"Hi-yah! Hi-yah Hi-yah!"
Amy used a hammer to smack away at one of the glowing magical walls imprisoning her and the other people attending the now defunct DWMA celebration. The hammer did not eclipse Amy's size as another noteworthy hammer might. The weapon was fairly sized for the pink hedgehog, but the wall didn't seem affected by this particular exercise.
"That's enough, Amy," Eggman advised. "This is a null space prison. We're essentially in Death City, and not in Death City at the same time. All we can do is wait for the spell to expire,"
Amy frowned and put down her now glowing weapon.
"My mom's out there…" Cream returned to rabbit form looking especially destitute.
Amy held up a determined fist. "Don't worry, Cream. Vanilla's super tough. She can handle herself out there!"
Eggman nodded. "She's right, Cream. There are few people qualified to be my personal weapon. I chose your mother because she's the strongest of them all,"
Cream nodded, her worry ebbed somewhat.
"You told us we're trapped here because the enemy is attacking the DWMA. But why are they attacking us?" Amy asked.
Eggman sighed. "I don't have enough information to be certain, but there's only one thing that necessitates a plan that would go this far,"
Eggman stood up to address all the other trapped guests.
"Everyone, I have an important announcement,"
The crowd's attention was brought together immediately.
"There's a kishin sleeping beneath Death City,"
The crowd chatted worriedly until there was an uproar of concern. Amy frowned at Eggman.
"Don't just drop a bombshell like that so suddenly!"
"I wanted to treat it like ripping off a band-aid," Eggman replied meekly.
"Cream, help me out," Amy sighed.
Cream shifted back into her hammer form. Amy slammed the weapon on the ground. The loud boom echoed around; the crowd went silent.
"Thank you Amy," Eggman addressed the crowd again. "The kishin has been asleep under Death City for some time. I kept the kishin from waking by using a machine that's also connected with my soul. I'm bound to the machine, and even though being in null space has weakened the connection, my soul is not completely cut off. This confirms that the null space prison is still connected with Death City. We will be returned once it wears off,"
The crowd had calmed somewhat, but there was still no shortage of speculative whispers when Eggman continued.
"I believe the barrier is part of a larger plan that may allow our enemies to try waking the kishin. Luckily, Doctor Starline managed to escape and will be able to fight the enemy. He has two death scythes at his disposal alongside several talented meisters and weapons. I understand this is all very concerning and I'm at fault in many ways. Let's focus on the current situation, and plan for our return to Death City,"
Murmuring came, and Eggman humored some minor questions from different people in the crowd.
Amy turned away feeling a bit annoyed with herself. When Sonic pulled away from her on the dance floor, she was stunned. Sonic knew something was wrong, and went to help without hesitating. Maybe if she'd kept a level head, she would have gone over to help as well. Instead, she was stuck here while so many of her friends were the only thing standing between Death City and the kishin.
"Stay alive, everyone,"
After some time, Eggman stepped away from the crowd and returned his attention to the surrounding barrier. It seemed to be changing.
"You sensed that earlier, didn't you Tikal? Sonic ended the fight with Eclipse, and went off to help the others,"
More hammer strikes came from Starline. Tikal was struggling to dodge Starline's attacks, but he didn't seem to be slowing as much. She'd clipped him with a few magical hits throughout their battle, but damage didn't seem to be accruing. Tikal got a good look at her opponent and noticed that his minor wounds were gone.
"You're healed?"
"Vanilla's special ability is her healing wavelength. Drawing out this fight is working against you, Tikal,"
The witch frowned. A sinking feeling was building within her. She was actually afraid of Starline now. It was time to escape. Starline would kill her soon and the other's would have to manage without her regardless. All she needed was an opportunity to get away.
An unnatural gust of wind broke into the room suddenly. Chaos energy moved through the witch and her opponents, rattling them. Tikal laughed as she enjoyed the feeling of the kishin's madness wavelength tearing through the air. Having accomplished her goal, the witch moved to leave with the help of a boost panel. Vanilla noticed a sudden lack of urgency in Starline's body.
"Starline, we can't let her get away!"
The only response Vanilla received was quiet laughter. Starline put a hand over his bill and the laughing stopped. His eyes widened and a sinister smile was stuck to his face. He dropped his weapon and fell to the ground.
"Starline!"
Vanilla shifted out of her weapon form and knelt by Starline, who was now cackling wildly and twitching on the floor. She put her hands on him to try calming his movements, but Starline continued laughing as if she weren't there. The doctor clutched his chest and gasped for air as the laughing continued echoing out of the room alongside the wavelength of chaos.
The kishin embraced the feeling of freedom after exiting the tunnel he'd made. He continued to fly higher into the air until he saw someone else flying above him. The kishin stopped when he was at the same altitude as the grim reaper. Attachments on the bottom of Eggman's boots and cloak were functioning as thrusters, allowing him to stand in the air as if he were on solid ground.
The kishin grinned from ear to ear. "Ivo! It's so good to see you. You don't look very happy. Is something wrong?"
"Hello Negative. I'm fine, I just forgot how ugly you were," Eggman replied.
The kishin glowered. "Idiot! We have the same face!"
Eggman pointed an accusatory finger. "No, yours is way uglier and old looking! And those shades? Yikes!"
"These shades are awesome!" The kishin's voice cracked. He calmed down quickly. "Your lakeys did seem confused by my appearance. I wonder why? Would it be because you didn't tell any of them about me?"
Eggman responded only by leering at the kishin in silence.
"I guess it's not really that surprising. I would have done the same," The kishin laughed loudly. "They're really going to hate you when they find out the truth,"
Eggman began his approach. "Then I really ought to stop you here, then,"
"Do you really think you can beat me without a weapon?"
"Only one way to find out. Reaper Chop!"
Eggman brought his straightened hand down on the kishin, sending his double downward at high velocity. The kishin slammed into the ground below and stirred up a sizable dust cloud. Orbs of energy shot out of the cloud soon after. Eggman used his thrusters to avoid them. The kishin rocketed out of the dust next, firing additional orbs. Each of them were dodged, and his attempt to engage in close combat was countered by another chop.
The kishin was thrown into one of the unmanned pillars that sat at the outskirts of the DWMA campus. Groaning came from the old structure when the stone framework gave way. Each of the large canons attached to the DWMA building adjusted their aim, then fired where the kishin had just landed. One large explosion bloomed, damaging many of the nearby buildings as well. Eggman wasn't particularly concerned, since he knew many of them were out of use.
The kishin rose out of the rubble with his power swelling before he fired a series of beams from his hands. Eggman brought his wavelength forward to shield against the attack while being pushed. It took a few seconds of concentration, but he was able to keep his guard from breaking. The beams subsided and Eggman saw the kishin had moved. He was preparing a new attack.
"You should watch your positioning more closely,"
Eggman watched the kishin turn back toward the DWMA. Guests from the party were gathered in the campus courtyard now, watching the fight. The kishin fired his charged orb of murky red energy at the crowd. Eggman intercepted the attack and blocked it with his wavelength. The attack collided with his soul, and the grim reaper strained to push the attack away.
He finally managed to send the orb flying off away from Death City. A flash of light came when the explosion collided with the outskirts. Energy and smoke formed a giant swirling dome off in the distance. The kishin laughed as if a joke had just been told. He was floating high into the air now. Eggman pursued him until sparks swirled around his body, making a sharp pain ring throughout his body.
"Looks like you've reached your maximum allotted distance," The kishin laughed at Eggman's visible frustration. "I, on the other hand, am free to move about as I please. Plunging this world into madness will be much more enjoyable knowing you're stuck here watching helplessly!"
The kishin disappeared into the darkened clouds of the night sky. Eggman looked onward for a while, then looked down at his damaged city. All he could do was ponder the safety of those who had entered the crypt. Despite the failure of Starline's team, one possible outcome was comforting.
The possibility that Sonic was dead in the crypt.