Disclaimer: Sonic The Hedgehog and all related characters are copyright to SEGA. Athair the Echidna was originally copyright to Sonic Archie Comics and Sonic Underground. I changed him a lot, but they still get credit. Lemon the Echidna, Tenchi the Hedgehog and all related characters that don't belong to SEGA belong to me, Zeldafreak-Vikki and my friend, Alyssa the Bat!
Author's Note: Oh man, we're almost done Part 2! Now you can find out what the Ultimate Life-Form is! ( would you trust that face? :p Anyway, I said before that this would be a pretty long story, so yeah, there is a Part 3. And there will most-likely be a Part 4, unless I jam Part 4 into Part 3... I'm rambling. I just hope the story isn't TOO long for you guys. Oh, and I might as well note that I'm gonna be starting my 2nd ever Sonic fanfic, Simple Shadows. (some people will recognize that name from the few test pages I did on my site). Tenchi is one of the main characters, along with Shadow, so if you like those characters, I'll be writing it pretty soon! Anywho, enough of this, on with CHAPTAH 23!
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE – TAKARA
Maria Robotnik felt a panic come over her spirit as she watched helplessly. Jigoku had just appeared before them and the Chaos Emeralds were gathered in the center of the room. Everyone thought she was just Maria, but in reality, the Ultimate Life-Form was using her to gain back its full power. Needless to say, this made her very angry.
"NO!!! Neo! Arashi! Don't listen to it! PLEASE!"
She watched in horror as Neo looked to her, his eyes glazed over. He was already taken. The others began to go into that hypnotized state as well. Maria's body grinned.
"Heheh, nobody can save you now," chuckled the Ultimate Life-Form's voice. "These five are mine. Along with you, that makes six. Now there is only one left."
Maria gulped, feeling like an ice cube was lodged down her throat. "Shadow..."
"That's right," it taunted. "You're going to lead me right to him."
"No! NO!!!"
Shadow yelled as he sat straight up, awakening from his nightmare. Panic-stricken, he stared wildly around, registering in his brain where he was and trying to catch his breath. After a few tries, he managed to calm his pounding heart, as well as stop himself shaking. He gulped as he realized he was still on the roof of Rouge's infirmary, Lemon lying asleep next to him. It was still dark out, but Shadow knew from the cool air that morning was fast approaching. He sighed, happy he hadn't awoken Lemon from her quiet slumber. The two of them had stayed up quite late watching the stars together. He blushed as he remembered her kissing him goodnight. He shook his head to keep his mind off of that as visions of his nightmare came rushing back to him.
He had seen it. The Ultimate Life-Form. There was no doubt about it. He had seen all of the other projects: Sonic, Arashi, Jigoku, Shade, Shuri and... somebody...
Shadow held his head in his hands as he strained to see who the last life-form was. He could definitely see it was a human but the person was so covered up, he couldn't see their face! He could hear it laughing in his ears: a terrible, mirthless laugh that filled him with cold dread. This must've been the one guilty of being possessed by the Ultimate Life- Form... the one who was causing all of this trouble. But who was it?!
"Hhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiissssssss..."
Shadow opened his eyes and slowly lifted his head, feeling all of his fur stand on end. That hissing noise sounded like a snake of some sort, but what kind of snake could climb up a two-story house?
"SSSHHHHAAAADOOOOOWWWW...!"
The black hedgehog's eyes widened as he realized that whatever being was making that terrible noise was standing behind him. Carefully, he stood up and began to turn to face it.
"SSSSSTOP!" it snapped, making Shadow halt in mid-step. Its sinister voice echoed across the entire rooftop. "Insssolent Sshhadow! How dare you run from ussss?!"
"Us?" retorted Shadow, ignoring the continuing hissing and turning fully to face his adversary. "I would NEVER join you-... Sonic?!"
Sonic the Hedgehog stood there, looking infuriated. But something was very wrong. A strange blue light was emanating from his cobalt fur and his green eyes were full of malice. His skin had turned completely white, making him look like he wasn't alive.
"Sonic! What's going on here? I thought you were all back at the café!"
"Who ssssaid I was Sssssonic?" grinned the possessed hedgehog, holding up a blue Chaos Emerald. "That weakling didn't sssstand a chance!"
"...oh no..." Shadow clenched his teeth as Sonic suddenly lashed out at him, going for his throat. The shocked hedgehog dodged to the side, happy his reflexes were back up to speed. The glowing "zombie" tried again and again, moving as if he was a puppet being controlled by its master. Shadow suddenly jumped back away but soon regretted it as a fist smashed into the back of his head, sending him forward onto his face. He looked up dizzily and saw that Shade was standing there, his fists clenched. He too was covered in a strange light, except his was a silver color, matching the Chaos Emerald in his hand.
"There'ssss no essscape," he chuckled, awkwardly stepping forward. "You're outnumbered, Sssshaaadooowwww!"
More hissing noises sounded as Shuri, Arashi and Jigoku climbed up onto the roof, all being controlled as well and glowing with the power of their Chaos Emeralds. Shadow slowly got to his feet, glaring around as they all circled him. Under one of his shoulder quills, the red Chaos Emerald glowed, indicating that all of them had been gathered. But he only saw six! Where was the seventh and final person? The one responsible for all this?
"Boys, boys!" called a female voice, "Give poor Shadow some room."
All of the possessed beings looked up and slowly backed away a few steps. Shadow looked around at them and his eye caught Lemon sitting there, staring. The noise must've woken her up.
"Lemon! Get inside the house and stay there!" he yelled, suddenly feeling scared for her. "No matter what you hear, don't come out!"
"But-..."
"GO!"
Lemon breathed and quickly scrambled to get inside the house, although her heart protested. She really wanted to help Shadow, even though she had no idea what was going on. Maybe Rouge would know?
Shadow sighed, one more worry lifted from his confused mind. Now he just had to figure out what the hell was going on. Suddenly, a hand touched his shoulder gently. He tensed up and whirled around, raising a hand. He was about to strike, but stopped when he realized just who was standing there. In that moment, his heart froze. Nothing in the world could've prepared him for this moment.
Maria Robotnik was standing there, looking down at him. She was older and her hair was completely different, but Shadow knew right away from her blue eyes that she was indeed his friend from those fifty years ago. But he couldn't bring himself to believe it.
"M-Muh-Maria...!" he stammered, stepping back in shock. "C-Can't...be...!"
Maria smiled, although there was a hint of sadness in her expression. "Oh Shadow, I knew you'd recognize me!" She kneeled down to his level, getting a good look at him. "It's been so long... It looks like the two of us have changed."
Shadow, completely speechless, could only nod slowly. It was all starting to make sense. Maria had once mentioned something about Hatian Cells. Gerald must've done some testing on her back when she was little. And that meant...
"It was you," he murmured, his eyes shining. This was all too much to handle. "It was you the entire time. You're the reason Sonic and Shade are here..."
Maria frowned and stood up. "Yeah... Kinda funny, isn't it?"
Shadow hesitated before speaking. Maria was acting a little strange. But it was still her all the same and deep in his hurting heart, he'd been hoping he would see her again.
"I-I thought you were dead..."
Maria smiled and came just before Shadow. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him just like she always had back on the ARK... Funny, he was starting to feel sleepy...
"SHADOW! SHADOW, YOU IDIOT, DON'T FALL ASLEEP!"
Shadow was suddenly jolted awake as Rouge the Bat swooped down from nowhere and kicked Maria away. Shadow collapsed to his knees, suddenly feeling weakened. Rouge rushed to him, worry on her face.
"Shadow! You alright?!"
But before she got the chance to help him up, he was standing, his bloody eyes fixed on Maria. While she had been taking away his energy, he had seen everything. And he knew just what was going on.
"Back off, Rouge. Get outta here before you get hurt."
Rouge gulped and didn't dare complain. She took off into the air and headed towards where Knuckles and Lemon stood.
Maria's body chuckled as a golden light surrounded it, lifting her into the air. Shadow calmly walked up to her, no longer afraid.
"I should've seen it before," he yelled over the noise of the accumulating power. "You're not Maria... You're TAKARA!!!"
From where they were standing, Rouge gasped. Both Knuckles and Lemon looked to her intensely, their glares demanding to know what was going on. She didn't dare take her eyes away as she muttered its name.
"'Jerarudo no Takara...' Gerald's Treasure... The Ultimate Life-Form!"
The golden glow intensified as a great deal of Takara's anger exploded. Shadow tried to dodge the beams of light as they lashed out at him but one snatched his wrist. He growled and pulled away, one of his fire rings slipping off. Then it grabbed his other ring! He ended up losing that as well. Then Takara took away his anklets. After that, Shadow stopped trying to struggle, and the light began to engulf him. Lemon screamed in horror and Knuckles raised an eye ridge, suddenly confused. "Why doesn't he struggle?!"
Shadow shut his eyes as a terrible feeling suddenly came over him, like he was about to be violently ill. He clenched his teeth as his own power overwhelmed him and yelled as he unleashed it all, damaging himself as well as Takara. It immediately released him and he hit the ground, his whole body burning.
Rouge stared as she stood with the others. "Oh God..."
Speaking through Maria, Takara snarled. "Stupid hedgehog! Give it up and become one with us!!!"
Shadow groaned as the rays of light grabbed him again. He made a weak attempt to get free from the rope-like rays but failed miserably once they had wrapped around his body. Lemon gasped and began to run towards the house. "SHADOW!!!"
"No, Lemon!" Knuckled grabbed his sister and held her back, knowing there was nothing they could do now. Lemon continued to struggle, tears sparkling from her eyes. "Knuckles, let me go!!! We have to help him!! PLEASE!"
Shadow felt a cold sensation come over his entire body as the light began to sink into his skin. He gulped as it rose up from his feet. He gasped, looking down to where his friends stood.
"R-Run...Lemon..." He choked as the cold reached his chest and prevented him from breathing. He let out one last scream before the light took him completely. With the last project taken, all seven then merged into one, sending out a forceful wind that knocked over Knuckles, Lemon and Rouge and made the roof of Rouge's house collapse. The albino bat was not very happy about this.
"HEY!!!"
Knuckles groaned as he began to get up but Lemon was already on her feet. Tears streaked across her cheeks, she stared as a figure hidden by a blinding light jumped down from the top of the house and began to step up towards them. Seeing it approach, Knuckles jumped to his feet and Rouge stood ready for a fight. Lemon held her breath as it stopped walking, only a meter or so away from them. The light flashed brighter than ever, then slowly died down.
And standing there...
Author's Note: Sorry this was a bit late, I got piled up with a bunch of work that was all due today. So now it's all done with! Anywho, like the ending of this chapter?! smiles!
Author's Note: Oh man, we're almost done Part 2! Now you can find out what the Ultimate Life-Form is! ( would you trust that face? :p Anyway, I said before that this would be a pretty long story, so yeah, there is a Part 3. And there will most-likely be a Part 4, unless I jam Part 4 into Part 3... I'm rambling. I just hope the story isn't TOO long for you guys. Oh, and I might as well note that I'm gonna be starting my 2nd ever Sonic fanfic, Simple Shadows. (some people will recognize that name from the few test pages I did on my site). Tenchi is one of the main characters, along with Shadow, so if you like those characters, I'll be writing it pretty soon! Anywho, enough of this, on with CHAPTAH 23!
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE – TAKARA
Maria Robotnik felt a panic come over her spirit as she watched helplessly. Jigoku had just appeared before them and the Chaos Emeralds were gathered in the center of the room. Everyone thought she was just Maria, but in reality, the Ultimate Life-Form was using her to gain back its full power. Needless to say, this made her very angry.
"NO!!! Neo! Arashi! Don't listen to it! PLEASE!"
She watched in horror as Neo looked to her, his eyes glazed over. He was already taken. The others began to go into that hypnotized state as well. Maria's body grinned.
"Heheh, nobody can save you now," chuckled the Ultimate Life-Form's voice. "These five are mine. Along with you, that makes six. Now there is only one left."
Maria gulped, feeling like an ice cube was lodged down her throat. "Shadow..."
"That's right," it taunted. "You're going to lead me right to him."
"No! NO!!!"
Shadow yelled as he sat straight up, awakening from his nightmare. Panic-stricken, he stared wildly around, registering in his brain where he was and trying to catch his breath. After a few tries, he managed to calm his pounding heart, as well as stop himself shaking. He gulped as he realized he was still on the roof of Rouge's infirmary, Lemon lying asleep next to him. It was still dark out, but Shadow knew from the cool air that morning was fast approaching. He sighed, happy he hadn't awoken Lemon from her quiet slumber. The two of them had stayed up quite late watching the stars together. He blushed as he remembered her kissing him goodnight. He shook his head to keep his mind off of that as visions of his nightmare came rushing back to him.
He had seen it. The Ultimate Life-Form. There was no doubt about it. He had seen all of the other projects: Sonic, Arashi, Jigoku, Shade, Shuri and... somebody...
Shadow held his head in his hands as he strained to see who the last life-form was. He could definitely see it was a human but the person was so covered up, he couldn't see their face! He could hear it laughing in his ears: a terrible, mirthless laugh that filled him with cold dread. This must've been the one guilty of being possessed by the Ultimate Life- Form... the one who was causing all of this trouble. But who was it?!
"Hhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiissssssss..."
Shadow opened his eyes and slowly lifted his head, feeling all of his fur stand on end. That hissing noise sounded like a snake of some sort, but what kind of snake could climb up a two-story house?
"SSSHHHHAAAADOOOOOWWWW...!"
The black hedgehog's eyes widened as he realized that whatever being was making that terrible noise was standing behind him. Carefully, he stood up and began to turn to face it.
"SSSSSTOP!" it snapped, making Shadow halt in mid-step. Its sinister voice echoed across the entire rooftop. "Insssolent Sshhadow! How dare you run from ussss?!"
"Us?" retorted Shadow, ignoring the continuing hissing and turning fully to face his adversary. "I would NEVER join you-... Sonic?!"
Sonic the Hedgehog stood there, looking infuriated. But something was very wrong. A strange blue light was emanating from his cobalt fur and his green eyes were full of malice. His skin had turned completely white, making him look like he wasn't alive.
"Sonic! What's going on here? I thought you were all back at the café!"
"Who ssssaid I was Sssssonic?" grinned the possessed hedgehog, holding up a blue Chaos Emerald. "That weakling didn't sssstand a chance!"
"...oh no..." Shadow clenched his teeth as Sonic suddenly lashed out at him, going for his throat. The shocked hedgehog dodged to the side, happy his reflexes were back up to speed. The glowing "zombie" tried again and again, moving as if he was a puppet being controlled by its master. Shadow suddenly jumped back away but soon regretted it as a fist smashed into the back of his head, sending him forward onto his face. He looked up dizzily and saw that Shade was standing there, his fists clenched. He too was covered in a strange light, except his was a silver color, matching the Chaos Emerald in his hand.
"There'ssss no essscape," he chuckled, awkwardly stepping forward. "You're outnumbered, Sssshaaadooowwww!"
More hissing noises sounded as Shuri, Arashi and Jigoku climbed up onto the roof, all being controlled as well and glowing with the power of their Chaos Emeralds. Shadow slowly got to his feet, glaring around as they all circled him. Under one of his shoulder quills, the red Chaos Emerald glowed, indicating that all of them had been gathered. But he only saw six! Where was the seventh and final person? The one responsible for all this?
"Boys, boys!" called a female voice, "Give poor Shadow some room."
All of the possessed beings looked up and slowly backed away a few steps. Shadow looked around at them and his eye caught Lemon sitting there, staring. The noise must've woken her up.
"Lemon! Get inside the house and stay there!" he yelled, suddenly feeling scared for her. "No matter what you hear, don't come out!"
"But-..."
"GO!"
Lemon breathed and quickly scrambled to get inside the house, although her heart protested. She really wanted to help Shadow, even though she had no idea what was going on. Maybe Rouge would know?
Shadow sighed, one more worry lifted from his confused mind. Now he just had to figure out what the hell was going on. Suddenly, a hand touched his shoulder gently. He tensed up and whirled around, raising a hand. He was about to strike, but stopped when he realized just who was standing there. In that moment, his heart froze. Nothing in the world could've prepared him for this moment.
Maria Robotnik was standing there, looking down at him. She was older and her hair was completely different, but Shadow knew right away from her blue eyes that she was indeed his friend from those fifty years ago. But he couldn't bring himself to believe it.
"M-Muh-Maria...!" he stammered, stepping back in shock. "C-Can't...be...!"
Maria smiled, although there was a hint of sadness in her expression. "Oh Shadow, I knew you'd recognize me!" She kneeled down to his level, getting a good look at him. "It's been so long... It looks like the two of us have changed."
Shadow, completely speechless, could only nod slowly. It was all starting to make sense. Maria had once mentioned something about Hatian Cells. Gerald must've done some testing on her back when she was little. And that meant...
"It was you," he murmured, his eyes shining. This was all too much to handle. "It was you the entire time. You're the reason Sonic and Shade are here..."
Maria frowned and stood up. "Yeah... Kinda funny, isn't it?"
Shadow hesitated before speaking. Maria was acting a little strange. But it was still her all the same and deep in his hurting heart, he'd been hoping he would see her again.
"I-I thought you were dead..."
Maria smiled and came just before Shadow. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him just like she always had back on the ARK... Funny, he was starting to feel sleepy...
"SHADOW! SHADOW, YOU IDIOT, DON'T FALL ASLEEP!"
Shadow was suddenly jolted awake as Rouge the Bat swooped down from nowhere and kicked Maria away. Shadow collapsed to his knees, suddenly feeling weakened. Rouge rushed to him, worry on her face.
"Shadow! You alright?!"
But before she got the chance to help him up, he was standing, his bloody eyes fixed on Maria. While she had been taking away his energy, he had seen everything. And he knew just what was going on.
"Back off, Rouge. Get outta here before you get hurt."
Rouge gulped and didn't dare complain. She took off into the air and headed towards where Knuckles and Lemon stood.
Maria's body chuckled as a golden light surrounded it, lifting her into the air. Shadow calmly walked up to her, no longer afraid.
"I should've seen it before," he yelled over the noise of the accumulating power. "You're not Maria... You're TAKARA!!!"
From where they were standing, Rouge gasped. Both Knuckles and Lemon looked to her intensely, their glares demanding to know what was going on. She didn't dare take her eyes away as she muttered its name.
"'Jerarudo no Takara...' Gerald's Treasure... The Ultimate Life-Form!"
The golden glow intensified as a great deal of Takara's anger exploded. Shadow tried to dodge the beams of light as they lashed out at him but one snatched his wrist. He growled and pulled away, one of his fire rings slipping off. Then it grabbed his other ring! He ended up losing that as well. Then Takara took away his anklets. After that, Shadow stopped trying to struggle, and the light began to engulf him. Lemon screamed in horror and Knuckles raised an eye ridge, suddenly confused. "Why doesn't he struggle?!"
Shadow shut his eyes as a terrible feeling suddenly came over him, like he was about to be violently ill. He clenched his teeth as his own power overwhelmed him and yelled as he unleashed it all, damaging himself as well as Takara. It immediately released him and he hit the ground, his whole body burning.
Rouge stared as she stood with the others. "Oh God..."
Speaking through Maria, Takara snarled. "Stupid hedgehog! Give it up and become one with us!!!"
Shadow groaned as the rays of light grabbed him again. He made a weak attempt to get free from the rope-like rays but failed miserably once they had wrapped around his body. Lemon gasped and began to run towards the house. "SHADOW!!!"
"No, Lemon!" Knuckled grabbed his sister and held her back, knowing there was nothing they could do now. Lemon continued to struggle, tears sparkling from her eyes. "Knuckles, let me go!!! We have to help him!! PLEASE!"
Shadow felt a cold sensation come over his entire body as the light began to sink into his skin. He gulped as it rose up from his feet. He gasped, looking down to where his friends stood.
"R-Run...Lemon..." He choked as the cold reached his chest and prevented him from breathing. He let out one last scream before the light took him completely. With the last project taken, all seven then merged into one, sending out a forceful wind that knocked over Knuckles, Lemon and Rouge and made the roof of Rouge's house collapse. The albino bat was not very happy about this.
"HEY!!!"
Knuckles groaned as he began to get up but Lemon was already on her feet. Tears streaked across her cheeks, she stared as a figure hidden by a blinding light jumped down from the top of the house and began to step up towards them. Seeing it approach, Knuckles jumped to his feet and Rouge stood ready for a fight. Lemon held her breath as it stopped walking, only a meter or so away from them. The light flashed brighter than ever, then slowly died down.
And standing there...
Author's Note: Sorry this was a bit late, I got piled up with a bunch of work that was all due today. So now it's all done with! Anywho, like the ending of this chapter?! smiles!