Chapter 25
There is one more chapter after this, then it's over! :,(
I'll post the next chapter tomorrow, so you guys don't have to wait another week.
Guest, Christian Wolf27, TheJokingClown, RebelMM, thanks for the reviews!
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I own Amara, the name Shadykins, and this story. The Sonic Crew belongs to Sega.
Amara's P.O.V.
"You'll have to deal with us first!" I turn and find Sonic, Silver, and Knuckles turned super, glaring at Dovarian determinedly. I didn't even notice them tap into the Light Chaos power.
"Sure." Dovarian flicks his wrist and tendrils, both World and Chaos from what I can see and sense, ensnare the trio, forcing them to stay right where they are. Dovarian turns his attention back to me.
"Let me start by using my manners. Will you please turn into your Overseer form?"
"No." I raise my chin determinedly. I will not let him control me.
"I was hoping you would say that." He chuckles darkly. "You know, this is a new experience for me. For five millennia, I have only dealt with Shadow, trying to temp him any possible way that I could. Unfortunately, he kept himself isolated from everyone and always knew who I was before I could even introduce myself. Every attempt I made failed. That changed after I finally found you, however.
"After I transported you back to this world, I somehow lost track of you. For awhile there, I was actually looking for a human girl. My mistake." He chuckles. "I found you again after you turned Dark. It was then that I noticed the strong friendship you and Shadow shared. I finally had what I needed to tempt Shadow. So, I waited for the right opportunity to make my first move: your death. Blinded by grief, Shadow finally made a deal with me in exchange for your life. Sweet, right?" I clench my jaw. I can just hear the smile in his voice. "I got even luckier as you two grew even closer, making it so much easier to make sure Shadow kept his promise."
"Now, here we are. I just need to figure out how to break you now." Dovarian begins to slowly walk towards me. I keep still, continuing my gathering of the Light power. I need to stay strong and logical now. It's my only hope.
"You would gladly sacrifice yourself for others, so threatening to kill you slowly and painfully is out. Threatening your friends' lives then?" He stops in front of me and glances at my friends behind me. "No, they are too happy with self-sacrificing as well. Well then, threatening your love's life it is. I can remove the spell that lets him be reborn. You would never see him again." I glance at Shadow to see his reaction to that, but he remains impassive, still watching me.
"He would be in a better place." I look back at Dovarian and keep my voice leveled. Be strong.
"Would he? I will create his own personal hell, torturing his soul for the rest of his existence. Can you be responsible for that?" Dovarian threatens. I narrow my eyes at him.
"Have you forgotten that I have already died? I felt the power of the afterlife. I KNOW you do not have that kind of power. You can bring recently-deceased people back from the dead, but you cannot control how the afterlife works." This, gets a small reaction from Shadow. His eyes flash with annoyance as he glances at Dovarian.
"Hmm, you are smart too. Oh well." Dovarian walks back over to Shadow. "It does not mean I cannot torture him though."
Before I can comprehend, a sickening snap is heard and Shadow falls to his knees with a pain-filled yell, clutching his side. Automatically I step forward in concern, but the tendrils come back and keep me in place. I try to command them to release me, but once again, I fail.
"I will break as many of his bones as painfully as I can before he can die. Then I will heal him with my powers and repeat the process." Another snap and yell, Shadow now on his side. I wince and shut my eyes to keep me from seeing his pain. "I will stop his suffering once you transform." The tendril covering my mouth removes itself. Another snap. I keep silent. Stay. Strong. The world is depending on me now, and I can't let my heart lead me. Two cracks sound, his shout of pain following.
"Shadow." Amy whimpers and I hear her take a couple steps.
"Amy, stop!" Sonic yells at her, still bound in place by the tendrils. Her steps stop.
"There's nothing we can do. Not even Amara." Rouge gravely tells her. I ignore them and the pain in my heart as it breaks from hearing Shadow's pain. By now I have a large amount of the Light power gathered, but I don't know what to do with it. It won't do me any good using it to attack Dovarian. He's too powerful.
An even louder crack. Stay logical.
"Amara!" The desperation in his voice makes me open my eyes and look at him. Blood runs out the corner of his mouth as he lays on his back, and he stares at me. My heart breaks even more, tears starting to fall down my face again. My Shadow is in there somewhere, and he's hurting. "Please!" His leg jerks at an unnatural angle, another crack sounding. "Stop this!" He groans between his clenched teeth. I can't tear my gaze away from him. He's hurting. No! Stay strong! But-
His back twists sickeningly with the loudest crack of them all. "AMARA!" He screams in utter agony.
"Stop it!" I shriek at Dovarian.
"Transform." He commands. Shadow yells again, losing strength now. I whimper, my will starting to crumble.
Be logical. Be st-
Shadow screams again, his voice gargling from blood. The sound destroys me.
"Okay okay!" I sob. "I'll do it! Just please, stop!" Tears pour out of my eyes.
"Good girl." Dovarian says, voice full of triumph. The tendrils release me and I slump to my knees. I look at all my friends behind me and meet their horrified and tearful looks.
"I'm s-sorry. S-so s-s-sorry." I sob uncontrollably now. I was wrong, I wasn't strong enough for this. I'm weak. A failure. I should have left when I had the chance. Now, everybody has to suffer from my mistake.
"Transform!" Dovarian demands. Still crying, I obey. The usual pain feels nothing compared to what is going on in my heart right now. This innocent world and its people are doomed, just because I couldn't stand to see Shadow, even though it wasn't the real him, in such pain. I deserve to be a mindless slave. I open my eyes one last time as myself and look at the crippled Shadow.
"If you can hear me, I'm sorry Shadow." My voice cracks. Deciding he needs it more than I do, I send all the Light power that I've accumulated to Shadow. I could've kept it for myself and maybe resist Dovarian's darkness, but what's the point? I can't defeat Dovarain without Shadow by my side, so I might as well end his pain. I watch as the surrounding tendrils, and then some, dissolve into me, the pain almost matching what I'm already going through.
I've failed.
XXXXX
Shadow's P.O.V.
Dovarian warned me about maybe having to torture me to break Amara, I just did not expect the amount of pain I would actually experience. It is, by far, the worst physical pain I have ever felt. It also does not help my annoyance towards Dovarian. I promised to transform at his command because he threatened to torture Amara's soul. Now I find out Dovarian does not have the power to do that. I do not like when I am lied to.
I watch from the ground as Amara turns into her Overseer form, not even flinching from the pain transforming brings. That is my girl. Amara's brown hair turns black, her fur white, and her irises black. She looks at me, tears still falling down her cheeks. Why is she crying? She should be happy. We can be together forever now, helping Dovarian rule this world and ending all the crime of others. Oh well, she will understand soon enough.
"If you can hear me, I'm sorry Shadow." Her voice cracks with sadness and shame. Why say that? I am right here. I suddenly feel a warm sensation fill me, the fiery pain in my body dissipating. What is this? Light World Power? She sent it to heal me. Soon every broken bone of mine is healed, not even an ounce of soreness left.
My relief is only short-lived, though, before the Light World power clashes with the Dark Chaos power for control within me, the pain multiple times worse than it usually is. I try to order it away, but I cannot control the World power. I have no choice but to lay there as their battle wreaks havoc on my body. Amara gathered a lot more of the power than I thought, for it is actually equal to the amount of Dark power. Realizing neither one can overpower the other, the powers merge together, intensifying the pain. It is not long before the merge reaches my head, making my head feel like it might split in half. After the pain subsides, I find my thoughts to be clear, not enough darkness around to warp them.
Clear-headed and filled with a massive amount of power, I open my eyes and stand up. A quick observation of things tells me that instead of several minutes passing after Amara gave me the Light power like I thought, only several seconds has passed. I am actually just in time to see Dovarian finish inserting Dark World power into Amara. The white mist that no longer surrounds me, now surrounds Amara and her eyes are all black. The sight makes my stomach drop. Is this what Amara felt after she saw me like that?
"Finally, after thousands of years of waiting, I will finally be free!" Dovarian exclaims. "My dear Amara, remove the rest of my curse."
"Yes Dovarian." She nods and gets up from her knees.
"Do not listen to him!" I warn Amara, hoping I can break through to her. She just looks at me curiously.
"What is this?" Dovarian looks at me and sees my lack of mist and black sclera. "How did you regain control?" He was so focused on turning Amara that he did not notice the Light World power merge with all the Dark Chaos power in me. I ignore his question and look back at Amara.
"Amara, I know you can fight this. Do not let Dovarian make you a mindless slave. We can still defeat him, but only if you do not remove the rest of his curse." I carefully watch her, looking for any reaction from my words. Nothing.
"I do not know how you regained your control, but it does not matter now. Amara," She looks over at him. "take care of him." Amara locks her cold gaze on me and advances.
"Come now, Shadykins, don't you want to rid this world of evil?" The bitter tone in her voice is completely foreign to me.
"We will be serving the worst evil in the world." I stay where I stand, watching her approach.
"Then I guess I'll have to knock some sense into you." She grins menacingly at me.
"Amara," I put up my hands in a surrendering motion as she stops in front of me. "I will not fight you."
"You say that now." She smirks. She slams her fist into my gut and sends me flying back twenty feet. I sit up to regain my breath, only to find her right next to me. She goes to kick the side of my head, but I catch her foot.
"I will not." I say firmly and retreat from her.
"Why? Do you think I'm not strong enough?" A fallen tree log hits me from behind, making me stumble a couple steps forward. Taking advantage of my stumble, Amara takes a hold of my arm and swings me into a tree, the tree violently shuddering from the impact. "Because that would be foolish of you to think."
"No, because I love you too much." I pant while on all fours, my back now sore. From the amount of power that I have, none of Amara's hits are too painful. They can still leave me gasping for air though. White flickers in her eyes for just a second, before she growls and throws me into another tree. There is still hope.
"I love you too Shadow. That's why I'm doing this: to make you realize how much happier we would be siding with Dovarian." She glares at me as I get back up.
"It that your opinion, or Dovarian's?" I ask. She launches herself at me again, and I grab her arms and swing her thirty feet away from me, making sure she does not hit anything. She lands on her feet, baring her teeth in frustration at me. Another log hits me from behind, sweeping my legs from under me. A sharp stick comes hurdling towards my chest after I hit the ground. I go to move, but find myself unable to.
Immobilization.
I quickly counteract the spell and move, the stick burying itself in the ground the second after. She could have killed me.
"Come on Shadow. If you love me, you will join me."
I glare at her. "No."
"Maybe one of your friends can change your mind." Dovarian speaks up. Amara smiles evilly at me before turning and facing the group, focusing on Rose as she forms a ball of energy. Sonic struggles frantically against the tendrils holding him.
"No!" I zoom forward and tackle Amara, the ball of energy barely missing Rose. I pin Amara.
"Change your mind?" Amara smirks from under me.
"No." Her whole body suddenly electrocutes me, trying to get me off. I grit my teeth and keep her pinned. She growls in frustration.
"How are- ohh." She smiles at me in realization. "Giving the Light power to you did it, huh?" Catching me off guard, she throws me off. "A stupid mistake on my part." She stands back up. An idea forms in my head.
"You think so?" I zip up to her and pin her against my chest. I crush my lips against hers. "Come back to me." I whisper. Not hesitating, she breaks my hold and shoves me back, snarling with fury.
"Just give up!" She blasts an energy ball at me, hitting me right in the face and knocking me down. I blink the spots from my eyes and get back up. I have to get through to her.
"You still have my mark on your neck." I dodge another energy ball. "So that means," I zoom up in front of her, pinning her against me again, and whisper, "you still belong to me, and as long as I am still breathing, I refuse to give up on you." Her sclera flashes white again, uncertainty on her face, before they turn black again and she punches me right on my jaw, sending me flying again.
"He has too much power, Dovarian! I sent him a large amount of Light World power right before you turned me!"
"That is how he regained control." Dovarian realizes, frustration in his voice. "Foolish girl! I used up all my power inserting you both with darkness! I cannot give you anymore power until you remove the rest of my curse!" She nods in understanding.
"What once-"
"No!" I cast a spell, immobilizing her. I sense her fury, even still as a statue. I look at Dovarian. "I will not allow that." Something suddenly wraps tightly around me, something invisible. I struggle to break free, but fail.
"I lied about not having anymore power." Dovarian smugly says. I am lifted off the ground and slowly turned around, facing a murderous Amara. A black ball of energy is in her hands, powerful enough to end me.
"Last chance, mon amour." She aims the ball. I quickly try to think of something, but come up with nothing.
"Will you join me," What else can I do? I have tried everything! I glance at the others and notice the three still in their super forms. Positive energy...
"or not?" How could I have not thought of this sooner? I begin to gather the Light Chaos power and project my voice in the three's heads.
'Listen, I need you all to turn normal. I am going to need all the positive energy that I can get.'
'Got it.' They turn back to normal. No one else notices, for their attention is on Amara and me.
"Well?" She demands. Just a little longer.
"Will you actually kill me if I refuse?" I stall.
"I don't have any other choice." She answers indifferently. Almost there.
"I doubt you will. I could not harm you when I had the chance."
"We're different people." She glares merciless at me.
"Enough of this! Make your choice, now!" Dovarian demands. There! I quickly and quietly mutter the required words and send the Light Chaos power into Amara.
Her eyes widen with surprise and the ball of energy vanishes as she doubles over, dropping to the ground in pain. She groans, curling into a fetal position. The tendrils holding me remain, however. Her sclera flickers white, the mist threatening to dissipate at any second.
"What have you done?!" Dovarian roars at me. I keep my gaze locked on the struggling Amara, hoping this works. She groans again and meets my gaze, her sclera white. My hope rises, only to plunge back down and hit rock bottom as Amara's scleras turn black again and the mist solidifies. Amara straightens up and Dovarian laughs.
"Valiant attempt, Shadow. Valiant attempt." I cannot believe it. I have failed.
Failed her, failed Maria...
Everyone.
XXXXX
Amara's P.O.V.
Oh the pain! Shadow inserted Light Chaos power into me, hoping he could do to me what I did to him. I vaguely hear Dovarian's angry shout as I struggle to stay conscious, unable to command the power away. The powers begin to merge, making me groan again. It reaches my head, creating the worse headache I could ever imagine, and the darkness vanishes, leaving my thoughts clear once again. I meet Shadow's concerned and hopeful gaze. I also notice the dried blood on the corner of his mouth and his shredded clothing. I did this. Shadow refused to fight me, even tried to snap me out of it, but I still hurt him. No, Dovarian made me hurt him. Dovarian did this.
Fury floods my veins, making me see red. The white mist comes back, probably meaning my eyes are black as well. I welcome this darkness though. This is my own, not inserted by Dovarain, and it is only directed at Dovarian.
With a plan in mind, I stand back up and see Shadow slump in defeat, hopelessness in his eyes. I keep a straight face and continue to act like I am under Dovarian's control. I'll tell Shadow the plan once the time is right.
"On second thought, I think I'll wait on killing you and make you watch Dovarian be freed." I grin darkly at the hopeless Shadow and face Dovarain. I summon the powers neccessary to free him, then I continue to summon only the Light World power.
"What once was whole, now is divided into Chaos and World. I, Amara the World Overseer, hereby remove the last half of Dovarian's curse!" A storm ten times worse than the one before breaks out. Not wasting time, I release Shadow from the tendrils holding him. He drops to the ground and stays there, no emotion on his face. Luckily, he stays in his Overseer form. I go to his side and drop to my knees. I cup his cheek and make him look at me.
"Shadow, I need you to listen to me. Your idea worked, I'm free of Dovarian's control, but we don't have much time. Gather all the Light Chaos power you can. Now." He looks at me warily, also confused.
"But you are still a Dark Overseer."
"Yeah, but that's because I'm pissed. Dovarian made me hurt you, and for that I am going to destroy him." I growl menacingly. Shadow smiles in relief, his eyes watering.
"I thought I lost you." He whispers.
"Never." I smile lovingly. "Now hurry up, we're losing time." He nods and stands up, working on gathering the all the Light Chaos power. I focus on summoning all the World Light power that I can, even from across the world. I'm going to need it.
"I'll do confinement, you do electrocution. Don't stop once you start, no matter what happens to us." I order. He nods in understanding.
Multiple lighting bolts hit the ground around Dovarian's mist-body, the wind howling like it might form a tornado. The body begins to solidify, a face and other details appearing.
"Yes!" Dovarian exclaims joyfully, his body complete. In front of us stands a black panther with red sclera and black irises. "Finally! I am free!" He laughs, his sharp teeth gleaming from the lightning.
"Ready?" I whisper to Shadow. He nods. "Now!" We quickly start muttering our incantations, Dovarian still not taking notice of us.
"Combine." With a big surge of energy, a transparent gold bubble crackling with electricity enfolds Dovarian. A couple bolts of energy start to shock Dovarian. He just observes the bubble with an annoyed look.
"You think you can still defeat me? Nothing can stop me now."
"Get ready." I warn Shadow. Maintaining the bubble isn't too hard right now, but as soon as Dovarian fights, it'll require as much of our energy as we can possibly give. Dovarian touches the wall of the bubble, but it electrocutes him back. He frowns at it. Black mist forms in his hand and he shoots it at the wall. Again, it is deflected. He growls and black mist forms all around him, obscuring our view of him as it fills the bubble. We pour almost all of our energy into the bubble, fighting to keep Dovarian contained. The bolts increases their strikes on Dovarian. The mist clears and we see Dovarian on all fours, numerous bolts shocking him. Fear is in his eyes.
"No!" He growls and wobbly stands. "No!" He shoots black bolts of his own at the walls. "No No No No No No No No!" Shadow and I are at the point of if we give anymore power, the possibility of us dying are high. I look at Shadow and he looks at me. We don't have to say anything.
This ends now.
We give it our all, the energy bolts increasing even more. Dovarian's ear begins to dissolve.
"NO!" He shrieks, becoming more frantic, fear on his face. "I AM IMMORTAL!"
"Doesn't. Mean. You're. Invincible." I pant, legs threatening to give out on me. Dovarian's limbs begins to disintegrate. He screams, losing strength fast now. With one last energy surge from us, the bolts strike Dovarian all at once. He screams and bursts into a cloud of dust.
He's finished.
Beyond exhausted, Shadow and I let the bubble vanish and we collapse to the ground. I can't even move my head and see if he's alright.
"Amara! Shadow!" I vaguely hear our friends call. I feel someone grab my wrist. It's starting to get cold...
Warmth suddenly fills me, giving me strength. "You two have sacrificed enough. Go and live, live knowing the greatest threat to this world is no more. Thank you." An unfamiliar voice says. My friends' frantic voices become clear again. I open my eyes and see their worried looks.
"Amara! Are you alright?" Rouge asks worriedly.
"Shadow's awake too!" I hear Amy happily exclaim. I turn my head and meet familiar red orbs.
"Did you hear Micca too?" Shadow asks, laying besides me. So that's who it was. I nod. I notice the clear blue sky.
"So me choosing to give myself up to Dovarian was the right choice?" I scrunch up my eyebrows. How does that make sense?
"No, you choosing to give me your Light power was. You could have saved it for yourself and resist Dovarian's control, but you did not."
Huh. Sorry heart, I guess I'll never doubt your leadership again.
I look at my friends with remorse. "Guys, I'm-"
"Nuh uh." Sonic wags his finger. "What happened was either not either of your guys' faults, or it happened for a reason." The rest all nod in agreement.
"You guys are amazing." I smile tearfully at them. I turn my attention back to Shadow, glad to see him back to normal.
"We did it, Shadow." I smile at him, tears of joy threatening to spill. He grabs my hand with a smile too.
"Yes, we did."
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