a/n: I probably need to stop updating this late, but work is…eh. Anyways, thanks for the support as always and enjoy.

Sonic entered the next field and shot forward with no hesitation. The earth below him transformed and attempted to grab at him as he ran, transforming into giant, cavernous jaws and snapping constantly at his legs.

The giant Yellow Dragon stared him down with its square yellow eyes before surging forward, diving for the hedgehog. Sonic swiftly slid underneath while dodging the sharp metal spears that shot up from the ground as he passed. He drew his sword in a flash and struck at the dragon, only to hear a loud clang as metal met metal. The now metallic beast circled and fired a powerful bullet of water, tearing apart the ground where Sonic once stood.

The blue hedgehog surveyed his surroundings as he sailed through the air, noting the shifting of the rocky formations that made up the vast area. He placed his sword in front of himself and barely fended off the Yellow Dragon as it used the metal on itself to turn itself into a massive spinning drill. Sonic rolled off to one side and let the dragon shoot past as he fell.

In a trail of dust, he took off again, dodging sharp blades of metal that entered his path at random. He spun into a ball and tore through many of them with ease before uncurling and accelerating past its zone of influence. Several fireballs came at his position, but instead of running on, he turned and slashed through them all with his sword. Throwing the heated sword into a spin around his fingers, he threw it hard at the dragon in the sky, managing to pierce its metallic shell.

"Chaos Control!"

He warped himself to where the sword landed and grabbed onto it with his left hand, surging power through it.

"Hurricane Spark!"

The purifying power shot through the blade and into the dragon, causing it to roar out in pain. The metal then started to encase the sword, and Sonic quickly withdrew it, starting his freefall to earth…or so he thought.

The ground rose up to him, jaws opened wide as it caught and dragged him down into its depths. The dragon recovered from the last attack and curled into a ball, the metal forming spikes as it spun into a buzz saw. It aimed itself downwards at Sonic as it tore through the earth that had trapped him.

Sonic gripped his sword tightly and went into a spin as he held it out in front of himself, creating a violent torrent of wind around his spinning form. The spinning dragon met with it, and they went at each other in a battle of brute force. The Yellow Dragon seemed to be slowly winning, pushing Sonic further into the earth, but Sonic countered by charging his spin attack with a Sonic Boost, pushing his revolutions past their limits as he started to slice through the metallic dragon.

His opponent threw in the towel, ending its spin and grafting earth onto its wounds as it burst upwards out of the ground. Sonic followed suit, taking a moment to regain his bearings after spinning about so quickly.

"This won't be so easy…I don't exactly have the power to create Wood, since that's what overcomes Earth in this case. Water defers to Earth, Earth bears Metal…"

His musings ended as the dragon shot more water bullets towards him, now infused with the power of wind for deadlier attacks. Sonic slashed through the attacks when he could, dodging the rest as he moved off in another direction.

"Probably should think about this…Earth defers to Wood…" There had to be a reason for it, right? What did Wood have over Earth?

As if on cue, roots shot upwards out of the ground, aiming to snag and trip him up as they did when he fought the Green Dragon. The attacks from the dragon came steadily, and now included fast spears of wood that rammed deeply into the ground as they missed the speedy hedgehog.

A barrage of them came down, and Sonic performed a jumping turn, leaping onto one after the other and rushing upwards towards the dragon, his right hand outstretched.

"Sonic Wind!"

A powerful blast of wind shot out from Sonic's palm, hitting the dragon head on and chipping away some of its face as it connected. The hedgehog blocked the blast of water that slammed into him next, landing on his feet and ready to attack again.

"That was an opportunity to try and melt my sword," Sonic mused as he looked upwards at the charging dragon. He dodged the wide swing of its bladed tail as he remembered what had happened when he managed to break through the fireballs from earlier – they didn't pose as much of a risk to his sword as the Red Dragon's attacks did, but they had the same effect of heating up his sword…

"Fire overcomes Metal…"

He jumped over a return swing of the tail and countered with a quick slash, hitting the dragon with a wave of wind. Using the extra time as it was stunned, Sonic ran and jumped upwards, chambering a punch with his left hand. Sharp blades of metal shot out from the dragon's hide in defence, and Sonic shifted his blade to his feet as he rose, slamming it broadside onto the jagged edges before kicking off and falling back towards the ground, again avoiding the dragon's sharp blades as he met the earth. He back-pedalled a safe distance before sliding to a stop.

"Metal overcomes Wood…"

He looked to one of the large wooden spears nearby, noting how it easily tore through the earth below it. An idea came to his head as a result.

"Wood overcomes Earth. I don't have Wood…"

The dragon rushed towards him again, covered in sharp spines of metal, its jaws opened wide.

"But I'm not going to need it," he finished with a smirk.

The blue-eyed tormentor was perplexed at this point in time. She saw the hedgehog girl bitten by the jet-black shark – it drew no blood, but it had ruined the left part of her body completely as its jaws sunk into her flesh.

Kiriko had started to fall backwards, the pain overwhelming her. But something unexpected had happened…the girl beside her, after letting out a scream of terror, managed to gather herself for a brief moment.

It was afterwards that she proceeded to do something most would consider insane.

Her hands balled up into fists, and the fear in her stomach mixed with the fire in her eyes. She pulled an arm back and slammed it into the shark's head. She then pulled the other back and did the same, repeating it over and over with a loud battle-cry.

The shark tried to sink its teeth further into its prey, but it was fading into nothingness with each punch. Finally, the dark phantom disappeared, leaving Kiriko to collapse into the murky waters as Yilin tended to her.

For the first time, the blue-eyed stranger let out a growl of frustration. However, a sense of calm returned to her as Kiriko, shaking from the damage she had received, tried to stand on her own and failed. The smile of pearly white teeth returned, mocking her in her pain.

"I think that should be enough…the Chosen was but a minor annoyance, after all. You cannot resist the darkness any longer, my puppet…"

Kiriko felt herself getting colder and colder…she knew that even with the light afforded to her by this brave girl, the darkness had reached too far into her being.

"I…thank you…"

"You're not okay at all," Yilin said with worry. "We need to get you out of here!"

"No…"

"No? What are you saying? That shark, it almost killed you!"

"It…wasn't intending to destroy me…"

"Say what…? Then…?"

"It was…infecting me with the darkness of these tombs…since my heart had already fallen, it was too much for me to resist…" She looked at the bracelet the human girl wore. "But you…you managed to save me, at least for a little while…one of the Chosen…"

"The Chosen…me? You mean that's what this bracelet represents?"

"Yes…you can find your way to the end of this road…and you are protected from the darkness because of the power…of the God of Wind…"

"You mean Sonic…"

"Indeed…I…I am beyond rescue…"

"Don't say that! If Sonic's here...!"

"My heart is painted black. I have no time left… or any future to speak of. The dragons' power already resides within me, and when it is complete, I will not exist as myself…only a tool of darkness and destruction. The Life Spark…that is the only way to cleanse those blackened souls, releasing them from their torment…but in exchange, those lives will end. I, with no true self…will be scattered to the wind, once I am purified by that power…"

"I won't give up," Yilin said boldly. "I'll find this Life Spark, and I'll help you return to normal. I promise."

Kiriko thought for a moment before nodding, pointing the way for the determined girl.

"I believe…that way should lead you to the Hall of the Mystics…follow the path of light, young one…"

"Right. I'll get going, then. Just hold on until I get back!"

"I…will try…"

Yilin nodded in response before taking off through the darkness as it fell over them once more.

"How very lucky…I can't touch that girl, because of what she is…but as for you…"

The blue-eyed girl smiled as she placed a hand on Kiriko's head.

"I'll play with you to my heart's content…"

"…I am sorry…"

"You…sorry? For what?" she asked, genuinely curious as to what the hedgehog had to say.

"You must be in such pain…to not know what love is…"

A pause. "Love…I see. You're incorrect, you know."

Her mouth widened into a twisted grin.

"I actually love to hear you scream…"

"This had better be important."

"Trust me, it is."

The sun had risen over the city of Station Square, and it was currently 7:30 A.M. Amy Rose rolled out of her bed (well, it wasn't her bed, but Sonic had left the place for her to use), woken by the sound of the phone next to it ringing incessantly.

"You sound like Sonic after a long night…"

"You know, what can I say? I party hard," the pink hedgehog replied drowsily.

"Yeah, I bet," the fox replied wittily. "You, a bowl of popcorn, and Mean Girls in surround sound. Hardcore, dude. I bet you used extra butter like a real bad chick."

"Whatever. Listen, I know we're like, family now, but this is early for me, baby bro."

"Like I said, this is actually important. Make sure your accounts are balanced…we're going to Spagonia."

"Spagonia? You mean to see Professor Pickle?"

"Pickle is actually in Shamar right now. We're going to see someone else. It's a bit of business, a bit of pleasure…best of both worlds, really. You might get some music out there, too. I told the university about you, and they're pretty interested in your work."

"Hm…" Amy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes while thinking about the new orchestral suite that she had started…maybe this was a chance to have it really take off.

"Sounds like the start of something big…guess you can count me in."

"Cool. Just come over when you're ready, and pack light. We can buy most of the things we need in town."

"Fine with me, big spender," Amy said with a smile.

"You know me, I aim to please," Tails replied. "Anyways, I'll see you soon."

"You bet. Love you, Tails." She hung up and let out a yawn before getting ready for the day. Spagonia, huh?

We'll see where this takes me…