Author's Notes: I know, it's been a while. Eh, I have some complications
right now. One of my problems happens to be about a fanfic/story (I really
don't know what to call it) I wrote called I Beg of You! I keep writing it
for no apparent reason. I don't care if you say if the story is bad or not.
I just need opinions on what the story is about. You know, what the point
is. I'm really mixed up right now and I need other people's help.
To Vincent Valentine: I believe you are the first person to actually tell me of my mistakes. I thank you humbly for pushing me in the right direction. I am trying my best to write this fic, though I doubt I'll ever get my grammar and spelling right, even with the checks. At least I got the three-dot problem fixed...see?
All right! Lets get this fic started!
Blackspeed_Mistress
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Disclaimer: I do not own any Sonic characters! I only own Marika, Bradley, Faith, Rapture, Yuma, Damien, Airam, Latrommi, and Doreen. Hah! You lawyers can't sue me for them!
One Fatal Mistake
Sonic sprinted around the chao world, looking for a certain black hedgehog. He wandered up the steps to the Hero Garden and entered through the doorway. A sound of laughter filled his ears to the right, and he saw Shadow laughing while hugging a girl with blonde hair. He raised an eyebrow at the two.
"Now that's strange." The azure hedgehog thought. He was about to call out when a blue-clawed hand covered his mouth. "Mmph!" He turned around to find Marika smiling cleverly at him.
"Leave them alone for now. Anyways, didn't you say you wanted to ask me something?" She asked. Sonic nodded. The cat uncovered his mouth and motioned to follow her. They traveled down the stairs and into the Neutral gardens. Once they were in a nice, secluded spot, they talked.
"Okay. First," Sonic started, "How do you know of the eclipse cannon? I know for a fact that the news reporters never mentioned the name."
"Well, maybe you should know my name first. It's Marika Robotnik." She lazily replied. The hedgehog's face was filled with shock. The cat mentally chuckled and continued.
"Grandpa told me lots of stories. Especially of one about his sister, his grandpa, a hedgehog, and a space colony called ARK. Care to listen?" Another nod. "Good."
"Once upon a time, there was a man name Gerald. He loved science, his creations, and most of all, his granddaughter. Now, when he had heard about his granddaughter's birth, he was ecstatic. Soon, little Maria came down with a mysterious illness. The doctors gave her a week. Gerald quickly devised a plan to take her up to the nearly completed space colony, and search for a cure. Maria's parents agreed to take the chance, and they were off. The virus Maria caught was put into comatose and had a checkup every two months. Gerald then started his research on the ultimate life form, immune of all viruses to make a vaccine. Progress was fast, and before long, the prototype was born."
Sonic interrupted. "The bio-lizard, right?" Marika nodded.
"Exactly! By Maria's fifth birthday, the bio-lizard was full-grown. The results were less than pleasing. After being injected with the virus, it collapsed. Gerald built a life support system for it and kept it in a secluded room for later research. He tried again. Progress was even faster, and in two years, The Ultimate Life form, Shadow, was born. Since he was much smaller than the previous experiment, Shadow was allowed to go as he please. He bumped into Maria one day while she was running on one of her little errands. They became fast friends and the two were almost inseparable afterwards."
"What's this got to do with the eclipse cannon?" Sonic asked, impatient.
I'm getting to that!" She snapped, and continued.
"Anyway, by the time Shadow was old enough to try the virus, Maria was around 13. The virus was injected, and Shadow was sick for a few days. Everybody was worried, most of all Maria. Shadow recovered after about a week, and everyone partied. But the celebration was cut short."
"G.U.N.?"
"Oh, yes. Those despicable pathetic excuses trying to be military wannabes- "
"I get the point! On with the story!"
"Oh, right. G.U.N. ended up crashing in. Guess what they wanted?"
"Shadow?"
"Nope. They wanted the Eclipse cannon."
"But in the diary, he had said the life form!"
"He mistook them when they said they wanted his project, or pay. Gerald thought they meant Shadow, so he sent him and Maria to the escape pods. G.U.N. thought he sent them to get help, and they went after both of them. Maria was shot, Shadow escaped, and Gerald was captured. After seeing Maria's name on the list of casualties, he couldn't take it anymore. He had assumed, since Maria was dead, Shadow was too. His sanity slipped, and he turned to the prototype. He added toughness to its skin, and apparently, the virus mutated its genes to make a spitball attack. He named it Shadow, after the hedgehog."
"Then what's the deal with Rouge's report? She only found the bio-lizard. Where are his records?" He asked. Marika smirked.
"Oh, they're there alright. Only his records were handwritten. They're probably in his room somewhere."
"How do you know all this?"
"We had a...friend who retrieved these records, including part of his diary."
"What happened?"
"Executed, for giving aid to enemies."
"Oh."
A small silence crept over the two, mainly for Sonic to absorb the information.
"Why was G.U.N. chasing you?"
She huffed at the military's name.
"Those spineless bastards keep hunting me down for no apparent reason! Sure, we got a few things from them, but we've done no wrong! Stupid, mindless, no good, son of a-"
"Okay! Okay! I get it!"
Once Marika had settled down, the hedgehog continued.
"How do you have so much power? Punching a guy through a wall isn't quite normal." He spoke up. Marika hesitated, fiddling with her bracelet.
"I don't really know. It's something I've had for my whole life. Well, as far as I can remember."
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Rapture sat at the table with a small frown. Faith was lecturing again, this time about the attack Damien made. She said she was thinking of sending the angels to strike. Youma sat there, quiet as usual.
"What do you think?" The stern leader demanded. The grim reaper shook her head while Rapture smoothly voiced for them both.
"No good. The lord can't loose any angels at this time. We'll have to wait for M-"
"Hi everyone! How were things while I was away?" A woman exclaimed, interrupting Rapture in the process. She wore a tight fitting green dress that billowed out to her ankles. Her light green eyes glanced around to everyone, partially covered by her black bangs. Her hair was braided and hung down to her knees.
"It can't be too good if we're sitting around this table."
"Hello, Terra!" The pink haired guardian greeted. Youma smiled at her.
"When did you come back?" She asked casually.
"Just now, big sister! You wouldn't believe how long it took me to block up the Nile-"
"We were just going over the plans for a counterattack, Terra." Faith butted in.
"My, why is it that I always miss the most exciting things while I'm away?"
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Geez, Sonic! Where are you?"
Knuckles exclaimed in frustration as he glided to the ground. He landed and took off on foot, weaving through the people on the sidewalk. A white bat blocked his way.
"Out of my way, thief." Knuckles snarled out of impatience. Rouge smiled a little at his little outburst.
"Well, treasure hunter, what are you searching for this time?" She asked. Knuckles refrained from throwing a fit and replied somewhat calmly.
"I need to find Sonic." Rouge nodded in thought.
"Let me come with you."
"What?! But I-"
"I need to talk to him too. Who knows? I might be of some help."
The treasure hunter sighed and agreed. Rouge grinned, and they were off.
The duo ran through the crowded streets, looking for any sign of the blue hedgehog. Rouge distinctly smelled oil, indicating that there was a garage nearby. She nearly ran past it, spotting a blue mech with two tails painted on the side. She abruptly stopped, sliding a little on the pavement.
"Tails?" She called. The kitsune looked from behind his mech. His fur was smudged with oil, and he had a wrench in his hand.
"Hi Rouge! What can I do for you?"
"Hey Tails, where's Sonic?" She asked, just as Knuckles entered.
"Sonic? He's with Shadow at the Chao Garden."
The bat nodded. "Thanks. Let's go, treasure hunter." Knuckles ignored the nickname to think of what Tails just said. They ran off again.
"What's this about Shadow?"
"Shadow survived. A cat named Marika found him. Come on, it's right there."
After receiving a key from the receptionist, the two entered Chao world and split up to find Sonic. Knuckles decided to look in the Neutral garden while Rouge checked the Hero garden.
"Geez, there's a lot of Chao here!" Knuckles muttered. He noticed there were quite a few in the place. Most of them were surrounding a blue hedgehog.
"Sonic!" He called. Knuckles ran up to him in record time. The hedgehog looked up, as well as a blue-green cat nearby.
"Hi Knuckles! What are you doing here?" He asked. The echidna jumped at the chance.
"The Master Emerald has been stolen!"
"What?! Who took it?" Knuckles shook his head.
"I don't know. This man with black armor and grey eyes just came up and teleported with it."
"Damien." The cat spat. Both of them looked at her.
"Marika, you know him?" Sonic asked. She shook her head, now confused.
"No, I don't. When you described him, a name just popped up in my head-"
"Hey guys, what's with Shadow? He's laughing and playing, and won't leave this girl alone. It's...kinda creeping me out." Rouge said, entering the conversation. Marika smiled.
"That's his old friend, Maria. He's just really happy, I guess."
Sonic nodded, but had a serious look on his face.
"We should go to somewhere safe and talk about this problem more."
"But what should we do about Shadow? He might not be the best hedgehog in the world to talk to if we break up the happy moment." Knuckles quipped. Everyone looked at each other.
"Rock paper scissors, anyone?"
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Shadow lied happily on the grass beside Maria. His life was perfect! Maria's back, he made friends with Sonic and co., and nothing was going wrong. Everything was wonderful.
"Hey, Shadow?" the light voice called. He turned his face to Maria, and ended up being soaked with water. He growled playfully as his friend giggled. Though she forgot something. Being a hedgehog, he shook his fur, and the water was sprayed all over her. She squealed in surprise, and laughed. However, their happy moment was interrupted.
Marika nervously fiddled with her bracelet as she walked up to them. Avoiding stepping on the sleeping Airam, she made her way to the happy couple.
"Err, Maria, we gotta go." She squeaked, hoping that the hedgehog wouldn't attack. Maria nodded, but Shadow grabbed her arm and glared at Marika.
"Shadow, you gotta come too. Sonic and them are coming to my house to discuss Knuckle's problem." She added quickly, causing him to nod.
"Okay. Sonic should be done calling Tails, so we're gonna go soon."
After the group reassembled themselves, they headed to the cat's house. When they reached the garden, Marika stopped.
"Well, guys, this is it. Thanks for taking me on one of the best adventures I've had!" Sonic winked.
"It's all in a day's work!"
Marika smiled, and then remembered something. She took off her bracelet, and gave it to Maria.
"Think of it as a farewell present. You're like a sister to me. I wanted to give it to you before I forgot."
The girl accepted it and clasped it on her wrist. The cat paused for a moment, then shook her head.
"What's wrong?" Marika, still dazed, replied.
"I know why G.U.N. keeps chasing grandpa and I now. Since we are related to Robotnik, they want to get rid of any future problems."
"You're right. Allow me to do that now!" a fuzzed voice from behind retorted. Everyone turned around to face a mech. The G.U.N. symbol was painted on the side. Two large hover jets were attached to the back. You could see the pilot inside the thick glass cockpit, glaring at them all.
Sonic and Shadow sped toward him at an instant. Before they could hit, the mech jumped into the sky and hovered past the rest.
"It's fast!" Sonic replied. The pilot directed it back towards them. Bullets shot out of the rapid gun dangerously close to the group.
"Maria!!" Shadow cried as he zipped past everyone and pulled her behind him.
He saved Maria, but not himself. The last bullet had pierced his through his skin above his stomach.
The hedgehog slumped to the blood-soaked ground in pain.
"SHADOW!"
Maria was at his side in an instant. She gingerly placed his head on her lap. Shadow looked at her with glazed eyes.
"...Maria...are you...all right?" She nodded, failing miserably to keep her tears in. He shakily raised his hand and wiped her tears away.
"Don't...don't cry, Maria...It kills me...to see you cry..." He chuckled, and started to close his eyes. The girl cried out.
"Shadow! No, Shadow! Don't close your eyes! Stay here with me! Don't die! Don't die..."
He whispered her name for the last time, and slowly drifted away.
"SHHHHHHAAAAAAADOOOOOOOOWW!!!"
Her voice echoed throughout the city, and rung in everyone's hearts. There was nothing more than a quiet calm.
There was nothing more than a deathly silence.
And in that deadly silence, a mocking chuckle bubbled out from the cold, sadistic G.U.N. soldier.
Marika suddenly froze. Everything was clear now. All of her memories flooded her mind. It all made sense.
Forming a small ball of light between her hands, she glared at him through the tinted glass.
"Time to die, buddy!"
She thrust the ball of light towards the soldier and let go. It shot into the mech and engulfed it with a brilliant blue radiance.
All that was left was a pile of dust, blowing away with the wind.
~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-
Author's Note: I know, there's a cliffy at the end. And you're probably dying to know what happened to Shadow too. Well, you're going to have to wait! This is Blackspeed_Mistress signing out!
P.S. Don't tell me it was corny. I know already.
To Vincent Valentine: I believe you are the first person to actually tell me of my mistakes. I thank you humbly for pushing me in the right direction. I am trying my best to write this fic, though I doubt I'll ever get my grammar and spelling right, even with the checks. At least I got the three-dot problem fixed...see?
All right! Lets get this fic started!
Blackspeed_Mistress
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Disclaimer: I do not own any Sonic characters! I only own Marika, Bradley, Faith, Rapture, Yuma, Damien, Airam, Latrommi, and Doreen. Hah! You lawyers can't sue me for them!
One Fatal Mistake
Sonic sprinted around the chao world, looking for a certain black hedgehog. He wandered up the steps to the Hero Garden and entered through the doorway. A sound of laughter filled his ears to the right, and he saw Shadow laughing while hugging a girl with blonde hair. He raised an eyebrow at the two.
"Now that's strange." The azure hedgehog thought. He was about to call out when a blue-clawed hand covered his mouth. "Mmph!" He turned around to find Marika smiling cleverly at him.
"Leave them alone for now. Anyways, didn't you say you wanted to ask me something?" She asked. Sonic nodded. The cat uncovered his mouth and motioned to follow her. They traveled down the stairs and into the Neutral gardens. Once they were in a nice, secluded spot, they talked.
"Okay. First," Sonic started, "How do you know of the eclipse cannon? I know for a fact that the news reporters never mentioned the name."
"Well, maybe you should know my name first. It's Marika Robotnik." She lazily replied. The hedgehog's face was filled with shock. The cat mentally chuckled and continued.
"Grandpa told me lots of stories. Especially of one about his sister, his grandpa, a hedgehog, and a space colony called ARK. Care to listen?" Another nod. "Good."
"Once upon a time, there was a man name Gerald. He loved science, his creations, and most of all, his granddaughter. Now, when he had heard about his granddaughter's birth, he was ecstatic. Soon, little Maria came down with a mysterious illness. The doctors gave her a week. Gerald quickly devised a plan to take her up to the nearly completed space colony, and search for a cure. Maria's parents agreed to take the chance, and they were off. The virus Maria caught was put into comatose and had a checkup every two months. Gerald then started his research on the ultimate life form, immune of all viruses to make a vaccine. Progress was fast, and before long, the prototype was born."
Sonic interrupted. "The bio-lizard, right?" Marika nodded.
"Exactly! By Maria's fifth birthday, the bio-lizard was full-grown. The results were less than pleasing. After being injected with the virus, it collapsed. Gerald built a life support system for it and kept it in a secluded room for later research. He tried again. Progress was even faster, and in two years, The Ultimate Life form, Shadow, was born. Since he was much smaller than the previous experiment, Shadow was allowed to go as he please. He bumped into Maria one day while she was running on one of her little errands. They became fast friends and the two were almost inseparable afterwards."
"What's this got to do with the eclipse cannon?" Sonic asked, impatient.
I'm getting to that!" She snapped, and continued.
"Anyway, by the time Shadow was old enough to try the virus, Maria was around 13. The virus was injected, and Shadow was sick for a few days. Everybody was worried, most of all Maria. Shadow recovered after about a week, and everyone partied. But the celebration was cut short."
"G.U.N.?"
"Oh, yes. Those despicable pathetic excuses trying to be military wannabes- "
"I get the point! On with the story!"
"Oh, right. G.U.N. ended up crashing in. Guess what they wanted?"
"Shadow?"
"Nope. They wanted the Eclipse cannon."
"But in the diary, he had said the life form!"
"He mistook them when they said they wanted his project, or pay. Gerald thought they meant Shadow, so he sent him and Maria to the escape pods. G.U.N. thought he sent them to get help, and they went after both of them. Maria was shot, Shadow escaped, and Gerald was captured. After seeing Maria's name on the list of casualties, he couldn't take it anymore. He had assumed, since Maria was dead, Shadow was too. His sanity slipped, and he turned to the prototype. He added toughness to its skin, and apparently, the virus mutated its genes to make a spitball attack. He named it Shadow, after the hedgehog."
"Then what's the deal with Rouge's report? She only found the bio-lizard. Where are his records?" He asked. Marika smirked.
"Oh, they're there alright. Only his records were handwritten. They're probably in his room somewhere."
"How do you know all this?"
"We had a...friend who retrieved these records, including part of his diary."
"What happened?"
"Executed, for giving aid to enemies."
"Oh."
A small silence crept over the two, mainly for Sonic to absorb the information.
"Why was G.U.N. chasing you?"
She huffed at the military's name.
"Those spineless bastards keep hunting me down for no apparent reason! Sure, we got a few things from them, but we've done no wrong! Stupid, mindless, no good, son of a-"
"Okay! Okay! I get it!"
Once Marika had settled down, the hedgehog continued.
"How do you have so much power? Punching a guy through a wall isn't quite normal." He spoke up. Marika hesitated, fiddling with her bracelet.
"I don't really know. It's something I've had for my whole life. Well, as far as I can remember."
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Rapture sat at the table with a small frown. Faith was lecturing again, this time about the attack Damien made. She said she was thinking of sending the angels to strike. Youma sat there, quiet as usual.
"What do you think?" The stern leader demanded. The grim reaper shook her head while Rapture smoothly voiced for them both.
"No good. The lord can't loose any angels at this time. We'll have to wait for M-"
"Hi everyone! How were things while I was away?" A woman exclaimed, interrupting Rapture in the process. She wore a tight fitting green dress that billowed out to her ankles. Her light green eyes glanced around to everyone, partially covered by her black bangs. Her hair was braided and hung down to her knees.
"It can't be too good if we're sitting around this table."
"Hello, Terra!" The pink haired guardian greeted. Youma smiled at her.
"When did you come back?" She asked casually.
"Just now, big sister! You wouldn't believe how long it took me to block up the Nile-"
"We were just going over the plans for a counterattack, Terra." Faith butted in.
"My, why is it that I always miss the most exciting things while I'm away?"
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Geez, Sonic! Where are you?"
Knuckles exclaimed in frustration as he glided to the ground. He landed and took off on foot, weaving through the people on the sidewalk. A white bat blocked his way.
"Out of my way, thief." Knuckles snarled out of impatience. Rouge smiled a little at his little outburst.
"Well, treasure hunter, what are you searching for this time?" She asked. Knuckles refrained from throwing a fit and replied somewhat calmly.
"I need to find Sonic." Rouge nodded in thought.
"Let me come with you."
"What?! But I-"
"I need to talk to him too. Who knows? I might be of some help."
The treasure hunter sighed and agreed. Rouge grinned, and they were off.
The duo ran through the crowded streets, looking for any sign of the blue hedgehog. Rouge distinctly smelled oil, indicating that there was a garage nearby. She nearly ran past it, spotting a blue mech with two tails painted on the side. She abruptly stopped, sliding a little on the pavement.
"Tails?" She called. The kitsune looked from behind his mech. His fur was smudged with oil, and he had a wrench in his hand.
"Hi Rouge! What can I do for you?"
"Hey Tails, where's Sonic?" She asked, just as Knuckles entered.
"Sonic? He's with Shadow at the Chao Garden."
The bat nodded. "Thanks. Let's go, treasure hunter." Knuckles ignored the nickname to think of what Tails just said. They ran off again.
"What's this about Shadow?"
"Shadow survived. A cat named Marika found him. Come on, it's right there."
After receiving a key from the receptionist, the two entered Chao world and split up to find Sonic. Knuckles decided to look in the Neutral garden while Rouge checked the Hero garden.
"Geez, there's a lot of Chao here!" Knuckles muttered. He noticed there were quite a few in the place. Most of them were surrounding a blue hedgehog.
"Sonic!" He called. Knuckles ran up to him in record time. The hedgehog looked up, as well as a blue-green cat nearby.
"Hi Knuckles! What are you doing here?" He asked. The echidna jumped at the chance.
"The Master Emerald has been stolen!"
"What?! Who took it?" Knuckles shook his head.
"I don't know. This man with black armor and grey eyes just came up and teleported with it."
"Damien." The cat spat. Both of them looked at her.
"Marika, you know him?" Sonic asked. She shook her head, now confused.
"No, I don't. When you described him, a name just popped up in my head-"
"Hey guys, what's with Shadow? He's laughing and playing, and won't leave this girl alone. It's...kinda creeping me out." Rouge said, entering the conversation. Marika smiled.
"That's his old friend, Maria. He's just really happy, I guess."
Sonic nodded, but had a serious look on his face.
"We should go to somewhere safe and talk about this problem more."
"But what should we do about Shadow? He might not be the best hedgehog in the world to talk to if we break up the happy moment." Knuckles quipped. Everyone looked at each other.
"Rock paper scissors, anyone?"
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Shadow lied happily on the grass beside Maria. His life was perfect! Maria's back, he made friends with Sonic and co., and nothing was going wrong. Everything was wonderful.
"Hey, Shadow?" the light voice called. He turned his face to Maria, and ended up being soaked with water. He growled playfully as his friend giggled. Though she forgot something. Being a hedgehog, he shook his fur, and the water was sprayed all over her. She squealed in surprise, and laughed. However, their happy moment was interrupted.
Marika nervously fiddled with her bracelet as she walked up to them. Avoiding stepping on the sleeping Airam, she made her way to the happy couple.
"Err, Maria, we gotta go." She squeaked, hoping that the hedgehog wouldn't attack. Maria nodded, but Shadow grabbed her arm and glared at Marika.
"Shadow, you gotta come too. Sonic and them are coming to my house to discuss Knuckle's problem." She added quickly, causing him to nod.
"Okay. Sonic should be done calling Tails, so we're gonna go soon."
After the group reassembled themselves, they headed to the cat's house. When they reached the garden, Marika stopped.
"Well, guys, this is it. Thanks for taking me on one of the best adventures I've had!" Sonic winked.
"It's all in a day's work!"
Marika smiled, and then remembered something. She took off her bracelet, and gave it to Maria.
"Think of it as a farewell present. You're like a sister to me. I wanted to give it to you before I forgot."
The girl accepted it and clasped it on her wrist. The cat paused for a moment, then shook her head.
"What's wrong?" Marika, still dazed, replied.
"I know why G.U.N. keeps chasing grandpa and I now. Since we are related to Robotnik, they want to get rid of any future problems."
"You're right. Allow me to do that now!" a fuzzed voice from behind retorted. Everyone turned around to face a mech. The G.U.N. symbol was painted on the side. Two large hover jets were attached to the back. You could see the pilot inside the thick glass cockpit, glaring at them all.
Sonic and Shadow sped toward him at an instant. Before they could hit, the mech jumped into the sky and hovered past the rest.
"It's fast!" Sonic replied. The pilot directed it back towards them. Bullets shot out of the rapid gun dangerously close to the group.
"Maria!!" Shadow cried as he zipped past everyone and pulled her behind him.
He saved Maria, but not himself. The last bullet had pierced his through his skin above his stomach.
The hedgehog slumped to the blood-soaked ground in pain.
"SHADOW!"
Maria was at his side in an instant. She gingerly placed his head on her lap. Shadow looked at her with glazed eyes.
"...Maria...are you...all right?" She nodded, failing miserably to keep her tears in. He shakily raised his hand and wiped her tears away.
"Don't...don't cry, Maria...It kills me...to see you cry..." He chuckled, and started to close his eyes. The girl cried out.
"Shadow! No, Shadow! Don't close your eyes! Stay here with me! Don't die! Don't die..."
He whispered her name for the last time, and slowly drifted away.
"SHHHHHHAAAAAAADOOOOOOOOWW!!!"
Her voice echoed throughout the city, and rung in everyone's hearts. There was nothing more than a quiet calm.
There was nothing more than a deathly silence.
And in that deadly silence, a mocking chuckle bubbled out from the cold, sadistic G.U.N. soldier.
Marika suddenly froze. Everything was clear now. All of her memories flooded her mind. It all made sense.
Forming a small ball of light between her hands, she glared at him through the tinted glass.
"Time to die, buddy!"
She thrust the ball of light towards the soldier and let go. It shot into the mech and engulfed it with a brilliant blue radiance.
All that was left was a pile of dust, blowing away with the wind.
~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-
Author's Note: I know, there's a cliffy at the end. And you're probably dying to know what happened to Shadow too. Well, you're going to have to wait! This is Blackspeed_Mistress signing out!
P.S. Don't tell me it was corny. I know already.