New chapter, weird formatting, sorry, enjoy, etc, etc.
Disclaimer: Me no own not made-by-me things/ideas
-
It was like being tossed into a nightmare you'd thought you'd forgotten about. It had never been truly forgotten, but it was so terrible that you blocked it out and made yourself believe it had never actually happened.
This time, the thing's entire body changed. The moment of relief he'd felt when the damnable mockery of the ULMD's all-purpose manipulator - terrifying enough even when you hadn't suffered under its burning ministrations - was gone in another instant as he recognized the shape this thing was taking.
'Please, no,' he moaned, 'Not again. Not the -'
"Biolizard!" Sonic yelled in shock as the change completed itself.
"Wonderful," Shadow groaned aloud, jumping back a pace as the 'Biolizard's' head swiveled his way.
"It IS wonderful, isn't it?" it purred, "SO nice to have a proper skin on. Far less backtalk without a voice box."
"What the heck is that thing!" Knuckles growled, raising his left fist in an attempt to be threatening.
With his other arm so clearly out of commission, the echidna lost most of the effect.
Ignoring them now, the smoke-Biolizard, was gazing around the ruined ARK that surrounded them.
"At least this one did ONE thing correctly," it hissed, "Even with my former host body disintegrated, I can acquire any shape I desire within this place. Soon my form shall be the symbol of the death of all!"
"Former host body? What is that thing talking about?"
Tails was the one who had asked that. Shadow was shocked to see the young fox so completely nonplussed about this insidious resurrection of the Biolizard. It was as if the fox had never seen the creature before them before today…
…Wait a second. Himself, Sonic, Knuckles…they had been the ones in the core when the Biolizard had been released. Tails had still been in the first series of corridors leading to the ARK's core.
'It's drawing on the memory of the Biolizard to keep us paralyzed in fear,' Shadow suddenly realized, 'But it doesn't work if you don't have the memory. And it was hiding inside Raven…'
Inside another creature. Host body.
Why must all my work show such signs of psychotic behavior?
Insanity. Hearing voices in your head, telling you to do things you wouldn't normally consider. And in a dimension where the mind is the defining reality, the voice has a body of its own.
Shadow had heard that voice only once. It had been drowned out by Maria, and he had forgotten until now, but…
"Oh, eww! Gross!" Sonic suddenly yelped.
"What?" Tails asked, "What is it, Sonic?"
"I think that thing just said it used to live inside the Biolizard! Parasites are so disgusting!" Sonic cried.
"And here I thought you were nothing more than a mere idiot," said the smoke-Biolizard, "But in truth, the creature you call Biolizard had no mind of its own - barely any instincts as well. I found it to be quite a fertile planting ground for my consciousness…even after the good doctor prevented me from carrying out my destiny and sealed that bulbous body away."
Here it grinned, flashing the enameled gums that Shadow could so easily remember closing down upon him in battle.
"Not that having a body prevented me from seeking out others. The wounded mind is so easy to take into my control," it continued, before turning to stare directly at the black Ultimate Life Form.
"Except for you," it growled, "You got away. I had thought you might resist, but never to escape me. And that's why you have to die now."
"Gee, where have I heard that before?" Shadow wondered aloud, bracing himself for who-knew-what.
For some reason, the smoke-Biolizard being blasted by a burst of bright Chaos Energy from the side where none of them was standing wasn't high on Shadow's list of Things to Happen Next. Although, Shadow reasoned to himself afterwards, he really shouldn't have been surprised.
It wasn't like Raven would be scared of this particular overgrown lizard, no matter what it was capable of.
Unfortunately, one thing it was still capable of was resisting direct attacks. The leathery skin absorbed the energy and the blast shattered into fragments of harmless light.
"What do we have here?" the smoke-Biolizard wondered, sounding partly amused and partly miffed, "You now wish to prove your usefulness to me and finally go through with it?"
Raven's face was as expressionless as it had been when he'd woken up. Although his teeth were bared and gritted, it was as if his mouth was not a part of his face, so little did it tell of the white hedgehog's mood.
But he did shake his head.
"You will not kill him," Raven informed the reptilian apparition, "I will shred you if you try. He is mine. MINE!"
"Hey, is this good or bad?" Sonic stage-whispered to Tails and Knuckles.
"I guess its good," Tails whispered back, keeping his own voice actually low, "Raven doesn't want the Biolizard to kill Shadow."
"You're forgetting," Knuckles cut in, not bothering to lower his own voice, "Raven just doesn't want this Biolizard to kill Shadow. He practically said as much - he wants to be the one who does it."
"I'm not so sure," Tails replied, expression thoughtful.
"Um, guys? Less thinky more runny!" Interrupted the blue hedgehog, leaping out of the way - and dragging the fox and echidna with him - of a big black tail.
Shadow had no more time to pay attention to the others after that, because that same tail quickly swung around to try the same maneuver on him.