Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) during this dark time... especially for the one who hungers for more.
~悪意~
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Hello, MelGamingPlays! Nope... nope, it did not... It's sad. :(
~悪意~
"Madness"
~悪意~
Storm grunted softly, using his staff to push himself to his feet after moving to the edge of his small bed within his tiny one-room hut. Using that staff to keep himself upright and to walk, he pushed aside the thatched curtain that he used in place of a door and stepped outside. It was a warm, clear night on the tiny isolated jungle island he called home, and as ever his eyes were initially drawn to the volcano whose ridge dominated the skyline in this area. Pulling his gaze from that, however, he found something far more interesting to look at… and far more concerning. It was a dark man, the one whose sudden appearance on this island had drawn Storm outside on this night.
The man grinned rather sick and disturbing grin. "Ah, so you are alive, then. I had begun to wonder if you had wasted away in your sleep."
Slowly, Storm's eyes narrowed. He had never been a patient man, was even less so now that he was tired and - of course - old. This game, a game designed to waste time and distract, was not a game he was going to be baited into. "The hell do you want?"
"Hm, crotchety, are we?" The man murmured in apparent amusement. "Tsk, tsk. You should treat your elders with more respect… something you should know well by this point, considering."
In all honesty, Storm might have been inclined to growl if he had been capable of it. But, he could not, so he just gritted his teeth. "Piss off."
This evoked a laugh that was frankly rather creepy from his mysterious visitor. "You are an amusing bird… And yet, you are so serious as to be boring much of the time. Just like that friend of yours… the king."
Realization dawned as sure as the moon hung in the sky. This is the bastard Jet used to mention… Kethro the Dark.
Kethro spoke again before Storm could. "However, that is not why I am here. You see… I bring some dark tidings for you and all you call friends. As you know, wicked times have descended upon this world… Malevolence has come, and with it comes a malice and a madness that you and your ilk will not overcome. Its will to change this sorry existence into something… darker… is more powerful than any of you will live long enough to comprehend." Suddenly, he erupted into a fit of laughter. "And even if you did manage to understand, it would matter little in the end. You will all be dead soon enough, either way. We intend to ensure that."
That was more than enough. Storm had seen and heard enough. Raising his staff, he called forth the powerful and borderline magical energy contained within it, a power that (like the staff itself) was far older than he. A ball of white light gathered within the orb embedded in the wood at the top of the staff, the burst out in a concentrated beam. The attack struck an instant later, forcing the illusion of the man to vanish… and the already exhausted Babylonian turned away.
With nothing left to do, he simply returned to his hut.
~悪意~
Everyone who couldn't fight was finally hidden, so all the fighters regrouped as soon as possible near Green Forest. It was readily apparent to Sonic that his niece and brother (despite their efforts to hide it, of course) were still very much in shock after the death of Soren… and he could hardly blame them for it. He himself was extremely pained by the news, and he had been nowhere near as close to the young man as Shadow and Lia had been. He could readily imagine the depths of their pain, though he didn't want to, and it was because of their pain that he decided to leave them alone.
In a bid to get information, he turned instead to Espio. If anyone would be able to remain unaffected by this emotional experience, it would be him. He was just about the only one Sonic could ask for information about what in the hell had happened, for only Espio would not be wounded (or further so) by the reminder. So Sonic turned to him, started to ask for that very information, only to be cut off by yet another surprise attack.
Creatures swarmed the group, furious and bloodthirsty, but for once they were the ones outnumbered and outmatched. Blasts of fire, aura energy, magic, psychic energy, and psychokinetic energy laid waste to the temporary battlefield, slaying most of the creatures and driving off the rest. No more injuries were sustained, but the thought of the possibility for injury reminded Sonic of what else had occurred earlier. Turning, he caught his wife's eye. "Amy…"
She glanced elsewhere and nodded. "Yeah… I know. I'm on it." With no further dialogue between the two, she walked over to Silver, Blaze, Knuckles, Rouge, and Locke to heal them of their wounds. The wounds were serious, but Sonic was just grateful that they hadn't been fatal.
Suddenly, Cream's only son West spoke up. "Why do these things keep attacking us so often?" he demanded, fear coloring his voice. It only made sense for him to feel fear. After all, he and many of his peers within this group had never experienced hardship and war like this before… had never even in their worst nightmares expected it to happen.
Many looks were traded with no answers forthcoming, but eventually Jet responded. "Simple," he murmured with a sort of sigh. "As I said before, Malevolence is here because it desires to feed on Light. It is fueled by that endless hunger, and needless to say that 'food' and those who contain it within them… are here."
~悪意~
Barely restraining a sound of desperation, Tails sprinted through his isolated woodland home, grabbing Luna from her playpen on his way through as everything violently caved in around them. Powerful and malevolent energies crushed anything they could reach but he kept running, lab coat billowing behind him. The whole building was badly destabilized and damaged, energies were crackling and raging around them with so much destructive force that the ground was buckling and jumping, the house was starting to outright collapse...
Upon realizing that nothing could save them, Tails shed a wave of tears and dropped to his knees. Knowing without even having to look anymore that a minor and localized cataclysm was coming, he bent of Luna's tiny, trembling body to shield it with his own. Her terrified shrieks and wails filled his ears as the crushing energies exploded around and descended upon them. And then everything went black.
~悪意~
1,136 words this time. Hope y'all managed to enjoy despite all the sadness and shiz. Posted (at about 7:00 p.m.) 10-01-18.
