Chapter Forty-Two

Me: Geez, I haven't updated in a while.

Sonic: Yeah, quit slacking, slacker! (pokes)

Me: Sorry. I've been dabbling in sprite comics lately. Anyway, ScarletEbon has been up to her old tricks again, making arts of Eberon, Naylet, and Akuma!

Tahra: That Akuma guy is so kickass!

Nazo: Yes, but he lost to me!

Me: No one cares about you, Naz-trils.

-- -- -- -- --

"So, when can I meet the boss?" Regal asked Vera, who was fiddling around with his quills as she always did. The bat had been keeping him waiting for a while now in a chamber in the Great Palace of Hasyn, and Regal's patience was wearing thin. "There's even red tape in this party town!"

"Don't worry, handsome," Vera replied. I'm sure the guys down in management are doing their best to get you with the head honcho. I made sure of that."

"How did you do that? You know someone high in the ranks or something?"

Vera smirked. "I have a very close connection to the head honcho's number one servant. The one who spoke to you in my crystal is the big boss…you're going to meet the number two in this organization, who runs things. Only he has direct contact with numero uno."

At that moment, the door to the chamber opened. A pudgy impish demon was standing there. He said something in a strange language that was a mix of gibberish, grunts and Bronx cheers. Regal was puzzled by this, but Vera understood the imp completely.

"He says to follow him," the bat told Regal before standing up and following the imp, and Regal followed as well. Regal couldn't help but look at all the strange artwork, which featured all sorts of hellish scenes too horrible for description. The imp stopped at a large pair of stone doors. In the center of the door was a carving of a pile of dead individuals, and a hedgehog with sharp, pointy shoulders wearing spiky bracelets and boots on top of the pile.

The imp bade Vera and Regal to enter. They did so, but Regal was now starting to get nervous. The hedgehog on the door seemed familiar. The room was made of the same stone as the door, and it was pretty dim, save the glowing figure sitting on the throne in the center of the room…Nazo…the demon who had beaten the legendary Akuma. What Regal didn't expect was the next thing Vera said….

"Greetings, father," she said as she got down on one knee. Nazo rose from his throne and approached the two. He stopped by Vera, who rose and pecked him on the cheek respectfully.

"This guy's your dad, Vera? But you're…he's…what the hell is going on!"

"Some things are best left unexplained, Regal," Vera replied. "Introduce yourself…"

"No need, Vera…you've been giving me sufficient information on him."

Regal was now confused beyond belief. "Vera…what the hell is this all about? You're the daughter of a big-time demon, and then this city…"

Nazo chuckled. "She's not only my daughter, but one of my best spies! And you've been just the fellow I've been looking for."

"You better start talking, Naz-trils!" Regal chuckled in his mind at the creativity of his insult. Nazo huffed at this quip, while Vera quietly chuckled.

"Very well, then…let's begin…" Nazo replied.

-- -- -- -- -- --

"Man, I can't stand that guy!" Knuckles roared as he heard the recording of the latest of the Kitsune Lord's many board meetings on ethnic cleansing. He and Eberon had bribed a security guard who was to stand guard during the meeting to carry a small tape recorder in his pocket while it was going on. "He really is planning genocide! He's the real threat to the kitsune race. He has to be stopped."

"We should let Sonic do that," Tahra replied. "When the time comes, we'll expose the madman for who he really is. Until then, we can't let anyone else get this information." Eberon and Knuckles nodded in agreement. Tahra handed the tape to Eberon, who slipped it into his fur. But something else slipped out: a small locket. Knuckles noticed it and picked it up. Eberon noticed this, and suddenly got a nervous look on his face.

Knuckles opened up the locket and stared at the picture inside: it was Eberon and a female echidna, the latter standing behind a small echidna girl who looked eerily familiar.

"A picture of your family, huh?" Knuckles said. "You had a wonderful wife…cute kid too. Has she ever met you, you being a Seraph and all?"

"Yes. I lived with them for a time…but then I had to serve my sentence. I haven't seen my daughter in ten years. From what I've heard, she is going to the Academy."

Knuckles finally realized who the girl in the picture was. He dropped the locket in his astonishment.

"You're…Vahtri's father, aren't you?" he said in a half-gasp. "She's half-angel, like Sonic…and she doesn't know it."

"I knew that it wasn't a spice that healed me…" Tahra added with a snap of her fingers, "…it was some sort of weird healing power! Why haven't you told her! She's twenty now, and deserves to know!"

"I know I should tell her…but then she would hate me…and she would hate herself. I had heard that her mother, who was my wife, was taken by the Judgment when they raided the Emerald Citadel. I watched that raid from a distance, too afraid to intervene. How could she reconcile the fact that she was the kin of a murderous being?"

Knuckles was tired of Eberon's lamenting, and started to talk him out of it. "Eberon…you're not like them, remember? You loved your wife and daughter, and they loved you back. That's proof enough that you're better than those other guys. I'm sure we can help you out…right, Tahra?"

"Whatever floats your boat, Knux," Tahra replied with a shrug. "But first we have to take care of this little mess here in Quadtalia. The fate of an entire race is on the line."

-- -- -- -- -- --

"Greetings, Tahra…" the voice of Akuma came from the darkness. Tahra, unlike Sonic, was quite familiar with this fellow. She had first seen images of him in her mind when she was very young, which served as almost something of a spiritual guide.

"Oh…hey Akuma…what's up?" Tahra asked. Akuma had a serious look on his face, which meant that he had something of particular importance to say…something that was for her ears only.

"Ah, so this is the little girl I watched grow up…"

"You sound like my grandma, Akuma…why all the sappy talk of a sudden?"

Akuma bowed his head and thought for a moment. He usually talked with his fists, feet, and/or swords, so he wasn't always the best with words. Eventually, Akuma had gathered his thoughts and began to explain.

"Well, it's just that…you resemble someone I once knew very well…one of the few individuals who came close to defeating me, someone who I soon learned to love."

"Wait a second…am I your descendant or something?" Tahra exclaimed. Akuma looked at her as if she was out of her mind, and then laughed heartily.

"You think it's that simple…no, you are not my descendant…but it was awfully close. You see, in my day, the only real love I had was that of combat. I lived, I ate, I slept and I dreamed the battlefield. The only way to have earned my respect was to provide me with a challenge. Your own ancestor did just that."

This information was quite new to Tahra, but she got the idea. She had never known Akuma to actually love anyone. She had seen Akuma as more of a harsh, but well-meaning mentor. And of course, Akuma launched into his explanation. It was a story of how he, during his youth, met a female warrior who was on a similar quest as he: to become the best warrior ever. The two fought one another, and found themselves to be nearly equal in skill. Akuma won in the end, but just barely. The two soon fell in love. But as time passed, Akuma's love for battle became a damper on their relationship. Akuma's love soon found another, but the day before the marriage, the young woman asked Akuma for a promise…

"She handed me an axe…the very one she used against me when we first met. She wanted me to bless it and give it to her child when he or she was old enough. I was cursed by Nazo, and never got the chance…at least until now."

"What could I do with this axe?" Tahra asked. "I don't see how it could be useful…"

"That is where you are wrong, Tahra…you see, the axe shall become Splendra's replacement."

Tahra seemed happy. "…Sweet! I thought maces were wimpy anyway. So, can I see it?"

"When the time comes, Tahra…until then…"

-- -- -- -- --

Doctor Eggman tried to wipe the sweat from his forehead, but couldn't…he had lost all of his sweat glands during the process that allowed him to live. But it didn't matter now, for he had completed the first member of newest army of robots…or rather, a massive army of robotic hedgehogs much like Metal Sonic, but this one had a quill style more closely resembling Shadow's. The doctor also had other head designs, but all the robots would be pretty much the same. This version would store Metal Sonic's core program.

At that moment, the young man voice of Geddon made its presence known in the room. The doctor could feel the creature's unnerving presence more strongly now, even though he knew that he was inside of the creature.

"Ah, I see that you have finished. I trust you have found the supply of dark adamant to your liking? There is no stronger metal in the universe."

"Yes…but I'm not sure how I can manufacture an army of these…" the doctor replied with disappointment, "but this meteor has a finite amount of dark adamant, am I not correct?"

"You underestimate my powers, doctor…" the Meteor Parasite replied with a chuckle. The robot was absorbed into the structure of the room, and moments later returned, with three more of the same robot. Of course, the doctor was quite amazed. This creature was defying laws of physics left and right as if it was nothing. If his new boss could make robots, perhaps he could make him battleships! Armadas upon armadas of destructive battleships! The thought of such force made the doctor giddy.

"Do you do battleships, master?" the doctor asked.

"I have an armada ready to go, actually. I was planning for you to lead an invasion on the hedgehog realm…I have forces attacking from the east, and you will attack from the north…here it what you must do…"

-- -- -- -- --

Tahra: What? That's it? C'mon! You're 200-400 words off your average!

Me: I know this wasn't a very long chapter…but I had (dundunDUN) writer's block! Next chapter will be great, I promise you all!

Sonic: It better be.

Shadow: Yeah.

Amy: Or else.

Me: Or else what?

(4 mains assume Super form)

Me: Oh snapz! (runs away)