Chapter Forty-Six

Sonic: I swear…this ScarletEbon chick is one great artist. Look at that art of our Super forms!

Tahra: Why are Amy and I in the same pose?

Amy: Yeah, I noticed that…but I do like my new belt buckle!

Shadow: I'm still waiting for the pic of me fighting the anti-me.

Me: Hold thy horses, peeps! It will be worth the wait…I hope.

-- -- -- -- --

"What the hell is happening?" Knuckles exclaimed angrily when he saw flames rising from the city of Sylvania. "I thought Sylvania was impossible to siege! Damn, talk about horrible timing!" Mikael was beside himself…a place he had come to love, had come to treasure, was under attack by a force he had no capability of stopping. His first instinct was to cling onto someone, and Vahtri proved to be that someone. But the girl herself was driven to tears, for she had many friends in Sylvania that surely perished in this barbaric attack.

"We came too late…" Eberon said with the same feeling of despair and. I can only hope that the others are okay."

"We can't take Mikael into the city!" Vahtri managed to angrily say through her sobs. "You two go ahead…let me stay here. And Knuckles…" She went over to Knuckles and delivered a sudden, passionate and loving kiss, "please be careful…"

Both Knuckles and Eberon were surprised by this sudden act, though Eberon was more so surprised. He had not expected his daughter to care for Knuckles so deeply, but it was comforting for him to know that she had chosen to love such a good-hearted fellow.

"I will, Vahtri," Knuckles said before he and Eberon dashed off to the city as fast their legs could carry them. Now alone with Mikael, she took him and searched for a place to hide from anyone who could do them harm…

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

"Go, my minions! Burn everything in sight!" Krynku cackled triumphantly. "Destroy, pillage, maim or whatever action of mayhem strikes your whimsy!" Thousands of hyenas, shadow creatures and other residents of the wasteland were pouring into the city, all thinking one thought…to tear Sylvania to pieces and destroy the people who had banished their kinds to the wastes.

Krynku himself had one particular matter to settle…one with a certain old priestess. Using his keen nose, he found his way to Ilseah's home, and burst in, just as the old woman was preparing what she was sure to be her final cup of tea.

"I foresaw your coming, hyena…" the old priestess said coldly when Krynku stepped into her home. She took another sip of tea and waited for the warrior's answer.

"So…aren't you going to take that large sword of yours and stab me or something?" the priestess asked Krynku again. The hyena was angry…how could this old hag just sit there and drink tea? She was supposed to be limping away in fear of her life! He couldn't stand it.

"Aren't you afraid of me!" Krynku roared. "Are you not afraid to meet your doom at my hands! I am going to cut you limb from limb, burn you to ashes and scatter them to the winds! You should be on your knees, begging for me to spare your worthless soul!"

The old hedgehog smiled. "I have lived a long, fulfilling life, and you shall meet your just end in time. I do not fear death, Krynku." The old woman pulled herself off of her modest couch, and closed her eyes. She was ready to meet her end.

Now the hyena general was beside himself in rage. In his thirty-six years of life, he had never seen anyone act so defiantly in the face of imminent death at his hands. Raising Excalibur's sinister twin, he keenly searched for a viable weak spot, and thought of all the ways he could kill this woman. Eventually, he settled on the most painful way possible…a stab through the gut. He delivered this attack with great force and gusto, impaling Ilseah on his blade. She only flinched a little, but not a trace of pain seemed to be noticeable. Weakly, she managed to pull herself off of the blade and stagger backwards.

"Grah! Why are silent, you wretch!" Krynku roared. "I just stabbed you in your worthless gut!" Again, the old woman remained cool and calm. She slowly sat down and put her back to the far wall.

"The only regret I have right now is what will happen when my granddaughter sees my corpse. It will cause many people great pain, starting with you. There is no doubt in my mind that she already knows of your crime."

Krynku had no idea of what the old hedgehog spoke of, and chuckled. "You think I should be afraid, hag. Well, I fear nothing. Let this terror that is your granddaughter come; then we shall see how fearsome she truly is."

"You have no idea…" the old woman said with her last breath. She died, maintaining her dignity to the end. Krynku growled. This kill was a joke…it was an empty victory. He left the house in search of more satisfying kills.

-- -- -- -- --

As the fight between Shadow and Maria continued, Tahra felt a sudden wave of despair cross her mind. Something terrible had happened in the outside world, she just knew it. What was worse, it was someone very close to her…her grandmother.

Sonic noticed Tahra's sudden change of mood and immediately asked what was going on.

"I can feel it…she's gone…but not just her…" Tahra sobbed, while clenching a fist. Shadow seemed to notice Tahra's grief as well, momentarily dropped his guard, but not long enough to get hit.

Even Akuma noticed this, but the ancient warrior felt a disturbing energy growing inside the girl…it was the power that the old woman had been able to restrain for years…he couldn't stop the process now that it had started…but he sensed that it was comparable to what the others had…maybe they could contain it.

"Akuma, let me out!" Tahra cried. "There are people dying in the city!"

"I cannot let you leave here until you all have received the proper training with the Sacred Arms," Akuma said with regret. "I am gravely sorry, but that is how it all works."

Tahra felt her mind slipping in and out of maddening rage. This was a power she had felt once before…a power she couldn't control. She wanted to help, but she felt so helpless.

"Tahra, you have to calm down," Sonic pleaded. "This is no time to go emo…"

"Emo…" Tahra growled…"Emo? I'LL SHOW YOU EMO!" Then it all came roaring out, sending Sonic and Amy flying into the barrier. The fight between Shadow and Maria ground to a halt as they beheld Tahra's sudden explosion of rage.

In a manner much like Psycho Super Sonic, the darker side of Tahra came out. Her fur had darkened to an extremely dark purple, and a single orange stripe was running down her head from the top of her quills. The only other feature was that the whites of her eyes had turned black, and the iris had turned red, much like Akuma's own eyes. A sinister black and purple aura surrounded her.

Amy was the first to try and reason with the enraged Tahra. "Tahra, stop this! We all know this isn't you!" Tahra gave a cold glance to everyone in the room before uttering two words:

"Chaos…Control." With that, she warped out of the room, much to everyone's surprise.

"Isn't this place supposed to be on a different plane or something?" Sonic asked Akuma. "And what the hell did Tahra just do? You know something…spit it, red boy!"

Akuma dispelled the field that separated the three from the fight between Shadow and Maria. Maria's spirit separated from Masamune, and Shadow wondered what was going on, and why Tahra was able to use Chaos Control. But that matter soon became less of a concern when Maria suddenly began fading away.

"Maria…does this mean I am victorious?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, because a more important matter has come up," Maria replied. "Your friend is in great emotional pain…just like you were when I died…"

"What was your first guess?" Shadow said casually, as if they were just talking, even though he was trying to hold back tears.

"Well…I'm sorry, Shadow…I have to leave now. Don't forget me…but please, don't cling onto me." She blew Shadow one last kiss before fading away forever. Shadow picked up Masamune, grabbed its sheath from the altar and listened in on the conversation Akuma was having with Sonic and Amy.

"At a young age, Tahra was affected by a mysterious ailment that, while granting her great power, destabilizes her personality, turning her into a ruthless killing machine. She'll go after her enemies first, but she won't stop there. This is the second time that this has happened in her life…the last time it happened she nearly killed her own parents with a knife. Her grandmother was able to place a powerful ward against this ailment, but now that she is dead, the ward has fallen. Thankfully, I feel that you will be able to stop her.

"I'll go," Sonic said. "She's the one I care about, and I should be the one to stop her."

Akuma shook his head. "I'm afraid that you cannot, Sonic. Your test still remains. I suggest that Amy go. Leave Mjolnir in here."

"Okay, Akuma…get me out of here."

Akuma snapped his fingers, and Amy was teleported back to the surface. Now the red hedgehog set his eyes on Sonic.

"Sonic the Hedgehog…it is time for your trial now. You may show yourself, Devlin." A white hedgehog angel with yellow eyes came out of the shadows.

"It has been a while, my son," Devlin said.

"Dad…I guess I have to fight you…"

-- -- -- -- --

"Let me go, you shadow freaks!" Ribik cried as he was being dragged away by two of the soulless shadow creatures. He had somehow gotten separated from the group, and now his fate was sealed. The black monsters brought him before Vera, who had slipped into the city to watch the chaos unfold.

"Ah, a prisoner…you know, my guardian has been getting hungry lately…and this will make a fine meal for it." With those words, the shadow creature in question appeared from behind one of the buildings. It was a creature of massive size…but it was no ordinary shadow creature…it was the soul of the Biolizard, the creature who had tried to smash the ARK into Earth several years ago. It bellowed loudly.

"Eat up, big boy!" Vera said. The Biolizard-shadow lumbered over to Ribik, grabbed him in its mouth, and engulfed the poor toad whole. It roared in satisfaction.

"Good boy," the bat said, stroking her massive guardian on the side as if it was a pet.

-- -- -- -- --

"Damn…we had to show up just as the big invasion starts!" Tails complained as he dispatched another shadow creature with his personal arm cannon.

"I don't think we can hold them off forever!" Raiden said with despair in his voice as he kicked away two hyenas. "I think this is where it all ends…"

"No!" Zeipha cried as he smashed a shadow creature with a heavy stick she found to use as a weapon. "It can't end this way! Sven, Rouge, tell us there's hope!"

"Not likely, Zeipha…" the mole replied as he delivered a spinning strike with his mighty hammer, sending five shadow creatures and three hyenas soaring away, "But we can still give 'em our all! Let's take as many down as we can with us!"

Rouge didn't answer, but took wing and tried to find a safe place to take a breather, and found one in a high position. From her lofty post she could see someone with a dark aura plowing through the tide of shadows, screaming at the top of her lungs curses and words of hatred aimed at the foul beings.

What in the world…what's that goth girl Tahra doing? Rouge wondered. And what is that awful power she's exuding? Well, I hope she's on our side…

Tahra came roaring into the melee with her friends, scattering twenty shadow creatures and hyenas, killing most of them. One that did survive, she immediately grabbed and began to shake.

"WHERE'S KRYNKU, HYENA!" she roared in the weakened soldier's face.

"I…I…don't know, heh," the hyena half-stuttered and half-laughed.

"LIAR!" Tahra screamed before smashing the poor hyena's skull on the side of the building. She gave a cold glance at her friends before continuing on.

"What in the world…" Sven exclaimed.

"That's Tahra," Tails said…"But I feel this evil power coming from her…we have to stop her before she starts attacking innocents."

-- -- -- -- --

Me: I hope no one will miss Ribik. He never got much action, anyway. Anyway, what do you all think of Tahra's Dark form? I might name it something different, but that's what it will be for now.

Amy: She scares me, so I guess you have ascary mind, Janus. Are you sure this fiction shouldn't be rated M? I mean, you really went far on the violence…

Me: You'd be surprised how desensitized many people are to violence. Anyway, next chapter will have the battle between Sonic and Devlin, and perhaps the real beginning of the next part. And keep your eyes open for a Shadow vs. Eclipse art by ScarletEbon!

Shadow: You mentioned that already.

Me: Oh. Never mind.