5 Years Later

by JC303

Metal decides to return, and check to see how everyone has been for the past 5 years since the events of Future Generations...only to find out some surprising things. Again, co-written with YolkaEd.

21. Chapter 21

5 Years Later – Chapter Twenty-One...

Within the arena, Sage just finished the last repairs to the place, looking over her work with a look of satisfaction. "There. Now, I need to find King and the others... if things are as dire as Jill thought they were..."

"...Saaaaaage..."

Suddenly, Sage knew she wasn't alone in the arena any longer, hearing that voice echo.

With that, Sage's eyes went towards where she heard the voice the strongest. "...Raider." she growled. "Why don't you show yourself? I already know what's happened to you."

The demented ox came out of the shadows of a hallway from the rows of seats in the arena, and he looked down at Sage with a scowl.

Sage, however, merely looked up at him with a frown. "...you know, if you were going to infect Hex, you could've gone about it a different way; here I thought that you had learned your lesson." she scoffed.

"I just decided to give her a taste of her own medicine," Raider snorted. "Besides, I still don't remember anything from before...and I want to know what you did to me to turn me into the basket case I used to be."

"...hmph. If you really must know..." Sage scoffed, as she folded her arms. "...I gave you a taste of your own medicine."

"...I see," Raider murmured. "...so what that hedgehog said finally makes sense now." He started walking down the stairs closer toward Sage, who was still standing on that stage.

"...so, what, you're going to try and get back at me, for what I did to you?" Sage presumed, raising her eyebrow. "I possess powers greater than you could imagine, Raider. Even if I can't kill you, I can still hand you your ass on a platter without batting an eyelid."

"We aren't really that stupid."

Someone else was in the arena as well. From below Sage's feet, black darkness burst out on the ground.

"Hn?" Quickly, Sage took to the air, watching the darkness warily. "...you've been planning this out. Commendable." she hummed.

From out of the darkness emerged that leopard. "Raider may have forgotten about you and your powers, but I haven't," Diablo said. "We don't aim to defeat and kill you, Sage...we aim to make you one of us."

"...I could figure that out without you telling me." Sage uttered. "But no matter, Novagod; I can read your every move. You won't be able to even lay a finger on me, and the same goes for Raider."

"But even then, you know how persistent we are, and you said yourself that you couldn't kill us," Diablo continued. "...then again, we wouldn't go for you directly. We could always just...you know...take each of your comrades one by one and use them against you."

Sage frowned. "...you try that, Novagod, and I swear; you will suffer." she growled.

"Right..." Diablo allowed Corruption to ooze from his hand, and shot forward with a flap of his wings to lunge at Sage.

"Hm." Quickly, Sage's eyes glowed, as Diablo slammed into a psychic barrier, which sent him rocketing down to the ground again. "I told you; you won't be able to-"

In that instant, from two different directions, blue flames rocketed right at Sage. Being surprised by this, she began flying about to evade the flames, but they kept following her.

"...now that she's occupied..." someone behind Diablo chuckled, as the leopard felt a hand on his shoulder. "...how about we go over a few things, Diablo?" As it turned out, the one behind Diablo was Spiel, who merely looked down at him with a neutral glance.

Before Raider would have the chance to try and attack Spiel, all of a sudden, Krieg leaped in front of the ox, his arms folded. "...stay put." he uttered.

"Such as?" Diablo asked, simply looking over at Spiel.

"See, I have a little... problem... with you intending to turn Sage into one of your little zombie-minions." Spiel said matter-of-factly, managing a smile. "You see, Diablo... I've got plans for her. But to do that, I need her alive. And preferably, not listening to your orders. In fact, it ain't even a matter of preference; I just don't want her taking orders from you." Then, he glanced up at the sky. "In fact, that goes for all of the leaders of the island... King, included. So... I'd prefer it if you let them be."

"...very well," Diablo murmured. "It isn't like they can stop me anyhow...or you for that matter, Spiel Gierig."

Spiel chuckled at that. "Oh, really?" he chuckled. "Don't think I'm afraid of you, just because you've got those wings. You're still nothin' special without your tools."

Diablo closed his eyes. "...you miss something, Gierig. I am not Diablo." And the leopard grabbed his throat and threw the pig onto the ground with an amazing feat. "But your talent rivals Jillian's, which has much potential. Perhaps I could use it..." and with that, he dug his nails into Spiel's throat, intending to start the process of Corrupting him.

Indeed, the goop began spreading across Spiel's body, who, surprisingly enough, didn't seem bothered by this. "...the hell is this?" he scoffed. "I'm not impressed by it!" At that point, that blood-red aura erupted around him, managing to not only knock away Deity, but also erode the goop that had spread across his body. With a scowl, the pig got on his feet, glaring at the leopard.

Deity stopped on his feet, and looked at Spiel. "Impressive," he said, rubbing his chin. "Your will is quite strong."

Spiel scoffed. "What the hell was that goop, anyway?" he uttered.

"A power called Corruption," Diablo answered.

"...Corruption... huh." Spiel hummed, before chuckling. "Well, if that's the case, it did a poor job of corrupting me. If you're not Diablo, then I guess you're even more worthless than him."

"Insult doesn't get you very far," Diablo replied. "In fact...what you showed me proved that corrupting you may not have been best idea." He paced around the pig while he continued, "...you are even more ambitious than I am, which could make you more of a thorn in my side than that 3 year old girl, had I given you that power." To be honest, Johnny was bad enough, since he wasn't locked in one place like Callous was.

"Well, good thing that you didn't, then." Spiel chuckled. "Who am I talking to, anyway? And why'd you bother taking over a weakling's body, like Diablo?" Then, he folded his arms. "Seems to me that you got the short end of the stick."

"I suppose I did, because I didn't choose to be in Diablo," the leopard murmured. "Originally, I was housed in Jillian, but that meddling witch inside her shoved me into this amateur." Diablo glared at Spiel, "and to answer your earlier question, I am Deity Novagod."

"...Deity Novagod..." Spiel hummed, before smirking. "What a pretentious name. I suppose it fits ya perfectly." Then, he bowed mockingly. "I know you already know me, but allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Spiel Gierig. My associate is Krieg Verruga, in case you were curious."

"Yes, I was even aware of your associate," Diablo murmured. "After all, I had a chance to spar with him in the tournament. I'm sure he would know what I mean."

Krieg was silent; he had an idea of what he was talking about. "...so you were the presence I felt." he murmured. "I should have known."

Spiel, on the other hand, looked back at Diablo with a raised eyebrow. "...so, what're you planning on, now, Novagod?"

"I have other affairs with Jillian and Metal, such as taking the life of her daughter," Diablo said.

"...I see." Spiel hummed, before he smirked. "And beyond that?"

"Not your concern," Diablo replied dryly.

"Ah, of course." Spiel chuckled. "...though, I can only guess, given what you tried doing to me, planned on doing to Sage, and most likely did to Raider... you're planning some form of world conquest?"

"And what would I gain from that?" Diablo asked him. "Tell me. What could I possibly want by ruling the world?"

"Well, there's a plethora of possibilities, when you stop and think of what you can do." Spiel chuckled. "For instance; with that corruption-thing of yours, you could create your very own harem. Or if you're the kind of guy who feeds on flesh, then presto; you've got all the food you could ever want."

"I have no greed, therefore, there's nothing I would really ever gain from conquering the world," Diablo scoffed.

"Then what is it?" Spiel pressed on. "You can't have power like that without having some form of grander scheme. You said that my ambition was greater than yours, but so far, I've had no idea what your ambition even is. If it's just to kill Jillian's daughter, then that's not really a big ambition." Then, he moved his index finger towards his head, to make the impression that he was holding a gun. "Just get a gun, point it at her head, and... pow." To emphasize his point, he pretended to fire the "gun", his head reeling away from the "shot".

"It's not that simple," Diablo replied. "Joy possesses powers hardly any could anticipate...and why would I even tell you what I plan to do after the three of them are dead? You said so yourself, 'eat, or be eaten.'"

Spiel hummed, as he folded his arms. "...heh. Didn't think anyone else on the island would even bother with that saying." he chuckled, before smirking. "But still, what makes you think that you can kill Jill and Metal, let alone defeat them?" Then, he shook his head. "Even if Metal couldn't stand against me, I know that you wouldn't be able to defeat him... not with that body, at least."

"I can kill him the same way that I killed the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog," Diablo murmured. "They are alike, aren't they? ...or did you know the truth about Metal Sonic?"

"...Metal Sonic..." Spiel hummed, before chuckling. "...well, anyone who's checked up basic history knows about that guy. So, he was the one, all this time... curious." Then, he shrugged. "But do entertain me, Novagod; just how did you kill Sonic the Hedgehog? I can't tell you if that method would work or not if I don't even know the method in question."

"Why would I want your advice on how to kill my enemy?" Diablo grumbled.

"Hey, I may not look like it, but I'm a smart guy." Spiel chuckled, tapping the side of his head. "At the very least, smart enough to come up with several ways of killing Joy within the few moments of our conversation." Then, he shook his head. "Of course, not that I'd have any interest in killing her; she's a child." As he spoke, he looked back at Deity. "A child that someone, who killed a legendary hero, apparently is scared of."

"I'm not scared of her," Diablo answered. "I simply see her as a threat. You would kill a child too if they had the potential of beating you..." He closed his eyes. "But she is young, so killing her now will keep her from developing her powers and learning how to harness them. That's the logical way of putting it anyway."

"...and how do you plan on surviving long enough to do that?" Spiel chuckled. "Even if you kill Metal and Joy... you'd have one hell of a pissed-off mother to deal with. And as far as I'm concerned, those fancy powers that you, Jill and Joy have can't compare to the fury of someone who's lost their kid."

"Corruption feeds on the power of negative emotions," Diablo replied. "Take her child and lover, and she will be too lost in her grief to fight the Corruption, thus finally be consumed by it, and gotten rid of for good." He looked up at the night sky, knowing that barrier was still there, even when it was invisible. "After all, I ruined her whole life to keep her vulnerable to Corruption."

"...feh." Spiel scoffed. "Still seems to me that you're just squandering away untapped potential. For what purpose do you haggle young girls like that?" Then, he folded his arms with a small scowl. "Really, you're coming off as very scatter-brained, Novagod; not exactly a good sign."

"Not scatter-brained; just very secretive of certain parts of my information," Diablo corrected. "Now, if you're just going to start an argument with me, I have no business with you."

"Oh, I'm not trying to start anything." Spiel said, as he glared angrily at the leopard. "But know this... I've got too big plans for your "secretive motives" to get in the way of. If I find out that you're doing nothing logical... I'll come after you. And trust me... no one wants me to come after them." Then, he turned around and began walking off. "We're leaving, Krieg."

As Spiel left, Krieg nodded, before he followed Spiel out of the arena.

Once they were gone, Diablo sent a glance at Raider. "C'mon. We also have things to do."

---

Thankfully, as Diablo and Spiel had their conversation, the blue flames had forced Sage to flee the arena. At the moment, she flew across the jungle, trying to locate any of the other agents, or hell, anyone other than Diablo, Raider, Kiri and Hex. ...though I wonder... what were Spiel's intentions? As the flames had kept her so busy, she had only caught that Spiel had arrived with Krieg, and thus, didn't manage to read his mind to see what he was up to. Tsch... more problems pile up...

"Sage! Over here!" Someone jumped out of hiding and waved their arms about wildly to catch her attention; Hunter.

"...ah, Hunter." Sage said with a sigh of relief, before she descended down to the ground. Once she landed, she saw that Hunter wasn't the only one there; the other agents, along with Tasha and Sonia, were gathered there. "Why, it's a huge gathering." she remarked.

"Now's not the time for joking, Sage." King said, as he folded his arms. "We need to figure out what's going on around here."

"...what, that's all?" Sage hummed, before smiling. "And here I was looking forward to a challenge." In that instant, everyone in the group were told mentally just what Sage had read from Jill, and what happened over at the arena.

"...man..." Sonia uttered, holding her head. "...trippy."

"...and disconcerting." Queen murmured. "So all of this happened without our knowledge...?"

"That's Deity Novagod to you," Hunter growled. "...still, how he could slip out like that is just...frustrating." He punched a tree. "All that effort 5 years ago to put him away and he just comes back like this..."

"...kekeke... but now he can't get away from the island, thanks to Jill!" Ripper chimed in, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"...still, there's not many who can combat Corruption." Sage murmured. "Even me and King would be hard-pressed to destroy someone infected with that stuff; the only reason I managed to destroy Bloom and Gloom was because of the storm covering Angel Island..."

"...but we can't let it stop us." King growled, slamming his fists together. "I won't let that conniving vampire do as he pleases with Safe Haven!"

"...I assume that Jill took refuge somewhere?" Tasha asked.

"If I'm not mistaken, she's at her shop." Sage nodded. "Metal and Joy are there as well..."

"...well, we shouldn't let them stay on their own for too long; Deity could think of attacking them there." Miser said.

"GUYS!" From deeper in the jungle, a few figures ran towards the group; Boomer, Newt, Natal and Rudy. "They're everywhere!" Rudy uttered in fright. "More and more soldiers are getting taken by the darkness!"

"It's really bad out there," Boomer said. "Soon, we'll have a war going on, and on an island with weapons and super powers, it's not going to be pretty."

Tasha grew more worried about this. How could all of this happen? Her father's dead, her people lost their home, and now all this?

"...tsch..." King growled. "...who's the one leading the attacks?"

"...from what we've seen..." Natal uttered, folding her arms. "...Kiri, Hex and Raider have been responsible for turning more soldiers."

"But the crazy thing is..." Newt began. "...everyone who gets infected can infect others! It's like a horror movie, y'know!"

"...but this isn't a movie." Sage murmured. "In any case, we need to regroup with Jill and the others. From there, we'll mount an offensive."

Boomer noticed Tasha growing uneasy, and she put a hand on her shoulder. "...don't worry," Boomer said. "We saw Flamenco and Lin taking your people to the shelter along with some soldiers to guard them. They're safe."

Tasha smiled in thankful appreciation, but that didn't keep her from worrying.

"Let's go," Hunter said.

---

"Still raining..." Striker murmured with boredom, staring outside into the night.

"...I don't think it's going to stop any time, soon." Lock responded dryly. At the moment, he was doing some modifications to Tails' arm cannon, whilst the old fox watched him at work.

"...so you're saying that with the proper modifications, it should be able to use the same cartridges as your rifle?" he presumed.

"Yes." Lock replied curtly. "If I can modify enough weapons, we might have a big enough arsenal to help drive off the ones infected by Corruption." Then, he glanced at Striker. "If possible, Snap could be modified to be compatible with them as well."

"Oh yeah!" Striker exclaimed with a smile, since the thought hadn't occurred to him.

"They try touching me, and they're gonna think twice," Ani chuckled.

"...please tell me that you still don't turn into a werewolf," Milo groaned.

"Of course I do. Not like I can't; I was born like that you know. And if Corruption still has that effect on me, then I'll kick some serious butt!" Ani threw up a fist. "Thank you Goddess!"

Milo just rolled his eyes.

"...let's just hope that we won't be gettin' into bigger trouble tonight..." Whisker sighed, as he folded his arms, before glancing out the window.

Out there, Charon sat, his arms folded, and two of his heads with their eyes closed. His third head, however, was scanning the area, waiting to see if anyone intended to attack them. If they did, he would make sure that they didn't get far.

"...sooo..." Will's group was sitting in the shop too, looking at the others. "...you guys...went through this before?" uttered the mole-rat.

A series of "Yeses," "Yeps," and "Uh-huhs," answered his question, all of them answered with a casual and relaxed tone. Will only looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"...remind me not to ask for photos." he sighed.

"Duly noted." Lock replied in that same casual tone, without taking his focus off the arm cannon.

"You know, I kinda miss not having Punk and Gale here too," Ani murmured, while getting to thinking about the last time they actually went through anything major like this. "Sure, they didn't do anything, but having them here would really make this feel like old times." Ani looked to Lock then. "How have they been, Lock?"

"...since those days, they've been more in line than they used to." Lock said with a shrug. "They still cause a ruckus from time to time, but they've learned not to act too rashly when it comes to aspiring Extreme Gear racers, at least."

Striker chuckled, "Good to know."

Upstairs, it was just Metal, Jill and Joy. Jill was standing by the window, looking outside silently and thinking with a bit of a sad look on her face. Joy was looking at her mother, sitting with Metal on the couch. "...why's Mama sad?" she asked Metal quietly, so she wouldn't be heard.

Metal sighed, before he glanced down at Joy. "...we did a lot to make sure that Novagod couldn't hurt anyone, five years ago..." he said quietly as well. "...but now... everything we did seems to have been undone... I think she's sad because of that."

Joy looked up at Metal. "...where did Deity come from, Daddy?"

Metal hummed a bit, thinking of the question. "...I'm not sure on exactly where he came from." he eventually said. "But, from what I understand... evil energy seeped into a bat one day, and Deity was the result of that. He's been around for a very long time; longer than even you and Jill."

"Wow, he's old...but that means Deity wasn't bad at first, right?" Joy asked again.

"...I'm not sure." Metal admitted. "...but regardless if he was good or bad back then... he's done a lot of cruel things since then..."

"...what did he do?" Joy asked worriedly. "...did he hurt Mama?" She remembered the dreams, and wondered if they really happened.

"...he hurt a lot of people..." Metal murmured. "...including Jill."

"...did he hurt you too?"

"...yes." Metal nodded, as he closed his eyes.

Joy looked back at Mama. "...and he's gonna try and hurt us," she murmured.

"...we won't let him do that." Metal said, placing a hand on Joy's head. "Trust me; I'll make sure that he won't harm a hair on your head, Joy."

Joy smiled a little, looking back up at Metal.

"...Metal..." Jill spoke this time, and she didn't turn away from the window.

Blinking, Metal glanced back at Jill. "...what is it, Jill?" he hummed.

"If things get desperate," she murmured. "...are you capable of warping off this island?"

"...I suppose so." Metal nodded. "...why do you ask?"

"...because I'm wondering whether or not we'll need the Chaos Emeralds."

"...the Chaos Emeralds?" Metal blinked upon hearing that; ever since coming to Safe Haven, both Metropolis and the emeralds had slipped his mind. "...they would come in handy..." he nodded, before he folded his arms. "...but they weren't enough to deal with him five years ago..." he murmured off-hand.

"Even then, they helped a good deal," Jill continued, having heard him. "If anything...they can help get everyone out quickly if it's gotten too dangerous..."

"...hopefully..." Metal murmured. "...but if that is the case, I'll need to go alone." he added, looking back at Jill. "Without any emeralds, I can't carry anyone with me, and the distance I can warp won't be too great... so even then, it'll take me a while to get to Metropolis..."

Jill finally turned away from the window to look at Metal. "...if you left now...you might be able to return in time," she muttered.

Metal merely looked at Jill after that. "...would that be wise?" he uttered. "There's no telling what could happen while I'm gone..."

"If we waited until we really needed them, it could be too late," Jill reasoned.

"...true enough..." Metal nodded, as he folded his arms. "...well... if I hurry..." Then, he walked towards Jill, placing his hands on her shoulders. "...in the meantime... stay safe."

Jill looked up at him and tried to keep a straight face, nodding. Eventually, she ended up wrapping her arms around Metal and hugging him. Metal, too, ended up hugging back. Joy watched the two of them hug like this. She didn't want Metal to go either, but it looked like he had to.

So she got off the couch and rushed toward them to hug Metal too.

Feeling her hug him, Metal grit his teeth. Deep down, he didn't want to leave them; he wanted to stay and make sure that everyone was safe...

...however, he knew that he had to go. With a small sigh, Metal knelt down so he could hug Joy as well. Joy hugged Metal tight, wanting to remember this while Metal was gone, in case she wouldn't see him again for a really long time.

"I love you Daddy," she murmured in his shoulder.

"...I love you too, Joy." Metal replied, before he rubbed Joy's head. "Stay strong." After a little while longer, he let go of Joy, before standing up. "...I'll head off, now." he said, looking back at Jill.

"...okay," Jill said quietly, nodding again. "...hurry back."

"...I will." Metal nodded, before he closed his eyes.

In that instant, he vanished.

Jill swallowed her feelings down, telling herself that he would come back. She'd see him again. Joy went to her and she picked her up. "...He'll hurry back Mama," she said, noticing that Jill was still sad.

Jill held her tight. "...I know..." she murmured. After awhile, Jill headed for the stairs, carrying Joy. "...we'll have to tell everyone else."

Once they got downstairs, they saw that Lock, Tails and Striker were inspecting Snap, to see what they would need to modify to make him compatible with Lock's cartridges. When they went down the stairs, however, everyone glanced towards them. "...is something the matter?" Lock hummed curiously.

"...nothing..." Jill murmured. "...but Metal, he..."

"...yes?" Milo urged Jill to continue.

"...he went to get...the Chaos Emeralds. I figured that we might need them...and if he left now, then he could make it back before anything bad happens."

"...so Metal's gone?" Jack murmured, before he folded his arms. "...well... I hope he's quick about it..."

"I'm sure he'll do it as quickly as he can." Lock nodded. "In the meantime, we'll have to make sure that nothing too bad happens in his absence."

"...right..." Jill murmured, nodding. Observing what the three of them were doing with Snap, Jill set down Joy and came over. "...so what are you trying to do?"

"We wanted to see if Snap could use Unity, like Lock's cartridges," Striker replied. "That way, his cannon could be more helpful."

"We've already managed to modify Tails' arm cannon into being compatible with them." Lock said with a nod. "It shouldn't take too much work to do the same to Snap."

"Though, I'm afraid I'm a little too old to help out with fighting these hordes..." Tails hummed. "I'm afraid someone else would have to use my arm cannon in my place..."

"I nominate Milo!" Ani said, raising her hand. "He has no way of fighting these guys!"

"I nominate him too!" Striker said.

Milo just looked at them, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm not a fighter guys!"

"Maybe you don't have to fight them," Jill continued, "but there needs to be someone guarding the uninfected after all, and you're the most perceptive to-"

"...hold on," Milo stopped Jill in her tracks, surprising her. Then he sighed. "...I guess it's kinda silly, but Striker, Jack, Captain Whisker and I have a motto...we pirates stick together, especially when the time gets tough." It was silent for awhile, and then he finally looked at Tails. "I'll take the arm cannon and fight," he said. "Just as long as we stick together."

"...very well." Tails said with a smile. "Just make sure to be careful."

Outside, Charon still kept a sharp eye on his surroundings, when he heard a noise from above. When he looked up, he saw a black, feathered Mobian land down on the ground before him, with several others with her. "...we're-" Sage uttered, when she spotted the dragon. "...well... what do you know."

Hunter was extremely shocked to see a creature like Charon at Jill's front steps, but since the monster didn't attack them, there wasn't any need for alarm. "…w-who are you?" he asked Charon.

Charon remained silent, merely observing the group. "...the monster." he eventually growled.

"...I figured as much." Sage said with a nod.

"...but... why are you here?" King uttered warily.

"...you're not the only ones who feel that this spread of Corruption is a threat." Charon replied.

"…so you know what's going on?" Hunter assumed.

"…he wouldn't be here at Jill's shop if he didn't know what was going on," Tasha said. Looking at Charon, hearing that he was the monster, she wasn't sure how to go about it. This creature caused explosions that hurt her people, but at the same time, she knew that she couldn't let hard feelings interfere with judgment.

After all, she lost her father not too long ago. She used a lot of effort to control herself.

"...you should go inside." Charon uttered. "I'm standing guard, in case anyone tries attacking the place."

"...and you're sure that you can fight them off?" Queen hummed.

"Yes." Charon nodded. "Now, hurry in."

Hunter walked on up to the door and opened it so that the others could walk in. This definitely attracted the attention of everyone in the shop; they more likely noticed when Sage and the group first arrived outside, to be honest.

"Hi Dad," Ani greeted.

"…hey," Hunter murmured back.

"...so, I take it that everyone's in here?" King hummed once they were all inside.

"...no..." Sage hummed. "...Metal's not here... he's gone after the Chaos Emeralds."

"...they should still be in Metropolis..." Wiper murmured. "...hopefully, he should be able to get back here soon."

"He'll come back…" Joy murmured, maybe just to assure herself that Metal would. Then again, Joy didn't have abandonment issues like Jill did, despite how well Jill was handling it.

"…I assume that Sage told you everything?" Jill supposed.

"Less "told us", and more "planted it into our minds", really." Queen said dryly.

"Well, we couldn't afford to waste time." Sage said with a light shrug. "Especially with Spiel loose..."

"...they managed to infect Spiel?" Will uttered in shock.

"They didn't." Sage murmured. "...but I don't know whether that's good for us... or worse." Then, she folded her arms. "He's scheming something, but I couldn't catch what it was; someone drove me away before I could read him."

"...and if Spiel's scheming..." King murmured, before he snapped his fingers. "...now we've got another threat to worry about."

"Well, at least he isn't infected by Corruption." Lock said with a shrug.

Jill looked back and forth, and hearing that Spiel had plans of his own was worrying for her. Had Spiel been strong enough to resist Corruption, or did Deity Novagod just leave him alone? It was hard to say.

"Maybe Spiel might get derailed from his own plans because of Deity, who knows…" Boomer spoke up. "Right now, our priority is the building army we're going to face."

"Indeed." Lock nodded. "Now, even if we're vastly outnumbered, it seems that the shots from the cartridges have enough power to down anyone infected by Corruption in a single shot." As he spoke, he placed one cartridge on the table he sat by. "Therefore, we should focus on modifying more weapons to be compatible with them." Then, he looked at Boomer. "I'll go out on a limb and assume that you brought some weapons to the island?"

"They're in the pub in mine and Newt's room," Boomer replied. "All it'll take are some simple tweaks and they'll be what we need."

Jill took a seat over by Tails and Lock, with Joy climbing into her lap. "…we'll need to figure out a strategy too. Dividing into a few teams should help."

"Yeah, we need a team that'll help Flamenco and Lin protect the uninfected," Hunter uttered in realization.

"I'll be part of that team." Miser uttered, before she placed something against the wall; her railgun. "Lock, if you could modify this, I'd be most thankful."

"Certainly." Lock nodded, before he looked at Sage. "Since you're psychic, you could fly and catch the weapons from the pub without being caught, right?"

"Of course." Sage nodded, as she closed her eyes. "...now, one thing we need to consider when building the teams, is to be wary of Kiri, Raider and Hex. Apart from Diablo, they should be the strongest of the infected at the moment."

"I wanna fight the giant horde of Corrupted!" Ani insisted.

"Yes, we do need some front lines," Charmy murmured. "With a large group keeping all the countless unnamed Corruption occupied, we should have another team sneaking around and taking down the big titans like Kiri, Raider, and Hex. Not only that, but we would have to keep all three of them separated, and more importantly, away from Deity."

"...I'm going in the group dealing with the big names." King murmured.

"I should go, too; I have experience in covertly dealing with targets." Lock nodded, before he folded his arms.

"...what about Charon?" Jack eventually said, as he glanced at the dragon outside. "Who should he go with?"

"…he should go with the group taking down Kiri, Hex, and Raider," Milo replied. "After all…we have to save Oblivion…"

"So King, Charon, Lock…" Striker looked around, until his eyes fell on Jill. "…what about Jill? What should she do?"

Jill kept silent.

"I would think that she should go help take out the 3 big ones," Hunter murmured, "but that's just me."

"What about if those on the front lines run out of ammo?" Boomer muttered. "The minute their ammo's gone, we're done for. I think she should stay here."

"But what about my people?" Tasha threw in. "…what if they run out of ammo there, and the Corruption reaches my people and the other uninfected?"

"...hrm..." Lock hummed, as he glanced at the ewe with a raised eyebrow. "...well, Jill... this is a decision you have to make. What will you do?"

Jill looked at all of them. "…if it's all the same…" she murmured. "…I want to—" then she stopped in the middle of her sentence.

"…Jill?" Milo uttered.

"Now hold on, I want to put my opinion out," she started again; Jill's eyes flashing red.

"...hn?" Lock blinked at that.

Instantly, both Jack and Sage's eyes widened. "...Callous?" both of them uttered simultaneously.

Even Joy looked up with widened eyes.

"Personally, what she wanted to do wasn't exactly the brightest idea," Jill continued, folding her arms. "What she wanted to do was see if she could track down Diablo or Deity, or whatever he's going to call himself, but even I'm not that bold."

"...keke?" Ripper uttered, as he tilted his head. "She wanted to go right at him?"

"...that would be suicidal." Lock murmured. "If Deity's as strong as he was five years ago, we'd need more than just Jill to take him out."

"...of course, he could be even stronger, as well." Sage muttered.

"Exactly," Jill replied. "And we all know we don't want Jill out for the count." She noticed that Joy stared at her.

Assuming that Joy was scared of Callous, Tails placed a hand on Joy's shoulder, whilst keeping an eye on Jill.

"...so, do you have anything else in mind, Callous?" Jack uttered, as he slowly approached the ewe.

"Have her help you all as much as she can, like for instance, say there might be too many of them and you DO run out of ammo," Jill continued. "Have her diminish a good amount of the numbers of the frontlines before she catches up with King's group, then take out the three sub bosses before everyone goes after the head honcho...and even then, we'd have to wait until good ol' Toaster comes back with the cavalry."

"And what about Joy?" Striker asked. "Would she come with, or would she stay where it was safe?"

Jill actually closed her eyes to ponder that. "...I wouldn't keep her separated from her mother to be honest; especially not at a time like this," she finally said, "but ultimately it's up to her. She IS her mother, after all..."

"...hm." Lock nodded. "...well, then..." he said, before standing up. "...let's properly divide ourselves."

Jill cut in. "And Jack-a-mo should come with the assault team with King."

"...why?" Boomer asked.

"...reasons," Jill replied vaguely. Milo got the message, figuring it was because of Johnny.

"...me?" Jack uttered. "...but... I'm not nearly as good as King or Lock; I'd only get in the way..."

"...you shouldn't doubt your own abilities, Jack." Lock said. "Your harmonica could come in handy for stunning the persistent ones."

"Kekeke!" Ripper called. "I'll help Miser protect the uninfected!"

"I can help out on the front-lines..." Sage said, before she headed for the door. "Just give me a moment to grab Boomer's weapons." Then, she headed outside, and flew off.

"...Tasha." King uttered, as he glanced at the lynx. "...what are you gonna do?"

"...I wish to come with you, Twilight," Tasha said. "...but my duty is to my people, and I must be there for them. I think I should be on the defensive with Miser and Ripper..."

"...yeah... that would be the wisest thing to do." King nodded. "Just be careful."

"...alright, then." Wiper nodded, before he looked at Teams Alpha and Chaotix. "Some of us should go to the front lines, and some of us should help with defending. Who will go where?"

Charmy stood up. "Here's what I find appropriate. Sage, My team, team Alpha and the rest of the Clubhouse Pirates should be on the frontlines," he said.

"Me too," threw in Hunter.

"I'll help out with the defenses." Queen said, before glancing at Will's group. "And you four will be joining us."

"EH?" all of them yelled in unison. "B-b-b-b-b-but what do you expect us to do?" Will sputtered. "What if Hex decides to sneak by? We can't stop her like that!"

"...aren't you part of Safe Haven?" Queen uttered. "Then show what you're capable of."

"Kkh..." Will growled, before sighing. "...cold."

"Hey, I'll help out on the front lines as well." Sonia said with a nod, placing her hand on her left hip. "The more people we've got taking care of those guys, the better."

"...well, I believe that settles it." Lock nodded. "Once Sage returns with the weapons, and we've modified them... we move out."

"Sounds like a plan," Jill said, smirking. Then she looked to see that Joy was STILL staring at her, making Jill's smirk fall. "...is something wrong?"

"...you just look like my Mama...but you aren't, right?" Joy asked her.

Jack glanced back at Joy after she made that comment, before he looked back at Jill, to see what she'd say in response.

Jill was still silent for a little while. "...yeah, I guess that's right," she murmured. "...but don't worry kid. I'm not bad. Let's just say I'm a...friend of your mom's."

Well, she saw those red eyes when her mother was possessed by Deity, which kept the vampire from hurting her and Metal. Then it pushed the bad man out of Mama. With what 3 year old logic she had, she figured that she wasn't going to hurt her. Joy was willing to believe that, so she nodded.

"...so...the rumors of a witch living in Jill is true?" the zebra asked, getting a look from Jill.

"Now who would go around calling me a witch?" she asked. "So I like to live on the dark side a little. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

Hearing that, Sonia glanced at Jill. "...so, you've been in her all this time, huh?" she assumed.

"Yep, pretty much," Jill replied.

"...hm..." Sonia hummed, as she folded her arms. "...just don't think of doing anything suspicious."

At that point, the door opened, and Sage walked into the room, with weapons floating behind her. "Thankfully, I didn't run into any hoodlums on the way." she said, as she closed the door behind her.

"Good; we're in business." Lock hummed, before he gave Striker and Tails a nod. "Let's get to work."

"And do you think you could finally let Jill have control again, Callous?" Hunter asked.

"Hm?" Jill let out a laugh of realization. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Then her eyes changed green and Jill held her head, moaning. "...I'm sorry, I conked out..." she murmured.

"Well, not exactly," Milo said. "You see, Callous had a few choice words too."

Jill's eyes widened when Milo said that to her. "...What did she say?"

So Milo got to explaining, while the others finally got to work.

---

Midnight struck, which was the presumed hour that the battling might take place; it seemed appropriate. Everyone was in their positions too, and their patience was wearing thin. Jill's building not only had it's own barrier of Unity around it, but it also had, in front of the building out in the street, bags of flour creating a protective wall for those in the use of Boomer's and Newt's modified weapons, filled to the brim with Unity. Tails and Charmy were waiting inside the shop, standing by with walkie-talkies that linked with the other groups.

Another group stood in front of the shelter's entrance which, thanks to Jill, had a barrier around it also, to keep those with Corruption from sneaking in through 'the dark' or by any other means. Queen was inside the doorway with their own walkie talkie to keep communication with the other groups.

The last, was on Jill's very rooftop, with Charon's three heads examining the area around them, and King, Lock, Jane, Jack were next to him, ready to take flight with him when the time was right.

Jill and Joy were back in her bedroom, and Jill was prepping Joy.

"...this is going to be one of the scariest things you'll ever go through, Joy," Jill murmured, hugging her tight. "...I never wanted you to go through anything like this at your age...I'm so sorry it all happened."

"Don't worry Mama," Joy said. "...Daddy will come back and it'll get better..."

"...that's right," Jill said, nodding.

"...Jill. Joy." Charon uttered. "Are you two ready?"

"...we're ready." Jill took Joy up in her arms and climbed out their bedroom window, onto the shingles of the roofhead above the shop.

"...good. Everyone, get on board." Charon said, letting everyone climb onto his back.

"King. Are you guys ready to take off?" King heard Queen call from a walkie-talkie he carried with him.

"We're ready." King spoke into it. "Everything's calm on your front?"

"No one's shown themselves yet." Queen replied. "Still, we're prepared..."

"...just be careful." King replied, before placing the walkie-talkie away. "Let's fly."

Nodding, Charon took to the air, his heads looking down at the woods to see if there was any movement there.

Striker pressed the button, and Snap split apart to latch to his arms again as those gauntlets, with Snap's holographic head appearing. "Wow, I didn't think we'd come to this when we came onto the island, huh guys?" Striker said, watching Charon fly off.

"Not at all," Milo said jokingly, observing the arm cannon that Tails fastened onto him. "Exciting stuff never happens to us. We're just dying of boredom."

"Well, now we get a lot of action, me mateys." Whisker chuckled, as he cracked his knuckles. "Be ye ready to show them the strength of the Clubhouse Pirates?"

"Just don't get too careless." Wiper warned. "If you lose focus, you could easily be preyed upon."

"Right," Striker replied. "We'll be careful."

"And if not, I'll rip you apart for goofing off and glue you back together," Ani threatened.

That managed to get some chuckles out of the group.

"Heh... weird that we're chucklin' in this kinda situation, y'know." Newt mused.

"Well, we'll be short on laughs for the night." Natal chimed in. "We might as well make sure that the ones we have last."

"You know, I think this is the first time you've ever let me touch your weapons, Boomer," Rudy chuckled.

"This is a special case, Rudy; normally I wouldn't let you near it with a 50 foot pole," Boomer replied. "Not that I'd have to tell you that."

"Yeah, I know, sheesh," Rudy groaned. "Your temper's so explosive that, if it was a weapon, it would kick Deity's butt ten-fold."

"My anger's not THAT bad!" Boomer protested.

"...well, it kind of is." Sage chuckled, patting Boomer on the head. "Don't take it personally, though."

"...hrm..." Sonia hummed, as she glanced warily from side to side. "...they're not showing up... this is getting tense..."

"...we just need to be patient." Wiper said. "They're bound to come here eventually..."

Charmy overheard them and buzzed up the walkie-talkie. "Queen, are you guys still doing alright?"

"We are." Queen replied, as she glanced at the other defendants on her end. "We're keeping our cool, and so far, we're not seeing any movement."

"...kekekeke... when was the last time we were on the defensive, Miser?" Ripper mused, his arms folded.

"...a long time ago..." Miser murmured, as she aimed her railgun outside, ready to fire at anyone who were going to make a move on them.

"...F-Flammy..." Lin uttered, as she glanced at the toucan. "...d-do you think we can deal with them?"

"...that, I do not have the answer to," Flamenco muttered, keeping his eyes out.

"...but we must," Tasha added with a determined look on her face. "The rest of those people inside depend on us."

"...geez, don't remind us of the pressure, lady," groaned the mole-rat.

"Yeah; I mean, with all of those zombies lurking about..." the ferret murmured.

"Now that's not nice to say." Lin suddenly said, waggling a finger at the ferret. "They're not zombies, and they can be brought back."

"But with that Deity guy..." Will murmured, before sighing. "...sheesh, I dunno. Marco, just don't call 'em zombies, alright?" he told the ferret. "We don't need Marylin here to reprimand us for saying something like that."

"But come on; they infect others and are basically mindless. That screams "zombie" to me." the ferret known as Marco said, throwing his hands in the air.

"...Will, Seymour, Marco, Edmund." Queen uttered, shooting the four a glance. "Focus."

"Hey, don't say my whole name!" complained the mole-rat.

"Shut up Ed," the zebra growled.

The mole-rat, Ed, shut up, which left the zebra, Seymour, looking on out just like the others, waiting to see if anybody would show up at their door step.

"...hmm..." Queen hummed, as she folded her arms. ...I hope King and the others will be safe... she thought.

Up in the skies, Charon flew circles, really. They couldn't start the operation until contact was made with the enemy, so until then, Charon would be scouting the skies. In the meantime, Jack had enlightened Jill on a bit of information.

"...I see," Jill murmured, looking toward Jane. "So you aren't Oblivion?"

"Correct," Jane replied. "I'm merely taking care of her body so that Deity does not endanger her life."

"We're hoping that when we beat Deity, we can get Oblivion back to normal." Jack said with a nod.

Charon, in the meantime, was silent, merely observing the landscape below them.

"...and...you've met my mother?" Jill murmured, looking away.

"...yes," Jane answered.

"...how is she doing?"

Jane looked at the sky. "...I'm sure she's fine...but I haven't been in the spirit world in awhile. I've spent my time in this world as nothing but a butterfly..."

That information struck Jill, and she shot a look back at Jane. Memories of that winter in the snow, being cornered by wolves, rushed back to Jill. That butterfly...could that have been...her? More thoughts led to others, and Jill kept wondering more and more. "...Do you ever talk to other spirits?" Jill asked with a gulp.

"...I've been by myself a lot," Jane replied. "But the spirit I've ever really socialized with hardly ever comes to this world." Jane's thoughts suddenly jolted back to the same thing Jill was thinking of...

Yes, she was that butterfly from long ago, and she just now realized it when she looked at Jill again. This was that woman...how could that have slipped her mind like that?

"...you see," Jane continued, wanting to be careful with what she said. "...he...finds it hard to come here."

Jill's eyes widened.

"...hn?" Blinking, Charon spotted some movement, headed towards the shelter and shop. "...King. Warn the others. They're coming."

Nodding, King whipped out the walkie. "Listen up; we've spotted enemy movement, headed your way. Prepare for battle!"

Ed screamed at the sound of that, and held onto Seymour who pushed him away in disgust.

Striker felt something take his hand, and he looked over to see Ani. She was the one holding his hand. He wondered why that was, and for some reason he stared at Ani, and she looked back. "...we both better make it out of this," Ani muttered uneasily. "...okay?"

Striker looked at her for a long time. "...okay."

With a slight gulp, Miser steadied her aim, whilst Queen and Ripper stood by her. "...luck be with us." the rhino uttered.

"...alright..." Wiper hissed, as he folded his arms. "...bring it on."

They came out of the jungle without warning, numerous, maybe countless of the infected charging toward both groups; more with the group at the shop, since there were more defending it.

"FIRE!" screamed Boomer, though she really didn't have to say anything because on sight, everyone was unloading what they had into the army of zombies running at them. Every way one seemed to look, splatters of Corruption began covering the ground from the array of blasts fired from both groups.

Still, some groups of infected seemed to crawl their way past the blast, headed closer to the shelter.

"Tsch." Queen scoffed, before she glanced at the group she was stationed with. "Hold the fort." she said, before giving Ripper a nod. "Let's get them, with all haste."

"Kekekeke! I can get behind that plan!" In that instant, both the bear and the mantis leaped from the shelter, the latter slicing infected to ribbons the moment they got too close, and the former zipping hastily between the infected, slamming several of them away from the shelter, leaving them no room to get a chance at striking her.

"...whoa..." to see Safe Haven administrators giving so much into the fight that they never saw before, it left Will's group in awe.

With more of the infected coming though, it required Tasha's assistance as well, jumping right in. With her spear, she fought back many of them; cutting them in half or beheading them with the blade, and batting them away with the staff.

Back at the shop, much more zombies were pushing closer to them.

"Okay Cal!" Ani said.

Cal put his hands on the teen's shoulders, and a black glow amassed her. At first, it was making her feel a little nauseous, and then she fell to her knees on all fours, groaning. This was a signal to Cal to back away. Even if all of the boys had heard Ani turning into a werewolf, they never had the opportunity to see her change for themselves, so they curiously watched while they tried to keep fire.

First off, her arms and legs ripped through pieces of her clothing as they grew, though lucky some clothes remained attached to conceal...certain parts of her body. Opening her mouth when she moaned in pain, they could see her teeth grow and sharpen, and eventually she let out a beastly growl. Then, more tails spouted out from behind her.

Milo looked at her in horror.

Striker almost stopped for a minute, until one of the zombies nearly got him and he fired out of panic. "Keep focused, Striker!" Snap reminded him, though he too was terrified of Ani's transformation.

It had been a long time since she turned, and she took a minute to get over the nausea before she smirked with a sharp grin, and jumped right into the zombies, plowing through them.

"YAAAR! LET'S GET 'EM!" Whisker roared, as buzzsaws suddenly protruded from his wrists, before he leaped high into the air, slamming smack-dab into the middle of the crowd of infected, scattering them with a shockwave.

"Natal, Cal, cover me!" Wiper called, as he leaped into action as well. Lacking Ripper's blades and Queen's brute strength, Wiper focused on pinpoint precision, making sure to paralyze any infected he came across with precise jabs of his hands.

"Let's go!" Sonia called, leaping into action as well, kicking her way through the hordes of infected with graceful, dance-like moves.

As Queen and Ripper were cutting a wave through the infected, Miser noticed a group of them preparing a sneak attack on them. "Look out!" she called, quickly aiming her railgun and firing a shot, tearing through a good swathe of those infected.

"...man... they're good." Will uttered, feeling fairly insignificant as he and his comrades simply fired Unity-charged weapons at the infected.

All of the fighting below, and Charon's group from above just watched it a little.

"...they're holding their own, I see..." Lock hummed.

"...well, in any case, we should-" Charon murmured, when his gaze suddenly directed itself towards the ground. "Hang on!" Quickly, the group followed Charon's advice, just as the dragon began flying around in evasive maneuvers. Several bolts of what seemed to be dark energy shot at them, intending to fire them out of the sky.

Joy nearly flew off, but she was lucky since Jill grabbed her, and held her between herself and Charon so Joy was perfectly safe. If only Charon would sit still, so that she could pull out her bow and see if she could hit what was shooting at them.

"...who's firing at us?" King growled. "Maybe I oughta fire at them; see how they like it!"

"Don't push your luck!" Charon called, as he still kept trying to fly away from the projectiles. "Right now, we have to-"

At that point, one blast suddenly slammed right into Charon's gut, forcing him to let out a cry of pain. However, while it didn't start infecting him, it caused him to spiral out of control, sending everyone flying off his back, scattering the group; only Jack and Jane managed to hold onto the dragon as he plummeted downwards. Lock, King, Jill and Joy, however, were blown away in different directions towards the jungle.

Jill made sure to hang onto Joy tight, because Joy was really scared while falling at this kind of height. When they'd hit the trees though, Jill popped out her wings and they stopped and softened the fall, so Jill could literally land gently on her feet without any trouble.

"It's okay," she tried to ease her scared little daughter, hushing her.

"...mmmh..." At that point, the darkness around the trees that surrounded them began to waver. "...Jillian and Joy... how marvelous... I'm sure I can share the ultimate pleasure with you two..."

That voice was unmistakable. Emerging from the shadow of the trees was Hex, who looked at the two with that ungodly, sultry smirk of hers. "...the pleasure that comes from the darkness, that is." she chuckled.

While Joy shuddered, Jill just shook her head in pity. "I've heard that line before..."

"...oh, have you?" Hex chuckled. "...well, let's not waste time with idle chatter. Diablo wants the life of your child... but I think I'd rather keep her for myself... as a new plaything. I hope you won't mind, Jillian?"

All of a sudden, the darkness from the trees suddenly opened up like a wave, which threatened to swallow up both Jill and Joy. "Now, drown in my glorious darkness!" Hex cackled.

Just then, right above Jill and Joy, a bright, red light suddenly shone, before the darkness was pushed back by that light. "Your dark can't flush out my light!" a small, familiar voice called.

"...what?" Hex uttered, as she looked above Jill and Joy. There, hovering above them, was Tails Doll, who glared at the demonic octopus menacingly.

"Tais Doh!" Joy exclaimed.

Jill growled at what Hex said. She was glad that Tails Doll was here, but she'd have to take charge of the battle before Hex tried something worse. "You lay a tentacle on my daughter, and I'll give you the same thrashing I did at the tournament, only without mercy," Jill said, slowly setting Joy down on the ground.

"...mmmh... if that is what you wish..." Hex chuckled. "...I won't lay a tentacle on her..."

Just then, just next to Joy, darkness erupted upwards in the shape of a hand, which suddenly went and snatched Tails Doll. "AGH!"

"...but you and the doll are still fair game." Hex chuckled, as the hand rushed away from Jill and Joy, towards the octopus.

"Whaa!" Tails Doll cried, trying to break free. "...what's with this? It's like she can control shadows!" he called, shooting a glance at Hex, who was still laughing.

"Leave Tais Doh alone!" Joy cried, and she was going to run to Hex, but Jill stopped her with a hand.

"...let me handle it," she whispered. "...I promise nothing will happen to Tails Doll..." Joy looked up at her mother in despair, but she obeyed, stepping back a little bit...

...and Jill waved a hand, so a barrier suddenly appeared around Joy. Shocked, she pounded against it, but found that she could get out of it. "MAMA!" she cried.

"...sorry Joy," Jill murmured under her breath. "Can't take any chances..." then she turned back to Hex, opening her hand. A green energy granted the ewe her bow, which was still made like it had been at the final battle with Deity years ago; one half of the bow was made with an angel wing, and the other, a demonic wing. The bow string of course, was still golden, like she remembered.

Pulling back on the string, a golden arrow appeared in place. "Let him go," Jill said.

"...oh, my." Hex chuckled. "Aren't you the brave one, Jillian..." Then, she shrugged. "Sadly, I have to... mmmh... say no."

Just then, shadowy arms shot from the ground and grabbed hold of Jill's arms, keeping her in place. "Did you not consider my ability when you aimed your weapon at me?" Hex said in a mocking tone. "Thanks to the overwhelming might of Corruption, I'm able to manipulate any shadow that is in contact with my own." Then, she laughed. "Wouldn't you say that it's lucky, that we're in the middle of a dark forest, at midnight, with the moon covered by rain clouds?"

Jill only glared at Hex. "...and doing things to me in front of my daughter is just as unforgivable, just so you know..."

"Oh, my; so many taboos." Hex chuckled. "But I must sate my lust somehow... so, who shall drown in darkness?" she said, first pointing at Joy. "The daughter?" Then, she pointed at Jill. "The mother?" Finally, her finger moved towards Tails Doll. "Or the toy?"

"...Jill..." Tails Doll uttered, as he glanced at the ewe. "...what do we do?"

Jill grit her teeth, and bowed her head. ...not again, she thought.

Silence.

Then finally...Jill started chuckling, which broke out into a cackling laughter; something incredibly unlike her.

Hearing that, Hex blinked. "...oh, my. Did you lose your mind? And I didn't even do anything..."

Jill finally calmed, but with a smirk; her eyes closed still.

Then she uttered this out, "$#%(#*()_$()." Which only said this to Hex.

"Release us."

Suddenly, the shadow hands just vanished without Hex's control.

Hex's eyes widened. "...what? How could you command my darkness like that?"

Quickly, as he had been released, Tails Doll fluttered over to Jill, looking at her warily.

"Not only are you going against Ms. Goody Goody Mom," Jill laughed. "But you're up against the former Princess of Darkness. I sure miss being able to use Corruption like you guys can." Then she opened her eyes, and revealed that they were red. "Oh well. Nice to know I can kick your slithering, slimy ass. At least, I THINK you have one, right Hex?"

Hex growled, before she cracked her neck. "...hmph. So, you think you're hot stuff, huh?" she snarled. "I couldn't care less about you being some princess; the dark is mine to rule!"

"Oh really?" Jill only chuckled. "I was still kicking when you lost your virginity. Too bad I can't give you guys pointers though. Seems I get stuck being forced to work with the good guys." Opening her hand, she brought out a weapon she hadn't seen in a LONG time; that long, black scythe with that black rose in its hilt.

Joy just looked at her in disbelief.

Snarling, Hex allowed shadows to manifest around her arms, forming a long javelin, its blade burning a dark flame. "Don't expect this to be an easy battle, "princess"." she said with spite in her tone.

"There are some words I could say, but I'm sure Mommy wants me to be careful what I say around her little girl," Jill chuckled. "I'm already pushing it." Then she lunged at Hex with a swing.

However, the dark fire around Hex's javelin suddenly formed a barrier that stopped the scythe. "How poor!" she mocked, before aiming a series of slashes at the ewe.

Jill proceeded to block these, and she REALLY had some things to say. "Joy, honey, I'd just cover your ears from now on," she chuckled.

Joy obeyed, holding her hands on her ears firmly.

"You too plush-toy," Jill said, looking at Tails Doll.

"...kay." Tails Doll nodded, placing his hands where his ears would have been.

"...man, it was priceless enough holding the idea of sex against him, but to think that she had competition!" Jill suddenly laughed. "Who knew the Toaster would attract the ladies like that?" And she returned Hex's attacks with more swings of the scythe blade.

"Well, he is quite the catch!" Hex called back, the fire from her javelin still acting as a shield, whilst she swung her weapon at Jill. "Once I've dealt with you, I'll take Metal Sonic for a ride of pleasure he will never forget!"

"Oh, you will?" Jill only kept smirking. "Well, I don't think you could top what they had. No siree..."

Gritting her teeth, Hex began putting more effort into her assault. "What makes you think that she could be anything compared to me?" she snarled.

Jill only blocked with more ease. "Oh, I don't know," she continued; finding it entertaining that this really bothered Hex. "She had a certain...knack for finding his hot spots."

One could see that Hex was losing her patience. "And you're saying that I couldn't do that? What do you think these tentacles were made for, you hussy? Cooking sushi?"

"I could make you into sushi if I wanted," Jill chuckled. "But in all seriousness, I think Jill might be a prodigy and she doesn't even know it...I guess it's a pity she saved herself for only two guys..." Jill smirked. "...well, make that three, really." When Hex's focus was tampered with enough, Jill punched Hex in the face with a Unity-augmented punch.

"FUAH!" Hex cried out, skidding back a bit from that punch. "...gaah..." she uttered, trailing a tentacle against where she had been punched. "...you bitch!" she screamed, as four arms of darkness quickly grabbed Jill's arms and legs, before a fifth arm suddenly shot out and punched her in the gut with incredible force. Once it connected, the arms vanished before she could command them to disappear.

Jill coughed, and then spat, still smirking. "Oh, does it really bother you that much?" she continued. "Are you really that intent on getting him?"

"It's not just him, now." Hex snarled, as a pair of hands suddenly slammed against Jill's knees, to force her to kneel. "With my power, I shall plunge the entire world into a cesspool of pleasure! Once I'm done, I will be treated as a goddess amongst men and women alike! And I will not have some third-rate whore make a mockery of me!" Then, more hands began rocketing out of the dark, viciously pummeling Jill.

Jill took the beatings with a smile, still. Making Hex mad like this was worth getting hurt. "Don't you really want his leg to brush against your back like it did for her?" Jill whispered deviously. "To feel his fingers counting your rips up like he did for her?"

Hex's pupils grew smaller in pure rage at these comments. "...shut up!" she yelled, as more hands began pummeling Jill even more than before. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Joy grew more afraid watching Jill get beaten up like this, but it was almost...hopeful to still see her smiling; though to any sensible person, they would just find that plain creepy. "...oh, how he moaned at her touch..." she said in-between pained grunts and winces. "...when her hands clawed at his back..."

"SHUT UP!" At this point, Hex had truly lost it, as she ran right at Jill, hoisted her to her feet, and began slapping her repeatedly. "!"

When Hex actually got to a point where she paused from her slapping to see if Jill was still even conscious, she was and beaming proudly. "...got'cha." Then Hex felt a tremendous amount of pain in her gut. Slowly looking down, she saw that Jill's sword ran right through her abdomen.

"...wha..." Hex coughed, as she stepped away from Jill, looking down at the blade through her. "...what is...?"

"...there's one thing that makes sex so breathtaking, Hex, and I'll come off like such a cheesy sap for saying it," Jill uttered, stumbling from the hits she had taken. "But there's a reason they call it "love making." Unfortunately, you're even colder than I am...cold as death itself, it seems."

Sinking to her knees, Hex glared up at Jill. "...y-you..." she coughed, as black goo dripped from her wound and mouth.

Jill sauntered up to her then, and leaned down to her face, smirking at her. "...by the way," she whispered with a chuckle. "...Johnny's tentacle sex is better..."

At that point, Hex's eyes widened. "...you... you... you..."At that point, she suddenly let out a deafening scream, as an aura of darkness exploded around her, sending Jill hurling right into the barrier keeping Joy safe.

The barrier shattered, and Jill grabbed Joy to make sure she wouldn't get hurt. Then she glanced back. "...hm...something tells me I shouldn't have said that..." she murmured.

"...can I take my hands off my ears?" Joy asked.

"...I'd keep them there; it'd be wise," Jill advised, standing back up to face Hex, holding Joy in her arms.

Hex was still screaming, as suddenly, the dark cloud underneath her tentacles shot upwards, engulfing the octopus. Soon, the screaming died out, and a wicked laughter began roaring through the air, as the three could see a pair of purple glows shine through the dark whirlwind.

"...what's happening to her?" Tails Doll called.

"Oh, I'll tell you..." Hex voice laughed, though now, it was heavily distorted. "...the witch within Jillian has brought forth a beast without compare!" At that point, the whirlwind vanished, letting the three see that Hex's entire being was covered in a gaseous darkness, her glowing eyes and mouth the only parts of her body that weren't covered by darkness.

Jill's mouth slanted. "Hm...that doesn't look good."

"Stop it!" Joy uttered in fear, clutching to Jill. "Don't make her more mad, Callous!"

"Oh, it's far too late for you to stop me, now!" Hex laughed, as suddenly, tentacles of darkness erupted from her body, quickly wrapping up both Jill and Joy, hoisting them high up into the air. "Now, Callous, you will see the fruits of your hubris! The body of your host, and her daughter, will both be subjected to the most humiliating, painful, and pleasurable experience in their lives! You've brought this on yourself!" Then, she smirked. "...and this time... you cannot dismiss my beauties."

Jill actually frowned on that, and Joy held to her helplessly. "Oh bite me," she grumbled. But she didn't know what to do about Joy; she certainly didn't want her to be subjected to what Hex had to offer.

"Now... we'll begin with Joy." Hex chuckled, as she gazed upon the small ewe, another tentacle protruding from her chest. "Say farewell to your virginity!"

"Oh, hell no!" Suddenly, Tails Doll sped right at Hex, and slammed into her face, which startled the octopus.

"GUH?" she coughed, before she glared at the plushie. "Why, you little-" she growled, but by that point, Tails Doll's gem began glowing, shining a brilliant light on Hex's chest, forcing her to cry out in pain.

"I may be just a doll, but even I know when you're stepping out of line!" Tails Doll yelled, before he began rapidly slamming into Hex, whilst shining a light on her. And each time he slammed into Hex, he yelled out one word, which was punctuated by him slamming into her. "YOU! DO! NOT! THREATEN! JOY! LIKE! THAT! WHEN! I'M! NEARBY! DO! YOU! GET! IT! YOU! NASTY! FILTHY! OBSCENE! SULTRY! MANIPULATIVE! HORRID! MEAN! OCTOPUS!"

"Well, since I've done as much damage as I could really do," Jill looked to Joy. "...go ahead kid."

Joy looked at Jill questionably.

"...I saw what you did for those guys," Jill said. "And your Daddy told you to be strong, right? I think now's the time to be strong, wouldn't you say?"

Joy alternated glances between Hex being beaten up by Tails Doll, and Jill. Then she nodded, and closed her eyes to concentrate. A green glow covered her and Jill.

Jill only closed her eyes, and tried to help with some Unity. Cainfield, I'd never imagine you and Jill making a baby with this much power, she thought.

"Guh... GET LOST!" Hex shrieked, as she suddenly smacked Tails Doll away from her, before she looked up at Jill and Joy. "...what...?"

"...Jill? Joy...?" Tails Doll uttered, as he recovered from that blow Hex dealt him.

Both of them reopened their eyes and looked to Hex; both of their eyes illuminating with a green glow. "...you know what else is insulting besides being made fun of for what you're known for?" Jill asked. "...being beaten by a 3 year old."

Then both of them outstretched their hands and aimed a combined, supermassive beam of green energies, aimed right for Hex.

Unable to move out of the way in time, Hex was struck by that beam, forcing her to let out a painful cry. "AAAAAGH! IT BURNS! MAKE IT STOP!" she screamed in agony.

Since Jill was free, she brought out her blade and set Joy down. "Okay, I'll make it stop," Jill quipped, running at Hex and stabbing her yet again in the place she hit her with the beam; not to mention that she instilled more Unity into that stab.

That elicited yet another shriek of agony from the octopus, who could only look weakly at Jill now. "...n-no... I... I don't want to... please... save me..." she pleaded desperately.

Jill's eyes were green, looking at Hex with an unsympathetic look; they had been green since the beam they shot at her. She had plenty of reasons not to save her, and without any need of explanation she could let her really die, but deep down, Jill was the same. She always considered mercy on even the coldest, most malicious opponent.

...but then she remembered what Spiel told her at the tournament.

"...maybe for once, I don't want my nightmares coming back to haunt me," she said. "Have you ever thought of that?" and she stabbed Hex again.

"Agh..." Hex could barely speak now, as the darkness around her began withering away. "...n-no... I-I don't like this... please... make it..." Then, she actually grabbed Jill's blade, weakly pulling it out of her body, before she stumbled backwards. "...this... doesn't... feel... good..."

Then, she collapsed on the ground, the darkness around her being whisked away by the wind. Soon, they could see her corrupted form lying in the grass, dark goo leaking from her wounds, and her breath rapid. "...I-I can't breathe..." she coughed, dark goo spilling from her mouth as well.

Just as Jill approached Hex, Joy grabbed her hand. "Stop it Mama!" Jill looked down, and instantly her heart was broken to see her little girl crying her heart out. She was crying for this heartless, scandalous woman, of all people...

"...no Mama," Joy sobbed. "Don't kill her..."

Hearing those words, Hex weakly looked towards Joy. "...ack... a-are you..." she coughed, as she began shivering from what seemed to be blood-loss.

Jill didn't know what to do.

"...member what you did for Daddy, Mama?" Joy wept. "...You didn't seed him as a bad person...you made him better..."

That actually brought tears to Jill's eyes. "...Joy...it's...not the same thing..."

"...yes it is Mama..." Joy tried to say, walking over to Hex's body.

"...kkh..." Hex coughed, merely watching Joy. "...I... was going to... abuse you..." she uttered. "...doesn't that... bother you in the slightest? Don't you want to... see me suffer...?"

Joy only sent a white glow to her hands. "...I don't want anybody to feel sad..." she murmured.

"...kkh..." Hex coughed, as she closed her eyes. "...th-that... kind spirit of yours..." she uttered. "...it could... g-get you in trouble... later on..."

Joy knelt down by her, and placed her hands on Hex, ready to do what she was going to do.

Just then, one of Hex's tentacles placed itself on Joy's shoulder.

"Ah- HEY!" Tails Doll called. "You get your-"

"Please..." Hex croaked, tears actually welling from her eyes. "...y-you... s-stop Diablo... that d-darkness is... frightening..." As she spoke, the tentacle slipped off Joy. "...please... stop him..."

Jill was utterly amazed that Hex had not harmed her daughter, the only one who was willing to show mercy toward her. So she watched Joy concentrate, and soon, a white glow took over Hex.

As the glow passed over her, one could see her skin showing white cracks across her body. Before long, the cracks grew innumerable, and soon enough, her entire body split in two. Like a cocoon, one could see Hex's original body lying within the cracked shell, still breathing heavily, though more relaxed than before.

"...whoa..." Tails Doll uttered in awe.

Jill was so weakened to see this, petrified really, as Joy pulled her hands away and looked down at Hex. "...see Mama..." Joy muttered. "...you didn't hafta kill her..."

"...th-thank... you..." Hex managed to utter, merely looking at Joy with a weak smile. "...you... be careful..." At that point, her eyes closed, as she fell unconscious; the strain of both the Corruption and the battle having taken a lot out of her.

Jill was still frozen when Joy looked up at her. Jill finally released her blade, and it disappeared before it could even drop onto the ground. Then she dropped to her knees and embraced Joy, who wept a little in her mother's shoulder. Even if Jill had prepared her for it, she was still scared with what just happened. Jill could even tell that Joy may have known that she would get hurt, but she saved Hex anyway.

...strong...just like Brick, Jill thought, letting out her tears too.

Tails Doll could only look at the two, before he looked towards the octopus. ...man... that was... he thought. ...nice going, Joy.