A/N: More than 800 views! Woo!
Here ya' go! A very long chapter for you to enjoy! :D
The jackal sliced through a large bush with his sword. He was not pleased by having to walk on his own. Instead, he was angry at how Espio, someone he didn't even knew, somehow captured his very friend.
"Dang it, J.J.!" He cursed through gritted teeth. "Why is it that every time something happens, you of all people get captured?!"
He stopped for a minute, thinking of which way he should go.
"And now I've lost it." He crossed his arms and looked around. "Just where the heck are you, child?"
He chose best to quit talking and keep searching, so he took a left and ran.
...
J.J. grew a sensation of concern. "My book?" But then she sensed suspicion coming from the chameleon. "Wait a second, how do you even know about my book?"
"The confidentiality of my secrets is strict. It's not something I can share with anyone, not even with the very Chosen One." Said Espio, making J.J. raise a brow and put her hands on her hips.
"For what reason exactly?" J.J. asked.
"To protect yourself." Espio said sharply, walking beside and past her. "Come with me."
At Eggman's base...
"When I asked you to deliver the little Chosen before me, have I ever told you to accomplish nothing but failure?!"
"Nobody said anything about failure, mistress. That was just, uh..." The fat villain thought his words to fill the blank he had done. "...a plan to get those pests out of the way!"
The once again shaded figure extended her hand. And for some reason, it was also shaded.
"Really? So this means you misused my Dark Force and let that Chosen One get away?"
"N-no, I just got rid of her! Oh, and of that insolent jackal, Infinite, as well."
"Hmm. So that is his name..." The villainess thought.
"That jackal's now part of all that trash I wish I never had..." Eggman commented. "...so you should not have even the slightest interest in him."
"Why not?" The Black Sorceress asked, sounding very interested. "After all he was part of your empire, a powerful being whose sights were the same as my own."
"Gah! That weakling lost to Sonic six months ago! Recruiting him back would be a crucial waste of time, especially now since he's with that annoying pipsqueak."
"Well, you still have your secret plan running, do you?"
Now Eggman was almost stuck at words. Impression struck him right in the mustache. But then he thought and realized...
"Wait, of course! We don't need to convince him with words, do we?" He grinned. "Excellent idea, mistress! Now that we still have that on our side, a new plan has come to mind! And this time not even that pipsqueak will be saved from it."
"And that's why I am more than just pleased to work beside you, Doctor."
Just then, a lone plume delicately descended to the ground. The plume had fallen from the female's body. Her shaded hand picked it up and glanced into it, and an oval red eye shone with spookiness.
"So it seems our time is slowly coming..."
...
Back in the forests of the Dragon Road, Sonic and Tails made it up the peak of the mountain and to the river's bed, where they saw the glistening yellow Stone up in the river's cave inside the waterfall.
"Bingo!" He proceeded to jump towards the cave in the waterfall, but a large axe swung right in front of his nose, so he lost control and fell, but Tails acted quickly and saved him from falling into the river's bed. He brought him down next to the river's bed, where the ground was safe.
"I told you it wasn't just about speed." Said Tails.
"It's such a bummer how a peaceful river could be armed with killer traps." Sonic replied, wiping his fur. "Here goes nothin'!" He boosted up and took a jump.
In less than a second, arrows, axes and net traps nearly outnumbered the hedgehog, but he confided on his super speed to avoid each trap. He had to flip, roll and even do splits. Afterwards, he boosted towards the cave in the waterfall, and from his point of view, he feared the moment he got closer and closer to touching the waterfall. Its waters gave him a good splash before his feet touched the entrance of the cave.
"Oof! That couldn't be cold enough!" He shook his spiky fur, wiping all the water out.
He admired the colors of the cave and the touch of blue the waterfall gave to it before sighting upon the Yellow Elite Stone of Joy, which glimmered intensely as it remained stuck beneath the rocks. He reached it and effortlessly took it off. As he did this, the waterfall disappeared as if it was an opening door, and the traps stopped working and disappeared.
The hedgehog jumped to the ground beside his best buddy. "Got it! Alright, let's go find the others and go home."
But it was then when he saw Tails working with something and felt confused.
"Could this be...?"
"What is it, Tails?" He approached the young fox.
"There's some weird shiny particles, probably sand, but I'm not sure."
"Sand? Beside a river?" Sonic almost laughed in skepticism.
The young fox took out his device and scanned the particles. "I'll take a sample." But as he scanned the dust, his pupils nearly dilated at what he discovered in his research.
"What is it?" Sonic stood next to him to see, but he as well showed massive concern. "We have to find J.J., fast!" He said and ran, with Tails following.
...
In the while, Espio and J.J. sat legs-crossed on the ground. The young rabbit felt unusual as she slowly dropped her book and looked into its pages. In one of the few last pages, she found something odd.
"The Forbidden Side. Can be read only by one worthy chosen." She read.
Espio nodded for her to flip the page, and she did with a hint of fear. The next pages showed ancient images of an evil army.
"There." Espio pointed at some point in the page where ancient scripts were. "The Dark Force, servers of a goddess long forgotten."
"A goddess long forgotten?"
"Yes. Before the Powers chose you, their ruler, Vultress, sighted to obtain it and wipe all life in the universe. It had been her goal to fuse the very source of the Powers with her being, and one way to do that is by collecting the Elite Stones in your Medallion."
"Yeah, like the one I was almost about to get!" J.J. responded angrily, shutting her book with a loud slam. "Now, what's with Infinite that worries you so much?"
"Infinite is not the person worth trusting. You should have known that since the war began six months ago."
"What do you mean? The Infinite I know is not a bad guy. Besides he can't even remember who he is really, but I'm trying my best to help him."
"And because of that, do you think he'd ever deceive you?" J.J. couldn't answer to that. "Hm. For a Chosen One, you're sadly oblivious."
"Hey! I never asked to be chosen!" J.J. held a hand to her chest. "And I demand the both of us find Infinite before Eggman tries something nasty!"
"If you wish to care for that monster so badly..."
"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!"
The furious little rabbit lunged at him, and did her attempts to use her martial arts skills on him, but the ninja chameleon deflected every move, whether it was a punch or a high kick.
"It's pointless to fight me." Espio said, impressively calm. "Now, stand down."
"No!" J.J. backed away. "I'll fight for him, like it or not! He's my friend!"
"I don't have any intentions of hurting you, child." Espio warned.
Again, the fierce female threw her attacks at the chameleon, and once again he blocked all of them, and even pinned the rabbit to the ground on her stomach with just one hand.
"You're not making this easy, young rabbit."
But it was then when a loud battle cry and a black shoe kicked the chameleon off, losing his grasp on the girl. He realized Infinite came to help his friend as he got to his feet.
"Infinite!" J.J. stood on her feet and approached him for a hug. "You-"
Infinite slightly pushed her away, but not in a bad way. "Stay out of this, J.J. I'll take care of him."
"Infy, I don't think you should-" But she was interrupted as Infinite stopped her with his hand.
Espio held a kunai from his secret compartment, his sharp eyes staring at the jackal with immense malice and hatred. "You. You think you've got a chance to erase what you've done?!"
Infinite threw his arm to his side. "I NEVER did anything to hurt you!"
"You can't lie to me, monster!" Espio engaged him with his weapon, ready to strike, but Infinite deflected it with the blade of his sword. "You've slaughtered hundreds of people!" One slash after the other, a new fight unraveled, with none of them overpowering each other.
SLASH!
"You've almost caused mass destruction!" Espio nearly scratched Infinite's scarred face with his kunai, but Infinite bent his body backwards in a quick motion.
"You brought nothing but genocide upon our world and its people!"
SLASH! SLASH!
Both weapons clashed against each other. Such was the strength both opponents used that zapping energy busted from their weapons.
"And now who knows your intentions towards this innocent child!" Espio did a jumping roundhouse kick at the jackal, successfully kicking him in the face hard enough to throw him to the ground.
J.J. gasped. "He's gotten way too far!" She thought. "Infinite?!"
The rabbit ran to help him get up, but she sensed his anger. His body shivered, and he clutched his hand holding his sword.
"Okay, NOW you've angered me!" He shouted in a growl and lunged at the chameleon.
"Infinite, no!"
Before he could launch his attack, a blue blur got in between the two, forcing both to back away from each other. J.J., who had covered her eyes, uncovered them to see Sonic now standing there.
"Stand down, Espio. You're messing with the wrong person!" He said.
The chameleon ignored the jackal and turned to Sonic. "Hm. I guess I have no choice but to fight you, considering you're standing with a possible traitor."
Sonic looked back at J.J., who covered her mouth with both hands, then back at Espio. "Since when you call J.J. a traitor?"
"Since the moment I realized this Chosen One befriended the monster who tortured you for six months!"
Sonic laughed, reminiscing the time he argued with Infinite about the same thing. "That's funny, because I've had this same conversation a while ago now. And y'know, you can scratch that. We have to get outta here!"
"Why? What's going on?" J.J. asked, but her answers never came as a giant snake-like monster with a deformed mouth stomped some trees down and snarled at the heroes. "Aah!" She hid behind the jackal, shivering like the sensitive rabbit she was.
...
"Hmhmhmhmhmhm." The villainess chuckled. "Now now, Super Darkoid, be just as gentle with them. You don't have to kill them if it's not necessary." She laughed as if she made a joke. "Oh, who am I kidding?" She pointed a feather finger forward with great strength. "Cease them! Bring the Chosen One to me!"
...
Hearing its master's command through its mind, the monster hissed, opened its mouth and roared savagely at the heroes. Its roar was too strong that it emitted shockwave rings that pushed everyone off their feet and flying backwards.
"Next time don't doubt on using those Powers of yours..."
Thinking of such, J.J. shut her eyes and clutched her fists, once again summoning a force field that protected, not just her, but the entire crew. The sphere bounced against the trees and to the ground until it was undone. However because it undid itself rather quicker than last time, it resulted on the heroes falling on each other like a pile.
Sonic lifted his face from the soil. "Ugh. Is everyone okay?"
"At least we didn't got killed." Infinite said almost ironically. He had landed under everyone else's bodies, and was angry to be literally mashed down. "Where's J.J.?"
But the rabbit ascended from under their bodies. "Sorry." She sweatdropped.
Their moment was interrupted as the monster snarled at them again, preparing to strike another attack. The crew quickly stood on their feet and readied themselves. With some momentum, the monster crawled towards them, dashing straight to J.J. The girl's body paralyzed with fear as the monster opened its deformed mouth widely. Within a moment's thought, a smokebomb blinded the scene. Once it faded, the snake saw J.J. and her friends disappeared.
Sonic and his crew made it up to the tall trees that surrounded the area, and observed the snake as it roared and crawled around, having some trouble with the tiny space around it, constantly hitting itself with the tree trunks.
"It's not going for any of us. It just wants her!" Said Infinite.
The chameleon bent a knee and observed the snake very carefully.
"The monster is slow when making curves. We should use this weakness against it."
J.J. also saw the Darkoid had a triangular mark on its back. "Hey, that mark looks like the other monster's." She turned to Sonic and Infinite. "Remember when we got the First Stone?"
Both nodded.
"Right now we have two of the Stones on our side. Sonic, your powers are compatible with my Elite Stones and the Powers in general. We have a chance to beat this thing!"
"Alright. I have a plan, but it might sound crazy." Said Sonic, the others listened. "Okay, so the monter's not after any of us, right? You can leave it to me. You guys take J.J. On my signal, get its attention while I hit its weak spot."
All J.J. understood was that she'd be used as bait. "Uh... what?"
"Chill, J. It'll be fine. You said yourself, we have a chance to kick its snaky butt."
J.J. sneered. "Snakes don't have butts, but still-"
The snake roared at them, finally spotting their position, and smashed its head against the tree where they stood. It was time to react.
"No time for that now. Go!" Commanded Sonic, and everyone split up, each climbing on each tree.
Sonic ran atop one of the trees and took a good jump for momentum. "Alright, here goes nothin'!" And so, he spin-attacked the snake on its spot just once. The snake snarled in pain, and turned to Sonic.
...
The Black Sorceress and Eggman could see his image from their lair through a sphere made out of black matter.
"That blasted hedgehog! Cease him, Super Darkoid! I want him destroyed first!"
"Seriously, Doctor." Eggman flinched at the Black Sorceress' strong voice. "Is it your deepest desire to get rid of him? We can take care of him once we have the Powers at their final stage."
"We can't just wait until then!" Eggman yelled in response. "Can't you see that this hedgehog is the cause of my problems?!" He pointed at the image in the back matter.
The shaded woman rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Your ambitions are nothing but prepostrous." That alone nearly irritated the doctor. She then turned to the image. "Find that Chosen One, my pet." She ordered.
...
The monster's left eye glowed at her command, and the snake did a weak turn to find the girl, only to once again hit itself with the tree trunk where Sonic was up in.
"Haha! I guess you're too slow to notice that trunk!" Sonic said cockily. "Now, you guys!" He called.
"Right." Espio was the first to respond. He jumped to the nearest tree and took J.J., then jumped down to the ground with her. The snake found them both and slowly advanced towards them, once again opening its deformed mouth.
This time, J.J. used the green Elite Stone for courage and activated a new force field to protect both her and Espio before the monster dug its teeth onto it, but did no effect to it.
J.J. groaned as she held on as hard as she could, her hands raised to maintain the strength of her power. The monster dug its teeth again and again, never stopping. Her efforts gave Sonic some time to launch his spin attack once again.
"Nice one, J." He said and charged his attack, then hit it with even greater force, causing an impact that destroyed the force field and sent both Espio and J.J. flying back.
The chameleon ninja made it to a tree, but J.J. remained in midair. She was soon caught by her hand by the two-tailed fox before she could hit anything. She opened her eyes to see Tails hovering above her.
"H-hold on!" He exclaimed. She smiled as both made it down to a tree safely.
The snake moved in to both. Tails felt some inch of fear as the monster hissed, but both were saved when Infinite jumped down from a higher level of that same tree, and slashed the monster's ugly face repeatedly. After this, he landed next to J.J., making her blush.
"I never agreed to do this." Infinite commented, making J.J. laugh. The black jackal scooped her in his arms and leaped to a higher area. He quickly set her down and took out his sword.
"Stay here, and don't move."
J.J. grasped his arm before he could land down. He'd think she almost let him slip off. "Wait, Infinite, use this!" She took the green Elite Stone from her Medallion and gave it to him.
"Are you sure it'll work on me?"
"Your body's strong enough. It should work!"
He closed his hand in a fist and nodded, not saying anything else. Then he moved on.
With a loud cry, Infinite and his sword got engulfed in green energy. He brought it behind his head and swung it down, stabbing the monster's spot with it. The monster shrieked loudly and laid on its body.
The jackal fell on his knees and dropped his sword. J.J. noticed this and jumped down carefully to help him.
"Infinite..." She whispered.
For a moment, his shaky hands somehow brought an image to his mind.
"I-I'm shaking... Why...? Does this mean...?" J.J. didn't said anything, but helped him as much as she could.
His thoughts were broken when the snake growled, but this time, weakly. It attempted to crawl at J.J. and Infinite, but its attempts proved in vain.
"The monster's weak!" Exclaimed Tails, who was still floating in the air.
Sonic landed on a tree. "J.J., now!"
The rabbit looked up at him and nodded, taking out her Elite Stone of Strength and tossing it at Sonic. Once he took a good hold of it, its power engulfed him in a red aura as he charged an even powerful spin attack. In a flash, he used the strength he acquired to break the trees down one by one.
"Everyone, move!" He shouted once landing to a safe ground.
J.J. switched back to her normal form and took Infinite in her arms. The poor jackal got worn out by the Stone he just used. They safely made it out of there as well as Tails and Espio, and the trees Sonic broke brought the snake down. The snake growled and disappeared in dark matter, and the trees collapsed by gravity.
The heroes sighed in relief, knowing their battle was won.
...
Inside the evil lair, the black matter disappeared, angering the Black Sorceress. She clutched a fist on her armrest and puffed.
"Don't be so mad, your darkest majesty. There is still a way to rid ourselves of those pests." Said Eggman as an attempt to "cheer" her up.
"SILENCE!" The furious lady threw her arm against one of the columns on each side of her throne, shattering it. Her hand was revealed to have large feathers attached to it. "Bring me... the jackal." She added with the coldest, evilest voice ever imagined.
...
The jackal awoke, finding himself laying on J.J.'s lap, with his head against her chest.
"Infinite, are you okay?" She asked softly.
He sat up. "Ugh. You said this would work."
"It did. It made you resilient just like Sonic back on Green Hill, remember?"
Espio stepped in. "You seem to have proved yourselves." The crew stared at him, but he turned his back to them, preparing to leave. "Very well, I should be on my way as I have a valley to look out for."
"Thanks for understanding." Said J.J. "We appreciate your help."
Espio nodded and jumped into the trees, then disappeared.
J.J. sighed in relief and switched to her rabbit form, but gasped as a vision of terror and destruction filled her mind. In her vision, she saw the same dark figure with long, stiff hair and long tail, but this time, accompanied by a large, black creature similar to a bird. The brief vision faded as Sonic touched her shoulder.
"Everything OK, J.?"
She couldn't control her little shaky body, but struggled against it. Infinite was also staring at her. "U-u-uh... i-it's nothing." She lied, and chose best to scratch her uncomfortable feelings. "Um, who's in for some pizza? Station Square should have them at a special price today!"
"I'm greatly pleased if you ask me!" Said Tails.
Sonic yawned. "Any chance we can get some sort of vacation? Too much butt kicking's wearing me out."
Tails laughed as he walked next to his best buddy. "I'm sure we can rest once we get home, Sonic."
"Oh! I forgot..." Sonic turned to J.J. and handed her the Third Stone. She placed it on a hole in her Medallion.
"You got it! But how?"
"You know me. Sonic's the name and speed's my game!" Sonic winked.
"It still impresses me how you got past those traps." Commented Tails.
"Neither Infinite nor I could get past them either." Said J.J., who took Infinite's hand and followed the rest. Infinite didn't really liked her taking his hand, but let her do so anyways.
And as they walked, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"Just what's going on with me?" J.J. thought as she grasped the Phantom Ruby inside her pocket very securely.
