Chapter 9:

The Sunset's Curse

"Can you show me the mark you got?" Tails asked the fox.

Conore looked up at him, "You know that mark you got from Quazaireon, back at Night City?"

Tails' ears went up, "Oh yeah, that burns!"

"Depends on the curse." Conore stated, "What you got was nothing compared to mine."

Tails sighed, "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Conore stared at him with confusion, "You didn't do anything."

"No," Tails shook his head, "I'm sorry that you guys have to put up with us for the rest of the war. Sonic's stubborn, Knuckles' a hothead, Shadow's partly perverted…"

"Tails." Conore growled, "I put up with Misty and Aaron every day, and they're twice as bad as those three combined, so don't feel sorry, okay?"

Tails nodded, and glanced up at the clock, "Four ten."

Conore twitched a little, "Do me a favor, and don't count."

"Sorry, bored, and sore." Tails apologized, looking down at his leg.

The teen fox stared at Tails' wound, "Hellhound?"

Tails shrugged, "All I know it had red eyes and white fangs."

Conore rolled his eyes, "Hold still."

Conore then took off his necklace charm, and pressed it against Tails' wound, which didn't hurt at all. The charm glowed a bright white, allowing the light to spread from it to Tails' wound, covering the leg almost completely, then with a flash, the necklace stopped glowing, along with the fox's leg, and the wound was gone. Clean and new, Tails' mouth plunged down, surprised by the wound's banishment.

"How did you do that?" Tails asked, rubbing his leg with curiosity.

Conore clipped his charm back on the choker's loop, "I'm a Traveling Earthesen, one who can heal, shape shift, and so on."

Tails smiled, "Thanks a bunch."

The door behind the two squeaked open, and Aaron was the first to be thrown in, and then the door shut behind them. Then another door next to them squeaked open, and Sonic, Knuckles, and Rouge were tossed in, flying into the stone cold wall and landing on one another.

"Where's Shadow when you need him?" Sonic growled.

The door then slammed shut, and the Hellhounds left the two groups alone.

Aaron glanced at Tails and Conore with surprise, "Dude! You're alive!"

The two foxes shrugged.

"Hey wait!" Sonic called through the hole, "who's there?"

"Sonic?" Tails yelped, "Are you okay?"

"We all are for the moment." Rouge said, "But our legs are like toothpicks right now, we almost have no meat on them."

Conore blinked, and glanced over at Aaron, he was the only one with the torn vest across his chest, blood soaked, and about ready to fall off of his body. He raised an eyebrow at him, Aaron replied with a shrug, and turned his head towards the other's voices.

"Sonic." Aaron called to him, "Get through that hole and get over here."

"NO!" Conore barked, "Stay over there!"

"What? Why?" Aaron stared at him.

"Tails." Conore called him, unclipping his charm again, "Take this to them, make sure to tap the green jewel before you hand it to Sonic."

"What now?" Sonic called out.

"Tails is going to give you a charm." Conore instructed, "Put it on you're leg, and you should see your leg heal, then pass it on to Rouge."

"What about me!" Knuckles snapped.

"And Knux!" Aaron added, then turned his head to Conore, "It's best to stay in one group than two you know man."

"I know." Conore said, "But right now, you and the others need to figure out a way out."

"What about you?" Rouge poked her head up.

"I'm not going anywhere." Conore growled.

"Do you even realize where Misty is?" Knuckles hollered.

"No, but I don't care about that." Conore yapped, "You guys just find Misty and Espio without me."

Sonic then poked his hand out with Conore's charm, and Tails quickly grabbed it and ran it over to Conore, and held it out, standing.

Conore shook his head, "You hold on to it, you know what's going to happen."

Aaron flicked his head to Conore, "What's going to happen?"

Conore turned and glared at Aaron, "Just start making way to find a way out."

Aaron lowered his ears, "Tell us now, so we don't kill you later. Besides, you're my friend, and I'm doing you a big favor. Now, tell us what's about to happen…"

"At around the strike of six, at sunset is when I'm turned into a Hellhound." Conore said deepening his voice.

Sonic was able to squeeze himself through the hole, and stood up, brushed himself off, then stared at Conore, "Come again?"

Conore rolled his eyes, "I'm going to become a Hellhound at either around the strike of six, or when the sun sets in."

Rouge was about then squeezed in, but stopped, "You're kidding?"

Conore unzipped his vest, and pulled down the right side, and Quazaireon's print was implanted on his skin. The group then felt a deadly chill down their spine.

"Now I have a question." Knuckles growled, ripping some of the rock out, "Who's that stupid scrawny chameleon holding Espio's chain?"

"His names Mince." Conore growled with irritation.

Aaron's face then turned light with shock, "Mince? Mince Marvelo!"

The five stared at him, Rouge lowering her ears, "You know him?"

Aaron gripped his fists; "He killed my dad several years ago."

"And what was his name?" Conore asked, his blue eyes lighting up with some fear.

"Jared." Aaron growled, "How is that stupid mutant bastard still alive!"

"He's a mutant too!" Sonic clinched his head, "why is everyone a freaking mutant?"

-------------------

He tried to stand, but the whip came right back and smacked him right on the face. He fell back down on his knees, and tried to keep his head from floating out of him, and passing out.

"Espio! Just do it!" Misty cried out.

"Listen to her Espio." Mince growled.

"I won't!" Espio snapped in anger, "Not even if neither one of us were to remember, NEVER!"

Mince threw up his whip, and slapped it across Espio's face again, tearing him piece by piece. Espio nearly lost his balance and stumbled, but didn't allow his body to collapse yet. His arms began shaking, and his head was bloody from the many whips he took.

"You'll never escape from your past my friend." Mince laughed, "Nor will you escape from this nightmare. It will live within you forever!"

Misty quickly shifted to her fox form and stood with her back arched and growled violently, "Leave him alone!"

Mince stepped forward and stood by Espio, whip ready to strike Misty next, "I wouldn't plan on doing anything smart. You know what happened to my brother several years ago!"

"Try me!" Misty dared.

Mince smiled, "Daring, but you're only making your stakes higher."

Mince then swung his arm around, and nailed Misty with the whip right on the chest, forcing her to shift to normal. She grabbed her wound and stumbled backwards, and lied on the ground trying to bare the pain, and trying to breathe.

Mince faced Espio, "I'm going to give you two choices, you either do what I said to her, and I'll let you go, or I can do it myself, and let you go alone."

Espio barely turned his head; "I won't let you take her away from me. Never in my life will she die first."

Mince laughed hysterically, "Her still alive is what's killing you, you know."

Espio growled a little, wanting to kill him right there, right now, but his body wouldn't be able to take him on, no matter what.

"I'm going to leave you two alone." Mince growled, "If nothing happens within the next ten minutes, someone's going to be in serious trouble."

Mince then started walking, and struck Espio's back with the whip a final time, forcing him down to the ground and made him bleed more blood. He walked out of the cell door then shut it beind him, then grabbed the black door, and slammed it behind him.

"Cretin." Misty growled.

Espio turned his head to see Misty where he lied, "Got any ideas?"

"Yeah, I actually do." Misty smiled, "But it's going to require for right now, your dedication."

------------------

"Any luck on that side?" Aaron asked.

Knuckles slipped through the hole, with dirt all over his face and body and stood up, his face irritated, "No go, the door's gotta cursed lock on it."

"Crap…" Sonic growled.

Rouge turned to see Conore, removing his vest and sitting by the pile of rock, isolating himself from the others. His blue eyes staring down at the ground with only concern, what would happen if they didn't make it out? He then closed his eyes, worried.

"Kinda isolated I noticed." Rouge commented.

"Yeah." Knuckles agreed, brushing his body off, "Aren't you going to help us out?"

Conore didn't move, but laid his ears back a little, "Legend says once you've been cursed, you're behavior gets more violent, and the craving for blood grows within you, making you blood thirsty."

"So really just stay away?" Sonic shrugged.

Conore nodded, "Along with that, you start to feel internal changes, which is you're body's shifting to prepare for the sudden shift."

"Scary…" Tails shook nervously.

Aaron stepped closer to Conore, feeling brave enough to dare his own self to go near him. He then stuck out a hand to him, "Conore man, we need you to-"

Conore then quickly snapped at his hand, just inches from actually biting his fingertips. Aaron quickly jerked back his hand, and leaped a foot away from him, starting to see that what the fox said was true. His eyes wide and ears up in alert, he now knew better.

"Just stay away." Conore growled, taking off his shades that wrapped around his head, "I don't want to end up like the vicious dogs on The Breed."

"Huh?" Knuckles cocked his head.

"Misty and I watched it one night." Conore said, staring up through the jail-like window with bars concealing them in, "It was about these five friends camping at an island, and don't realize there's a pack of genetically experimented dogs that were made to hunt and kill anything they could find. Two die in the movie, and at the very last second of the movie, it shows the other three being attacked on a boat."

"Sounds kinda creepy." Tails said, backing away from the fox.

"Sounds stupid to me." Sonic growled.

Conore glared at Sonic, his eyes changing from his normal moonlight blue to a deep purple, "What I'm trying to say is if you keep bothering me, I could kill you all without even shifting."

"Okay! That's it.' Rouge waved her arms, "I'm headed to the hole."

"Hey wait!" Knuckles grabbed her shoulder, then faced Conore again, "How much time do we still have left?"

Tails glanced up at the dark clock, "Just by what that says, it's almost five."

"So we've got about an hour to get out." Rouge said.

"Besides being ripped to shreds." Sonic spoke, "What could happen if we don't?"

"You'd be working for the Dark then." Conore answered, "with no soul."

Aaron knelt down to Conore's eye level, "Dude, we're all going to get out, and you're coming with us."

Conore turned his head, and growled a little, "unlike what happened to you, I'll be even worse, since Quazaireon was the one who put the curse on me."

"So really our only option is to find a way out." Sonic said, "let's see, both doors can't be broke, the walls would take forever, the bars are cursed…"

"Wait, how are the doors cursed?" Tails asked.

"Spellock." Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Are they like ordinary locks?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, more complicated though."

"I can pick 'em!" Tails smiled, "All I need is a hair pin."

"And I've got one!" Rouge said proudly, slapping it into Tails' hands.

"Time to do some pickin'!" Tails smiled.

The teen fox then let a smirk crease his face, keeping his head low, and making his bangs fall in front of his face. There was then a push in his chest, and a painful stabbing that struck him. Conore clenched his chest, and choked a little, feeling his body starting to shift. He glanced up, and seen the clock was at the five.

"Start pickin' Tails." Conore said, trying to breathe, "Cause…you don't have much…time."

Tails stared at Conore, then stared at the door in front of him, and quickly slid to the door, and grabbed the black lock on the outside, and pulled it inside, and started to use the hairpin to pick at it.

---------------------

Misty stood back a few steps from Espio, and watched, "Okay, try it this time."

Espio growled a little, then jerked his chain that was attached to the cell's door, and shifted to his mutant form. His feet dragged as he tried to pull, and his claws tore through the ground as he kept trying and trying.

Espio then gave in, and plopped on the ground, exhausted. Shifting to normal, he laid motionless, still tied to the door.

Misty sighed, "No use?"

"No use." Espio complained, "There's no other way out…"

"If there were keys in here there would be." Misty said, looking around, "Or a button, or something to make the door open."

Misty sat next to Espio and undid him from being chained to the door. She then tossed it against the door. There was a small creaking noise, then a loud screech, and the sound of metal collapsing to the ground. Both Misty and Espio spun their heads, to find that the door fell over, and gave them the opportunity to escape.

The chameleon stared at the exit blankly, "So all this time, I've just basically tried to lock it?"

"I guess." Misty blinked, "Let's go before that cretin returns."

The two leaped out and ran towards the door, and peaked through the window, only to find two Hellhounds were sleeping by the doorway. The hallways dark, and no sign of the chameleon, yet.

Misty growled, "They've got pretty good hearing too."

"I could try." Espio volunteered.

"They'd kill you on sight." Misty disagreed, "They were bred to hunt and kill. Don't even try it."

"Couldn't we then just wait?" Espio suggested, "Wait for Mince to walk in, and as the door's open, we make way out of here, camouflaged?"

Misty nodded, "I guess we could, we'd have to be really quiet though as we enter out."

The hedgehog quickly shifted, and shifted to a black and red chameleon. Same clothing, almost the same markings, and the same voice, "We'll speak mentally."

Quickly the two camouflaged, and sat by a stone table, and waited in the orange sunlight.

------------------------

After a few minutes later, Tails continued to struggle with the lock. Gritting his teeth, sweat pouring down his face, and his legs hurt from the rocks that he kneeled on. The others waited patiently as he tried his hardest to break an opening.

"Status?" Tails asked.

"Five-twenty." Sonic said.

"No pressure Tails, just keep thinking and working." Rouge encouraged.

Conore, still in his corner by the rock pile, yelped out in pain as his body continued to torture him. Aaron, on the other hand, frantically paced back and fourth, uneasy if they were going to make it out or not.

"No pressure's what Consey here needs." Aaron said, worried, "Can someone try to find another way out?"

"I've tried everything and looked everywhere!" Knuckles snapped, "That lock is our only way out if it gets unlocked."

"In both rooms?" Sonic asked.

"YES!" Knuckles hollered.

"Rouge." Tails spoke, "Do you have another hairpin?"

Rouge turned to Tails with a fretted face, "Please tell me you didn't break it."

Tails was silent.

"Tails?" Sonic called to him, also anxious.

"Um," Tails faced them, "If I were to say yes, what would you guys do?"

"Fall over dead?" Rouge answered dumbly.

Tails nodded, "Cause it didn't just break, is shattered to a million pieces."

They all dropped their mouths, "NOOOOO!"

Tails banged his head against the door, "I'm so sorry guys."

Sonic leaped to his feet, and paced back and fourth frenzied, sweating, and unsure of what to do. Rouge leaned against the wall, and slapped his hand over her face. Knuckles just sat there with a void face.

"What do we do now?" Sonic cried out.

Conore sat up, "For one, stop panicking!"

Sonic stopped, "And what?"

Conore then let a small smirk crease his face, "And hold still."

Aaron seen the smirk, and knew exactly what he was about to do. Quickly he leaped onto Conore and started to wrestle against him. Both fought with one another, and rolled around and into the rock pile, injuring one another violently. Tails then seen the two rolling his direction, and quickly dived t the left, and rolled a little, hurting his leg, but luckily, not with the wound there.

The two then smacked into the door, and started fighting more, both growing violently at one another, scratching, biting, kicking, and punching, whatever they could do to one another. They were like two savage dogs fighting over territory or leadership, or survival, it was so violent that it seemed both of their eyes would glow red because of the rage that glowed within them. The cursed fox then lifted a fist and threw it to Aaron's face; the wolf though quickly moved his head, just before Conore was able to finish it. The punch was finished with his fist breaking the lock.

The lock shattered, and pieces dropped lightly on the ground, and made some chime noises that seemed to be more dark than pleasant. The other four's eyes lit up with excitement as they seen the lock shatter to pieces, and were then filled with hope again, now knowing there was a way out of dying in the cell.

Aaron growled a little, and kicked his close friend into the rock pile across the room, the back being stabbed by the sharp rocks behind him, and blood flying out of his mouth. The white wolf quickly leaped to his feet, and swung the door open, revealing a way out from death.

"Come on man! We've gotta go!" Aaron hollered at the others.

Sonic was the first to dart out, and waited just before the doorway, waiting for Knuckles and Rouge, his gold eyes lighting up with happiness.

Tails though didn't want to go, and looked down at the ground while holding his body up on his knees and elbows. Aaron quickly slid over and tugged Tails on the shoulder, nagging him to leave.

"I don't wanna go." Tails cried.

"Tails." Aaron spoke, "Dying on your own is one thing, but being killed by someone that cares for you is another thing. We don't want to loose you on this, we all love you, and we all care for you, but right now, you've got to leave him behind. I love him like a brother, and it's hard, but what's done is done, and I can't do anything about it."

Tails looked up, his blue eyes crying for support, and sympathizing for Aaron's claw mark on his eye.

"Now come on." Aaron pulled him up, "We've gotta get out of here."

Loud snarling was made just ahead of the two, both looked up and seen Conore's eyes changed from his moonlight blue to a blood red. He growled brutally, and arched his back as he stood, his ears lie back, and blood covering his body from the wounds.

Aaron and Tails stared at him with fear, and felt frozen to the ground. Aaron glanced at the door, then the fox, then the door, then Tails. He knew, it was either now or never, they had one shot. He then spotted a metal bar right by his foot.

He had it planned now.

"Run!" Aaron shouted, shoving Tails in front of him.

Tails shot out of Aaron's grip, and slipped on the rocky ground, then scampered to the door as quickly as he could, not turning back to see his doom. Aaron quickly grabbed the metal bar beside him, and quickly sprinted to the door, hoping to make it there to Tails before Conore did. Seeing his chance, Conore snarled and leaped at tails as he slipped again, and drew out his claws that shown in the sunset's light. Aaron quickly came by Tails, and swung the bar around, and smacked the fox right on the face, and made him fly by the rock pile again.

Sonic, Knuckles, and Rouge gritted their teeth, and stepped back as tails was shoved out of the cell, and Aaron followed, almost forgetting to shut the door that kept them in. He dropped the bar outside, and hurried to the door. He grabbed the handle, but stopped for a moment to see Conore's position, and seen the fox charging at him. He hastily ran with the door handle in hand, and went to shut it; only then to find his body being shove by the fox's body slam into the door, forcing it shut.

Aaron felt the door hit his shoulder, and flew from the door, to the ground, and slid a little, tearing some of his skin. He lied on the ground, feeling as if a two-ton bar had just dropped on this left side.

The others looked to see if the door was shut, and also found it was relocked.

"I hope that holds him in there." Sonic said, taking a deep breath.

Aaron rolled on his back, "I hope so too, cause that mother fucker HURT!"

"It must have, just by seeing you fly like a bird." Knuckled punned.

Rouge took a deep breath, "For a moment I thought you two weren't going to make it."

"Neither did I," Aaron said, gasping for air, "when it comes to speed, Conore usually wins over me by a mile. Thank god for that bar."

"Otherwise we'd been dead." Tails said, shaking.

Aaron looked around, and seen only the hallway extending to his left, leading to a stair case, nothing was around, with that thought it rang up a question though.

"That's weird." Aaron said, "No Hellhounds."

"Isn't that good?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah in a way." Aaron said, gripping his shoulder, "But they're usually always guarding, I wonder what made them leave their posts."

"There's only one answer." Sonic said, smiling, "Misty and Espio."