Tails Underground

By Asher Tye

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic, I don't own Manic or Sonya, I don't own Tails, in fact I don't own much here except the plot. If I did own any of these characters, the cartoons would not have been cut off without getting some sort of resolution, you can bet your biscuits on that, and Tails would not have been omitted from Sonic Underground, even if his character was chopped up and distributed amongst some of the other characters.

Author's Note: Sorry this is late when I said there was a chance for it to be early, I really have no excuse save for a hectic schedule to deal with. Anyway, this chapter deals mainly with Naugus and Merlin's battle and the resolution of the Robotnik's invasion of Shadakor. I'm guessing this is probably the second to last chapter for the story, so get your reviews in. Here you go…

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Chapter 10: Prower's Power

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"Merlin?" Naugus asked in disbelief.

"Lumanis Gan!" A blast of pure white light smashed into Naugus at point blank range, sending the evil Mobian flying backwards, crashing into one of the very walls he had helped to subvert.

"Uncle Merlin," Tails said, unable to believe he was seeing what he thought he was. The elder fox looked down a this nephew, his own cerulean eyes shining even as the hood of his cloak cast a shadow upon his face, before he knelt down to see the boy.

"Miles, are you hurt?"

"Manic!" Tails exclaimed, remembering the fallen hedgehog that lay before him. "Uncle Merlin you have to help him… he-he was hit by a… Naugus was gonna… and Manic…" It was at this point, before the kit could descend into simple gibberish that Merlin held up his finger for silence.

"Yes Miles, I know," he said. "But it is not too late to save him, if we act quickly."

"'We?'" the young apprentice asked, unsure what part he was to play in saving his friend. Though his instruction in the magical arts had included some minor spells of healing, nothing he'd ever learned was a match for reversing a spell of death like the Nightmare Claw. To top it off he barely had anything left where magic was concerned.

"Miles I need your help to help him," Merlin explained. "The Nightmare Claw has drained his very life force, but he can be saved. Unfortunately, my power is too great. If I try to help him alone, I run the very real risk of killing him. I need you to channel my power into him. Only in that way will he be able to survive."

"But… But I've never done that before…"

"You channel you power into you machines, grant them motion and life," Merlin countered.

"But that's… different. Those are… machines, not a living person. If I screw up…"

"It will be the same as if you did nothing," the elder fox reminded him before a gentle smile crossed his face. "But you will not fail. I have faith in you, and, somewhere in the bottom of your heart, I know you have faith in yourself. Now then, prepare the spell." At his Uncle's command, Miles compiled, kneeling on his knees beside Manic as best he could as he stripped off his gloves. One orange hand rested on the green hedgehog's head, while the second took a position above his heart. For his part, Merlin reached out one of his own hands and gripped young Tails's head, opening himself up to the younger sorcerer. "Recite the spell, just as I taught you," he said in an encouraging, steady voice. Tails's eyes closed as he tried to remember the correct words, his own spirit opening up as he tried to connect to Manic.

"With my heart… your wounds I feel," he said, "grant me power now to… heal." Closed blue eyes suddenly opened as Tails reacted to what he was feeling. Naugus had compared himself to a vast ocean in terms of power, a metaphor that, as he'd had to fight the dark sorcerer, the young fox had fully believed. If Naugus was an ocean, Merlin held the world. Never before had Tails felt such a tremendous amount of power, especially compared to his own weakened state, more so when he compared it to the barely flickering light that was Manic. Immediately Tails understood why he'd been asked to perform the spell over Merlin. He'd had this vision of himself acting as something of a dam, holding back the flood of power his Uncle possessed so that it didn't crush Manic's weakened spirit by accident.

The reality was that Manic would easily allow himself to BE crushed, and Tails's job was to keep him from doing so. The green hedgehog was in a state very similar to that of a man dying of dehydration in the desert. If given the opportunity, he would happily drink as much as he could of an oasis of water in the shortest amount of time. The problem being, his body couldn't handle such a massive influx of power, especially not coming from so fierce a source as Merlin.

Slowly Tails willed the conduit between them as he continued reciting the spell's words, using the rhyming couplet to focus the massive amount of power flowing into him for Manic's sake. The glimmer of life that had remained in the hedgehog was slowly fading, flickering away even as Tails began to fan it, but fan it he did. As the healing spell began to take effect, the kit could feel his own power returning, a side-effect his own well-trained body was capable of handling.

As he work his magic, hoping he wouldn't mess-up and accidentally kill one of his heroes, it felt like hours of intense work. In truth, only a few precious moments passed before Manic's eyes regained their spark, his fur regained his luster, and his breathing became strong. With the spell's work complete, Tails withdrew from the drummer, closing both himself and his uncle off from the revitalized hedgehog.

"He's… He's going to make it," Tails proclaimed, something in his very soul making him want to pronounce it as a statement of fact rather than a simple opinion.

"Of course he is," Merlin said, withdrawing his magical support from his younger protégé. Even without the elder fox backing him, Tails could still feel his rejuvenated powers flowing through him.

"My, wheeze what a sweet and wheeze beautiful scene," Naugus said, having finally recovered from Merlin's earlier attack. "A pity though, wheeze had you let the hedgehog die, wheeze you would have had ample opportunity to finish me off. wheeze A faint heart never won fair lady OR a battle." Once more feeling strong, Tails moved to stand beside his Uncle, ready to face the dark wizard in combat again. Even if Merlin had spent his energy helping Manic, the kit was very sure they could take his father's murderer together.

"Mi… Tails," Merlin suddenly said, his voice taking on the familiar commanding quality the aged fox so had during Tails's training sessions, "gather your friends, move them to safety and keep them safe."

"But Naug…"

"I shall deal with this treacherous monster," the Adept said quietly, a venomous scowl directed at his own father's former assistant. "Now do as I say." The young fox cast a glance between the two higher grade wizards, clearly wanting to stay and provide whatever help he could. Thankfully, though his heart was full of good intentions, his mind held the wisdom to see he was more likely to be a hindrance if he or the hedgehogs stayed. Pointing his hands at where both Sonia and Sonic lay, he incanted.

"Aeroni race." At the magical command, both the pink and blue royals' bodies were carried aloft by strong winds. A third incantation lifted the lightly dozing Manic and with that, all four of the underaged fighters were able to leave. "Sonia, Sonic, how do you feel?"

"Better than I did before little bro," Sonic said as he looked at Manic's slumbering form, joy in his heart that he would not be burying one of his siblings this day.

"Thanks so much," Sonia said as she planted a weak kiss of gratitude on Tails's cheek.

"Sending them away wheeze will not protect them, Merlin," Naugus jeered as he faced his new opponent. "After raising that useless thief from the dead, wheeze your strength has been broken. wheeze Had I known casting such a spell was all it would… AAHH!" As the dark wizard had been ranting, Merlin, added by his own command over the wind itself, had shot forward and struck Naugus squarely in the jaw, not with rocks or water or any other the other magical spells at his command, but with his bare fist. Though the mix-and-match Mobian's sharp teeth managed to make a few light scratches in the old fox's hide, the force of the blow was more than enough to knock the shorter wizard to the ground, as well as knock loose a few teeth.

"Get up," Merlin growled as he stood over his felled opponent, the flesh under his fur white with rage as he gripped his staff in one hand and balled a fist with the other.

"You… You hit me!" Naugus cried indignantly through a bloody mouth, clearly astonished that anyone would so treat his person. Unfortunately for him, making this accusation took from him precious time he could have spent following his opponent's advise. That he didn't; meant that his ribs took the full brunt of Merlin's kick. The force was enough to send the shorter Mobian rolling for a few feet.

"Get UP!" Merlin now commanded as a glow suddenly enveloped Naugus, forcing him to his feet.

"You DARE to cast a spell on…" Again Naugus's words were cut off as he was struck in the jaw by the crystal skull on Merlin's staff. Falling back to the ground, the evil wizard crawled, trying to get some distance between himself and his attacker.

"All of a sudden, all my questions have been answered," Merlin said, just loud enough for the proud Ixis to hear. "Why did Rosemary leave and Amadeus follow, when I had all but convinced them to stay for their son's sake? Why did San Flamingo explode when there was nothing there TO explode? How did Miles learn about the Sonic Underground's concert in Silk City? And who pointed Manic in my direction when it came to his mother? It was you, all of it."

"Yes," Naugus hissed. "A plan, years in the making, wheeze coming to fruition on this day. I preyed on your weaknesses Merlin, wheeze the pain you hold so dearly in your heart for the woman you were denied, wheeze the jealousy you held for the man who took her from you… wheeze and the sheer fact that there was nothing you could do to prevent it." Slowly the evil sorcerer pulled himself to his feet. "It was easy, wheeze and it was fun. You try to hide it behind a façade of coldness, wheeze but your heart is your greatest weakness. It has dulled your powers, wheeze made you weak." Suddenly Naugus turned, dark energy exploding from his hand. "And now you will FALL! Umborean Pickaye!" The ball of deadly power flew towards the motionless fox mage, and Tails felt an instinctive need to shout a warning to his Uncle. The dark spell never made it to its target however, or at least not to the part of his body Naugus had intended. Hand outstretched, Merlin caught the ethereal spell as though it were a something as simple as a ball. Before the ball of darkness could explode, the middle-aged fox's fingers flexed and the spell shattered as though made of fragile glass, falling to the ground and disappearing back into the ether. "So, wheeze you do remember how to cast spells," Naugus said, rubbing his still sore jaw. "With your display of… fisticuffs, wheeze I wondered."

"Wizards never consider another of their kind might attack them physically," Merlin retorted. "That you show the same unimaginative characteristics as your contemporaries means nothing to me."

"Heh," the former assistant spat.

"You laud the darkness element, utilizing it to overwhelm and overpower your opponents, like my nephew. The Dark is indeed a powerful ally, but it is not one to be wielded so blithely. It must be used with precision, as a scalpel would to flesh, or a needle to cloth. To wield as you do is not only foolish, it is ineffective. Now, allow me to show you how a master wields the powers of both Darkness and Light." So saying, Merlin grabbed the shoulder of his blue cloak, pulling the giant garment from his body in a swirl of navy cloth. The cloak billowed as it fell to the ground, and in its place Merlin wore a tunic and pants patterned in forest green. A long bushy tail larger than Sonic's whole body trailed behind him, and the Staff of Ancients was held almost serenely perpendicular to his body. "Umborean Roan; let day become NIGHT!" Before Naugus's startled eyes, Merlin Prower faded into nothingness, as did his nephew and the three hedgehogs, the wreckage of the SWATbots they'd destroyed, and in fact the entire city of Shadakor. Soon even the desert and the sky were gone, replaced by an inky blackness as far as the wizard could see. As he looked around, his own body all he could see, Naugus's released a chuckle.

"Is this the best you can do, wheeze old man?" he asked derisively. "A simple disappearing act?"

"It is no act, I assure you," Merlin's voice answered, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. If he was unsettled by this, Naugus chose to show it not.

"You forget, dear Merlin, wheeze that I am a mage too. And it is merest child's play wheeze for my senses to pierce the veil of invisibility." So saying the bat-like eyes of the Ixis began to glow as he empowered them, determined to break through his enemy's trick and strike, not him, but those he sought to protect. What a delicious twist that the upstart Merlin's attempt to treat Naugus as a non-threat would end in the deaths of his nephew, Sonic, Manic, and Sonia. Thus it was with considerable consternation that Naugus found his enhanced eyes unable to pierce the blackness he now found himself in.

"Naugus, I thought you understood," Merlin's voice once more rang out from nowhere. "This is no 'veil of invisibility,' but one of darkness itself." The mishmash Mobian grunted loudly as he felt the palm of a hand suddenly strike the small of his back hard, sending him tumbling forward. Quickly he regained his footing, swinging his claw around in order to strike back at the fox, but finding nothing by void. Starting to grow concerned, Naugus backed away fearfully, his eyes casting about for any way to escape the darkness in which he had been entombed. "What's the matter? I thought you'd feel at home in darkness."

"Do not make sport of me, wheeze charlatan!" Naugus demanded, a demand that lost a great deal of its force as another hand reached out and brazenly grabbed hold of the horn on Naugus's head, shoving him backwards. "How? wheeze How are you doing this?"

"I suppose you wouldn't know, would you?" the fox chided. "You who use spells as though they were cudgels lack an understanding of how to use them to their fullest."

"You dare say I lack understanding!" A foot suddenly landed in Naugus's gut, doubling him over. "Cheap parlor tricks! wheeze, wheeze Face me like a true wizard."

"I am. I wield my power with subtlety and wisdom, not as though I was swinging a sledgehammer around. It takes the least of my power to maintain this spell, while you waste yours on shows of force and rage. Take note of this Miles, it is very unlikely you will ever see so poorly trained a 'Master' mage as Naugus again. They do not tend to last very long in the real world." More chuckling could be heard, this time more high-pitched as it came from a younger throat, and Naugus's blood boiled. That he was being beaten was bad enough, that it was by what he considered parlor tricks even worse, but to be used as an abject lesson in magical combat was unforgivable. Carefully he focused his mind, trying to remember where exactly the young fox had fled to, in which direction he aimed and fired.

"Raitani Gan!" The bolt of lightning was fierce, it was powerful, and it was ultimately all but useless.

"Naugus, didn't I explain to you, this isn't some illusion of night that blocks your vision, this is a veil of darkness. Your senses have been completely under my control since you were ensnared by my spell. You don't know your left from your right, your back from your front… or your up from your down." As suddenly as it came, the veil of darkness lifted and Naugus found himself back in Shadakor, and landing painfully on his back. Beady eyes widened as he watched a bolt of lightning, the same he had conjured forth, race down from the sky and strike him squarely in his unprotected chest. For a few precious moments he lay there, his body racked with pain as he tried to summon the will to continue this fight, his anger at the indignity he'd suffered doing much to steel his resolve. As he once more got up, Naugus's baleful stare was cast upon his vulpine attacker.

"We have played this game long enough, wheeze" he said, once more summoning power to himself as he prepared to strike, "now you shall have a taste of my power."

"I have tasted your power before, Naugus," Merlin said as he began to stalk around the dark wizard, moving purposefully in a circle. Understanding the grave threat the fox mage could present, Naugus moved with him, keeping him in his line of sight. "But as I recall, I promised a demonstration of both light and darkness, did I not? Luimanis roan." As Merlin walked, right before his opponent's startled eyes, a second Merlin appeared, then a third, and a fourth. Before the evil Ixis could stop it, he was suddenly surrounded by copies of his enemy, all of whom suddenly stopped, forming a circle of Mobain foxes around him.

"An… An illusion, wheeze nothing more," Naugus accused, though he did not sound overly sure of such a fact. "Gigani gan!" he called, sending a spear of rock surging towards the Merlin who'd been first in line, and thus the one he perceived to be the true fox sorcerer. The rock flew through naught but air.

"Come now Naugus, surely you can do better than that… Perhaps if you looked to my shadow for assistance." Beady eyes looked to the ground where indeed only one of the look-alikes possessed a shadow. Again Naugus attacked and again he hit nothing.

"This is unfair… you fight with illusions, with deceptions…"

"A cry of unfairness from someone who fights children and apprentice mages? How… pathetically cliché." Each of the fox's clones raised its hand. "Luimanis Pickaye." Naugus's eyes reflexively closed as a bright light enveloped him, blinding him. When the sorcerer next opened his eyes, he was surprised to see himself staring not at his nemesis, but at himself. A second Naugus stood right before him, his face equally agape at the impossibility of what he was seeing. All around them, both Naugus's look, the obvious clone's aping of his own movements serving to anger the elderly traitor further. Merlin was nowhere to be seen, but it was fairly obvious t Naugus what had happened. The fox mage had transformed himself into a carbon copy of his enemy, perhaps in hopes of confusing Naugus until he came up with a new plan to bedevil the dark wizard. A nasty smile came to the mixed-up Mobian's face, one that immediately appeared on his counterpart's.

&Go ahead and smile, you furry fool,& Naugus thought as his hand was drawn under his robes to his belt. Merlin was quite right to say that most wizards didn't expect others of their kind to attack them physically, it was a failing Naugus himself had exploited more times than he could count over the course of his long life. His hand silently touched the dagger he kept hidden on his belt for just such a purpose, an old blade, magically sharpened and enhance to pierce any barrier presented to it. With a speed and dexterity that belied his age, Naugus's hand surged forward plunging the dagger into the stomach of the being that stood before him, on whose face a look of twisted surprise as the blade sank into his flesh. In an instant too quick to time, this image was replaced by Merlin Prower's own, looking upon his foe with contempt unbridled.

Suddenly, a sharp pain struck Naugus himself. As he looked down at his own torso, the mishmash mage saw the unsettling sight of his own dagger protruding from his stomach. What made the situation so much worse was the fact that his own hand still gripped the handle of the weapon and, following the commands his brain was still sending it, trying to drive the blade deeper into its target to cause more damage.

&"Your senses have been completely under my control since you were ensnared by my spell."& Merlin's nasty message now took on its full meaning as Naugus found himself sinking to his knees. He'd been played completely, caught in a vicious mind spell that had held him as exquisitely as spiderweb traps a fly, and he himself had simply helped to make the snare go further. An orange furred hand, its thumb and finger pushed together was brought towards the wizard's face.

"This is for Rosemary, whose caring heart you used to lure her to her death," Merlin said as he snapped his finger. An explosive force tossed the wounded Mobian backwards ferociously, singeing some of the flesh on his face as it did so. Before he could land though, a rope of pure water, emanating from the skull atop Merlin's staff, wrapped itself around Naugus's throat. With a pull, Merlin's yanked his enemy back towards him like a yo-yo. Rocks arose from the ground, encasing the fox's free hand as it balled into fist. "This is for Amadeus, my dear brother, who you dared attack while he tried to save his beloved wife." A shrill scream escaped Naugus's lips as he saw the rocky fist smash into his face, driving him to the ground. His wounds threatening to overwhelm him, pride still managed to force the evil wizard to his hands and knees, a spell on his lips to retaliate. That spell died as a hand grabbed the collar of his shirt, hefting him into the air. "This is for my father, whose trust you betrayed and whose city you destroyed." Lightning surged forward from Merlin's hand into Naugus's body, and a scream of anguish erupted from the wizard.

As he'd watched this grisly display from the sidelines, a part of Tails had felt a twinge of pity for Naugus. Compassionate to a fault, the younger fox was not used to seeing someone treated so brutally. This sympathy disappeared as he heard the list of crimes Naugus had committed, remembered the suffering that the wizard was directly responsible for. A tear came to his eye as he remembered the destruction of the city in which he'd grown up, the deaths of the parents he'd never known.

"And this is for Tails, whose parents you stole from him," Merlin growled as a he held up his hands. "Winds of CHAOS!!" A blast of air, sharp and merciless, slammed into Naugus, tearing at the fabric of his clothing, at the very surface of his skin in fact. With the spell complete, Merlin dropped his adversary who looked as though he'd been through a tornado in lower Robtropolis recently. Immediately Naugus's mind went to to work as he stumbled backwards, holding his hand up in a sign of surrender. He'd miscalculated grossly, struck too soon. Now was the time to let cleverness prevail so he could gain the power to strike back at a later date.

"Mercy," he cried towards the fox mage. "No… No more Merlin, I yield to your strength." Even as he spoke this, Naugus's keen eyes began to search around for any sort of advantage he could make his escape.

"Mercy?" Merlin asked. "You ask for 'mercy?' Did my brother receive mercy when you killed him? Did Rosemary?"

"They never asked," Naugus responded truthfully.

"Pity…" Robotnik said as a beam of energy slammed into Merlin's form from above, thanks to the towering City Buster that had managed to get into position behind him. From his sand crawler, Robotnik smiled as the rest of his robotic army returned, recalled from their tasks of devastation and destruction to ensure the Sonic Underground would not escape this day.

"Uncle Merlin!" Tails called, ready to race over and help his obviously injured relation, only to be stopped by Sonic. The blue hedgehog knew all too well from experience that there was nothing the cub could do for the mage now.

"Robotnik," Merlin stated more than asked as he fell to the ground.

"He's pathetic, but he IS with me. And I'm not about to have my day ruined by some overly vengeful magician with delusions of pow… er?" As Merlin's body fell, Robotnik was quite startled to see it shatter into thousands of green crystals.

"You're both pathetic if you ask me," Merlin said as the blue cloak he had recently discarded arose and the fox mage stood within it, whole and unharmed.

"SWATbots!" All of Robotnik's mechanical minions responded, aiming their weapons both at the fox mage and at the beleaguered Freedom Fighters. "Not even you can stop so many enemies at once, Merlin. Even if you destroy the SWATbots, others will remain in tact, ready to fire upon your friends. And I don't think your puffball nephew could stop any of them in time."

"Robotnik, I will not raise a single hand against you," Merlin stated, much to everyone's surprise. "You committed your transgressions against the city of Shadakor itself. I am not meant to punish you for that."

"Oh?" Robotnik asked with a derisive smile on his face. "And who is? That doddering old Archmage who runs this city? Well where is he? I haven't seen him since my arrival, perhaps he is busy napping."

"ROBOTNIK!!" came a loud scream as, from the direction of the ruined tower, a shaft of light erupted forth, rocketing towards the battlefield at a speed that would have been vastly impressive for anyone who hadn't seen Sonic run. An explosion of red light and Robotnik's head craned up to see the figure of a giant feral fox possessing not one, not two or even three tails, but nine. Its semi-transparent form gave it the appearance of some form of malevolent ghost and, riding in its head, the human could see the form of the ancient Archmage inside its head, a brilliant gem in his hands as he sat cross-legged in the air. "You have dared to transgress against my people, and I will not permit you to harm them further!"

"What are you idiots waiting for?" Robotnik screamed at his mechanical horde, recognizing a much more imminent threat when he saw one. "Fire. Fire! FIRE!" The SWATbots raised their laser towards the ghost fox, the City Busters aimed their cannons, the armored and winged vehicles prepared to fire as well, hoping to protect their master from danger.

"Disappear," the Archmage commanded as the ghost fox stamped its front feet and waved its tails. A wave of power traveled in all directions through the streets of Shadakor and each and ever robot it hit suddenly began to emit the same orange light as the Archmage's demonic looking aura. If robots could scream, the looks of the victimized mechanical beings said they would have as their bodies were overtaken by the spell and they vanished as though never existing. Atop his Sand Crawler, Robotnik's evil eyes widened as he watched each and every member of the legions of warriors he'd brought with him were destroyed, not just in the area they were in right now, but throughout the city as well. The Sonic Underground were impressed as well as they watched the devastation being unleashed upon their enemies. Only Tails and Merlin remained dour-faced, the knowledge of what their elderly relation had done to gain this heightened power souring their moment of victory. Once more the giant head of the ghostly fox turned to stare angrily at Robotnk. "And now for you."

"Get us out of here!" Robotnik yelled into the Sand Crawler's control room where Sleet and Dingo had fled.

"Leaving, leaving, leaving!" Sleet called back as he and his partner frantically worked the controls. This motion stopped as the controls of the Sand Crawler began to shimmer and fade, just like the rest of the command vehicle. Wolf and dingo fell to the hard sand bellow, looking up and behind them to see Robotnik still suspended in thin air and the Archmage's avatar staring at them.

"Go," he commanded, a command the duo were all too eager to obey, even offering up a terrified salute before taking off at speeds Sonic might have envied. Helpless, Robotnik felt the weight of gravity as he was suddenly pulled upwards by invisible hands and drawn face to face with the Archmage.

"No!" the egg shaped dictator yelled as he tried to struggle against his captor.

"Don't fear, I will not kill you," the Archmage said as, at a gesture, Robotnik felt his two robotic arms pulled taut out. Though no nerves existed in the mechanical limbs he could feel the strain as the power exerted began to pull them apart. "I will not cheapen the suffering you have induced on these poor children by defying the Prophecy. The Sonic Underground alone will be the ones to destroy you, human, on that you have my word."

"AHH!!" Robotnik screamed as sparks began to fly from his rapidly breaking mechanical limbs.

"But, just because we are bound not to destroy, does not mean we are weak," the aged fox intoned. "Never forget this fact, Dr. Robotnik; though you are indeed king of your little empire where so many are powerless, this world still holds those who's strength dwarfs yours."

"AHHHH!!" Robotnik's scream had become a bellow as his arms were finally torn from his body, leaving behind nothing but ruined stumps sparking with electricity.

"Now, vile creature, BE GONE!!" Like a rocket the force of the Archmage's command hurled the evil and terrified human, sending his flabby body flying over the horizon. Sonic watched in something resembling satisfaction, hoping that his mortal enemy would at least bounce a few times before landing in what the Archmage had already promised would be a non-lethal area.

&Maybe chubber-bolts will at least land in some cacti,& the blue hedgehog thought with a chuckle. His mirth was cut short, however, as he gazed up at the great, ghostly fox that had towered above him. The feral form began to flicker and suddenly fade, disappearing entirely in a matter of seconds. No longer held in the air by his summoned aura, the Archmage's exhausted body fell from the sky, the strain of channeling the power of the Keystone finally outstripping his ability to handle it.

"Grandpa!" a distraught Tails called even as Merlin prepared to cast a spell to save his plummeting father. Acting faster than either of the vulpines could, Sonic revved up his feet and sprinted forward, ricocheting off the nearby buildings to gain the altitude needed to catch the falling sorcerer before he fell too far. Landing perfectly back on the ground, the blue hedgehog gently laid the older fox upon the ground, using his hands to prop the ancient mage's head up as Sonia, Manic, Tails, and Merlin came to them. Noticing the pained expression on his sire's face, Merlin made a gesture and, like rubbish tossed from an heirloom, the Keystone that had been chained around the Archmage's neck was flung away. Pain visibly subsided in the old man's expression as he opened his eyes and gazed up at the assembled Mobains.

"It… It appears I am no longer able… wield the power… as I once did."

"You used it marvelously, Father," Merlin said in a placating tone.

"Yeah, you sent Buttnik packing," Sonic responded as well.

"But the price of such power… far too much for me to pay now," the Archmage responded as his eyes rolled once before coming back into focus.

"Don't worry Grandpa, Uncle Merlin and I can help you," Tails assured his eldest relation, casting an enthusiastic glance at the aforementioned Uncle. The look Merlin returned was not one of agreement, but the sad face adults often give to children when confronted with realities they can do nothing to alter. As he recognized this face, the young fox's enthusiastic grin faded. "But… but before. We fixed Manic when he was so weak..."

"Yeah, dude, why can't you do the same for him?"

"Your life force was drained forcibly by a spell, Manic," Merlin explained. "The Archmage chose to surrender his to obtain the energies of the Keystone. There is always a price for such power, and it is a price that cannot be cheated, even by the most powerful of us."

"Then… Then…" the two tailed fox stammered as he looked back to his grandfather, grim realization hitting him. "You're… you're gonna die… Just like Mom and Dad?"

"I'm afraid so. The taxing on my body from trying to channel all of that energy… I'm afraid I have nothing left with which to go on."

"Father, I am sorry," Merlin said as he laid his staff on the ground and knelt in close to the dying fox. "Had I remained… had I not lost my temper…"

"What?" the old Archmage asked. "You were right to be angry, Merlin… Had I done my job, watched how these events affected you… maybe you wouldn't have carried such a wound around with you, allowing it to fester so. In trying to do what was best for this planet, I'm afraid I neglected what was best for you… For that I am truly sorry."

"No… I…"

"Allow a dying man to claim himself right, my son," the Archmage said, turning his gaze to his grandson. "Miles. You are my heir; you are to be the Archmage of Shadakor when I am gone."

"No," the kit said. "I… I'm not strong enough. Make Uncle Merlin the next Archmage, he…"

"Has other duties… he must now perform," the elderly fox said. "I know this is much to place on your shoulders, but it is your destiny to succeed me as Archmage, and protect the Keystone from those that will misuse it."

"You mean such as me old man?" Naugus said as he picked up the Keystone from where it laid; his still smoldering form unsteady but strong as he gripped his prize. "At last… it's mine!"

"Naugus!" they called as the two healthy foxes and three hedgehogs moved into something resembling battle stances. At the sight of the forces arrayed against him, Naugus could only laugh as he gripped the Keystone.

"What do you expect you can do wheeze against me now that I wield this, wheeze the Keystone of Shadakor; wheeze a true Chaos Emerald?" Even as he spoke these words, Naugus could feel his body aching from the stab wound he had delivered unto himself, reminding him that he stood a very real chance of bleeding to death unless he found a way to escape with his prize. Still, the nastier side of his personality refused to allow him to retreat, not until he'd exacted a measure of revenge.

&But on which to do so? The Archmage lies dying even as we speak, and Merlin is far too powerful to take on at anything less than full strength. The hedgehogs are worth nothing to me, so that leaves…& Nasty eyes fell upon the youngest member of the group, who even now stood ready to defend against the perceived threat to his grandfather. A soft chuckle escaped Naugus's throat.

"Congratulations boy, you shall be the first of my victims," he said. "Chaos is power, Power Enriched by the heart…"

"Miles fly away!" Merlin commanded, already sensing what Naugus was planning to do as he threw up his own shields to try to protect the boy.

"I summon the Terror of Cha…" Naugus's spell was stopped cold in his throat as he saw the figure standing before him, as ethereal as a specter but more impassible than stone. Manic's own eyes went wide as he too recognized the form that had manifested before the dark wizard from the torn painting in Merlin's room. The ghostly fox looked like Tails himself, only taller, wearing the regal uniform of one of Shadakor's powerful guards. A black eyepatch covered his left eye, but the right one shown purple, like his father's own.

"Amadeus?" Merlin asked in shock, a name Tails heard and reacted to instantly.

"My… My Dad?"

"This is… impossible!" Naugus said as the ghostly fox's hand seized his own, gripping the Keystone with him. "You're dead. I killed you myself!"

"Yes, you did," the Archmage said. "And on that day you betrayed my son, he set upon you a terrible curse. A curse you have now brought to fruition by trying to slay Miles."

"Old fool!" Naugus called as he tried to rip the crystal from Amadeus's ethereal hand. "I… I know the curse… I could not slay a Prower to obtain the Keystone. But I did no such thing!"

"You are the fool, Naugus. Such a curse does not take a narrow view of these things," the Archmage said as Sonic helped him get a better view of his former assistant. "You were the one who orchestrated the events that have now led to my death. That you were not the one who killed me… is immaterial."

"What!?" the surprised Naugus cried as he felt his hand suddenly become encased in crystal. Scratch that, it had BECOME crystal. "NO! I will not be defeated like this!" the sorcerer shrieked as he struggled to get away. It was too late as, like a fungus, the crystal crept up his arm and onto his shoulder. Spells were summoned in vain by the evil sorcerer as his body crystallized. Even as the creeping transformation effect began to cover his face and mouth Naugus howled his indignation, screaming as his body became completely frozen.

Once the grisly monument was complete, the assembled Mobians stared at it for a few moments, Amadeus Prower's spirit standing before it. For a few brief seconds, the deceased fox stared at his remaining family, a look of sadness on his face, particularly when his eyes fell to Tails; and then he was gone.

"D-Dad?"

"It was simply a ghost Miles," Merlin said in a voice so restrained and even that it could have done one of Robotnik's robots proud. "Residual energy left over from the spell with which he bound Naugus, nothing more." As Tails looked up at his Uncle, he noticed the blue hood of Merlin's robe once more shadowed the upper half of the fox wizard's face. Even with this, however, the bright desert sun reflected off of the trail of tears that fell down his cheeks. With a purposeful stride, Merlin stomped over to Naugus's frozen form, taking hold of the chaos emerald still in his crystallized hand.

"Crumble," Merlin commanded in a hissing growl as before the eyes of everyone, cracks appeared in Naugus's body. Suddenly light erupted from the cracks as Naugus began to crumble as though glass struck by a hammer, leaving behind only a few sparkling rocks and the Keystone Merlin now held. With a disdainful final look, Merlin turned from his foe and returned to his fallen father. If anyone felt any sympathy for Ixis Naugus, none chose to voice it, focusing their attention upon the dying wizard between them.

"Grandfather, can I get you something, a drink?" Tails asked, concern in his voice as he gazed at his dimming elder.

"There is not much time left Miles, I'm afraid," the Archmage said. "I am not long for this world. I only wish I could have taken better care of you both."

"One who is dying should not dwell on regrets," Merlin said. "Should not carry grudges or be filled with sadness."

"Yeah, you… you did the best you could," Tails said. At the kind words of his two descendants, the Archmage smiled, a smile that remained on his lips even as his eyes did close for the final time, and his heart did cease to beat…

To Be Continued…

Please review if you read…

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Spell translations:

Aeroni (A-ron-ee) Air

Gigani (Ji-gan-ee) Rock

Ferani (Fe-ran-ee) Fire

Aquaris (aK-war-iss) Water

Raitani (rI-Tan-ee) Lightning

Luimanis (Loo-man-eez) Light

Umborian (OOm-bOr-ean) Dark

Race (Ra-chee) Movement

Gan (Gan) Attack

Roan (Ro-wen) Arise

Beran (Bee-ran) Defend.

Pickaye (Pik-I) Explode

Rindantay (Rin-dan-tA) Purify

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