ONE chapter left after this one...oh god this is ending fast...
But if you review, I might do a sequel :)
Rasgnarrok was fast, Shadow had to give him that. Despite his enormous size the beast was quick on its feet, expertly shifting away at the last minute each time the Ultimate Lifeform send Chaos Spears flying his way. It was also stronger and far smarter than the three headed monstrosity he had previously fought. It knew exactly when to defend and when to bear down upon the unlucky hedgehog.
Like now.
"Ghraaa!" Shadow choked as the tail of the beast send him flying into the debris of a crystal tower. His left shoulder suddenly shot up with agony, nearly sending him screaming again. It had popped out of its socket. Regretfully, the situation was dire for him. How was he supposed to fight with a dislocated shoulder?
"Farewell my little pest!" Rasgnarrok bellowed victoriously above him, sending one of his enormous paws right on the black hedgehog; Shadow, however, knew a attack such as this one was coming, and he barely dove away from a certain death. The vengeful dragon's limb crashed down on the destroyed pilar, sending thin shards of crystal flying all over the battlefield.
Shadow grunted as he pulled himself on his feet; his body was hurting like hell. Making a quick spin he let lose a couple of Chaos Spears, obviously trying to obtain some time to the delay the inevitable end of this battle. He was too injured to fight anymore. And so tired. So very tired... as his opponent avoided his desperate attack, his knees were starting to buckle...
Rasagnarrok was looming over him again, laughing at him and mocking his pitiful carcass of a body.
"Poor you...not." The beast opened his mouth wide open and was about to chop down on the exhausted hedgehog-when a echoing, thunderous boom made the creature stiffens and stop its advance. At that very moment, Shadow crumbled as a heap of fur, breathing deep and labored.
'What...what in the world was...that...?'
"RASGNARROK!" Shadow shifted his eyes to the source of the infuriated scream, and what he saw made his blood run cold. His opponent was also frozen on the spot, golden eyes wide with a undertone of fear in them.
A demon.
It was a demon.
That was the only thing capable of describing the creature. It stood on a strange ripple, almost like a tear in the fabric of this fake world, claws sunk on the edges and it's eyes literally glowing with rage. It was the same size as Shadow, maybe even taller, with fur darker than the night growing on its entire body. It was shaped like a hedgehog, but with large golden horns that resembled more of a ornament than anything else. It had long, draconic legs with three toes on each, and a long, snake-like tail.
Overall, it was a darker version of Rasgnarök's humanoid appearance...and it looked more than ticked off.
"Rasgnarrok." This time, the mysterious fiend spoke more calmly, eyes of a molten gold, but still retaining a normal, mobian-like shape, serious and colder than a moonless night. It slipped completely out of the ripple, and the later slowly closed gracefully. The creature's eyes, which were drilling into another golden set, momentarily changed their direction and glanced at Shadow. At the sight of the injured, defeated black form that was barely able to stay conscious, it's ears twitched in a aggravated way, and it looked back at the gigantic, shocked black dragon known as Rasgnarrok imperiously.
"What did you do to my avatar, Rasgnarrok?" The tone was acidic, the creature taking a step forward. It's clawed feet echoed in the devastated world, and Shadow's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as Rasgnarrok took a step back, a expression of apprehension on its angular muzzle.
"I had a little fun with this mortal. Does that bother you, Sonic?" The oversized dragon lowered his head to a stupefied Shadow's level, fangs glistening under the little blob's pale light.
'That's...that's Sonic?' It seemed that the gods were playing a prank on him; how could this...thing be the stubborn, idiotic blue furred hedgehog he absolutely loved bashing his head in when he had the chance?
"It does bother me. Get away from him, mongrel, before you taste the true power of Rasgnarök." At that the gigantic reptile stiffened, eyes narrowing as hatred started to shine in the almond-shaped golden eyes.
"You finally figured it out, haven't you?"
"I am the conscience, you are the power. This is just like Solaris, Rasgnarrok. We share each others memories. You should know what I am talking about."
"Solaris..." The other hissed, unpleased. "For being the God of Time he sure was weak."
Sonic grinned. "As you are right now." The smaller creature did not flinch as Rasgnarrok slammed his tail against the crystalline ground, provoking something akin to a earthquake. The beast roared, a high-pitched, ear-grating sound unlike any living organism on Mobius could produce.
Rasgnarrok was literally burning with rage.
"Weak? WEAK!? I am the power! I am far from being helpless! Without me you are the weakened one!"
"Oh really?" The following smirk the formerly blue hedgehog gave was very familiar to Shadow. "If I was the weak one, I shouldn't be able to kill you."
Rasgnarrok huffed, displeased and obviously not believing what the other was implicating, smoke coming out of the beast's nostrils.
"Try me." The insane deity opened his wings, the massive limbs shadowing both the downed black hedgehog and the equally black furred hero. The later looked ridiculously puny compared to the dragon, but the speedster expression was unwavering.
"As you wish."
Sonic didn't move, keeping his molten gold eyes on the larger, more ferocious creature. He didn't make any threatening movement, no sign he was about to attack his other half. Yet his eyes told far more than his body was showing.
He was going to do something.
'No.' Shadow thought as he watched the interaction between the two halves. 'He's doing something right now...'
Suddenly, there was a loud, terrible explosion from Rasgnarrok; Shadow quickly shifted his eyes from his rival to the grand beast, only to see the most powerful being he ever fought being picked clean off its legs with a surprised screech and swung across the fake world by a unknown force so far away it nearly disappeared from sight.
"What...how..." His attempt at speaking failed as blood rushed up his throat; the battered black coughed, ruby liquid sprouting from his open mouth like a minuscule, vile river. All of the pain he felt came crashing back and he felt the sudden urge to vomit-except he didn't have anything in his stomach. Come to think of it, he hadn't eaten for entire five days. Normally this could kill a normal mobian, but Shadow was genetically engineered to survive worse. Though right now, the lack of new nutrients was getting in the way of a rapid healing...so he, the great and powerful Ultimate Lifeform, was reduced to a gasping, blood-spluttering ball of black fur.
"Uh. And I thought I would never see you like this."
Then, in the mist of all the pain, a ray of light pierced the barrier. Shadow gradually became aware that he was healing at a nauseously rapid pace; the gaping cuts on his back closed up and left no scar, his bruised knees and hands healed, his shoulder shifted back to its original spot with no pain whatsoever. His strength grew and in no time, Shadow felt completely new.
Opening his eyes, he was met with a pair of golden orbs. Sonic was kneeling in front of him, his right hand -hands that were monstrously clawed- placed lightly on his formerly injured shoulder. His eyelids were folded halfway, his gaze serious, yet Shadow could see he was not pleased by the damage. There was something mysterious and ancient inside his eyes, something that felt far older than the black hedgehog-and far more wise than the bio-engineered hedgehog. It was then the Ultimate Lifeform realized this creature was Sonic, but at the same time something else... Rasgnarök, the one Sovgir had once spoken about.
Feeling capable to move again, Shadow pulled himself up, the other, darker being taking a step back to give the black daredevil some space.
"Do you feel better?"
"Yeah. Don't know what you did, but it worked." The black hedgehog stretched his arms, relieved to not feel the pain anymore. Sonic nodded, his long, dragon-like tail swigging around as he watched his rival with a small grin.
"I thought you could win against Rasgnarrok."
The other glared. "Stuff it. These last few days you didn't do anything." The other chuckled, nodding again at his truthful statement.
"That can be remedied."
There was a echoing, furious roar from the far corner of the dimension. The little spirits around them became agitated and hid behind Sonic, who looked unreasonably neutral. He made a gesture with his left arm and the souls immediately shot upwards, away from harm but still lighting the destroyed battlefield.
Shadow raised a questioning eyebrow, watching the little souls shine softly above him.
"You can control them?" He asked as one of them fluttered by him, the blob emitting a distant warm as it followed Sonic's command.
"No. I'm just asking them to not be in harm's way." Loud booming footsteps echoed toward them, Rasgnarrok's outraged, deafening roar drawing near as a large, black shadow came to view.
"I think my other halve is mad."
"No shit. Can you toss the bastard around again?" Rasgnarök gave him a sideway glance.
"Yes. It was quite easy, but I want to end it quickly. There is no-"
The transformed hero didn't have the time to finish that Rasgnarrok exploded into the clearing, golden eyes blazing furiously; the beast roared, enraged, and at the souls' lights Shadow could see the gargantuan monster was covered in its own, pure black blood; the mighty, intimidating wings were folded awkwardly. The sinuous quills on its head were ruffled and caked with crystal debris, making it know the deity didn't have the best of landings. Nor the most gracious of them.
"RASGNARÖK!" The behemoth shrieked, charging at the duo, saliva foaming around it's mouth. The injured beast charged forward, ready to crush the two minuscule creatures beneath its tremendous weight.
But when the god was about to reach the duo he was thrown back by a barrier of somesort: the beast's muzzle impacted the invisible wall in the most comical way and it was send crashing backwards in a gasping heap of fur and limbs.
'That was perfect...' Shadow couldn't help but chuckle at the pathetic sight. Besides him, his transformed rival tried to get rid of the small grin that had wormed its way on his lips. His long tail fluttered around him, the bone, wing-like formations that were once a pair of quills on his back seemingly twitching as he tried to restrain his laughter.
Rasgnarrok roared with rage, his eyes and nostrils dilating. Aggravated, the beast charged again and again, clawing at the transparent wall it's other halve raised up. But it withstood the assault, ripples visible at each impact. Shrieking angrily, the reptilian creature glared at his counterpart, furious.
"Why are you hiding behind power that isn't yours, pathetic worm! Come out and fight me! You don't deserve to be the God of Apocalypse!" The divinity taunted with a wrath unlike any other, it's wings beating erratically as it pressed against the barrier.
At that statement, Shadow clearly saw the other hedgehog's eyes darken. The Ultimate Lifeform took a step back as his rival walked forward, tail swinging up and down lazily behind him, his muzzle sporting not a single sign there had once been a grin or a smile.
Rasgnarrok stumbled forward ungracefully as the wall separating him from its prey vanished. At first surprised and hesitant, the gigantic ebony dragon quickly recovered, clawed finger-like paws digging deeply into the crystal ground.
Suddenly, Sonic's eyes flashed and Rasgnarrok let a agonized wail as his left leg was torn off by a invisible force.
Blood sprayed both Sonic and the floor of the fake world as the limb was thrown away like a ragdoll. Even if it was immortal, Rasgnarrok still screamed in atrocious pain, collapsing on its stomach with a booming crash, massive limbs twitching under the terrible agony. The dragon opened its eyes, but this time they did not sport any trace of the rage and imperiousness it once held.
In the golden orbs Shadow could only see madness.
Rasgnarrok was mad.
Driven to madness because of the pain. The madness of a cornered animal.
It wailed, screaming like a dying beast, eyes wide and terrified. Raising its head it gaped its jaws wide and shrieked so loudly the whole dimension shook. It suddenly lunged down toward them, jaws wide open as it kept screaming...
"SILENCE!" Sonic boomed in a terrifying tone that wasn't usual for him; Rasgnarrok's head was send crashing against the ground brutally by the same invisible force that previously injured him. Sonic's eyes shone darkly, filled with so much seriousness and anger Shadow was starting to feel bad for the large black dragon.
The transformed hero was seething with anger it could barely restrain. The sapien stared into a equally golden pair of eyes, his rage barely contained.
"You truly are pitiful, Rasgnarrok." The younger being hissed, his voice the same as always but with a undertone that was more...ancient. "You say I don't deserve to be the God of Apocalypse?! You are pathetic. WE NEVER DESERVED THIS!" His entire body shook, and both Shadow and Rasgnarrok were shocked to see that his black fur was slowly liquefying; his entire body looked made of a pitch black mass, droplets rising up to the fake sky only to fall down and merge with the rest once again.
Suddenly, ripples appeared around his body. The fake world shook, the souls scattering away from the battlefield. But, instead of darkening from the lack of souls, the whole field was bathed by a golden light. Gigantic tears zigzagged the fake skies as the very fabric of existence was exposed. It was bright, like the Sun's surface, constantly shifting between different hues of molten gold. It was the same shade as Rasgnarök's eyes, no matter how strange it sounded.
Surprised by this, Shadow stumbled backwards as his six sense, the one allowing him to sense Chaos energy, was suddenly blind sighted by the biggest source of energy he ever felt. It was Sonic that emitted this gargantuan, endless pool. Sonic, the hedgehog who could barely perform Chaos Control with a fake emerald.
As the energy reached its peak, the young hero retained his transformed shape, but only his whitening contours were visible, for his body was absolutely covered in the unknown, bright energy that definitively wasn't Chaos energy.
"I AM YGGDRASIL'S FIRST BORN! THE VERY FIRST GOD TO EXIST AND THE ONE WHO CREATED ALL! I AM JUDGEMENT ITSELF, ODIN CAN BRAG ALL HE WANTS BUT HE IS NOTHING COMPARED TO ME!" The scream made the dimension break even more, the little souls fleeting through the gaping cracks as Sonic charged up with unbelievable power. He looked down at his fallen halve, eyes blazing with something otherworldly.
His voice, ancient and not of their world, boomed across the shattering world like a inevitable conclusion:
"My judgement has passed...guilty."
A beam of hot, burning magma of the thickness of a truck suddenly escaped the glowing, recently awakened deity. The frozen Rasgnarrok was barely able to scream as it tore through him, his entire body peeling away until nothing remained.
Of the gigantic, murdering beast, nothing was left.
Sonic, or rather the true Rasgnarök, arched his back and screeched, the reverberating, inhuman howl destroying the fake world completely. It literally pealed away into that bright gold non-existence, leaving nothing behind other than a falling hedgehog.
xxxxxxxxxxxThat was intensexxxxxxxxxx
Shadow let out a muffled curse as the ground beneath him shattered; he fell down, layers and layers of crystals disintegrated to reveal more of that brilliant, golden light. The Ultimate Lifeform tried to grab anything, something-when a black limb suddenly shot down and caught his wrist.
The black hedgehog was left dangling above a endless golden abyss. He looked at the deity, eyes narrowing.
"I didn't expect that."
For someone who just destroyed a entire world, Rasgnarök had the decency to look apologetic.
"Sorry, Shads. It has been a long time since I was able to stretch my powers to their limits. I can tell you, it feels good." The black creature smirked, his bone wings stretching. He flew forward, carrying the GUN agent through the constantly changing fabric of existence. His eyes scanned the equally golden mass, searching. He kept changing and readjusting his flight, like he knew where he was going.
"What happens now?" Shadow asked after a minute of silence. He had no idea what exactly just happened, but he what little he knew was that Sonic somehow turned out to be the fabled Rasgnarök. And seeing Rasgnarrok getting permanently killed by the former hero was something he would never forget. That bastard deserved such punishment.
Rasgnarök looked down at the Ultimate Lifeform, a sad smile forming on his lips.
"Now, it's the time to prevent any further death."
The golden hues around them suddenly shifted to milky white; it shone so brightly it forced Shadow to close his eyes. Even thought they were closed, however, his pupils were irritated by the light that still filtered through his eyelids.
"What are you talking about?!" The Ultimate Lifeform yelled as he felt Rasgnarök's grip fade away to nothingness. He panicked, expecting to fall again; the black and red hedgehog soon realized he was not going to fall, for a unknown ground had appeared beneath him.
"It might not change a thing about me...but they didn't deserve to suffer..."
Rasgnarök's saddened words were the last thing Shadow heard before darkness took over.