Phantom Girls

It's Over!: Episode 5

Two flaming fireballs zoomed towards Tikal and Rouge. The bat hurried to her feet grabbing onto Tikal and together they dodged Tyra's attack. The cat flew after them ready to fire off another fireball attack until Tikal stopped her.

"Wait! What's going on? What happened to you?" the echidna asked noticing a strange presence of energy within Tyra.

The feline only chuckled at the silly question.

"What happened to me? Are you telling me that you can't figure it out? Oh Tikal you're so simple and naïve." Tyra landed on the ground and approached the girls. "When that surge of black energy exploded, the Crystal Fire broke and I absorbed the flame. Thus giving me unlimited amounts of power."

Rouge saw Tikal mouth something inaudible with a fearful expression. Something was obviously wrong with the situation.

"So if you girls are ready to take me on..." Tyra hovered into the air. "then bring it."

Immediately Rouge stood up as Tyra chuckled floating away to put some distance between her and the girls. While Rouge prepared to attack, she was stopped by Tikal.

"Rouge you can't." the echidna said to her friend in an urgent manner.

"What? Why not?" Rouge asked in return.

"The Crystal Fire. If it's in her she'll be overcome by its power and be destroyed eventually. It was never meant to be absorbed directly by anyone!"

"…Does she even know?"

"I doubt, but we must stop her. Even Tyra doesn't deserve to be destroyed by her own corruption over power."

It was a bold statement made by Tikal, one that confused Rouge about who's side the echidna was on in the battle. Tikal was her friend but this statement sort jogged the bat's mind as to how much of a friend she really was. For so long Rouge had believed that the descendant of a powerful race had spent thousands of years chasing after her enemy, but this sudden urge to save that same enemy caused her to question just what happened over that last thousand years between the two girls.

Tikal looked into Rouge's eyes and could see the cloud of doubt within them. She knew what she had said bothered Rouge so the healer had to explain herself quickly.

"I know you're disturbed by me wanting to save Tyra but you have to understand. Yes the echidna civilization was powerful and small but we cared for others. We rarely resorted to violence or to destroying other tribes. Including the Evil Force."

"But I…"

"Rouge, we echidnas may not have lived peacefully with the Evil Force, but that didn't mean we wanted them destroyed. You see… the Evil Force wasn't just composed of a particular group, they were made of outsiders from other tribes. Those who felt left out or just lost their way sort of wandered into the hands of the Evil Force… and never came back. Including members of my own family."

Upon hearing this, Rouge's ears drooped down to the side. She had no idea how personal this issue was for Tikal… or for the ancient tribes of the past for that matter. It finally explained why Tikal was so willing to chase after Tyra yet not use any force against the feline. Chances were that Tyra was just another one of the lost few who fell into the Evil Force. Rouge looked away shifting her feet unsteadily.

"I believe Tyra is also a 'lost soul', as we would call them, but I'm not entirely sure." Tikal added quietly. "But I do want to stop her and put her to sleep once and for all… and destroy the Crystal Fire as well."

Rouge nodded her head understanding the situation. With a clearer view on Tikal's mission, the bat was willing to stick by her side all the way through this battle no matter how it turned out. The two girls faced Tyra who had been patiently waiting for the two. When Tyra saw the determined look on the girls' face, she gathered up some fire in her hands and prepared to attack. Rouge took to the air sped towards Tyra; the feline fired off a few fireballs towards the speeding bat. Rouge dodged most of the attacks getting brazed by a few flames but she was able to get into close contact with Tyra. Rouge grabbed onto her wrist and the two girls fought against each other's powers.

"Tyra… you have to stop now! You'll die if you don't!" Rouge yelled.

"Can't you think of a better way to distract me?" Tyra replied grinning.

Tyra slowly began to crush Rouge's hands but the bat retaliated with a swift knee into Tyra's stomach. The cat hunched over gasping for air and Rouge took the opportunity to kick Tyra again this time sending the cat to the ground. Tyra fell back tumbling over herself before stopping and curling up from the pain in her stomach. She looked up towards Rouge who only looked down at her in a fierce manner.

"Do you realize what's going to happen to you?" Rouge boldly asked Tyra.

"I'm getting rid of you and taking over the world the Evil Force rightfully deserved! No one will stop me from my destiny!" Tyra replied straining her voice.

"And your destiny is death!" Tikal approached the two girls. "The Crystal Fire that is within you will grow and its power will overwhelm you. Then it will destroy your frail body for you, nor anyone else, were never meant to have such power in them."

"Lies! The Crystal Fire was made for the Evil Force to use and no echidna is certainly not going to tell me how to use it!"

With that said Tyra leapt up off the ground and slashed her claws at Tikal. Surprisingly streaks of fire was created from the attack almost burning the echidna healer as she fell back. Rouge dived down to attack Tyra but the cat spun around and sent a fire punch into Rouge's stomach causing her to bleed from the burn. The bat was knocked away and disappeared into the darkness of the realm. Tikal blocked several attacks from Tyra as the cat's rage grew. Small blue flames could be seen within Tyra's eyes and she pulled her hands back with flames surrounding them. Tyra forced them forward and a burst of flames broke through Tikal's shield.

Tikal's scream filled the air stirring Rouge's sense and the bat was off again to save her friend. A large flame was ready to strike down upon Tikal until the battle cry of Rouge caught Tyra's attention. The cat spun around and a fist slammed into her face causing her to stumble back. After Tyra regained her footing, she immediately retaliated with a flaming claw attack. Rouge took the attack at full force but still kept going. The two girls went back and forth hitting each other with all that they had. Slowly Tyra's rage grew with every attack and the flames within her eyes grew.

Another quick dodge by Rouge and the bat leapt into the air and sent Tyra away from her with a powerful kick. The cat screamed as she disappeared into the darkness allowing Rouge to finally rest after an intense battle. She fell to her knees breathing out heavily while Tikal crawled over to her.

"Are you ok?" Tikal asked her friend kindly.

"Yeah. That was intense." Rouge wiped her brow. "But how are we gonna capture Tyra? She keeps getting stronger by the second."

"I guess wearing her out won't work but that means I won't be able to capture her in a shield and purify her of the Crystal Fire."

Just then a ground shaking roar rocked the dark realm and sudden explosions immediately followed. Wild mountains of fire exploded from numerous fissures in the ground and the cracks were heading straight towards Tikal and Rouge. The girls pulled close together as a fissure circled around them and opened up releasing a blast of hot fire. When the fire disappeared Tyra was hovering high above the ground surrounded by a blue aura. A red glowing light came from the fissures giving the dark realm a demonic look and Tikal and Rouge were stuck on their small plateau. Tyra's eyes had completely disappeared in the blue flames and that was all that could be seen. The fighter descendant of the evil force was slowly fading before the girls' eyes as the corruptive power of the Crystal Fire overwhelmed her.

"DIE!!" Tyra shouted as she shot a tremendous blue blaze at Rouge and Tikal.

Immediately Rouge took Tikal's hand and flew into the sky but Tyra continued her rampage. Tikal and Rouge were left helpless as Tyra continued her attacks, each one more deadlier than the previous. Rouge soon began to grow tired of wildly flying about until the attacks suddenly stopped. The girls looked over in Tyra's direction and noticed that the cat was engulfed in a large blue flame. It burned at her skin and she had no way of stopping its power.

"No…" Rouge whispered.

"It's too late…" Tikal said solemnly.

The Crystal Fire had taken over Tyra's body and slowly she was beginning to die. Rouge watched in horror as the helpless fighter struggled against the blue fire and then felt a strange surge of energy in her hands. Tikal had created a white aura around herself and soon floated away out of Rouge's grasp. The echidna created a white platform that she stood on and Rouge landed next to her.

"I must put this to an end." Tikal said in a dark tone.

"But how? I thought you said that it would be too late for Tyra." Rouge assumed.

"It is… but I still have to destroy the Crystal Fire… and Tyra as well unfortunately."

The shining white platform floated to where Tyra was but stayed at a safe distance. Tikal held out her hands and immediately a clear shield was created around the burning feline. The pain from the Crystal Fire stopped and Tyra opened her eyes to see Tikal and Rouge ahead of her.

"Help me! Please!" she cried out pushing her hands against the shield.

"I'm sorry Tyra but we tried to warn you." Tikal spoke out. "Now that you're infected by the Crystal Fire, there's no way of saving you. I have to destroy the fire to prevent its power from growing."

For the first time in what seemed like ages, Rouge saw true fear in Tyra's eyes. Tears were running down her face from discovering the horrible truth about her destiny. Deep down in her heart, she truly regretted the day she had joined the evil force and now she was paying for her choice over thousands of years later. Tikal continued on with her purification process and moved her hands around making different gestures before holding them out with force. The movements had caused a light glittering shower to rain down upon Tyra. The cat felt a powerful and painful surge of energy throughout her body as the spell began to extinguish the Crystal Fire. She held out her hand towards Tikal and mouthed the girl's name before turning into ash and disappearing in the shield bubble along with the Crystal Fire.

Tikal fell to her knees on the white platform and Rouge knelt down behind her and comforted the healer. Her mission was complete… but it did not end the way she had hoped it would.

"I was to put Tyra to sleep and then destroy the Crystal Fire… things never work out the way they should." Tikal said with tears pouring out of her eyes.

"I know… but that's life." Rouge said for some sort of comfort. "We better get back to the others."

Tikal agreed and used her powers to return them back to Tyra's nearly destroyed lair. Amy and Cream had been released from the orb prisons and Tikal explained everything that had happened while in the dark realm. After the girls heard the entire story, their spirits seemed to have dulled and what seemed like a great adventure turned into a tragic story. The Phantom Girls left the portal in silence and returned home.