"There's something about my last mission that's been bothering me,"
Blaze stood with Silver at her side as she spoke to Eggman. All three of them were gathered in the Death Room.
"The Nidhogg's captain said there was a kishin right under my nose. What, might he be referring to?"
Eggman shrugged. "It sounds like this Fang person you dealt with was being intentionally vague to throw you off. Ordinary people are capable of going down the path of the kishin. I'm sure that's just what he meant,"
"He knew who I was. The Darkling too. If there is a kishin hiding somewhere, then it's likely he would have had information about it,"
"Being a princess isn't exactly a low profile affair; I shouldn't have to explain that to you," Blaze glared while Eggman continued. "The Darkling has built a reputation of his own. He's practically an urban legend at this point, and we've done plenty of our business publicly. You're trying to turn this into something it's not,"
"Then who exactly was he planning on feeding those souls to?"
"How should I know? That was your mission. Maybe you'd have the answer if you hadn't let the Darkling derail everything,"
Silver spoke quietly after noticing the look of contempt on his meister's face.
"Blaze…"
She began storming out of the room but stopped suddenly.
"Why is it that you never leave Death City?"
"I'm the Grim Reaper. I'm very busy, and I don't need to disclose my schedule to you. I'll be getting back to work now,"
Blaze resumed storming out with Silver following. After the two were walking down the hall alone, she spoke again.
"He was awfully quick to downplay my suspicion and start deflecting. He's hiding something,"
Silver shrugged. "It was just one comment made by a weird guy on a boat. It's not a lot to go on,"
"He had someone in mind when he gathered those souls, Silver. Dozens of people died for what he had planned. The grim reaper should take the mention of a kishin very seriously, not shift blame or brush me off. Either he's doing it on purpose, or we're being led by an immature, incompetent oaf. Neither is a reassuring thought,"
Silver nodded, looking exceptionally forlorn. "Is that why you didn't mention Black Doom?"
The pair exited the building. Blaze looked down at the various people who were moving about the campus without concern.
"I'd rather wait until we know for certain that the DWMA is still on our side,"
"Are you guys excited for tonight?"
Amy spoke to the other five members of the Sonic squad on their way out of class.
"I don't really see the point. We didn't do anything like this last year," Knuckles replied.
"Apparently Eggman is working on a more positive image for the DWMA," Tails pointed out.
"He's announcing the change in Death Scythe arrangements. One more will be stationed here in Death City starting today," Amy said.
"How did you know that?" Tails raised an eyebrow.
"Because she's coming to see me," Amy watched her weapon partner cross her arms while giving a disappointed look. "And Cream,"
"A death scythe? Visiting the C-listers?" Knuckles asked.
"Maybe you're looking at the wrong list," Amy smiled with smugness. "She'll be here soon. You guys can come with if you want,"
The others didn't see a reason not to go with, so they followed Amy to the campus's entrance. After hanging out for a bit, the initial traffic of students died down. A tall, rabbit woman passed through the entrance. She had long hair and even longer ears hanging down from her head. Her bangs, eyes, and ears were lined with caramel colored hair that stood out against the primarily pale fur of her body. She carried a briefcase, and wore a pale purple dress with a maroon jacket.
"Mom!"
Cream ran over and the woman scooped her up off the ground. The two hugged, and Amy walked over to greet her as well.
"Amy, you're a lifesaver. Thanks for helping Cream get settled while I was away. I know she's only a provisional student since she's so young, but you went through so much trouble for me,"
"No problem, Vanilla"
Vanilla turned to the rest of the group. "Is this the Sonic squad?" Sonic partially stifled a groan while Tails snickered quietly. "I'm Vanilla. I'll be the acting death scythe stationed here in Death City. I should thank all of you for helping Cream feel welcome. I couldn't be here for her first semester, so I was worried it'd be tough for her being the youngest student here,"
Most of the Sonic squad smiled and muttered modestly. Vanilla approached Sonic.
"You must be the rising-star scythe meister I've heard so much about,"
"Uh-oh. Do I want to know what you heard?"
The death scythe gave a quiet, knowing laugh. "Lord Death certainly has an interesting opinion of you. He called me early in the semester to warn that my daughter had gotten mixed up with a group of ruffians,"
"No way!" Sonic facepalmed. Eggman really was a pain.
"Amy had already told me about you all by then. Plus word had gotten around to my district about a young scythe meister going on missions left and right. Your success hasn't gone unnoticed,"
Vanilla turned to look at Shadow. "You're a stone's throw away from becoming a death scythe yourself," He nodded, and she addressed the pair at once. "Well good luck to both of you. Death scythe business is hard work, but with how well both of you have done I'm sure it'll suit you just fine. I'll look forward to having you both as coworkers before long,"
"Thanks!" Sonic grinned.
The death scythe lit up once she noticed Tails. "So cute!" Vanilla rubbed Tails's cheeks and squished his face, causing the young fox to stammer and blush. She looked at Knuckles, then back at Tails. "You two can't really be partners!"
Knuckles shrugged. "I don't always believe it myself,"
Vanilla sighed. A look of nostalgia came over her. "Death City is always full of surprises," Then, she stood up straight before looking outward from the group. The rest of the Sonic squad followed the death scythe's gaze. They all saw Eggman approaching fast.
"Best death scythe ever!" Eggman ran up to Vanilla and hugged her. The death scythe looked immensely uncomfortable until she was freed from his grasp. "You look amazing Vanilla. You haven't aged a day!"
Vanilla managed a fairly convincing smile. "Lord Death. It's great to be back in Death City,"
"Yes, it's so good to have you here. I hope this group didn't give you any trouble," Eggman glanced at the Sonic Squad. "The last time a death scythe came to campus they challenged him to a fight!"
"You mean Silver? Yes I remember hearing about that," Vanilla laughed.
"Yes. He won handily of course. But enough about that. Let me show you all that's changed at the academy while you were away,"
Vanilla took Cream's hand and the two left after waving goodbye. Amy stood at the head of the group while beaming proudly.
"Yep, my weapon is the daughter of a death scythe. No big deal,"
"Cream's mom is nice," Tails said with his face still tingling.
"And she's got leg for days," Knuckles added.
Amy smacked the echidna in the back of the head, causing him to frown at her.
"It's bad enough that Eggman creeps on Vanilla as it is! No one needs to hear it from you too!"
Sonic laughed. "Yeah, Eggman was practically drooling over her. If Vanilla's not careful, Cream's going to be calling him 'Daddy' soon,"
Amy, Tails, and Knuckles showed varying levels of amusement. Shadow burst out laughing. The other three observed the two hedgehog boys with bewilderment.
Sonic wore a look of relentless mischief on his face and held a hand up to his ear. "I'm sorry Shadow, what was that?"
Shadow barely managed one word amongst the chuckling. "Stop," He moved a hand over his muzzle, hoping to regain himself.
"It sounded like you were trying to speak. Or was it something else? Were you laughing?"
Shadow sniffed, cleared his throat, then began retreating. "I'm out,"
Sonic called after his weapon "You're lucky I have a doctor's appointment or you wouldn't get off so easy!"
"Doctor's appointment?" Amy asked.
'Yeah, just a quick checkup after our last mission. I better head that way now. I'll see you guys at the big party," Sonic waved on his way out.
Amy spoke with Tails after processing what just happened.
"That's got to be the first time I've heard Shadow laugh. Why did you warn me that they were super mad at each other?"
Tails shrugged. "I thought that they were,"
"I don't think mad is the word I'd use to describe whatever that was," It was Amy's turn to shrug. "It's good they're getting along again. Things can finally go back to normal,"
Tails thought back to his last mission. He had watched Sonic resonate with Shadow and pull off a witch hunter. He hadn't been close by, but he could feel the strange power of their resonance clearly. It was so cold and ominous. Normally he wouldn't have believed that his brother could generate such a dark power if he hadn't seen it in person. The awe he felt from witnessing his brother's technique had been replaced with concern and fear.
"Yeah,"
"Black blood?" Nurse Tikal looked at Sonic with artificial astonishment.
"Yeah, it looked like there was some on my hands during my last mission. They had cuts after I struggled to resonate for a bit,"
Tikal already knew about his mission. She'd been observing their fight with Infinite the whole time thanks to a spell she implanted in Shade, who had been observing the whole escapade from the shadows, undetected. Despite having this information, she was excited nonetheless.
"I'll run some blood tests for you,"
Sonic agreed to have his blood drawn. After Tikal saw normal red blood fill the vial, she felt a growing disappointment.
"I'll look at this right away,"
It hadn't been nearly as eventful as Tikal had hoped. She thoroughly examined Sonic's blood under a microscope and applied some concoctions she had on hand, hoping it would react. The red blood was annoyingly normal. It didn't make any sense. The black blood should have passed on to Sonic by now. They had achieved such a strong resonance that Shadow should have easily corrupted his meister. Why had the black blood left Sonic's system? She had to investigate further.
Sonic sat wondering what was taking so long when Tikal finally returned.
"You're perfectly healthy. Exposed blood darkens over time. It's possible that the blood on your hands was there longer than you thought, making it look black. The time of day and lighting could influence what you saw as well,"
Sonic felt so certain that the black blood on his hands had been fresh. Shadow had been so worried about being a corrupted weapon that it had been affecting him too.
"I guess the mission was at night," Sonic thought for a second, then relaxed.
Tikal sifted through a nearby drawer. "I have some medicine I can give you just to be on the safe side. A little something to help with your blood circulation,"
She handed him a bottle of pills with no prescription label. If Sonic took these pills and resonated strongly with Shadow again, his blood would run black as pitch. Hopefully for good this time. "Just take one of those pills a day," Tikal looked at her unwitting test subject and smiled. "How's Shadow been doing? I'd sooner expect a visit from him over you,"
"He's doing great,"
"Did those nightmares about the demon finally go away? He seemed so worried about them," Seeing the young meister's unearned confidence shatter gave Tikal quite a thrill. He wasn't hiding his confusion at all. "Or did he not tell you?"
"Oh the one about the demon?" Sonic laughed awkwardly. "He hasn't had that dream in a while. Thanks for all the help!"
Sonic left the room. Tikal sneered.
"Idiot,"
Sonic strode down the hall, cheeks burning with embarrassment and annoyance. If Shadow was that worried about his nightmares, why hadn't he said anything?
"I see how it is. He won't tell his meister. The pretty school nurse on the other hand?" Sonic scoffed at the thought.
Tikal finished writing on the documents detailing Sonic's blood work. She knew that blue hedgehog had blackened blood on his hands that night. She'd seen it through Shade's eyes. What caused it to disappear between then and now? Tikal opened the filing cabinet that held all of the DWMA student medical records. After reaching the section labeled 'S' she was unable to find the files for either of her test subjects.
"You weren't looking for these, were you?"
It was Doctor Starline. He dropped two folders onto the table near Tikal. One labeled with the name Sonic and the other, Shadow.
"Starline, you surprised me, popping out of nowhere like that,"
"My apologies. You did seem fixated all of the sudden. Why is it that you've given so much attention to these two lately?"
There was a minor amount of amusement coming from Starline's tone that made Tikal suspicious. Why was he here for, exactly? She smiled politely despite the burning hatred welling up inside. "What happened to them really was horrible. I can't help but worry about their health,"
"They really are lucky to have you looking out for them," Starline reached into his lab coat and held a pill bottle with no label. "I spoke with Sonic in the hall just a moment ago. What kind of medicine did you give him exactly?"
"It's just one of my homemade remedies. It helps promote blood cell production and healthy circulation,"
She wasn't even lying at this point. Black blood behaves so similarly to regular blood. If Sonic became horribly corrupted, he could at least thank Tikal for helping his blood flow unhindered.
"Interesting," Starline turned the bottle over in his hand, observing the pills inside. "Did you prescribe unlicensed medicine to Sonic out of altruism? Or is it because you're a witch?"
No response came. Tikal and Starline stood in eerie silence that seemed to drag on for ages. Tikal moved her fingers a bit and considered risking the use of her magic.
"Or maybe you're looking to sell some essential oils?"
Tikal crossed her arms and huffed. "You're mean to tease me like that! I know my title is school nurse, but I'm a Doctor too! Just because I value supplements doesn't mean I'm some anti-vaxxer!"
Starline laughed heartily. "That's good to hear. I wouldn't be confident in your ability to treat students if you were,"
When Starline left, his smile quickly faded. He walked with a grim aura around him until he reached his office. After placing his webbed hands onto the keyboard of his terminal, he noticed they were shaking. It felt like Tikal had wanted to kill him for a brief moment. Assuming she was the Darkling's creator, she would have done so easily too.
"I can't remember the last time I was this afraid," Starline muttered. He felt another sharp chill run down his back. He shuddered. A grin lined with malice spread across his face. "How exhilarating,"
It was fortunate she wasn't foolish enough to use magic on the Grim Reaper's doorstep. Both of them were stuck, for now. He needed concrete evidence that she was a witch before reaping her soul, and she had to lie low while in the Death City. Starline left his office once he was done with his computer. He reached the roof of the building and heard the sound of thrusters overhead. A robot now joined Starline on the rooftop.
"E-123 Omega reporting for duty. Your report regarding suspected witch activity has been received. Awaiting verbal confirmation,"
"Go search Tikal's home. I'll look after things here,"
Starline was left to look out at the setting sun alone. First, there was the recent appearance of a witch's wavelength in death city. Now, the school nurse was the prime suspect of the DWMA's most urgent witch hunt. All of this leading up to tonight's New Year's celebration.
"I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Starline sighed satirically.
The sky had darkened by the time E-123 Omega reached the residential area of a town near death city. Portions of this area were in disrepair, yet the school nurse chose to live here on her own. Omega adjusted his thrusters to land near his objective without knowing someone was observing from the shadows.
Shade intently watched the robot move toward Tikal's home. If the grim reaper was sending a robot to investigate witch activity, he would be sending his best. She had to wait for the right opportunity if she wanted to overcome a foe such as this.
"Beep...boop….beep...boop," Omega did not produce any actual beeps or boops. Instead, he used his robotic voice to speak each word in rhythm with his slow steps.
Shade brought the palm of her right hand onto her face. "I hate Robotnik so much,"
"Scan scan scan," Omega declared as he scanned the front door. "Door is unlocked. Commence entry,"
The robot entered the premises cautiously.
"Beep...boop….beep...boop,"
Omega made his way to the nearest room. The door was open, exposing a dull, green light that was being emitted by a lamp. Upon the desk that held the lamp was a variety of jars filled with animal limbs and organs suspended in some kind of fluid. Insects were piled into different containers as well. Concoctions of various colors filled different bottles and the wall above the desk bore a variety of markings woven into the shape of a circle.
"Witch markings detected,"
Omega picked up a journal and flipped through the pages rapidly. The journal detailed a variety of experiments using different medicines and magical spells.
"Conclusive evidence of witch activity received. Transmitting results to headquarters," Omega stood still for a moment. "Interference detected. Signal unavailable,"
Behind the robot came a cluster of pink lights in the form of prisms. They began to glow and destabilize.
"Energy reading detec-"
A series of bright pink explosions tore apart the house. Loud shockwaves rang out through this mostly abandoned town. Shade watched piles of splintered wood spill out into the street.
"That felt good,"
Shade strutted down the street with a smile, leaving the burning ruins of Tikal's home behind her. The witch looked pleased as she carried a metal briefcase taken from Tikal's home. Unbridled destruction was a rare treat, but she couldn't stick around.
She had a party to attend.