((( this is odd. I've actually been dreaming about new characters, names and all. pretty damn interesting to dream a name, neh? Anyway, her name was Shokoni and she was a surfer-girl/karaoke freak. No idea why. But she was awesome, and I hope to use her in an upcoming fic. NO I WON'T EVEN TELL YOU WHAT SHE IS!
Knux: YET ANOTHER echidna. You're so predictable. -.-
Sonic: too many echidnas in the kitchen spoil the casserole. -nods-
K: ...what?
A: -whallops Knux over the head with a large tuna-
K: XX she hit me with a fish?
A:T.T that's for giving away my secrets, you mean red person you.
K: nani?
A: anyway, here's TWO name profiles because I feel that the end of this fic is near and I want to fit them in.
Shadow: -exaggerated yawn-
A: oh, go suck Sonic.
Sn: what? NUUU! -covers himself-
Sh: ...neh?
A: AHEM
Your name of Tarsa creates a desire for association with people and new experiences, many of which have been rather bitter. This name has given you a gregarious personality and a quick-thinking, creative, and versatile nature, but one that is very emotional. You desire change and travel and would enjoy opportunities that allowed you to be creative and to act independently, rather than to conform to system and routine. However, this name does not allow you to complete your undertakings, as farther fields always look greener.
Your name of Karpa gives you a clever mind, good business judgment, a sense of responsibility, and an appreciation of the finer things of life. You are serious-minded and not inclined to make light of things even in little ways, and in your younger years you had more mature interests than others your age. Home and family mean a great deal to you and it is natural that you should desire the security of a peaceful, settled home environment where you can enjoy the companionship of family and friends. Whatever you set out to accomplish you do your very best to complete in accordance with what you consider to be right.
Sn: am I allowed to comment?
A: nu. Und zhat iz feenal.
Sn: stop talking like Eva Gabor. o.O;;
A: nee!
Sn: -comments anyway- y'know, I haven't seen MY name up there yet. KNUCKLES got to get HIS turn... sure, VELOCITI got HERS, but I'm, like, the main character person hero dude... Thing.
A: yes, but you're also conceited, cocky and narcissistic.
Sn: ... am I? not moi. Not myself. Not little strikingly handsome and incredibly sexy me! Nevah! -commences to kiss his own arm.-
Sh: o.o;; I'M not even that full of myself...
A: SHUT UP AND LET ME WRITE THIS GD FIC!
K: meow.
A: o.O?
!$ if you think I own Sonic, you need to see a shrink. And wear a straight jacket. And Hannibal's mask thing. #!
Sh: -in low creepy voice- why, hello Clarise...
A: -gets chills- that actually sounded sexy for some strange reason...
K: -slaps Aeyvi with the tuna- GET TO THE FIC!
A: T.T awright awright, FINE!
Chapter 13- The Awakening
Sonic paced the floor of the hideout nervously. Knuckles sat nearby, hands still naked of his beloved gloves, tapping his fingers on the arm rest. The tension was thick in the air.
Robotnik had followed them. The rescue was, indeed, a trap. He had intended them to save the three so he could discreetly follow them back and surprise them as a whole, taking out a larger number of their forces in a single wave of attacks. Luckily, they had escaped to their underground shelter in the great forest, and were now waiting anxiously to see what came of Karpa's condition.
Shadow stepped out of the med room door, raking a quivering hand through his quills, emitting a quick sigh of fear.
"She's... she's not making any sense. It's like she's becoming... possessed... or something..."
Sonic ceased his pacing abruptly and glared at the dark hedgehog.
"Whadda you know about anything? Gawd, what if she's just sick, y'know? We don't hafta make such a big deal out of this! I mean, COMEON! Buttnick's right over our heads and you're worried about her catching a fucking fever!"
They stared each other down for moment, each sneering and breathing heavily with rising rage. Shadow stepped forward and backhanded Sonic across the face sharply. He gasped in shock, holding his cheek, looking at him with widened eyes.
"You have NO idea what's going on here. Karpa's not ill, she's dying."
All eyes in the room became wide and fixed upon the dark figure.
"The Dark Emerald, formerly known as the Lumin Emerald, is tearing her apart... Half, anyway. It... senses danger so it's acting in defense. It WILL kill her if not removed."
"Wait..." Knuckles rose to his feet. "Removed?"
Shadow retold the account of the Lumin Emerald and the highbreds. There was a long silence as they absorbed this news.
"So... Tarsa's probably dead by now..." Knuckles fought the lump that was rising in his throat. "What she was saying was true..."
Sonic looked around anxiously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, we have half of it, so Egghead can't use it, right?"
"I think it's safe to say thatRobotnik is the least of our worries right now." Shadow closed his eyes, turning away and breathing deeply, fighting back pesky emotion yet again.
"She said that the gem has plans of its own."
"PUT YOUR BACKS INTO IT! You're not even making a DENT!" the Doctor shouted to his troops, which was funny because they were all electronic and therefore incompetent to what he was saying. He sighed angrily, punching in orders from his little hovering vehicle thing (as he called it). The machines dug faster at the forest floor as a result.
Suddenly, the robots froze, some falling over. He punched in commands, clashed his fists against the control panel, but to no avail.
"What the hell is going on here!"
Suddenly, a bluish-purple light engulfed the dark forest, casting an eerie sheen on the metal of the machines.
Robotnik turned in his seat, trying to see what was causing it, finally having to swivel the whole vehicle. What he saw struck an icy chill down his spine, heart missing a beat.
The lustrous flowing form of Tarsa, hanging there above the trees, was now draped in an almost liquid-like black cloth that fluidly rippled in a nonexistent breeze. Her eyes bore a lurid red glare, and her stance was menacing even in its grace.
"Holy Mother of God..." the doctor suddenly clutched at his chest, heaving for air, then slumped against his control panel. The machine dropped to the ground and rolled into the shallow hole the robots had been delving.
"Kaaarpaaaa..."
--.o.--
The occupants of the room jumped in surprise as Karpa shot up in bed, eyes wide.
"She needs to lie back down! Somebody get me the sedative!" Sally, who had come to the base by request of the group, shouted to an assistant nearby. He scurried off in search of a syringe.
"Karpa, it's all right... Calm down, you need to rest right now..." she pleaded with her, trying to gently push her back down. Karpa looked to her suddenly, her pupils narrowing to pinpoints...
Sally cried out as she was thrown to the floor with an amazing invisible force, rendering her unconscious. The echidna rose calmly from the bed, now wearing only the paper gown they had dressed her in. She walked slowly to the door, paused as it wrenched itself from its hinges and cast itself aside.
Those in the room adjacent looked fearfully to the sudden loud sound, seeing the woman seemingly in a trance.
"Kar...pa?" Shadow began, frowning with concern.
Suddenly, the whole underground base began to tremble, then to quake violently. All but she fell to the floor, losing their balance.
"What the fuck is going on here?" Knuckles demanded, clinging to a nearby pipe.
"IT'S EGGMAN! WHAT'D I TELL YOU? HE'S PULLING US UP!" Sonic shouted over the rumbling clamor that was increasing by the minute.
The rumbling stopped suddenly, followed by a heavy thud. Karpa smiled, raising her hands upward.
"Karpa, what're you-"
The ceiling cracked, ripping itself from the unit, revealing a blackened overcast sky through tossing trees. Karpa's bare feet left the ground as she ascended from the unearthed building.
"What in...?" Sonic began.
"It's the shard! It's controlling her!" Shadow looked on in horror as she burst into a blaze of light.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Knuckles shouted.
All retreated to the exit to the former tunnel, now an opening to the forest. Shadow and two of the nameless assistants remained; the assistants frozen in terror, Shadow bound to the spot by his inescapable curiosity and concern...
The two nameless were reduced to scattered bones and ash in half a second. Shadow alone remained.
"Karpa, stop... please..."
The being formerly known as Karpa glared down at him, tendrils floating about her, remaining silent.
"What's up with this? She can fly?" Sonic stared in disbelief up at the ghostly suspended being.
"She's ...all...s- scary now..." Tails hid behind Knuckles, whimpering.
"Sonic... I think we need to get out of here..." Knuckles advised, taking a step backward.
"Kaaaaaarrpaaaaaaaaa!" a hellish voice resounded throughout the darkened woods.
Knuckles spun around, looking up in the direction of the voice, gasping, eyes wide and filled with horror.
"TARSA?"
The wicked presence of the twin suffused the group with the darkened light as she hovered directly over their heads. She smiled like a doll, cold and unreal, her eyes bearing the same icy lifelessness as glass ones. Her sister smiled back in the same manner, then jerked as she was suddenly engulfed in the same liquid-cloth as Tarsa, the paper gown drifting to the ground. The two raised their hands, cupping them in a circular shape over their chests, both closing their eyes and tilting back their heads.
"What's happening?" Sonic stared upwards in a mixture of confusion and alarm.
"I... my God! They're fusing!" Knuckles exclaimed.
Surely, the two were glowing stronger now, drawing together into the light until both were unseen in the glare. All those below covered their eyes against the radiance, cowering as the forest began to toss wildly, the very ground beneath them to tremble.
Suddenly, all sound and movement ceased. All was silent and eerily still. They looked timidly back to the two, now seeing but one.
Her skin was blacker than the pitch-colored sky, her hair a silvery white. Both eyes burned a deep demonic crimson, now bearing slits for pupils. Her body was draped in blood red cloth which flowed like fire over her slim form.
"Finally...finally I am whole again!" she laughed gleefully in an unworldly cackle. Her eyes snapped to the beings below her, her grin widening, revealing her sharp fangs, her eyes taking on a crazed countenance.
"RUN!" Sonic screamed, grabbing Tails and dashing off behind the unearthed shelter. All save Shadow and Knuckles followed suite. The two remaining stood firm, if not a little fearfully, preparing for the worst.
"Tarsa! can you hear me? TARSA!" Knuckles called out, hoping she might still be alive...
---.o:o.---
She winced in her sleep, hearing someone calling her name...the voice was familiar, yet far away...
"Knuckles...? Where...are you...?"
She opened her eyes, finding herself no longer in the small hospital room, but looking up into the wide spread of blue that was the open sky, littered occasionally with clouds. She frowned quizzically, tilting her head slightly; trying to make sure it was real. She closed her hands around soft grass, breathing in the sweet scent of jasmine and heather.
She found it easy to sit up, no longer feeling the stab of pain in her chest. She looked around, finding herself in a field, lush and green. Heather waved lazily from hilltops, and a mockingbird trilled sweetly from a tree nearby.
"How did I get here?"
In looking down, she found herself clothed in white lace, silky and delicate to the touch. Her head felt the weight of some adornment, and in feeling it with her fingertips, found it to be an elaborate tiara.
"What... what does this mean...?"
She stood, the breeze rippling her lace gown gracefully. She felt no pain, no hunger though she hadn't eaten all day, felt no cold...in fact, no discomfort of any kind.
"Am I ... dead?"
"Not really." replied a soothing voice from behind. She spun around, seeing no one. Nothing but the trunk of a lone tree five feet from her.
"Up here, doll." She glanced up into the wide branches, seeing a black echidna resembling herself, clad also in white, straddling a branch in a childlike manner.
"Who are you? Why am I here? How-"
She chuckled, interrupting Tarsa's interrogation, dropping gracefully from the branch and landing on her bare feet. "There's plenty of time to explain, Tarsa. My name," she touched a delicate hand to her chest, smiling warmly. "is Itshell. And I've known you for a long time."
"How can that be? I've never met you before..." Tarsa was thoroughly confused.
"Well, in person. But I've been right here." She now touched two fingers to Tarsa's chest. "Since before you could remember."
"You... those pains I was having..."
"Yes, and I must apologize, that was my fault. But I only did it out of love. They had to be warned. And you did wondrously!" she drew the astounded blue echidna into a light caress. "That terrible Doctor Eggman never got a hold of me! All thanks to you, my dear child." She lifted her chin with a finger, letting her gaze into her crimson eyes.
"But, how could you..."
"Shhh, love, like I said, there's plenty of time to explain." she cooed, drawing Tarsa's head to her chest as a mother would comfort a child.
"At least tell me where I am..."
"In your own private dimension." She soothed. "Everything here is as you had imagined perfection." She let her go to admire the surroundings. "Look at all the wide open space! The forests on the horizon, begging to be explored! The heather and jasmine, your favorite flowers, growing wild everywhere! This tree is YOUR tree, Tarsa, the one from Harborsvale where you used to read..."
"But, where's the ocean, then?"
"Just look over that hill."
She stepped beyond the tree, walking as if in a daze. Cresting the hill, she saw the great expanse of ocean, sparkling and far bluer than she had remembered.
"Tarsa, sweet child, you're home. And you never have to leave, no cruel parents to take you away. Just you..." Tarsa turned to Itshell as she spoke. "...and me."
"For how long...?"
Itshell paused, smiling affectionately, revealing one of her sharp incisors.
"Forever."
(((ooooooooo... What happens next, I wonder? Seriously, I have no idea. The characters tell me what to do. I just torture them from time to time... Anyway, more next time, I'm afraid. I have to take council with my peeps to figure out what to do next.
Sn: they should both strip naked and ravage each other.
K: what? Grapes?
Tails: please don't let the evil lady kill me...
Sh: ... I kinda like Sonic's idea...
Sally: am I unconscious or dead? o.O
A: unconscious still. You'll come back into play soon
Sa: good, because I was beginning to worry...
AAAnyhoo, review nicely and I shall continue, that I shall. Ja-ne.)))