Chapter Forty-Three

Me: After a long case of writer's block, I finally got another chapter of AWAE off. I really need to make this chapter good. I have to finish this! (bangs head on laptop)

Tahra: That sprite comic stuff you've been doing has really thrown you off…it's like you can't stay on one project before moving on to the next one. Tsk tsk tsk.

Me: Okay. To make up for that, I'm going to make this next chapter great! Okay, here we go!

-- -- -- -- --

"You're leaving already?" Naylet exclaimed when she saw Sonic starting out back toward Quadtalia with Tails and the others, minus Armeil, who opted to stay behind. Sonic seemed the most eager to leave, and seemed very angry at something, judging by his demeanor and unusual haste. He was still the last one out of the gate when Naylet approached him.

"Look, I have a mission to complete…and I'll do it at almost any cost."

"That's not it…you were so angry this morning. Milos always told me that you were a relatively carefree and cheerful person. Is this really the same Sonic that he told me about?" Sonic turned and looked at Tails' sister straight in the eyes. He showed the kitsune the symbol on his arm.

"This is the mark of one who has committed a crime. The blood of thousands is on my hands, and I cannot purify my soul until I help others."

"If you plan to kill the Kitsune Lord…it will just be another death you must repent for. He may be evil, but…"

"You said it yourself…he plans to kill off eighty-five percent of his own people just for some crazed belief of his. Those who would deny life to the masses, especially of their own kind…do not deserve to live. This is how I feel."

Naylet sighed. "If that's the case, then I won't stop you. I can only warn you that you shouldn't let your hatred consume you…that was Armeil's greatest mistake."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sonic said off-handedly. He did not seem to heed the words of Tails' sister at all, but went on his way with the same feelings of hatred for his enemy…and it would be one that would take surprising form…

-- -- -- -- --

The group met up with Tahra, Knuckles and Eberon in the hotel room to stage the final part of their plan to stop the Kitsune Lord's crazed plan.

"I'd say the best thing to do at this point is to expose the fiend for who he is, and then let the law take care of him," Vector suggested thoughtfully. "I mean, this city couldn't possibly be a dictatorship, from what I've seen. It's the safest way to do it."

"I'm in agreement with the crocodile here," Cream replied. Charmy was assumed to agree with Vector in this case. Eberon gave a silent nod.

Tails sighed. "As much as I'd like to see this mad kitsune suffer, it's for the best. This regime change is going to be a peaceful one. I'm afraid you're outnumbered, Sonic." The blue hedgehog, of course, was very angry at this. He had been really enraged…at what he didn't know. He thought the source of his rage was apparent: the murderous mission of the Kitsune Lord. The proof was all there…he had heard the recording.

On a strange whim, Sonic decided to take matters into his own hands. He snatched the tape recording from a nearby table, and in a matter of moments, had leapt out of the window. As Tahra rushed over to see what Sonic was going, she saw him skid down the wall of the building, bound off the wall and onto another. He was obviously in a hurry, and Tahra feared the worst.

"Guys…we need to hurry and catch Sonic before he does something drastic…"

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

"Sir, we have a problem…" a voice on the intercom in the Kitsune Lord's office suddenly said. The four-tailed fox pressed the button to respond.

"What kind of problem?" he responded.

"There's a blue…" the guard said before he was suddenly cut off. The Kitsune Lord slammed his fist down in rage. He was mere moments away from his big "address", at which point his plan would finally commence. But that accursed hedgehog Sonic had to show up. He wasn't going to let some rogue hedgehog ruin his plan. He quickly pressed a black button under his desk to initiate his backup plan, then pulled a high-powered laser pistol from his desk and concealed it in his robe. He was ready for Sonic.

Before he could make another move, Sonic burst into his office at a high speed, skidding to a stop right at the politician's desk with a very indignant look on his face.

"Well, well…it looks like I got here just in time," Sonic said confidently before he heard a siren go off in the building and the ground begin to shake. The Kitsune Lord seemed very pleased.

"You're too late, blue boy. I'm going to have my way whether you like it or not! This whole city is going to fall straight down into the earth in ten minutes. However, all three-tailed kitsune have been teleported safely out of the city…"

"You bastard…you're going to destroy everything…all the hospitals, all the laboratories and all the research done there…just for some crazy vision! That's it…you're so dead!" Sonic lunged at him, but soon found five holes straight through various parts of his body by the dastardly kitsune's concealed pistol. He was bleeding profusely, and dropped to the ground where he stood. He felt the footsteps of his attacker move past and heard him chuckling. The screams of the panicking citizens outside made Sonic even angrier…the combination of the Kitsune Lord's chuckling, the bleeding and the screams that made something inside Sonic snap…

-- -- -- -- --

"What the hell is happening?" Vector exclaimed when the earth began to shake. "Is this an earthquake or something?"

"No…there are no fault lines for hundreds of miles…" Tahra replied. "Something else is making the city shake…it may collapse. If we don't clear out of here, we're all dead meat,"

"I'd be more worried about Sonic than us…" Eberon replied. "Milos and I are Seraphim…we could easily teleport you and the rest of us out of here. If only we could stop whatever's happening here…"

"It's a long shot, but maybe we could do it…" Tails replied. "Shall we go for it, Eberon?"

"Levitate the city?" Tahra exclaimed. "You must be mad!"

"I have a hunch it'll work!" Charmy chimed in confidently.

"Charmy's hunches are usually good to follow," Vector said. "First, get us out of here!" Moments later, the group had been teleported outside the city walls. Indeed, it seemed like the city was going to plummet straight down into the earth at any moment. Tails and Eberon teleported to opposite sides of the city. As if both knew when to start, they closed their eyes and concentrated with all their might. The city stopped shaking, and slowly began to rise out of the great hole. The exertion, even for beings as magically potent as Tails and Eberon, took a great toll on their bodies. Every fiber of their being was set on this single task. Wounds thousands of years old suddenly began to open up; and even their very wings seemed to begin fading. It was as if all of their power was disappearing from them…indeed, that was the case. The city's buildings rose to an elevation of almost five thousand feet high, but there was only about a hundred acres of space for the buildings themselves.

With one last roar of effort, Tails and Eberon moved the buildings a safe distance from the hole, and set it down before both fell unconscious. The wings on their backs faded out of existence as they did. The two had given up most, if not all of their angelic powers to save an entire city from destruction…

-- -- -- -- --

The Kitsune Lord was beside himself. Somehow, by an unexplainable miracle, his backup plan had failed. Now his entire people would turn against him. But it soon turned out that he had more immediate worries when he was suddenly ambushed by Sonic…but he was different. It appeared to be Sonic's Super form, but it wasn't. His eyes were replaced by white orbs with blood-red spirals, and his fur was all ragged, and a constant, fearsome grin was spread across his face. A new form had been obtained…his Dark form, Psycho Super Sonic. The Kitsune Lord backed away, but the twisted Sonic grabbed him and raised him up.

"Your public is waiting, buddy…" Psycho Super Sonic said in a voice that was like his, but with a sinister echo. He grinned before dragging the terrified leader before a crowd of angry kitsune, along with Tahra and the others, who were looking on with shock. Sonic tossed the deposed leader onto a podium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, purebloods and halfbreeds," Sonic began. "Your leader has been conspiring to kill you all! His twisted vision of a pure kitsune race would have involved mass killings, and ultimately, genocide. I may look a bad guy to you, but trust me…I'd never do something like that! This so-called leader of yours deserves no less than to have his own life taken from him."

The crowd began to cheer wildly, save Sonic's friends (minus Tails and Eberon, they were still outside, unconscious), who were too stupefied to do anything. They had never seen this side of Sonic before. It was as if Sonic's own hatred had finally made itself manifest.

"Putrid inferior beings!" the Kitsune Lord roared. "Can't you see he's trying to trick you? Don't listen to this mad hedgehog! Get him!"

"That's a bad way to command your people, big guy," Sonic taunted before turning back to the crowd. "Did you hear what he called you? Inferior beings! That's what you've been calling so many other people for so long! After today, I want all of you people to go back and think about just what kind of system you've been living in! But now, we get rid of one crazed leader!"

Sonic snatched the gun from the terrified leader's hand and pointed it at his head. The last thing the Kitsune Lord ever heard was this:

"Feel the pain of the inferior beings…as you burn in hell…"

Sonic pulled the trigger on the gun, and the shot went right through the brain of the Kitsune Lord, killing him instantly. The crowd went silent, except for a few murmurs. Psycho Super Sonic did a small salute before taking off to a dark corner of the city. Immediately, Tahra ran after him, with Knuckles, Vector and Charmy in pursuit.

After about an hour of searching the area, Tahra found Sonic stumbling around like a drunkard in one of the alleyways. Sonic fell over exhausted, and awoke a few minutes later, just as the others had reached the area.

"Wh…what happened…" Sonic mumbled. "I remember getting blasted one minute…everything was shaking…and now I'm here, and my head really hurts…"

"Sonic doesn't remember a thing!" Knuckles exclaimed. "I wonder what that crazy form was…" Tahra seemed to know all too well what had happened to Sonic…but now was not the time to divulge that secret. She had other plans.

"Guys…you do realize that Sonic just murdered the leader of an entire race. Evil or not, this is seriously bad. I wonder why his Mark of Penitence didn't stop him."

"Maybe it had to be done," Cream answered. "The Kitsune Lord may have indeed been the true threat. But I'm not down with this supernatural stuff as much as you are, Tahra."

"Let's just get that medallion piece and blow this Popsicle stand," Charmy quipped. He and Vector were now clued in on the nature of the journey. Sonic grinned wearily in agreement, but now he understood what Naylet meant when she said not to let his hatred consume him.

-- -- -- -- --

"Tahra…I don't know what's happening to me," Sonic said fearfully as the two lay next to each other under the stars. "Last night I felt perfectly fine…and now I'm a murderer again. I thought this Mark kept me from doing those kinds of things."

The purple hedgehog sighed "As strange as this may seem to say…it may have been what the powers that be intended. I'm pretty sure now that the Mark made no effort to stop you, even when you got into that…form…it likes your Super form, but psychotic. I guess it wouldn't hurt to call it Psycho Super Sonic. I just hope we don't have to see it again."

"Same here…anyway, isn't it great that we're just a stone's throw away from getting that Mark off of you…and I'll be heading to where my grandmother lives. I can't wait for her to meet you! But before we do…" Tahra got up very close to Sonic and began to nuzzle him affectionately.

"Oh, you wanna get all fluff-like, eh?" Sonic said eagerly. "I'm game!" The two locked lips as they did before and embraced under the stars…watched by another couple. Armeil and Naylet had followed the group and planned to meet up at Sylvania.

"Aw, look at those two," Naylet said with a smile. "They're so wonderful together. I'm glad Sonic is happy again, after what I saw in my last vision. I feared his hate would consume him fully."

"Perhaps there is hope for the world yet, Naylet…" Armeil replied as he smooched his love on the cheek…

-- -- -- -- --

Me: Yay! I'm back up to speed again! Next chapter, the group finally meets up and this part of the saga finally comes to a close! But don't think this story is over…the four hedgies still need to train with Akuma…and the others will have something to do while that's happening as well.

Shadow: Yes, there will be more fluff between me and Amy, folks, don't worry! I know that's what you fangirls want right now!

Me: There will also be the first confrontation between our heroes and the hyenas within the next two chapters! Stay tuned!

Krynku: (cackles)