You know I only own Necronos, the warriors, and spirits. And the others belong to Sega/Archie. For any of you readers have been following Tails through the last couple of chapters, you might be thinking, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE? Well, now you will find out! Time for chapter 12:

The Carnival Night Zone: A bright city with flashing lights everywhere, glowing through a perpetual night. This place is scattered with spinning wheels, balloons, anti-gravity platforms, and electric based robots! In the middle of all the noise and excitement, a void opened on top of a small platform. And…..you guessed it! Tails popped out of it! He landed on the ground with a 'THUD!' "UUGGGHH!"

Holding his blade staff, he began to stand up. "OK! That's IT! Who the heck keeps doing this to me? I've been warped through two Zones already, been beaten by a creepy imposter of one of my friends, and now I'm here!" He looked at his surroundings. "Who's responsible for this? Who are you?" Then Tails heard a faint sound. It sounded like……laughing. "Hahahahahahahahaha" Tails became angry. "Who's out there? What do you think this is? A GAME?" Suddenly…… "I guess you can say that! YES! HA HA HA !" Tails suddenly looked up, and saw a dark figure above him. He looked like, a dark, creepy jester! (To be more descriptive: he was a spitting image of Reala, from 'Nights Into Dreams'!)

Tails was surprised. "And, who might you be?" The jester answered. "Allow me to introduce myself. Zeta Catalyst, at your service! My card!" He held up an Ace of Spades. Tails sweat dropped. "Ok…Answer me one question." "Shoot!" Zeta answered. "Are you the one responsible for sending me through this crazy trip!" Zeta cackled evilly. "HA HA HA HA HA! That's right, Horu-san! I'm the one who warped you to the Wacky Workbench Zone, and then to here!" "I had a feeling you were!" Tails said angrily.

"Oh…don't be so bitter." Zeta said back. "After all, jesters like myself always love to have fun! We can't help ourselves (it's a hobby)." Tails then realized. "So, is that why we're now in the Carnival Night Zone? Now I get it!" Zeta laughed again. "Ha, ha, ha. Of course you do! There are lots of ways to have fun here. Floating on the anti-gravity platforms, spinning on the black wheels, bouncing off the balloons, the works!" Tails began to look annoyed. "You know, most villains don't find things like that amusing, nor do they enjoy having fun." Zeta just grinned menacingly. "Well, you should know that people like me have many different ways to have fun." He paused for a moment. "And what would really be fun to me…………is, IF I DESTROY YOU!"

Tails then stood on guard. "Oh yeah? Well just try it, chuckles!" Zeta raised his hands into the air. "Don't mind if I do. I call upon you to destroy Horu-San! Come forth my minions!" Just then, from the red and white spinning pole behind him, four dark figures appeared! All pitch black with red glowing eyes. Tails stared in shock, for he recognized the one on the far left automatically! "HEY! It's that Espio imposter!" It was true. And the rest looked familiar as well, for the three others looked like dark versions of Rouge, Vector, and Amy! They all wore the same ancient warrior outfits. "How do you like my soldiers, Horu-san? It's your friends, and they're all dying to play with you………until you DIE that is…HAHAHAHAHA!"

Tails was still a bit shocked, but wasn't afraid. "They may look my friends, but that won't stop me from defeating them…and YOU!" Zeta just snickered. "Well, have it your way, shorty! You heard him, my friends! GO GET 'EM!" The dark figures began to approach Tails, each looking more and more menacing. The dark Vector attacked first! "STORM OF SHARDS!" A barrage of crystal shards were flying straight at Tails. But he jumped up out of the way just before impact, and began to hover toward him. "Take this!" But before he could counter, the dark Rouge appeared right behind him! "WHA-" "CRIMSON WHIP!" And with a crack of her glowing whip, Tails was caught! "AAAAGGHH!" "LET ME GO!" Of course, she didn't listen. Suddenly, the dark Amy came out of nowhere! "EMERALD BLAZE!" A green energy blast fired from her wand, and hit Tails directly! "AAAAGGHH!" Zeta just floated above and laughed humorously. "BWA HA HA HA HA! This is better than I thought it would be! I should sell tickets! HA HA HA HA!"

Tails fell to the ground. He looked up hazily, and watched as the dark Espio crept closer toward him. "Now I'll finish you off like I should have before!" he said in a creepy version of Espio's voice. He got out a shuriken, and held it like a knife, obviously planning to slash at Tails. But suddenly, Tails remembered his special ability that Necronos told him about! He held out his hand, and his metal plated arm guard began to glow! "Wha-what is this?" the dark Espio wondered. Just then, the guard shot from Tails' arm, and struck the dark Espio right in the face! 'POW!' "OOOOOWWWW!" as he stumbled backward, the guard returned to Tails' arm. He then got up, and turned his attention to the other dark ones. They all stared in surprise. Tails then jumped into the air, until he was in the middle of all of them. He held his arms and legs out, and puffed out his chest. "METAL ROCKETS!" Tails' armor then shot off his body, and into the four opponents surrounding him! 'POW!' "AAAGGHH!" 'WHAM!' "OOOOWWW!" 'BAM!' "OOOFFF!" 'POW!' "AAARRRGGGGH!" Once they all fell after impact, the armor retracted, and formed on Tails' body again!

Zeta stared at Tails. "Interesting……I was wondering when he would fight back." Tails hovered to the ground, and watched as the four dark warriors struggled to stand up. The dark Espio looked very angry! "You just don't know when to stay down, don't you?" "Actually, I do……NEVER!" Tails said back. Not wanting to waste all his energy fighting these four imposters, he decided to be rid of them right now! He held his staff vertically, and began to spin around in place. "What are you doing!" the dark Espio demanded. Tails didn't answer. He just continued to spin faster, and faster! Soon, a whirlwind began to form around him. Then it grew bigger, and bigger, until it was no smaller than a full-sized tornado! "CYCLONIC TRAP!" The dark Rouge, Vector, and Amy couldn't fight the suction force, and disappeared within the eye! "WHOOOOOOAAAAAAAA!" they wailed in unison. Tails stopped spinning, but the tornado didn't! It began to move away form the Zone, farther and farther away until it disappeared over the horizon.

The dark Espio stood in shock! "Such…such power! How is it possible for him to control such power over mere wind!" He turned around and stared in surprise, for Tails was glowing in an orange colored aura! "Don't you get it? I'm Horu-san, the warrior of the sky! The wind is like my best friend!" The dark Espio just looked even angrier! "Well, I don't need those three to kill you!" He ran straight toward Tails, and performed a jump kick! "I GOT YOU!" But, then… 'GRAB!' "WHA-?" "On the contrary. I got you!" Tails had grabbed his leg in midair! "NO!" Tails began to spin rapidly again, like a top. After reaching his top speed……he let go! "WHOOOOOOOoooooooooaaaaaaaaaa…" And the dark Espio disappeared, flying over the horizon.

Tails felt relieved that THAT was over, until he heard a faint clapping sound. He looked up, and saw Zeta, grinning while clapping his hands slowly. "What a performance, Horu-san. Have you ever thought of going into show business?" Tails just gave him a stern gaze and pointed his staff's blade at his opponent. "No more games, joker! Are you gonna stop being a coward and fight me?" Zeta jumped down, and landed seven feet away form Tails. "I thought you'd never ask! After all, I believe it's time I had some REAL fun! How about a new game, Horu-san?" Tails looked a little worried about what he had in mind. "What kind of game?" Zeta answered. "A duel among the Zone's most fun and exciting attractions! After all, fighting in one location can be so boring! First one dead, loses! Sound fair?" Tails sweat dropped. "I figured that……" "Well then, let's get this party started!" 'ZZZZZZAAAAAAPPP!'

When Tails opened his eyes, he saw him and Zeta standing on a horizontal, red and white striped pole! "Round One! A sword fight while balancing! You lose your balance first, YOU LOSE!" Tails saw Zeta hold out his right hand, and watched as a lance formed into his fingers! He began to wave it around wildly. "ENGUARDE! TOUCHE! CAFÉ AU LAIT! ZOOT ZOOT!" Tails stared in confusion. "Are you gonna fight, or what!" "Well, if you insist!" Then, Zeta stood still for a moment. Suddenly, he dashed toward Tails at an incredible speed! He jabbed his lance right at Tails' chest plate! Tails was able to dodge just in time! He dove to his right. If he was just one millisecond slower, he would've been stabbed! But Zeta reversed his direction quickly, and attacked again! He slashed downward, but Tails blocked with his staff's blade at the last possible second! 'CLANG!' Before he could react, Zeta shot his leg forward, and kicked Tails right on his chest plate! 'POW!' "OOOOOOFFFF!" Tails fell back on the pole. The wind was knocked out of him…HARD! He managed to get back up, and tried to counter with a slash of his blade. But Zeta just jumped clear over him, and landed right behind Tails! He turned his head, and saw Zeta's hand light up with an energy orb! "NEGA-FORCE!" His attack hit Tails' back point blank! "AAAAGGHH!" Tails flew forward by the attack's force, fell off the pole to the platform below, and landed right on his face! Ouch! "HA! Thought I was all fun and games, eh?" Tails was too hurt to answer. 'He's much more powerful than he let on! He made me let my guard down by acting silly!' He thought to himself. 'I think I'm in trouble…' 'ZZZZZZAAAAAAPPP!'

Tails opened his eyes again, and found Zeta and himself in another location. It appeared to be an elevator with a checkered floor moving downward. "This seems familiar…" Tails said to himself. "I'll bet it does!" Zeta answered. "Look up!" Tails actually listened to him, and looked up. But when he did, he was shocked at what he saw! A green colored drill machine began to descend until it floated a few feet above their heads! "It's the machine me and Sonic fought when we first came here!" Zeta just grinned evilly again. "A nice touch, don't you think? Round two! Close combat, while the drill destroys the floor below us! And you can use a weapon only once. You fall through the floor first, YOU LOSE!" Tails stood ready. "Alright! Bring it on!" Tails grabbed a firm grip on his staff, and began to spin it rapidly. "SPIN CUTTER!" He threw his spinning staff right at his opponent. But the drill's blade flew off the machine, and knocked the staff out of its trajectory! "WHAT!" Zeta laughed. "Ha ha ha! Well, I'm afraid you've used up your one chance at using a weapon!" Tails looked disappointed. "But…that's just not fair!" Zeta didn't seem to care. "What do you mean? There's no rule saying that the drill could block attacks!" "There should be." Tails said to himself.

The drill's blade began to cut away at the floor below the two combatants. Time was running out! Not having his staff anymore, Tails was forced to fight the old fashioned way. He spun his tails to hover, and performed a flying tackle right into Zeta! 'BAM!' His opponent flew right into the wall. 'WHAM!' Unfortunately, he recovered quickly. "Wow! You sure pack a wallop, kid!" Zeta countered with what appeared to be a spinning technique. He raised his arms straight up, held out his right leg, and spun like a top. A top with a strong kick! 'POW!' "OOOOFFFF!" Tails fell to the floor, as the drill blade landed right in front of him! It missed him by no less than an inch. He sweat dropped in relief. "WHEW! That was too close…" He looked up, and saw Zeta holding……a stack of playing cards? Tails just stared in disbelief. "If you think I'm scared of that-" But Zeta threw an Ace of Spades clear past his face. 'CHING!' Tails paused, and watched as a few strands of his fur slowly fell to the floor! "-you'd be right!" he finished, while trembling. Zeta smiled. "I just love a good game of poker! Shall I deal for you?" He drew a few cards from his stack. "TWO PAIR!" Four cards flew right at Tails' head! "WHOA!" He ducked just in time! They flew right over his head, cutting down a few more strands of his fur. 'Those are sharp!' he noticed. "THREE OF A KIND!" Three more cards shot right toward him! But this time, Tails flew right behind the drill machine still floating above them, and the cards bounced off its steel cover. "FULL HOUSE!" Now five cards headed right for him! They each struck a different piece of armor on Tails' body. 'CHING!' 'CLANG!' 'PING!' Tails wasn't hurt, but the force of each hit shook him up good!

"HEY! WAITAMINUTE! You said we could only use one weapon to fight with!" Tails remembered. "How come YOU get to use a whole stack?" Zeta just waved his finger. "Ah, ah, ah! You don't see, do you? One stack of cards equals one weapon!" Tails didn't like that logic. "Don't loopholes rock?" Zeta asked rhetorically. But Tails knew he was smarter than this clown. He knew he could think of a way to win. He looked and noticed the drill machine's electrodes begin to activate. That's when he got an idea! But he had to act fast, because the floor was almost about to break completely! "Loopholes only rock when you know how to use them wisely, Zeta!" "OH?" Zeta asked curiously. "How so?" Tails began to demonstrate. "Well, you know that the drill blade and the machine itself function together, right?" Zeta agreed. "True, true." Tails then grabbed one of the razor cards Zeta threw. "So, if the machine were to suffer a malfunction…" Suddenly, Tails threw the card right at the machine's electrodes! 'BLAST!' "…then so will the drill blade!" "WHAT?" Zeta stared in shock as the blade began to spin wildly! It bounced off the walls like mad, and headed straight toward his feet! "NO, NO! GET AWAY!" Too late! The drill hit the floor where he stood, causing it to collapse! 'CRASH!' Zeta fell through the floor and began to plummet down the tunnel. "WHOOOOAAAAAA!" "HA! Looks like I win!" Tails said, feeling victorious. 'ZZZZZZAAAAAAPPP!'

But before Tails could celebrate, he noticed that he was transported again. Now he stood on the highest point in the Zone. He gazed down and couldn't believe how high the highest point was! He could see all the flashing lights and contraptions below, but all that was up to where he was, were a few spinning drums and wheels, that didn't spin (for who knows why?). Tails would've looked around more, but his focus suddenly turned toward……ZETA! He was still here! "What? But I-" Now Tails was scared. For Zeta didn't look very cheerful anymore. For the first time, Tails saw him with an angry scowl on his face! "You……How dare you try to ruin my fun!" Tails never thought he could look so…angry. "No one tries to ruin my fun, and LIVES!" Tails was a little annoyed hearing that. "Hey! That's what you get for creating dark warriors impersonating my friends, making me look weak, and forcing me to play your idiotic games!" Suddenly, Zeta's scowl faded, and he began to laugh manically! "Hmhmhm! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Well I hope you're happy NOW! I'm THREW playing games with YOU, HORU-SAN! I think it's time I finished you for good! He, he, he…"

Tails' eyes suddenly widened in fright! "'Gasp!' Your power!...It's SKYROCKETING!" Tails could sense his energy rising higher and higher! He watched in horror as Zeta held out his hands, and a small red energy orb began to form. Then it slowly grew bigger, and bigger, and bigger! Until one minute later, Tails was staring at Zeta holding a red energy orb the size of twenty foot wide boulder! TWENTY FEET WIDE! He couldn't move, for he was frozen wit fear. Zeta was on the other side of the immense orb of energy. He snickered hysterically. "Hmhmhmhm…Say goodbye, Hour-san! PLASMA BOMB!" The energy orb began to descend right on top of Tails! "NO! I've got to stop this!" Not having many options, he did the only thing he could think of. He held his staff out in front of him horizontally, and used it as a guard. The orb reached him and touched against the staff. Tails suddenly found himself being pushed back! "Eeeeeeerrrrrrrrgggggghhhh!" He pushed against it with all his strength, but was still sliding backward! 'There's no way I can push this thing off…He's become too powerful…I never stood a chance against him after all……It looks like I'm finished……'

'Do you really give up?' 'Are you surrendering?' 'After all you've been through?' Those voices……they sound familiar. 'Chosen one…don't you remember all you've been taught?' 'All that we've showed you?' 'What about your friends, and the ones you love?' 'If you give in, won't they give in as well?' 'You've come so far, and done so much.' 'You've done most would describe impossible.' 'Will you now chose to let darkness reign?' Do you not remember your destiny……to bring hope to the world when needed?' …………… 'HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?'

Tails' eyes suddenly shot open! "NO!...NO I HAVEN'T!" Tails gathered all the strength that remained inside of him, and pushed against the gigantic energy orb as hard as he could……and, it began to move back! "WHAT? THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" Zeta couldn't believe his eyes! "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" Tails didn't listen. He then grabbed a firm grip on his staff again, and gave it a huge swing like a bat! "TAKE THIS! HIYAAAA!" 'WHAM!' And with that hit, the enormous Plasma Bomb flew clear over Zeta's head, and disappeared over the horizon behind him! Zeta was shocked! "YOU! HOW? HOW COULD YOU?" But all he could do was stare in amazement, and Tails glowed in am orange colored aura again! "I have a destiny to fulfill. A destiny unlike any other! And I'll let NO ONE stand in my way! Especially YOU!" "No…it can't be!" That's all Zeta could say, as he watched Tails' blade staff begin to glow in a radiant light blue energy! "SUPERSONIC SABER!" A huge wave of blue energy fired from his blade, and made direct contact to its target! "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" 'KSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH!' "AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

The light faded, and Tails landed softly back on the platform. "Whew……I did it? I did it! I WON! YES!" He then looked in front of him. And there, laying a few feet away, was an orange colored jewel shard! Tails walked over and picked it up. "Cool! Won't Sonic be proud!" "AHOY UP THERE!" Tails looked below him, and couldn't believe it! All his friends were down below! "Whatcha doin' way up there?" Knuckles asked jokingly. "Be right down!" Tails answered. He jumped down to his friends, and showed them the orange shard. And Amy gave him a big hug! "Yaaaaay! You did it! I knew you could!" "We all did!" said Vector. Everybody else nodded in agreement. "Thanks everyone!" But just then, a thought crossed his mind. "Hey guys? Where's Sonic?" Espio explained that they hadn't met up with him yet, and that he most likely run into the last Catalyst spirit. "Well then, LET'S GET GOING!" "YEEEEAAAAHHH!"

Meanwhile, many miles away, four familiar looking dark figures stood alone in the middle of a dark, barren field. Zeta's dark inions to be exact! "How could we have lost to a kid?" the dark Rouge complained. "Really!" the dark Amy agreed. "He made us look like total weaklings!" "Oh stop whining!" The dark Espio said loudly. The two of them turned their attention toward him. "Don't you see we made the mistake of underestimating him? He proved to be more powerful than us because we let our guard down!" "I'll never make that mistake again." Said the dark Rouge. "You won't have to!" The dark Amy turned toward the dark Espio. "Why? What do you mean?" He explained. "Are you doubting the power of master Zeta? Don't you see? If he uses his Plasma Bomb on that brat, he's as good as dead! I mean 'KABOOM!'" He finished. "So he's probably dead already! Ha ha ha!" The dark Amy still looked worried. "But, what about the other ancient warriors?" "HA! I have big plans for them!"

But what that plan was we may never know, for at that moment, the dark Vector returned and shouted…… "Guys! Guys! Master Zeta's Plasma Bomb is heading right this way!" "What? You me he's turned on us?" "I don't think so! I can't sense his presence anymore!" The dark Amy and Rouge were shocked! "It's a sign! Our master has fallen in battle. My friends. I say we stand for a moment of silence." The dark Amy suggested, "I say we send a wreath. Not too large though. What say you, D. Espio?" "I say…WE ALL RUN FOR OUR LIVES!" "What? Why?" "Because if that bomb hits us, it'll be 'KABOOM!' for all of us! And when I say kaboom-"………… 'KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!" "I MEAN KABOOOOooooooooooommmmm!" And the four dark figures disappeared, soaring into the night sky.

Back on Mobius, Cream the Rabbit and Charmy Bee watched the stars in the night sky when…… "Now there's something you don't see everyday, Charmy." "What's that Cream?" "It looks like four people flying clear across the sky." "That's not unusual, Cream. Everyone flies nowadays." "………Without and airplane?" "Hmm…Must be one of those free champagne flights." "……Yeah…"

Well, it's down to this! Six spirits defeated, and only one spirit remaining! For at that same moment, in a different area of Mobius Z, a dark figure was secretly watching the last ancient warrior walking nearby. His name………Omega Catalyst!

Be with me next time, folks! It'll be worth it! R&R! By the way, who can you guess were the voices talking to Tails? Any ideas? Just say so in your review, ok? I'll reveal who it was next time! Bye for now!