Chapter 10:
Dark and Deadly
"After them!" Mince ordered the Hellhounds.
Misty quickly shifted to her fox form, and trailed behind Espio, who gasped for air, trying to breathe to keep on running. Their plan partly worked; with the exception Mince could see them when they were camouflaged.
Once ever few yards, Misty flared a firetrap for their hunters, to help build up more time, for them to hide somewhere else, but the Hellhounds that trailed them just ran through the fire. Unable to keep his pace Espio started falling back, and Misty was being pushed ahead of him.
"Don't give up on me yet Espio!" Misty cried out, "We're almost to the cells! I know it!"
Espio didn't feel any better, but yet tried his hardest to keep his pace. Ahead was a stairway that led down, and looked darker than it should be. He didn't care, and sped up, thankful it went downstairs, and not up. Misty shot down like a bullet down the stairs, while Espio was nearly half of the speed.
They both reached down to the bottom of the steps, and Misty came to a screeching halt, seeing Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge, Aaron, and Tails sitting and resting. Misty stopped and glanced ahead of them, only to find it was a dead end.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Misty squalled, "This is a dead end!"
"Yep." Aaron said.
"Great." Espio growled. "No way out."
Misty looked over and seen the locked cell, and started walking to it, "Maybe we can go through here and get-"
"NO!" The group shouted, and they all tackled her at once, tangling themselves with one another, just to hold her down.
"Zeheck!" Misty barked, "What do you mean no!"
They heard a door slam up in the stairway, and figured they were just locked in. Tails shivered.
"Would you believe us if we were to tell you a Hellhound was in there also?" Knuckles asked her.
"You're kidding? Right?" Espio stared at them.
The group then got off of Misty, and quickly she bounced to her feet, and stared at them, "Since when was a Hellhound sentenced to the cells anyways?"
"Since now." Tails said, "It's no ordinary Hellhound either."
Tails then seen Misty was ignoring him, and stopped speaking.
"So where's Conore?" Espio asked, putting his hands behind his head.
The group was dead silent.
"Um, guys?" Misty raised an eyebrow.
"Um, about that…" Aaron lowered his ears.
There was loud banging against the locked door that made everyone jump in fright. Over the banging noise was massive snarling, like a put bull's frenzy, making them back off a few steps, scared the door would break down, and they were doomed, if the stairway door wasn't also locked.
The noise then ceased, but the snarling continued in more of a growl and rumbles. Sonic glanced over at the two, and seen Espio's face showed some worry, but Misty's was a what-the-hell face. He shrugged.
"What in hell's name was that?" Misty blinked, "It was like a Tasmanian devil lives there, only with massive rabies!"
"That's Conore." Aaron said standing up.
"The hell are you talking about?" Misty turned and stared at Aaron.
"What we're trying to say is Conore's now a Hellhound." Rouge finished.
The two didn't say a thing, but Misty fell over, and whined meagerly.
"WHY!" Misty cried out.
"Because I made him!" a raspy voice echoed through the dungeon.
Misty opened her eyes, and a crash of metal clanged to the ground, right in front of her face. She leaped in fright, and quickly stood by Espio, shivering.
"Not again!" Espio growled.
"And guess who's with him?" another voice echoed, a little bit darker, but familiar.
Right in front of them, in front of the stairway, two figures revealed themselves from camouflage, and stood in front of them with pride, Mince, and the dark creature, Quazaireon.
"You bastard!" Aaron snarled, starting to take some steps towards them.
Sonic quickly grabbed the wolf's vest, and pulled him back, making sure he didn't go any further near them. Aaron continued to try and get to them, even though he was held back.
"HA!" Mince laughed, "Just like your father Aaron, always willing to pick a fight with me when he had a chance. And yet that was how he died."
Misty then grew furious, and charged at him, "HOW DARE YOU!"
Knuckles seen her in the corner of his eye, and quickly grabbed her around the neck, and held her from going at them.
"And just like your mother, Misty." Quazaireon sneered, "Always wanting to stick up for your friends, and was always willing to take revenge for them."
Misty snarled at him, furious, "And how dare you speak of my mother, cretin!"
Sonic stepped forward, "Why do you guys want to win this war anyways?"
"Because were not alone." Mince explained, "Dr. Eggman made a deal with us a few months ago, and we promised him a Eggman Empire, and he promised us another planet to rule over."
"That would go well after a few weeks." Rouge rolled her eyes.
Quazaireon then rolled his eyes, somewhat agreeing with Rouge, "It's not my idea anyways, it was the Demon Phoen-"
Mince quickly then pulled out a black dagger and held it at Quazaireon's face, "So you speak of his name as to blame on?" He growled.
Quazaireon grew more irritated, "I'm the Priest of Darkness and Leader of our Army! How dare you point that at my face you idiot!"
Aaron slapped his face, "What irony…"
Mince heard his remark, and threw the dagger at him. Aaron saw it coming, and quickly moved, making it hit the lock, breaking it again.
They group stared at it with shock, and Aaron covered his mouth, eyes wide open, feeling now even more miserable, he just opened the door again with another's attack.
The door slightly creaked open, but Mince walked over, and quickly grabbed it, and slammed it shut, but the lock didn't return, nor did he take his hand off the door.
"Now…" Mince smiled, "Seeing Aaron was dumb enough to make such remark, look what he's just gotten you guys into."
Aaron backed off, scared.
"Now it won't be any of you guys going against him," Mince said, eying Tails, "But Tails will!"
Tails' face lightened, and stopped breathing in dread and horror.
Why me?
Mince fingered him over, "Come here, or else."
The little fox looked around, and seen everyone's faces looking at him with worry and dreadfulness. He then turned to Aaron, Espio, and Misty. Aaron nodded slightly, Espio closed his eyes in adoration, and Misty nodded slightly, and letting down a teardrop, showing that she's worried too. Tails then faced Quazaireon, and noticed something different.
His mind blanked for a minute.
All I can tell ya kid, is keep your eyes on his.
Tails blinked a few times, and stared at the dark creature, and seen him nod slightly.
Why are you telling me this?
The creature closed his eyes.
You'll understand when the war ends.
Tails took a deep breath, and glanced at Mince, and started walking towards him, making this walk count, for it could be the last walk. He then stopped, at least five feet away from the chameleon, and held his body tight in his arms, scared.
Just seeing his eyes turn different was bad enough, but making me fight him as a Hellhound? This is drawing the line!
Behind him, in front of his friends, a dark barrier appeared, black and purple colored clouds was all that signified a barrier. The group stared up at the barrier, and took a few steps back, seeing it was a bit close to them. Sonic stared at it for a moment, then looked over at Quazaireon, seeing him nod at him, then shielding himself by a corner. The blue hedgehog then faced the two by the door of doom.
Misty then shifted to normal, and stood by Espio, wanting to help Tails, but knew she couldn't, means Mince was there, and the barrier. Espio seen her, and seen how deeply sorry she felt for Tails, and walked behind her. He then slipped his arms under hers, and wrapped her in his arms, and held her tight and close, also feeling how miserable she was.
"Don't worry." Espio tried to comfort her, "we know he can make it."
Misty turned her head slightly, unsure about Espio's thought, then turned and watched Tails, letting down another teardrop, desperate to help him.
------
"Ready my furry friend?" Mince smiled wickedly.
Tails nodded slightly, closing his eyes.
Mince then took his hand off of the handle, and walked next to Quazaireon, instantly being shielded by him.
Quazaireon glanced up, "Why is it you always like to torture before you actually complete what we were told to do?"
"Because it's who I am." Mince smiled, "Besides, one must have a little fun once in a while."
"I cursed him for a reason." Quazaireon growled, "To fight with us, not to make him hunt and kill anything he sees."
Mince grinned, "Now, settle down, and enjoy the show."
Quazaireon let a low growl echoed through his throat, and watched Tails, ignoring the scrawny chameleon. Mince then waved his hand in signaling the door to open.
The door started to creek open, and in a second, the whole room turned pitch black, blinding everyone for a moment. They then were able to regain their sight again, and only seen the dark shadow of Tails' figure in the cloud. They also noticed they were able to see everyone else, but him.
"Dude! What the hell?" Sonic spoke.
"I guess we're not suppose to see him." Rouge said.
"Nor will he see us." Knuckles added.
"Nor can he hear us." Misty finished, her voice light with dismay.
------
Tails blinked a few times, and rubbed them, then lifted his head, and looked around and seen only pitch black. He growled in irritation that he was to fight in a cloud of black.
Whatever you do, Quazaireon spoke once more in his head, when you see him, don't turn and run, stand your ground!
Tails nodded to himself, and continued to look around.
------
They were dead silent, unsure of what was going to happen next, all they knew was Conore was around somewhere. No one knew where he stood, no one knew what he looked like, and all they knew was head around there somewhere. The dark cloud made them tremble with worry, barely able to see Tails seemed sad, and hopeless.
Everyone held their breath, knowing what happened to them, may happen in a more horrifying way to Tails, just to see him stand there, unarmed, twitchy, and nerve racked, made them the same way. Sonic blinked a few times, and his gold eyes revealed to him, through the dark fog, Tails in full color, and the wall he was by. He was somewhat standing his ground, but it didn't seem enough.
He spotted red eyes just above the fox's head.
"TAILS!" Sonic screamed out as loud as he could, and started banging on the barrier, "ABOVE YOU!"
The group then looked, up and also faintly seen the red eyes that glowed above Tails.
"TAILS!"
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Tails barely heard the others, from what he could make out; they were screaming their heads. He figured they knew where Conore's position was at, and thought he was behind him. He spun around on his heels, and seen nothing. He spun back, nothing.
"Unless…" Tails said to himself, his eyes looking up.
He glanced up.
Nothing.
------
"Tails is going to die out there! I swear!" Misty cried out, trying to break from Espio's grip.
"Misty! It's no use!" Espio told her, gripping as tight as he could to hang on to her.
"Espio! Let her go!" Knuckles ordered him.
"Like hell I will!" Espio snapped, "I don't want to take the chance of losing Misty again!"
"A barrier's up, so what?" Sonic asked him.
"Some barrier's are able to be breakable." Aaron said, "And if Tails doesn't spin around soon, death will take him right at that second…"
Misty growled, and bit Espio's shoulder, forming fangs that pierced his skin, and made him discharge, and made her free. Quickly she leaped to the barrier, and shifted to her fox form.
------
Tails heard a sudden click.
He spun around, and quickly slid onto his hands and feet backwards, just missing a swipe at the stomach, and spotted Conore's position, just by the eyes. He quickly tried to scamper away from him backwards, but lost his grip on the sleek but rocky floor, and fell on his back. Rocks underneath kept pinching at his skin, and dampening his fur, starting to make it wet. He flickered his eyes open again, and seen right above him, red eyes, and the white fangs that signaled death.
He barely saw a hand full of claws come down towards him, and quickly rolled out of the way, making the creature miss, and smack his fist into the rock ground. The small fox quickly stood up, and took a deep breath in relief.
The red eyes quickly turned and stared at him, pissed.
Tails smiled, and fingered the creature, now feeling more confident of challenging the Hellhound, "Come and get me."
The Hellhound growled, and charged at him, fangs open, and the fox quickly leaped to the side, and grabbing the bar Aaron used before. Hearing the footsteps draw close, he swung the bar up, and blocked the swipe that was going to his face, and shoved it back. The claws came back again, and the fox smacked the hand again, and made the claws screech against the bar.
Seeing the red eyes and fangs all of a sudden chased to his face, he reared back the bar, and spun around, smacking the beast right in the face, but only made the creature stumble, and not fly, like what the white wolf did.
He grabbed the bar, and felt it, feeling it was bent almost ninety degrees, and tossed it, feeling it was now no use. He needed another weapon.
The pile of rocks!
He bolted towards the direction he thought was the entryway to the cell, and ran faster than he'd normally run, his feet partly sliding across the rocks on the ground. He reached to search for a doorway, but found his head banging into the wall ahead of him. His head colliding with the rock wall, and his body almost feeling crushed by the crash was painful. His ears rang, and he felt dizzy, and stupid, for he thought he'd never do that in his life.
Quickly he turned around, and regained his balance, and seen the creature staring at him, the fangs dripping with saliva, now starting to see the Hellhound was more hungry than it was willing to fight, it wanted to feast on him.
Tails took a deep breath, and got ready to dodge another one of the strikes again, and tried to comfort himself.
"Okay." He spoke to himself, "You're still alive, and well, keep being quick, and get to the door. Stay alive."
The Hellhound snarled at him, and bolted at him, at full speed. Tails swiftly leaped again, and made the Hellhound almost crash into the wall tails crashed into, but only slid, and quickly gained speed. Tails didn't look back, and seen the light through the door that was open. Thinking that if he'd get to it, he'd be safe for a moment, and it'd give him a chance to get another weapon in hand.
He leaped to the door, and grabbed the door itself, spun around, and threw it closed, and quickly stepped away from the door as it closed with a clashing sound of metal and stone. The lock on it then repaired itself quickly, and locked him in, just as the Hellhound roared and clawed at the door.
"YES!" Tails said happily, "Now, the rocks."
He spun around, and faced towards the corner the rocks were at, with some light showing in, he was able to see normally, but seen no pile of rocks there, no more did they exist in his sight.
"WHAT!" Tails shrieked, "Wait! The other room!"
Tails quickly charged to the hole that was separating the two cells, and slid to his knees, and started crawling. About halfway, the door on the other room started banging, making Tails jump, and back off from going into the other room. Just by the sound, the door was wooden.
Tails pulled his body out from the hole, and stepped back a few steps, and looked around, knowing he didn't have much time.
Again he spoke to his own self, "Okay…"
Tails then spotted the bars on the same wall with the hole, and an idea flickered.
"Okay, so if he breaks in from either door, I jump, grab onto the bars, and slip through there, but stay up there, the Hellhound goes through the hole, and spins around to find me, just as he leaps, I dodge and slip back in here or there, and bolt out of the room, and lock him inYES!"
The door behind him then blew open, and quickly he charged to the wall, and leaped up, grabbed the bars, and pulled himself up onto the ledge, and stayed put, only to find that there was another Hellhound on the other side, with the wooden door broken also.
"Crap…" Tails growled.
Another idea flickered, and looked back at the Hellhound that broke the wooden door, and smiled, waving the creature, taunting it.
The Hellhound snarled, and leaped from the sidewall, to him, flying like an eagle at him. Tails smiled a little bigger, and quickly leaped down from the ledge, on its side, and made it crash it's head into the bars that stood firmly in the wall. The beast smacked its head, and fell to the ground with a loud thud, just as Tails ran from landing on his feet.
The fox bolted to the wooden door, seeing it shattered, and took a left, then felt a painful smack right on the nose, and made him fly backwards, and crash on his backside, and laid on the ground. Painfully punched, Tails slowly got up, and rubbed his nose, feeling blood draining from his snout, and stain his fur. He heard then a snarl, and looked ahead to see the Hellhound walk up to him, and stand tall above him, and revealed white fangs once again, and raised its claws, about to make a final strike.
Tails quickly threw up his arm, and turned his head away, wanting it to be over, until he heard a sound of a dog cry in pain. He then heard a crack of bone against wall, and then a splash, the body landing on the ground in water.
The fox laid still, his arm still up, and his eyes still close. Unsure of what happened, he opened his eyes, just as a drop of blood plopped on his head. He looked to see it was a drop of his own blood. He peeked around, and seen the dark mist cleared, and seen no sign of the Hellhound anywhere. The blue eyes quickly scanned the area, and faced towards the sound of the splash that was lastly made.
A black and white, what looked like, female wolf lied in a puddle of water, slowly turning red from the blood that streaked on the back and arm. The wolf lied there, motionless, the long black and white hair being tainted, and the blood drained from her body.
The barrier behind him faded, and Aaron quickly bolted past him, his face filled with dread.
"Mellony!" Aaron howled.
Tails quickly stood up, "Mellony?"
Misty then walked and stood by Tails, holding her muzzle, "Stupid barrier…"
The others quickly wandered over to Tails, and surrounded him for a moment, wondering if Tails was okay, if he was hurt, or if he was severely injured. Tails though didn't speak, and turned his head towards Aaron, who slid to Mellony's body, and rolled her over.
The fox quickly leaped up and ran over to the wolf, and stood by him, and seen Mellony, who's chest seemed like it was completely ripped open, the blood drained out like water out of a shower, and dripped with the water as Aaron tugged her out of the water trap.
"Is she okay?" Misty asked, running over to check on them.
Aaron didn't speak, for he was too focused on trying to save the female wolf's life. He grabbed her and laid her on his legs as he was on his knees, and shook her. He shook, then called her name, and then tried CPR without doing the thrusts on the chest. He felt her heartbeat, and couldn't feel anything. He tried everything.
"Mellony, come on Mellony!" Aaron cried, "Mellony!"
There was a moment of silence, as they seen there, Mellony in Aaron's arms, presumed dead. Aaron felt heartbroken, and laid her body back on the ground, and set his head on her, and held her hand, and sobbed, seeing he'd just lost someone that he most cared for.
"She saved my life…" Tails said, letting a teardrop fall on his cheek, taking some of the blood from his nose with it.
Fuck man! I thought I was actually going to die there for a moment, but seeing Mellony risk her life for me, I then just felt miserable...
But where's Conore, should we all be dead by now?
Okay I'd thought I'd take a moment and thank ya for reading to this point.
At this time, I'm undertermined of how long it'll take to finish this one, and go on to #3, I've basically been given ideas right and left, and I've been tryingto plan out all in an orderly fashion.
And btw, the reason I do this ------- dealie is I find it a bit better than those long line deals, that's my case though, besides the longer they are, the more distant thr groups are apart, just so you know.
Again, thank you for reading this far, Chapter 11 should pop up soon, and I hope you enjoy this story, please do review or fave or whatever, and please, no flamming or any insults. innocent eyes Thank ya