Edited November 24
All canon characters belong to Sega.
Reincarnate
Chapter 12: Sky Battle
Shadow doesn't release Amy's hand once they reach the crest of the hill. From their high vantage point, the group waits anxiously for some sign of Tails.
Minutes pass, and then there's an explosion by the disguised front entrance to the base. The rock wall blasts apart, sending fiery chunks of rock and metal everywhere. The Ghost Dragon rears up on its back legs and emits its strange screaming roar as it's struck by several burning fragments of the wall.
So, Shadow muses, it can feel pain.
In the midst of the fiery blast a dark shape appears, approaching them quickly. Once it clears the field of debris it becomes recognizable as Tails' Tornado, and Shadow feels Amy slump in relief beside him. Tails transforms the Tornado so that it's in its walking form and lands.
"Are you okay?" Amy asks as she runs over, craning her neck to see the orange fox in the massive machine.
"I'm fine," Tails says with a grin, "And I think my slight reconfiguration of the Soul Machine should become noticeable any minute now. All we need to do is stand clear while it takes effect."
"You did good, Tails," Sonic says approvingly, and the fox beams. No matter what, Tails will probably always appreciate any praise from his hero and mentor.
"Look at that," Knuckles says, and they all turn back towards the Ghost Dragon.
It has suddenly gone still, its translucent blue skin shimmering strangely, like something within it is starting to stir.
And then there's a sound like a gust of wind, which quickly turns into a roar. The Dragon begins to glow with an ethereal blue light, and the rippling under its skin becomes a wave. It cranes its long neck back and opens its mouth to howl, but as soon as its jaws open a tidal wave of souls pour out.
Shadow's mouth drops open – it's like nothing he's ever even dreamed of. Each soul is in the form of glittering sparks in all conceivable colors, and they pour out of the Ghost Dragon with a mind-numbing speed, going off in all directions once freed and filling the air with a strange, unearthly light.
"Wow," Amy says softly beside him, and he can only hear her over the clamor because she's so close. Some part of his mind notes that she's still gripping his hand, not giving any intention of wanting to let go. He makes no effort to release her hand, either.
And suddenly it all stops. The light fades, and Shadow blinks a few times in the sudden darkness. He's startled to see that most of the mountain sheltering Robotnik's fortress is charred and broken. Debris is scattered everywhere.
"I don't think that was just from the explosion earlier," Tails says.
"It's because of the souls, right?" Amy asks. "There was a lot of power in their release – they must have destroyed the mountain fortress as they poured out."
"Makes sense," Sonic says. "Wonder how Buttnick held up through all of that."
"He'll have found some way to survive it," Shadow says darkly. "He's good at that."
As if to confirm this statement, there is a crackling over the invisible speakers, and Robotnik's voice blares over the ruins.
"You fools! You think you've won?"
Shadow frowns in the direction of the voice. They've just removed all the souls from the Ghost Dragon's body – it should no longer be able to function. Unless Robotnik has another ultimate weapon, there is nothing left that they can't fight.
"Perhaps I forgot to mention," the doctor continues, "That the souls act as something of a charger for the Dragon's 'battery' – it's life force. Even without the souls, it will be able to function long enough to destroy the lot of you, and then I can always reconstruct the Soul Machine at my leisure!"
"Are you kidding?" Sonic complains loudly, and they look down at the limp form of the Dragon. It shudders, its skin looking dull with the removal of the souls, but doesn't rise.
"Perhaps the force of the souls' exit damaged it," Shadow suggests hopefully. "If that's the case, then we have nothing to worry about."
But after a few moments of silence, the Dragon rises. Silver eyes bright with pain sweep lift and right as it gets its balance, long claws digging into the rocky ground with the ease of a knife slipping through butter.
"HAHAHAHAHA! I told you it is indestructible! You'll be forced to fight – it's spotted you."
Sure enough, the glinting eyes had landed in the group huddled together at the top of the hill. With its eerie roar, it crouches down as if preparing to spring.
There is a sudden flurry of activity near its shoulder blades. The skin stretches and bulges as the Dragon's muscles strain, long teeth bared in its effort. With a loud ripping sound and a cackle of triumph from Robotnik, huge wings spring from the Dragon's shoulders. They're a dark blue with a web of silvery veins all along their surface, and they stretch out until they're twice the size of the monster itself. The Dragon, still crouched, leaps into the air.
It's a powerful jump that carries it several dozen feet upwards, an astonishing feat for something so enormous and heavy. Its wings unfold entirely, gleaming in the lights from the fortress, and with powerful beats the Dragon keeps itself aloft. Shadow's eyes are drawn irresistibly towards its glittering claws, each of which are insanely long and thick with fine points, as are the Dragon's teeth.
"Everyone in the Tornado," Sonic says. "We're going to need Tails' firepower to take this thing down."
"But Sonic," Amy protests, "Nothing we do can hurt it!"
"Not if we hit its skin," Tails explains, "But I'm willing to bet that that thing on its back will be pretty vulnerable. I think I'll be able to keep us out of danger long enough to charge up my lasers, which I can shoot at its power source."
"Hurry," Sonic adds, eyeing the Dragon. "It's going to come towards us any minute.
They pile into the plane, and Tails takes to the air. Taking this as its cue, the Dragon surges forward with a roar. Shadow hears a hum below them and figures that Tails has begun powering up his laser. As long as the twin-tailed fox can keep out of the way of whatever the Dragon does to attack them long enough, a couple fully-charged shots at the life source on the Dragon's back should be enough to take it down.
Tails starts to move in a wide arc around the Dragon, which uses its long tail in an endeavor to strike the plane down. Tails dodges its attempts fairly easily, the humming underneath the plane growing louder every second.
"Almost ready," the fox says over his shoulder, and swoops out of the way of the Dragon's tail, which hisses through the air like a long, thick whip.
Tails succeeds in getting around the back of the monster, and with a huge flash of light the laser is released.
With a hideous cracking sound like bone breaking, the laser connects with the life source on the Dragon's back. It howls and writhes in midair, and it takes some fancy maneuvering from Tails to avoid getting hit by its thrashing tail and wings.
"Well," Sonic says after a moment, "I think that's definitely its weak point."
There's a scatter of nervous laughter, the tension easing a bit. Tails begins charging another laser, keeping to the back of the Dragon.
"A few more hits should do it," Tails says, avoiding the tail as it whips in their direction again. "It's a lot weaker without the souls powering it."
"Look out!" Amy shrieks, and Tails pulls up just in time to avoid the Dragon's teeth. It had whipped its neck around and tried to bite down on the plane – they had gone too close when avoiding its tail. Shaken, the members of the group collect themselves.
In the next minute, Tails has unleashed another laser, which hits home and actually causes the Dragon to descend weakly, wings straining to keep it aloft.
"Looks like the doctor overestimated his creation's abilities," Shadow remarks, watching as the Dragon pulls itself back up to their level with a massive effort, eyes now a dull grey rather than the gleaming silver they were before.
"Don't get cocky!"
Robotnik's voice fills the air, sounding livid. "You haven't seen half of its power!"
"Give it a rest," Sonic mutters, "It's getting weaker by the second. He's bluffing."
Shadow agrees with him mentally – without its power source the Ghost Dragon is remarkably weaker. Apparently Robotnik thought its "battery" would last a lot longer than it actually is.
"Full power," Tails announces, excitement clear in his voice. He starts to circle around the Dragon, which hasn't been attacking but rather concentrating on keeping itself airborne, when the Dragon swings around abruptly to face them.
A strange glow appears in its abdominal region, seeming to come from inside it, and quickly spreads from its middle to its neck, and then it snaps its head forward and opens its mouth.
A brilliant jet of light shoots towards them faster than any of them can comprehend, and Tails doesn't jerk to the side fast enough. The ray of energy connects with the side of the Tornado and sends them spinning out of control, plummeting towards the ground. Amy cries out and clamps her eyes shut, and Shadow throws and arm around her, preparing to jump out of the plane if Tails can't recover.
But Tails regains control, pulling up sharply. Amy opens her eyes, pale with fright, and sags against him. Shadow finds himself squeezing her lightly in reassurance, and glances up at the rest of the group. All of them look rattled, but no one is harmed.
"Whoa," Tails says after a minute. "That was pretty close."
"You said it, buddy," Sonic says, looking a bit sick. "Too close."
"But my laser's still charged," the kitsune said. "We just need to get around the back of the Dragon again and we'll win."
"It shouldn't be hard," Knuckles says, amethyst eyes narrowing as he studies the Dragon. "That attack was powerful, but it's taken its toll."
It's true: the Dragon looks weaker than ever. Unable to stay in the air, it starts to glide towards the ground, looking weary.
"It's going to shut down," Tails says, and closes in behind it. With another brilliant flash of light, the fox releases the laser, which streaks towards the weak point on the Dragon's exposed back. It hits just as the Dragon lands, and instead of another roar the group is rewarded with a blinding flash of blue light and a loud crack. When the light fades, there is nothing left of the Ghost Dragon but a charred spot on the rocky ground and a shower of glittering blue dust that disappears as it falls towards the ground.
Victory.