Good news, Everyone!
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I just saved a lot of money by switching to...oh wait, wrong header.
Never mind, the news is all bad and you wouldn't want to hear about it anyway.
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Disclaimer: Chiwizard does NOT own Sonic
Claimer: Chiwizard DOES own Raven, Eclipse, and the Fount of Light
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When all this was explained to Shadow later, he would think it was actually surprisingly clever of Sonic to think of such an idea, given the discouraging circumstances.
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When it was actively taking place, all Shadow could figure out was that some sort of weird light had appeared over his head, spat out what looked like three people, and vanished -
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Leaving the four of them to experience the pitiless wonders of gravity first-hand.
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"WHOA!" Shadow yelped - a perfectly reasonable response, as he was currently being crushed underneath two other hedgehogs and an echidna.
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Tails, however, had no sympathy whatsoever for the black one's plight.
"Hooray! Sonic and the others found us!" the two-tailed fox cheered, darting right over to the pile to greet his friends.
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Of the three incomers, only Knuckles was still conscious, and he had received a lovely pounding headache from the trip. And as far as he was concerned, Tails' chirpiness was not preferable to a huge platter of aspirin.
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"The next time…" Knuckles groaned as he wormed his way out from being underneath Sonic and on top of Raven and Shadow, "Sonic gets a stupid idea like this…if I go along with it…someone slap me."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Shadow grumbled, dragging himself out from the bottom.
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"Oh, Shadow, I have good news for you," Knuckles added, nonplussed about having crushed the black hedgehog, "Apparently Raven's sane now. Not sure why though."
And having thus dumped this bombshell in Shadow's lap, Knuckles proceeded to move off and check their surroundings.
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Freaky…it appeared that they were some sort of weird, medium-gray bubble, keeping them separate from the rest of the blackened Fount of Light. Despite its size - cramped now, with the addition of three more people - Knuckles had the oddest feeling that Shadow and Tails had fallen into this bubble immediately after Eclipse's charge, and hadn't left it at all since.
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The bubble's other occupant was probably the reason why.
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Sitting very quietly on the ground in the middle of the bubble was the Fount Shadow. He was holding something that looked like a gray bowling-ball in his hands, and was otherwise expressionless.
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"Didn't you get eaten?" was all that the echidna could think of to say.
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Fount Shadow blinked at him, and sighed.
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"If I can make your thoughts into reality easily enough, doing the same with mine is much more basic stuff," Fount Shadow explained - perfectly aware that the newly reviving Sonic and Raven were also listening to him, "Before I was 'eaten', I used my power to remake my consciousness into what you see."
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"That means you're out of power and we're doomed, right?" Sonic piped up.
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"Actually, I don't think so," Tails mentioned, "He's the one making this bubble, and as long as we're in here, Eclipse can't find us even with the powers of the Fount of Light…I think."
"He'll have noticed we teleported in here, though," Knuckles grumbled.
0-As if on cue, something rumbled outside of the bubble's perimeter. Something hazy and snake-shaped writhed, and two pinpricks of white light peered at them.
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"I sssseeeeee yyyyoooouuuuu," Eclipse sang-purred from just outside the bubble of apparent safety.
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The occupants of said bubble immediately backed a step away from the sides.
"Scurrying insects, hiding under a rock…" Eclipse laughed, "Why don't you come out and play, cowards…"
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"Thanks for the offer, but no freakin' way!" Sonic shot back.
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"What do we do now?" Knuckles asked, "We're like fish in a barrel, as long as we're stuck in here."
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"Yeah, but at least our friendly neighborhood oil stain can't fit his enormous derrière in here," Sonic replied, pointing to the probing tentacles that couldn't find even a single opening in the bubble, "I guess all that power he ate made him even fatter than Eggman!"
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"Oh, Sonic, sometimes I don't know what to do with you," Tails sighed.
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"C'mon, don't be ridiculous, Sonic," Shadow added with a straight face, "You know it isn't physically possible to be fatter than Eggman."
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Tails and Knuckles groaned, despairing of their friends' maturity, while Sonic gave Shadow a totally un-subtle high five.
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"Laugh all you want, fools," Eclipse replied, "You're all trapped, deep within me…how ever shall you manage to stay inside that tiny space? It must be so crowded…but if one of you puts so much as a quill outside, I shall have you all…""So saith he," Fount Shadow spoke up unexpectedly, apparently quoting something, "And yea, that one did declare: "I hath in mine hand tha power of our holy kingdom, and so yea shall come forth and bow down to me." But when hence he tried to punish one who resisted his power, the red mantle grew out its fangs and he w're swallowed whole in his victim's stead…"
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"…I read that in a story somewhere, a long time ago," Raven spoke into the echoing silence that followed.
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"I know," Fount Shadow replied, "I pulled it out of your memory. The quote seemed to fit."
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"What are you babbling about?" Eclipse demanded.
"Well, you didn't think I'd just give you my power, did you?"
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Fount Shadow hefted the gray rock he was holding and smirked in a way that reminded everyone of Sonic…when the blue hedgehog was about to do something incredibly dangerous and - to his thinking - fun.
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"Most of it, yes," Fount Shadow corrected himself as he rose to his feet, "But I know it best, of course, so I made certain there was a little fail-safe handy when you tried to take it away from me."
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There was a pause as Eclipse tried to determine what sort of fail-safe he was up against. When he figured it out, the monstrous being gave out a grim chuckle.
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"Most ingenious…if I was not almost as fully ingrained to this way of life as you yourself are," Eclipse informed the listening folk, "There is a fail-safe to your fail-safe, such that your underdeveloped mind could not anticipate…eject or erase me, and you destroy yourself and all who inhabit you!"
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"…We're screwed," Sonic unhelpfully declared.
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"…He's right," Fount Shadow muttered unhappily, staring into his rock like it was a crystal ball - and maybe it was. Who could tell? - and discovering the truth for himself, "Blasted demon, absorbing the negative space first…"
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"Destroy us if you need to, but don't let him keep this power."
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Everyone turned to stare at Raven.
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"Um, Raven, I don't know about you, but personally I want to live," Sonic pointed out, "I think some of the others agree with me on that…"
"Actually, I would really prefer NOT to kill any of you third-dimensionally-based people," Fount Shadow admitted, looking uncomfortable on the subject.
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"You've seen my memories?" Raven inquired.
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When he got a hesitant nod in response, the white hedgehog continued, "Then you know you have to do whatever it takes."
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"Desperate, aren't you?" purred Eclipse, who was unashamedly listening in on the conversation, "All that delightful cracking of your mind I did, and here I thought that stupid wish of yours to save your baby brother's life and still protect him from me was still in there somewhere…"
Raven looked pained, and refused to meet anyone's gaze after that. Shadow, on the other hand, was staring at his brother with new understanding. Raven had had a true monster living inside his head…no wonder he'd tried to drive Shadow away at first, before he had fully succumbed…
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"Okay, I think I have an idea now," Fount Shadow said.
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This announcement surprised everyone, since they had all figured there was absolutely nothing they could do. But of course, a sentient dimension does tend to have more options available than most other people…
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"I still have to do what I was going to do before," Fount Shadow explained, "But I think I can destroy myself in a way that won't be fatal for you people."
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"Wait!" Tails cried, "But you'll still be destroyed!"
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"You missed the great explanation on the nature of ethics in metaphysics and the history of the nth level of power that these two were having," Shadow explained for the benefit of those who had not originally been inside the bubble.
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"It has to be done," Fount Shadow told Tails.
"I know," Tails sighed, "It doesn't mean I have to like it at all, though…"
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"I'll see if I can't make it up to you," Fount Shadow said, before raising the weird rock orb up over his head and smashing it down as hard as he could.
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It splintered into pieces, and out from the inside came a great rush of brilliant energy, blindingly bright and all sorts of colors that didn't actually exist in nature.
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Eclipse roared in agony - they could see him now, a mass of tentacles and a snakey head, being helplessly swept away by the current of power as the Fount of Light erased itself.
The non-intergalactic monsters in the vicinity weren't doing too much better, though. Sonic ran as fast as he could, trying to make headway, but the best he could do was stay in place.
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"What do we do now!" he yelled over the roar of raw energy as he fought to maintain his position.
"There!" someone yelled, "That ring - grab it!"
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In the exact spot where all the endless power was coming from, there lay - or maybe floated? Who knew anymore - a glowing white ring, big enough for all five of them to grab hold of at the same time.
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Running/swimming/flying/digging through the power itself, one by one they made it to the ring and grabbed onto it for dear life. And the very second the last one of them got a grip, there was an endless flash, almost like that of Chaos Control, and they were falling -
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A black tentacle appeared out of nowhere and lashed out at them, as Eclipse made his final bid to do some sort of damage before he was finally destroyed.
Because of that attack, Raven lost his grip and vanished before he could make a sound.
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Then everyone hit solid ground and nobody could muster the energy to move or think for a long while.
…
A bird, apparently thinking this was a good perch, tickled Shadow's nose with its tail feathers until the black hedgehog could muster the energy to bat at it.
It chirped at him in annoyance and fluttered away, leaving Shadow to wonder where the heck he was…and why he felt like he'd lost a fight with an avalanche.
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"Wanna sleep, five more minutes," someone groaned sleepily, somewhere off to the side.
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'Shut up, Sonic…' Shadow thought tiredly, wanting to go back to sleep himself.
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Why was Sonic in his room, anyway?
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…The smell of seawater in the air, and the bird coming back for another shot at keeping its perch, made Shadow abruptly curious if this was actually his room at Sonic and Tails' house.
If it was, Shadow thought as he blearily squinted upwards, the ceiling and walls were missing for some inexplicable reason…
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"Guys! Wake up!" Tails yelled, breaking through the fog of exhaustion with the panic in his voice, "We're back on Angel Island!"
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When this failed to work, Tails resorted to yelling something about the Master Emerald, and Knuckles was up and shaking the others awake shortly afterwards.
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They were back on Angel Island after all, it turned out. Angel Island had plummeted into the sea below, but that was perfectly understandable since the Master Emerald was currently a tired-looking gray rock with no power.
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The Chaos Emeralds were scattered around the pedestal that the Master Emerald was kept on, and they looked drained as well. But all eight gems were slowly regaining their color, and the Master would no doubt be able to return the island to the skies after only a day or so of recovery.
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But that wasn't the weirdest thing about the Master Emerald right now.
Nope, the weirdest thing was the weird hedgehog who was currently propped up against said Master Emerald.