, wanting to just get back to his room and flop into bed before he was
caught by the doctor or the nurses.
He should've known Kelly wasn't going to make it that easy for him. "Oh
Nicky?" she called, stopping him right before he entered the shadows. "You
might as well keep those pictures of me. I trust you with them."
That threw him off so mentally that his first attempt to shadowwalk
ended up with him walking nosefirst into the wall. While on her dig, Kelly
had written him at least once a week, sometimes twice, to update him on her
progress and to keep their bonds of friendship strong. She'd even started
including pictures, showing him some of the more interesting stuff she'd
discovered.
In one of his letters to her, he'd remarked how dirty her uniform
looked. So in the next picture, she hadn't been wearing it, clad in what she
called her civilian clothes. But with each picture beyond that, she'd been
wearing less and less until in her last picture, she'd been wearing nothing at
all. He still couldn't believe she'd actually gone that far, but hadn't
really attributed it to any feelings she might have had. Despite what she
said, he knew he should dispose of those pictures the first chance he got.
But considering he hadn't already, he also knew that he probably wouldn't get
around to it. He just had to make sure that Lily never found out about those
pictures, or this kiss either.
If he had left the room the normal way, he would've found a sore and
tired Angela being helped on a walk by Juice. Her healing had been remarkable
considering she'd been at Death's door not twenty-four hours ago. But she was
determined to be up and about, trying to put right what she had done wrong.
"Thank you so much for staying by my side Juice," she said softly, leaning on
his arm for support. "I know my actions lately haven't exactly warranted
that."
"Cut it out Angela," Juice said firmly. "We all know that wasn't really
you, so stop being so hard on yourself. Besides, I'll be by your side no
matter what."
"Whether it was me or not, I still want to apologize to everyone,"
Angela insisted as they walked around a corner. "And there is the first one I
need to talk to."
DJ had just come from visiting Desirée's room where she and her twin
were being treated for extreme exhaustion when he heard Angela's voice. A
cold shiver ran up his spine as he remembered how evil she had been just the
day before, but he forcibly controlled it and turned to her with his best
smile on his face.
Angela saw through his fake smile easily and her expression drooped.
"It's really me DJ," she said, kneeling down in front of him and looking up
into his eyes. "I can't begin to explain how sorry I am for what I did and
what I said. You have always been a good friend to me, and I care for you
deeply. Could you find it in your heart to forgive me?"
DJ looked deeply into Angela's eyes as he considered her words. Gone
was the reddish glint that had plagued his thoughts. In its place was the
look of serenity that he was used to seeing, marred though it was by guilt and
weariness. That was all he needed to see to make his decision and he launched
himself into her arms, hugging her happily. "I'm glad you're back," he
whispered.
Angela hugged him back, feeling a large weight lift off her shoulders.
She stood up with him and pulled away, frowning as something felt a little
different. She placed her hand on top of his head and brought it straight
across toward her, shocked when her hand actually passed above her own head.
"You're taller than me now?" DJ looked just as surprised as she was, checking
it himself. But by just half an inch, he was in fact taller than her. DJ
almost laughed at the annoyed look on Angela's face, settling for just a grin.
Juice laughed and patted DJ's shoulder. "I'm still a little taller than
you," he said, "but probably not for much longer. Pretty soon you'll be the
tallest of us all." DJ definitely liked the sound of that and ran off to
convey the news to Desirée. Angela and Juice chuckled and continued their
walk. But they had not taken more than three steps before Angela dropped back
to her knees. "Angela?" he yelped, hunching down next to her.
"I'm OK," she said, gripping his shoulder to help regain her feet. "I'm
just not used to having this much power running through me." She looked at
the fingerless gloves she still wore, the Light Stone and the Dark Stone
embedded in the fabrics right above the backs of her hands. "To be honest,
I'm a little afraid of it; power corrupts and all that. I'm not even sure my
body can handle the strain. Besides, I'm not one for wearing jewelry."
"That was the lamest excuse I've ever heard," Juice quipped, shifting to
be on one knee. "But as you told me earlier, 'you'll get used to it!'"
Angela rolled her eyes and smacked Juice on his shoulder affectionately.
She started to walk again, but Juice tugged at her hand. "Juice?"
"I'm also hoping you can get used to one other piece of jewelry," he
said, pulling a platinum ring from his pocket. "That is...if you'll agree to
be my bride. Angela Shi-rat, will you marry me?"
Angela was hugging him almost before he had finished asking, tears of
joy rolling down her cheeks as she yelled, "Yes!" She held out her hand to
let him slip the ring on, not surprised by its perfect fit. That was when she
noticed the two stones set in the top: white diamond and black beryl shaped
like a yin-yang. "But how...?"
"You won't believe what I had to promise Antoine to change the stone
overnight," Juice explained. "But it was worth it. And before you ask, I am
not telling you what I promised."
"It's perfect," Angela said, kissing him with all the love she felt for
him.
"Congratulations!" The sudden shout made them jump apart, looking
around wildly. Rouge leaned against the wall, arms crossed under her chest
and smirking from ear to ear. "And congratulations on being back to normal,"
she added while they were still picking their jaws up off the floor. "After
all, I'd hate to have to hurt the competition."
"Like I could be any competition for you," Angela said with a nervous
chuckle. "Seriously though, thanks for all your help Rouge. Without you, who
knows what would have happened? We all owe you a great debt."
Rouge waved off the thanks casually. "Don't mention it. And I mean
that literally. I do have a reputation to protect after all. Now if you'll
excuse me, I have to say goodbye to my friend before I head back out on my
job."
"All right," Angela said, though she did give Rouge a hug that was
reluctantly returned. "I hope to see you around more soon."
"We'll see," Rouge said with an affected shrug. She turned away and
walked down the corridor, looking for DJ. Not long after she turned a corner,
she felt someone tap her shoulder. Expecting it to be a certain squirrel, she
started a bit when it was a brown hedgehog instead. "Something I can help you
with?" she purred, covering up her surprise.
Juice waited until she turned around to face him before answering. "Not
really, I just wanted to thank you as well for everything."
"Oh?" Rouge asked, arching an eyebrow. "I suppose you're going to hug
me too then?"
"Not quite," Juice said with a mischievous grin. He whipped his arms
around her, catching her off guard again, dipped her back, and planted a kiss
right on her lips.
It wasn't as deep or as long as the one she had given him months ago,
but she was still too stunned to do anything but let herself be kissed.
Before she could gather her wits, he set her back on her feet and sped off.
When reason returned, she bared her teeth in a snarl and clenched her fists at
her sides. "JUICE!" she screamed, her voice echoing off the walls. "I'M
GOING TO KILL YOU!" (
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