Characters Sonic, Shadow, Rouge, etc. are copyrighted to their original Sega creators. Characters such as Rika the fox, the Stranger, the Divine and future characters all belong to me. The term 'Wishmaster' belongs to the AWESOME band Nightwish based on their song Wishmaster.
Well, well. Would you lookee here. Chapter 4! This took so long to type, but I have done it! (My fingers really hurt) Anyway, here it is. I hope you all enjoy it. This is my first fic, so be nice. Please read and review. I beg you!
Chapter 4-Mysteries
"Shadow!?" Sonic gazed at the black hedgehog on top of the creature's head. So many things were happening so fast at the same time that he was no longer ahead of the game as usual, but stranded, left behind in the dust.
The creature was confused as well as it realized this small being on its head. It swung its tail to swat him off, but Shadow jumped onto a building, making the creature hit himself instead.
While it swayed from its self-concussion, Shadow grabbed a hold of the crystal sphere around his neck. Bright light slipped through his fingers, making the creature cry out as the light hit its single eye. Blinded by the terrible glow, it still had enough intelligence in its small brain to know it had to go to the source. It opened its great maw, venomous saliva dripping from its rotting fangs, ready to devour its victim.
Shadow stretched out one arm, and even brighter light than that of the sun came shooting out from his hand. It hit the creatures' face, making it scream. It then slinked down and curled up, trying to escape.
Everyone looked on with admiration. This was not the same Shadow from five months ago. He seemed even more powerful now. But how? Sonic saw the crystal sphere, feeling a great strength stem from it to the black hedgehog. He remembered seeing something similar from his dreams.
What does all this mean?
Rika the fox had to admit that she was impressed. She remembered him from five months ago, lying on the ground like a pathetic dog. He had seemed so weak then, but here he was fighting skillfully. She looked at the white crystal. He must have given that to him and he was using it well. But of course she knew how to use hers more effectively.
Once the creature recovered, it got back up ready to fight. Rika leaped elegantly onto a tall tree. Chanting arcane words, the blue crystal around her neck started to glow from her spell. A blizzard surrounded her, flapping her cloak wildly. The storm went straight for the creature's right arm. Snow and ice completely engulfed it. Once the storm cleared up, the arm had been completely frozen.
Rika smiled. She wasn't done yet.
She reached out one hand and clenched it into a fist. The ice surrounding the arm started to crack. As little zigzags ran across the surface of the ice, the beast screamed in anguish. Then the arm shattered into pieces, falling down through the air like glimmering broken shards of a mirror. Now the beast no longer had an arm. Blood spewed from the unsightly wound at its shoulder. It was a gory scene. Scarlet rivers flowing through white fur in rivulets, the scream of horrible agony , the spasms of pain. The creature started to tremble. It could no longer concentrate on its task. The pain completely took over.
And through it all, Rika smiled.
Even Shadow grew disgusted at the sight. He turned his eyes from the monster to the fox girl. The black cloak around her was like a dark aura, her gloves the same color as the creatures' blood. She was enjoying the spectacle. The monsters' shriek that sounded like a cry of mercy was amusing to her.
Then Shadow noticed the crystal sphere around her neck. His eyes widened. It was just like his, except it was light blue. The precious stone created a radiance around her, contrasting the clothes she wore.
The monster got back up. It was horribly deformed, blood continued to spill from its wound. The repulsive creature opened its mouth wide and dove straight for Rika. Surprised that even after such a terrible blow it could still move, she jumped off the tree, narrowly escaping those rotten fangs. The creature crunched down on the tree and pulled it from the roots. It shook the plant around like a dog, grinding it to bits that it was now mutilated beyond recognition, the bark torn apart, leaves stripped off.
Once Rika landed on the ground, the beast struck with its stinger from its tail toward her. She dodged it and kept on dodging when the stinger repeatedly aimed for her. Then she slipped when the stinger nearly pierced her, just an inch closer...Rika fell on her back, the stinger struck down for the killing blow.
But Shadow had stepped in, picking up Rika out of harms way in his arms as the coiled tail hit the ground. Shadows' crystal shone once more, and darts of light shot from his palm, impaling the creature.
Safely away, he was about to put Rika down, but she immediately bounded out of his arms and stood up, facing him. Her hood had fallen off, revealing her face. She had beautiful golden fur, one of her ears pierced with a silver earring. Her blue eyes were as cold as ice, as if there was no warmth inside her. But now her eyes were narrowed dangerously, looking like slits, at the black hedgehog.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Don't you ever touch me!"
"What?! I just saved your life!" Shadow shot back heatedly.
"I don't need your help. Especially not from a little rodent like you."
Beginning to regret saving her, he would have been glad to just leave her right there, but the monster came back with a giant bellow and lunged straight for them. Dodging the attack, both called on their powers to strike back. Shadow creating spears of light similar to his Chaos Spear attack to stab the beast, Rika summoning ice barriers to protect herself from attacks.
Throughout all this the others had watched. Sonic and the gang looked on in amazement, feeling the great forces collide. Ry the Imp and Krysta the Lioness did not seem surprised when Shadow and Rika first appeared, but they were also impressed by their strength.
Amy was frightened beyond belief. When she saw the blood flow for the loss of the creatures' arm, she had nearly fainted on the spot. But Cuervos' hand had held her up. She kept on holding onto his hand, relieved to feel another life near her.
Cuervo the dog watched everything. He showed no emotion on his face. Even at the huge amount of blood that was spilled, he had stood perfectly still, holding the golden bracelet in one hand, Amy's hand in the other. His eyes, bright as fire, watched.
The monster saw the two crystal spheres, one white, one blue. Though still weary from the pain, he dimly recalled his masters' orders.
Go out. Destroy. Do whatever you like. But do not kill the two, remember that.
The creature had been ecstatic when he realized he could finally go out and wreak destruction like he once did so long ago. All those years in that dark prison. He needed to kill, to taste the sweet bitterness of blood, to savor the screams. His master was free, so now he was free as well, to do as he pleased.
Do not kill the two.
But they had hurt him, caused him great agony. No, he would kill these two. His master would be angry, would do worse to him than what the two had already done. But that was all lost in his blood lust.
Yes. He would kill.
Throughout the fight, Rika refused Shadows' help, determined to bring down this beast herself. "Look, hedgehog! You're only getting in the way! I can do this myself!"
"Yes, you were obviously in control of the situation when you fell and that tail came down to pierce you to the ground!"
They fought the creature while they argued with each other. It was almost comical, the two shouting insults, their eyes in each other while at the same time dodging and blocking from the creature so skillfully that they hardly ever turned their heads toward the beast.
Cuervo smiled while he watched, but it was an empty smile. Devoid of emotion whatsoever.
The creature grew frustrated and banged its tail so hard on the ground, it created an immense shockwave, catching the full attention of Shadow and Rika. Buildings started to collapse, parts of the ground rose up, the shaking growing worse. The beasts mouth opened and pounced for the two, determined to kill.
No longer arguing, they dodged and leaped straight into the air. Grabbing onto the crystal stones, blue and white light emanated from their bodies. They held out both their arms and the two lights poured forth from their hands, straight for the beast. Its scream echoed throughout the city as the burning lights devoured it. It could not escape. Then it fell forward, no longer able to move. Shadow and Rika landed safely on the ground.
Everyone one was quiet, the silence was so deep that none dared it, as if it should be this way.
But it had to end sometime.
"ALRIGHT!! THAT WAS SO AWESOME! COULD YOU TEACH ME HOW TO DO THAT!?" Ry's yell was like nails scratching on chalkboard. Everyone except Cuervo jumped due to the unexpected shout.
"MY GOD WILL YOU SHUT UP!? YOU CAN'T EVEN STAY QUIET FOR FIVE MINUTES!!"
"WHY SHOULD I!? I'M NOT GONNA LET A LITTLE PUSSYCAT PUSH ME AROUND!"
Once again they were arguing, the crowd staring at them.
Rouge flew over to the black hedgehog. "Shadow?" she asked fearfully.
He turned his crimson eyes toward her.
Yes. It was him.
"You're alive! But how?" Tears ran from her eyes as they looked on her supposedly deceased friend.
"That I'm still trying to figure out."
"What do you mean?"
Then the shaking in the ground occurred. "What? I don't believe this!" Rika grew exasperated with this sudden turn of events.
The creature returned, white fur stained with blood, jagged blue horns, reptilian tail poised to strike. His devastating wounds did not affect him now. He was fueled by hatred.
"Crap! There's just no way!" cried Sonic. "How could it survive all that?"
Everyone prepared themselves for the attack, though their confidence was rapidly deteriorating.
"No! Sonic!" Amy started to run to her hero, but Cuervo's hand held on to her tightly. "Please, let me go!" She turned to him...
...and was trapped.
She looked into his eyes. His red eyes. In that moment she was exposed. Every thought, every fear, every hope, every doubt, every dream was revealed to him. He walked through her mind, looking into every crevice, leaving no stone unturned. Nothing was hidden, all was revealed.
She screamed, turning all eyes on her and Cuervo. Sonic immediately recognized him and those eyes. "It's you! It's you!" Cuervo turned to him and the same effect he had on Amy was on Sonic as well. He could not escape those eyes. Those eyes that could not be fooled.
The dog released him from his grip and looked towards the others. All felt the same weakness, his eyes devoured them. Any fronts or acts they put up was crushed. All were trapped in the eyes of the stranger as they were engulfed in their intensity.
Then he walked forward, straight to the creature, releasing them all.
The beast looked down at Cuervo. To its vision, it was nothing more than a black fly. It reached out with its one remaining claw.
Then darkness spread.
Great coils of blackest night sprang from his body. It sprang in different directions, up into the air and towards the ground. Slithering like snakes, the coils started to wrap around the beast, binding it. He tried to fight back, but the darkness came so fast and wrapped him up so tightly, he could barely move an inch. But he did not feel pain, just an odd numbness. He felt tired. He wanted to sleep. No scream came, nor even a struggle. Instead it just stayed there, suspended by the dark ropes.
Then the body started to dissolve into ash. No fur, no claws, no blood, only ash. The ashes drifted slowly through the air, and blew away in the wind. The coils of darkness slithered back towards Cuervo.
The creature was finally destroyed.
Time seemed to stop.
"YO, CUERVO! WHAT'S UP! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN WHAT, LIKE, THREE YEARS!?" Again Ry spoke, or more accurately yelled, before he thought.
"MUST YOU ALWAYS DO THAT!?" shouted Krysta.
Cuervo turned back towards the group. All felt uncomfortable to look straight at him, at those eyes.
Shadow had recognized the red eyes from five months ago when he had fallen towards Earth. Did he had something to do with it?
"Wait, you know him?" Knuckles asked the imp.
"Sure I do! Met him when I was nine, when I was fighting a bunch of monsters and stuff, and he came and destroyed them all and- Ow!" he cried when Krysta hit him on the back of his head.
"Stop rambling, Ry! We don't even know these guys!"
"Well, you didn't have to hit me so hard!" Ry whined.
"I see that you two haven't changed much," whispered Cuervo. All turned to the dog, not expecting to hear him speak.
"Whatever, Cuervo. It's not like you changed much either," said an annoyed Krysta.
"Would someone please tell me what's going on!?" shouted Sonic.
"Sheesh, take it easy, porcupine," said the imp.
"Don't call me that! I'm a hedgehog!"
Cuervo held up the bracelet that was in his hand.
"Hey, how did you-?" Rouge checked her pockets to look for the missing item.
Cuervo smiled. "You dropped it."
He then threw it towards Shadow who caught it deftly. He remembered that battle, that fall...
"Who are you? What are you?"
Cuervo did not answer.
"You were never one to talk much, Cuervo," said Rika who was standing separate from the group.
He looked towards her.
She suddenly felt weak, revealed. She hated being near him. Every time she saw him, all her fears came out. He would never leave, he would always be there.
She raised her hand, the crystal around her neck glowed. Ice daggers shot out of the ground. One after another they appeared rapidly from Rika, going in a line straight for Cuervo.
He jumped out of the way before the ice daggers reached him. There was no surprise on his face, but everyone else was shocked at her reaction. She did not care. She did not need help.
Again Cuervo looked at her.
Rika leaped gracefully onto a building, the blue light surrounding her, and was gone. Shadow watched her leave, her blue crystal so much like his own gave off an intense coldness.
"Hey, he's gone!" Amy's shout brought everyone's attention toward the spot where Cuervo stood, except he was no longer there.
"Aw! Why does he always do that?" Ry complained.
"Maybe because he couldn't stand being near an idiot," Krysta lashed out.
"Yeah, well- hey! You mean me?"
"Of course I mean you!"
Ignoring them, everyone else turned to Shadow. "Man, Shadow! Can't believe you're still alive!" said Sonic. "How did you do it?"
Shadow paused before giving an answer. "I don't know." He explained to them of how he woke up in the forest, of how he found the white crystal around his neck and traveled for the past five months, not exactly knowing what he was searching for.
"But why didn't you come to us?" Tails asked.
Shadow didn't answer.
"Oh, I get it," grinned Sonic mischievously. "You were too afraid to see us. You don't have to be, we won't hurt you."
"I was not afraid!" Shadow yelled, his face turning red from anger, or perhaps embarrassment. "Certainly not of you."
He thought back to the scene with Cuervo and what Sonic had said as he saw him. "Sonic, when you saw that Cuervo you shouted 'It's you!' You know something about him?"
Now it was Sonics' turn to be embarrassed. Everyone turned to the blue hedgehog, except Ry and Krysta who were still arguing.
"Uh...well..."
"Sonic, you know that guy?" Amy asked.
"Well...I don't know him...I just kinda saw him."
"Where?" everyone asked.
"Um...etheark," Sonic said quickly.
"What?"
"Sawimetheark."
"What?"
"I SAW HIM AT THE ARK! THE ARK! WHAT IS THIS, TWENTY QUESTIONS!?" Sonic was panting heavily as if he had just ran halfway around the world.
"You saw him at the ARK and didn't even tell us?!" Knuckles shouted.
"I thought it was just my imagination, I mean, I just saw him out in space standing there with those weird eyes of his for like a split second and then he disappeared, I wasn't sure!"
"I think he is part of the reason why he survived," said Shadow. "I remember seeing red eyes before I passed out. Eyes exactly like that Cuervo."
"We need more answers. Maybe we can ask them," suggested Tails as he pointed toward Ry and Krysta who were still arguing even after ten minutes.
"Excuse me," said Rouge. They didn't respond and just kept arguing. "Hello? Excuse me, I...HEY!" Her shout brought them back. "Look, do you guys know something about that dog we just saw?"
"Oh yeah, of course!" Ry said. "That time when I was fighting monsters and he-"
"What I mean is, do you know who he is?" Rouge interrupted.
Ry started to answer but was hit upside the head again. "Ow!"
Krysta looked warily at the group.
"Can you please tell us?" asked Sonic. "We're really confused. We would really appreciate it if could give us some answers. Whatever is going on, maybe we can lend a hand?"
The feline paused then nodded. "Alright. I suppose so. You did fight off that monster. It's just kinda hard to know who you can trust these days. We don't know much about Cuervo. We first met him six years ago when he had helped fought off the creatures that were attacking our home."
"Creatures like that...thing we just fought?"
"Well, they weren't as big as that, but they were still fierce. Though he defeated them, I'm not really sure he is on our side?"
"What do you mean 'your side?'" asked Shadow.
People from the city started to come out of hiding, looking around fearfully with shifty eyes for the monster. They looked towards the group, but did not go near them.
"Maybe we should talk somewhere else," said Tails.
"We could go to my house," said Amy.
"Good idea. Just let me go get the Tornado."
"Uh, Tails, I don't think you'll be able to fix it here," said Sonic.
The Tornado jet was indeed in bad shape. There were dents in the metal, the wheels were broken, and of course one of its wings was completely torn off. Tails went to the machine and pulled out what seemed to be a remote control from on of the seats of the plane. He stepped back and pushed a button on the remote. The jet then got smaller, collapsing into itself until all that was left was a small, blue metal cube that could easily fit into the palm of Tails hand. "Okay, we can go now!" he said holding what was left of the Tornado.
Everyone's mouths were wide open, a bird could have gone in and built itself a nest.
"What? Oh, this? I added that function in just in case something like this ever happened."
"Well, that's pretty convenient," commented Krysta.
"I think we should go now," said Shadow
Everyone walked in the direction towards Amy's home. "Hey, those moves you did to that monster were awesome," said Sonic as he was walking next to Shadow. "It's because of that crystal thing you have, isn't it?"
Shadow nodded.
"Can I see it for a sec, I-"
"No!"
Sonic stepped back, seeing Shadow hold on tightly to the crystal sphere with his hand. "Okay Shadow, don't get so jumpy."
"Let's just go." Shadow continued to walk, leaving a confused Sonic behind who rapidly catched up. Shadow was the same way he was five months ago, yet he also seemed to be different.
As the group walked towards the home of Amy Rose, the red eyes of Cuervo watched,
Intently at Shadow.
Another long one. I PROMISE that I will try to shorten the next one. Now, if you like this chapter, the only way you'll get to see the next one is if I get reviews. (maybe 5) Come on, all you have to do is go to the little review button. You know you want to. I do have some damn schoolwork to do so that will have to be first. But reviews may help me gain the strength I need to write. Nowgo and do my bidding! >:)