Final Vision

Event 21: Snowstorm's Arrival
"I will not give up on him. I can not give up on him."

However you are far removed from him.

"We support each other, a tree and its branches."

But broken the two of you are as nothing.

"No amount of time can tear apart what we've built together. Through all of the blood, sweat, and tears we were able to construct a tower of strength."

Yet it shows signs of crumbling and weakness. Who are you to say that it's indestructible?

"I didn't."

…Go on.

"Nothing last forever. We are not promised another day, second, or breath. We are proud and haughty to walk upon this earth with such fearlessness of nonexistence, such to the point that we become blind of it. But to say that we are indestructible is the façade of a fool. As truthful as it is, it makes for an interesting paradox: the way we foolishly hide the truth is also the way we protect ourselves as well."

From insanity? From self injury? You suggest that living like a thoughtless person is your safety net from falling into nonexistence?

"If that's what it takes, then yes. It is as I said, I can not give up on him for I know that he will not give up on me. As stupid as we are seemingly throwing our lives away, it is how we survived throughout our ordeals…past and present."

Hmm…you certainly have acquired a great inner strength throughout these ten years. Nonetheless, you are still physically weak when compared to me. Unlike Shadow, you lack the power to remain here in a physical manifestation so your death will be one less nuisance to me.

"True, but he will be here as long as you are and will not fade until you do so. No matter how hard you try to separate yourself from him, you can not deny destiny. Together the two of your were born and so is how you will die. I am ready to except this possible fate of Shadow."

…Insolence.

Gradually Amy regained her consciousness and became aware the suspension of her body though it was short lived. Immediately she could feel gravity pull her down, the wind traversing through the strands of her pink hair and suddenly…impact. She hit the rocky pavement of a street, her face in slight pain. Wiping off the crumbs of gravel from her face, the hedgehog pushed herself up to her hands and knees and shook off the dazed feeling roaming in her head. Her eyes opened to darkness, or at least a feigned darkness. She looked up and could see maybe ten feet of pavement ahead of her. Beyond that, the black fog obscured her view. She staggered to her feet and looked around her in the dark fog.

"Where is he?" she thought knowing that it was the work of Ergos.

Her head turned with every noise she heard. From one side to the next; she didn't let anything go without some kind of notice towards it. It was then when her ears picked up on a peculiar whisper in the wind. What it said was incomprehensible but it clearly wasn't a friendly voice. Gradually the whispers became clearer and clearer until she found herself listening to quite a sinister message.

"…Death awaits…suffer you must…no mercy for the weak…"

Immediately Amy whipped out her metal rod that extended out into her heavy-weighted hammer. The weapon dropped to the pavement loudly but Amy made sure her arms were ready to lift the device at a moments notice. The unsettling message filled the air until she was unsure of where its source was. Suddenly, the whispers died down but the young woman's instincts chimed in and she looked behind her just in time to see a red glow from within the fog. Fog particles were quickly parted as whipping flames of yellows, reds, and oranges forced their way through to the hedgehog. She dove to the ground, her hammer still in her hands and sweat already seeping out of her face. A shaking roar came from above and Amy rolled to her feet and ran from where she was just as something heavy slammed into the ground. She looked back to see a large figure standing in the fog.

"It's him." There was no doubt about it.

Ergos, though obscured by the fog, extended his wings and crouched over onto his hands. His red eyes pierced the fog and only increased Amy's courage against him causing her to lift her hammer, her muscles being pushed to their limits.

"Come at me…" she murmured though Ergos may have heard her.

He roared again and came charging at her and, for the first time in years, Amy had a clear glimpse of his reptile face and the incisors that occupied his mouth. Quickly she swung her hammer and made contact with Ergos. He reared back, a few of his teeth chipped, but returned with a poisonous claw heading for the young woman. The attack was noticed off to her right and thus she jumped back just as the scale covered limb swooshed by her and back to Ergos. She couldn't hesitate at this moment, it was possibly the only opening she had and so Amy took advantage of it and charged.

Her battle cry not only enabled her to lift her metallic weapon but also fostered up the necessary strength needed to take on the winged beast. Running blindly through dark fog, Amy's heart raced anticipating the form of Ergos appearing before her shortly…but something brought her journey to a complete halt. She lost her footing, tripping over something large that had evaded her vision. Her body hit the pavement; the fight within her fissured. The thudding noise of her hammer hitting the ground was followed by an even more sinister noise. A growl.

From above her, a large claw slammed down onto the hedgehog with intentions of crushing her. Her screams that filled the air died out quickly as oxygen escaped her lungs. Soon she was whittled down to a squeak and tears of pain as Ergos' claw continued its press.

"Don't give up on him…he wouldn't give up on you…"

…As soon as these thoughts passed through her mind, roars of pain came from the beast again. Immediately Amy's body was relieved of the pressure and she inhaled gratefully while pushing herself to her knees. Ergos was still roaring uncontrollably so the hedgehog took it upon herself to attack his figure which was only a few feet from her. Her metal hammer slammed into his foot grabbing his attention and suddenly his face was heading towards her. Dropping the hammer, Amy held out her hands in self defense and made contact with his skin. A sizzling noise was heard and again the monster was thrown back, now holding his face.

"What's going on?" Amy looked down at her hands.

Soon her answer came back to her in the form of heated words.

"That power! That cursed power within you!" Ergos growled back at her. "How?"

…I am here… You have taken care of him for me and for that I thank you.

"Who is that?" Amy searched around for the gentle voice that spoke to her.

I will lend you my strength in hopes of defeating the evil that destroyed me and everyone close to Shadow. Be strong…stand your ground.

Amy questioned the voice once more but it appeared to have left her with the instructions of "stand your ground".

"Could it be…?" A farfetched idea but possible in such a strange town.

As her eyes looked up for signs of the monster, she noticed that the dark fog was beginning to dissipate. More and more became visible and eventually she could see the afternoon sky…and a menacing figure looming over her. For the first time in a decade, Amy saw the beast's whole form in all of it's glory. Before, it was only at night and blended in well with the dark surroundings. However in the light, every fearsome detail could be seen; the blood stained claws, the millions of tiny scales that covered him, his muscular limbs, dripping incisors, bloodshot eyes, and awestruck wingspan that matched the length of two grown trees laid across the ground.

In between his large nostrils were two grayish handprints left by Amy, yet that injury seemed futile when compared the rest of the anger surging through every fiber of his body. She still felt some bravery but much of it fled when Ergos rid himself of his only cover. He crouched over, claws just feet from Amy, and breathed and arid breeze towards the hedgehog. Her lip trembled; she couldn't get near him now, not without losing an arm or half of her body.

"He wouldn't give up on me…" she kept telling herself. "I know he's coming…I know he'll be here…I know…"

All thoughts, movement, time, space, and every piece of the world that made it move froze. A wind of anticipation blew, overwhelming the atmosphere. Her green eyes looked off down the deserted road and could hear the faint sounds of his arrival. Her heart pounded with every swish his shoes made. Her legs tingled in sync wit his muscles. When she breathed, he huffed, when her ears twitched, his fell flatter against his skull. The wind turned cold stinging her opened eyes, and snowflakes blew in from nothing.

He was here. The snowstorm had arrived to do away with the terror and bring justice.

Her eyes were blinded by the white wind and she could hear Ergos struggling against it as well. Sudden Amy felt herself being hoisted up into familiar arms and her carrier came to an abrupt stop. The snowstorm died down and the town was covered in a white powder. In the winter settings, her trembling breath urged him to pull her near. The sweet scent of her hair resting beneath his nose was inviting… and something else was there as well. Intangible but thriving within Amy. Ergos snapped at them again but Shadow had scooped up his love and dashed off down the snow covered road. The dragon wasted no time in giving chase and flew after them. Despite Shadow's speed, Ergos caught up easily and breathed out an astonishing flame. The explosion blew Shadow off his feet and Am out of his arms. He reached out for her in desperation but his efforts were futile. They separated, tumbling across the snow that had turned into slush from the fire.

Through strands of soaking wet hair, Amy watched as Shadow's body became trapped my Ergos' claw. She felt her hands and legs push her up and ran towards him. She wanted to help him, "fight by his side" as she had always told him in many ways before. That's all that mattered at this critical moment, fighting by his side and winning this drawn out battle. Suddenly, Shadow opened his eyes and they met with Amy's. Immediately she stopped running thinking that he still had some fight within him. However, the situation was more dire than she realized. It eluded her completely, the fact that she had stopped running because Ergos had a hold of her arm. The apparition was freed from the dragon's hold at the same time and rushed to try and save her. Upon seeing the panicked look in Shadow's eyes, all of the hope she had of fighting by his side vanished and suddenly she was terrified of dying.

"Save me…" her lips motioned and a tear fell from her eye.

Amy's frail body was tossed high into the air, her arm ripping from her torso. Blood sprinkled into Ergos' mouth as his head went up and trapped her in his jaws. Shadow's cries filled the air. A hand could be seen sandwiched between razor sharp white fangs. The dragon opened his mouth and inhaled to swallow Amy whole.

For a moment the world stopped and a million thoughts filled Shadow's head. His love had vanished before his eyes and, like so many before her, the only thing she left behind were sweet memories. He could stand for it no more. Innocent lives taken all because of him, dreams shattered all because of him, the pain that Shadow had to deal with throughout the years coming directly from him.

A violent wind of ice and snow surrounded Shadow. He sped off toward the reptile leaving behind the bloody appendage that had fallen next to him. His fist rocketed towards Ergos; the beast's head twisted and a sickening snap could be heard. Sticking out of his neck and almost piercing his skin was a neck bone yet he moved it back easily and smiled. Shadow tried again and sent large icicles towards his enemy. Nearly all of them hit their mark piercing the dragon's torso, face, wings, and anything in the open. But even that proved to be useless as he regenerated himself immediately afterwards.

"Care to try again?" he spoke.

So the futile attempts continued on with attack after attack. Shadow's powers caused destruction to the battlefield that he failed to realize in his blind fury. All the while the dragon laughed at every attack and eventually Shadow's undying fighting spirit gave way to fatigue. He was exhausted from his rage and knelt in the snowy debris before Ergos. The dragon shook his head ashamed of Shadow's weakness.

"I really thought that our final encounter would be a worthy fight. Instead all I get is second rate effort from you. Shame on you Shadow, Really."

The smaller half was too tired to respond. He wanted to rip that taunting tongue from the dragon's jaws.

"I suppose I should've expected as much. You've had short victories in the past but I always came out on top in the end. Farewell my weaker half."

Ergos was down on all fours opening his blood dripping mouth wide open for another meal. Suddenly he stopped short of the hedgehog. An upsetting feeling stirred his stomach. Followed by a piercing pain that forced him to keel over. Ergos' claws began to rip his stomach trying to get to the source, but the damage was already taking its toll. A small spec of gray appeared on his abdomen and was slowly spreading. The bigger the gray area grew, the more pain Ergos felt. His scales cracked with his sudden movements; something inside was killing him.

The dragon fell over and roared out the unbearable pain he felt. Ergos' eyes met with Shadow's and he reached out for the hedgehog but the small half was just out of reach. Desperation turned to failure as the dragon's body quickly began to die, his skin turning a dismal gray. His body cracked falling to pieces which then turned to dust. Shadow couldn't believe his eyes. His lifelong enemy crumbled away before him leaving behind a mountain of dust…and the love of his life was gone as well.

As much as he wanted to leave he couldn't. Physically, he was still too weak to even push himself to his feet and so he remained in the snow staring at the pile of dust. Even that became too much for him to bear knowing that Amy's remains was somewhere among the dust as well.

When his heart began to rip, Shadow mustered up whatever strength he could and began to crawl away, tears streaming down his face. Suddenly something in the corner of is eye caught his attention. Something hidden in the dust pile was moving. The hedgehog's ears perked and he found himself rushing to the pile and brushed away the dust. A maligned hand revealed itself grasping for air. His heart skipped a beat. Was this possible? She's supposed to be dead. Amy truly had a strong spirit and this was her reward after living through such an ordeal. Quickly, Shadow pulled Amy from Ergos' remains and, again, noticed the ethereal energy she gave off. However, she was a complete mess covered in blood and stomach residue which the dust clung to. Her perfect features were hideous and her right arm bled profusely causing her to fade in and out of consciousness. A broken hand reached up and touched Shadow's cheek. He cradled it being careful of the misshapen bones.

"Shadow…" Amy's eyes wandered to his.

He nodded and smiled.

"I heard her…I heard Maria's voice."

Shadow's eyes became alert and wondered if that was the energy he felt.

"She said 'be strong' and 'stand your ground'. I took care of you for her…she was happy."

"Maria." Shadow mouthed the name and Amy smiled crookedly with the muscles that still worked.

So it was her after all, still watching over him like the sister she had always been. Amy's hand trembled against Shadow's face and her eyes began to roll back into her head.

"Amy!" Shadow said.

She looked at him against and strained a smile.

"We did it…together."

The apparition smiled.

"Shadow I…I…"

"I love you too." he finished for her. "I know. I--no. We both have always known."

A tear fell from her eye…she was happy, her love had been declared. With that, she allowed her worries to escape her, her pain to fade, and said farewell to dark feelings. Shadow's lips moved saying "goodbye", she no longer heard his voice. Everything was brightening, a light was shining into her eyes. She whited out and was grateful for the life she lived.