Story 5; Return of the darkness
Chapter 59; a blast from the past
"Damnit. I missed again." Sonic said putting the shotgun down.
"I'm starting to see why Shadow likes to play these games with guns" Miles said hitting another bullseye.
"I'm really getting old. I mean if you can beat me in a shooting game.."
"Each person and a skill. Shooting for me. Dueling for you father."
"Hehe" Sonic said smiling and raising the shotgun again aiming for the center of the target.
The last 2 years have been some of the best in his life. After Miles became number 2 worldwide just behind him, the rest of the singed ones' children were inspired to try and conquer the royal league too. Luke had managed to defeat all his opponents until the duel with Tails. Unfortunately for him Tail's burning soul proved too much for the flames of his salamangreat deck to handle. The twins, Aurora and Evelyn didn't go past Storm. T-bone didn't take the challenge. Ruff managed to defeat Shadow but lost to Wave and her blue eyes army and stopped there. Finally Marianna lost to her father's Jet's samurai deck. However they were all perfectly happy and pleased with the results.
Returning to the present day Sonic looked at his son with pride. He had become a fine duelist and a fine person. Soon they were called by Marianna now Miles' fiancée to come and eat at the snack bar. Amy and the twins were there with Marianna. They surprised Miles pleasantly with his birthday cake and Marianna gifted him a prismatic rare copy of the legendary rare card apollousa bow of the goddess for his deck. Miles over the moon declared his love for her and kissed her. Soon afterwards the rest of the singed ones and their kids arrived. They all celebrated Miles' birthday with a big party. Then when the kids went to several rides the singed ones strolled around the fun park without any specific destination. They entered a mirror forest where they bumped several times into mirrors and each other trying to find the way out. Tails made everyone laugh with the idea that he saw his reflection on the mirror take an evil look which they all attributed to the confusion they had. They then went to a room where they wore virtual reality masks and tried to duel with them accidentally slapping each other as they were too close to avoid each other as they drew their cards. After a lot of pain sounds and laughter they continued their stroll until the came across a new attraction. A giant tent with a sign claiming the shaman would uncover their pasts.
"This sounds interesting. Who's in?" Amy asked the team.
Everyone agreed although Tails felt a little odd at the idea but agreed nonetheless.
The singed ones entered the tent after paying a ticket each and sat down in a circle. Soon the lights went off and a fire was lighted in the middle of the tent. Suddenly a young woman dressed in weird clothes entered and performed a weird dance while chanting something the singed ones couldn't understand. When she stopped she looked at them and spoke with an otherworldly voice.
"Welcome travelers from afar. Welcome to my humble home. Any answer you crave here you will find. Any memory you seek I shall restore. I, Sticks the badger know all and see all. Who shall be the first to let me look into their soul and have the spirits tell me who they were?"
"Me, me first." Amy said ecstatic liking the whole experience.
"Very well" Sticks said and put her hand into Amy's forehead to her surprise and chanted again.
"I see… a queen. A mother. A warrior. A lot of lives. Your history goes way back. You've existed as all kinds of person. A noble soul. Yes my dear. Normally I would show you one very important memory but they are all equally important. I will show them all to you."
Amy's mind suddenly filled with pictures in first person of a lot of different past ages. She felt her mark under her sleeve shining and trembling. Once Sticks was done she moved to Knuckles. Amy immediately leaned towards Sonic.
"She showed me memories of my past lives. I think this isn't just for show."
"Really? Then how? And why?" Sonic wondered.
Sticks performed the same ritual on all the singed ones until Sonic and Tails were left. She revealed Knuckles' passion and burning spirit, commented on Jet's always calm soul and felt Wave's spiritual strength and connection to the blue eyes white dragons. Next was Sonic's turn.
"In you I see…" but immediately looked at him in awe and bowed to him.
"What are you..?" Sonic said surprised but immediately received the answer.
"A perfect being. A divine power in you. The equal existence of both light and darkness. Perfectly balanced. You have finally managed to attain it. You have my respect my king."
"Uuh.. thank you I guess." Sonic said.
Now it was Tails' turn. But then something crazy happened. When Sticks put her arm on Tails' forehead she immediately pulled it away and screamed in horror.
"AAAAAAAH!"
"Miss are you ok?" Wave asked her surprised.
"Darkness! Evil! Destruction is upon us!" Sticks screamed putting everyone in shock.
Sticks immediately got up and left. Soon afterwards she brought a plate full of water as well as a golden staff.
"We must exorcise this evil right now."
"Excuse me?" Sonic said in shock as Sticks threw all the water on Tails' head who didn't react due to the shock and then pointed her staff toward him.
"Evil spirit! Listen to me! I, the shaman of this land command you to show yourself!"
"Stop this!" Sonic said taking the staff from her hands. The others immediately grabbed her by the shoulders immobilizing her.
"I summon you loose spirit! Answer me!" she kept screaming.
"Miss if this is part of the show then we don't like it. So stop the joke already!"
"This isn't a joke! This one hides a great evil in him! Show yourself evil spirit of the past!"
"That's the silliest thing I have ever heard" Knuckles said "I say we ask for our money back."
"That's the least we should do. I say Tails should press charges right?" Jet responded referring to Tails who still didn't answer.
"Tails get up we're leaving" Sonic said and turned to leave. But Tails stayed still.
"Tails? You ok buddy?"
Sticks suddenly started chanting again. Knuckles lost his patience and slapped her.
"Enough already!"
"I COMMAND YOU TO APPEAR EVIL SPIRIT!" Sticks screamed with all her strength.
At the next moment Tails' eyes and mark starting unleashing a dark aura. He screamed as loud as he could causing his friends great horror.
"Tails!" Sonic screamed.
Their sleeves were suddenly ripped off and their marks could be seen shining like never before. They all looked in disbelief but, as suddenly as the shine appeared it disappeared. Tails also stopped emitting the dark aura and leaned his head down.
"Buddy?" Sonic asked in hesitation "are you ok?"
"Evil spirit answer us!" Sticks screamed again.
"Stop this!" Amy yelled at her.
"Where am I?!" Tails asked in shock.
They all looked at him unable to talk. What did he mean?
"Evil spirit! Leave this man! Move on!" Sticks screamed.
"Who are you to order me?!" Tails raised his head and looked at her angry.
The singed ones then received the greatest shock ever. Tails' eyes were completely black except for his pupils. He looked at them all from head to toe and then locked eyes with Sonic.
"You!"
"Me?"
"I'll kill you!" he screamed and jumped on Sonic, wrapping his hands around his throat! He pressured for a couple of seconds then was dragged back by Knuckles and Jet.
"Tails have you lost it?!" Knuckles said and then turned to Sticks "what did you do to him?!"
"I summoned the evil spirit that is inside of him. A soul full of hatred and vengeance. A soul originating from Ancient Egypt!"
"Ancient Egypt?!" The singed ones screamed in shock realizing what she referred to. Sonic immediately looked at Tails.
"I'm not your king, leader of the palace guard. You passed away millennia ago! And so has the incarnation of me you knew! So leave my friend and move on now!"
"You are the reason of my suffering! I will destroy you!" Tails screamed unleashing once again the same dark aura that pushed Jet and Knuckles back. He then charged at Sonic and punched him with all his strength. Sonic fell down and a deck box fell to the ground from beneath his jacket. Tails looked at it for a moment then grabbed it and removed 3 cards from the inside.
"NO!" Sonic screamed trying to grab the cards. Tails dodged but Sonic grabbed one of them. He then pushed Amy out of the way and exited the tent running as fast as he could.
"He got away! After him!" Knuckles said taking Jet and Wave to pursue Tails. Amy sat next to Sonic.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah.. but we're in big trouble once again."
"What did he take?"
"Slifer the sky dragon and the Winged Dragon of Ra!"
"2 of the god cards?!"
"Yes. I only managed to get Obelisk the Tormentor back."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"That the nameless war of Egypt has begun again?"
Amy nodded seriously.
"We have to find Tails and take back the other two gods."
"I'll help you." Sticks said, Sonic and Amy having forgotten she was there the whole time.
"You need to stay away from Tails".
"There is a reason I called you my king earlier. You must not remember me from back then."
"Back then?"
"I was the palace's archpriest."
"Wait you mean…..?!"
"Your ancient Egypt's counterpart's subject. It was thanks to me that you met that man you call Tails. We were two orphans on the streets of your city. We met when he defended me from some thieves. Ever since then we had each other's back. One day he tried to steal some bread from one of your palace guards to feed me because I was really sick. The guard caught us and brought us to you. Tails tried to take the full punishment but surprisingly you helped instead of punishing us. Seeing how I prayed to the gods every day you made me a priest and Tails being steadfast in the defense of others you made him the palace guard's leader. And during the nameless war I helped invoke the powers of the dragon god and was there during the birth of the illusionary beasts."
"All that… and now what? Why is Tails like this? I stopped the darkness in his heart years ago. So why?"
Sticks put her hand on his head.
"I can see you have spoken with your alter ego from back then. But he didn't tell you everything about the war."
Sonic's eyes widened.
"What did you say?"
"He didn't tell you the whole truth. About how Tails became evil."
"Then tell me."
"I don't remember this. I just know by seeing into your memories that you don't know. So he should tell you".
"Kind of hard now. He is in the afterlife."
"I'll summon him back the same way I summoned Tails' evil side." Sticks said pointing her staff at Sonic and started chanting. Amy immediately tried to intervene but Sonic looked at her, telling her silently to let it happen. Suddenly a blue shine came out of Sonic's mark and manifested into ancient Sonic.
"Who interrupted my peace?" he said before noticing Sonic Amy and Sticks.
"You guys… and the archpriest? What is going on?"
"My king" Sticks said "We are in trouble. Tails is in this point in time. I felt in his descendant his evil. I tried to exorcise it but he escaped and stole 2 of the illusionary beasts".
"He did what?!"
"Sticks I believe he has something to tell me so let me do the questioning."
"Question me about what?"
"About the nameless war. Sticks here said that the reason Tails' evil side from then is now here is because of you. So start talking. Why is it here?"
"I don't understand. What evil are you talking about?"
"The evil Tails from your point in time. The palace guard leader. Tell me why he is here!"
"How is he here? I destroyed the evil within him when I got sealed in the pendant!"
"Apparently you didn't. So tell me. How do I stop him and bring my friend back?"
Ancient Sonic took a deep breath.
"The only reason I can think he is here is because the illusionary beasts are here."
"How is connected to them?"
"He tried to take control of them during their birth. All he managed was to get caught in the blast of negative energy that was released at that moment. My guess is that with the rebirth of the gods and their dark energy he was also revived."
"But still.. if his evil was nazo's doing… nazo is dead. So how is Tails still evil?"
"Nazo in my time was my advisor. He was the one who suggested to create the illusionary beasts to stop Tails and save the kingdom."
"Weird. How was he the good guy in all of this?" Amy said wondering.
"Maybe he had a master plan for Tails to do it that we don't know. In any case we have to find Tails and fast. He stole Slifer and Ra. It is anyone's guess what he will do with them."
"Do you still have Obelisk?"
"Yes."
"Hand him to me. I will help you find him."
Sonic gave his ancient counterpart Obelisk. Ancient Sonic looked at Obelisk and for a moment his eyes sparkled in a way modern Sonic found suspicious. The next moment Ancient Sonic gave it back.
"He is heading towards the duel tower. We have to get there and fast."
"Off we go then."
Ancient Sonic entered Sonic's body and soon afterwards they rode their runners, Sticks sitting behind Amy. Soon Sonic saw the duel tower, the very same tower he and his friends paid for with their royal league winnings to be built. Ever since then the final matches were held at the top. He also spotted in the distance Tails' duel runner being pursued by Knuckles Wave and Jet. They saw Tails stopping in front of the duel tower.
"Sonic look!" Amy said pointing at the sky.
Sonic looked and saw the sky turn dark. Fearing what it could mean he accelerated finally reaching the foot of the tower. There they found Knuckles Wave and Jet banging on the door of the elevator trying to open it.
"What's happening?" Sonic asked them.
"Whoever this Tails is he locked the door. He is at the top right now."
"Whatever he is doing we have to stop him." Sonic said activating his duel disc and summoning the black winged dragon. Riding it he flew to the top of the tower. There he saw Tails with his hands up holding 2 cards, 1 in each hand and pointing them to the sky. Sonic jumped off the dragon and landed close to Tails.
"Whatever you are doing stop right now!" he screamed to be heard because of the strong wind.
Tails turned around and saw him.
"Right on time. These 2 here will not work on their own. I need the third."
"Too bad. You want Obelisk you can't have it!"
"Then I will earn it!" Tails screamed activating his duel disc.
"You know I can beat you anytime Tails. So stop this madness."
"Oh I don't think so. You want these? You have to earn them back. And the only way to do this is to fight them with Obelisk!"
"Why should I?"
"You want to know the truth of your past right? Why you yourself can't wield the god cards right?"
Sonic's face turned into a frozen mask of shock. How was it possible that past Tails knew of his inability to wield the gods despite acquiring the powers of the lunar dragon.
"Sonic" ancient Sonic said "Let me handle this. I'll make quick work of him".
"Suit yourself" Sonic said switching consciousness with his ancient self.
"It's time my king" Tails said in a funny tone "today you pay for all your sins of the past".
"Let's just get this over with." ancient Sonic said putting on the duel disc the deck Sonic had specifically made for Obelisk, something modern Sonic found very suspicious.
"It's on!"
"DUEL!"
"I'll start this. I draw. I summon forth blockman. Then I set 3 cards and call it a turn."
"He changed his deck?" Sonic said worried.
"I draw" ancient Sonic said.
"At this moment I activate the trap card summon limit. So now as long as it is face up we can only summon monsters up to 2 times!"
"2 times?!"
"That's right. I know you have Obelisk in your hand right now. But you can't get 3 monsters out and summon him with it out. While I can!"
"How?"
"You'll see".
"Fine your card allows me to summon 2 times. Not 2 monsters only. So I summon Ra's disciple. And he in turn summons 2 more from my deck! Then I play power of us. If I have monsters with the same name out they get 500 each if there are 2 and 1500 each if there are 3. Each of my disciples goes to 2600! Go disciple number 1! Attack blockman!"
"I activate my negate attack! Your battle phase is over!"
"Fine then. I end my turn with a face down!"
"Not before I play the quick play spell turn jump! We are forced to skip 3 turns!"
"Oh no!"
"Oh yes! My blockman has technically now stayed on the field 3 turns. I draw. Which means he can count as 3 tributes!"
"No! you can't! Οnly the chosen king can control the gods! That's me! If you try to wield it you will taste the god's rage!"
"How wrong you are! The gods will obey anyone with a powerful enough soul! I tribute my blockman to summon the winged dragon of ra!"
Ra came down from the sky in a skydiving manner and landed behind Tails. The rest of the singed ones and Sticks saw it from the ground.
"Do you see that?!" Amy said in shock.
"The winged dragon of Ra!" Knuckles said.
"They have engaged in a divine battle. If they summon all 3 gods on the field at the same time terrible things will happen! We have to hurry and get up there!" Sticks warned them.
"I wish I could!" Knuckles said punching the door "But it won't budge. And the button doesn't work. Tails locked it from the inside"
"Hold on we have another way." Amy remembered.
"What way?"
"The stairs"
"There are no stairs."
"There are. Sonic instructed the builders to put stairs on the blueprints of the tower. You know for earthquake emergency. I guess he never mentioned it before."
"Then what are we waiting for?! To the stairs!"
"I don't think we will survive them. We're talking about 100 floors. Besides even if we survive them it's gonna take hours to get to the top!" Wave said hopelessly.
"Then we better get started!" Amy said running to the stair door forcing everyone to follow her.
Back at the top of the tower the duel continued.
"Ra's power becomes my life points except for 100! 7900 attack power is staring down at your pathetic disciples! Go! God blaze cannon!"
"AAAAAH!" (Sonic LP 2700)
"I end my turn. Now that you only control 2 disciples they only gain 500 attack each. Next turn I end you. I set one card and call it a turn."
"Damn it! We have to get Obelisk out now!" ancient Sonic said.
"This wouldn't have happened if we played my normal deck!" modern Sonic answered from inside his mind.
"Shut up. I have to stop him."
"Why you specifically? I could make quick work of him. Summon limit isn't a problem for my deck I can get rid of it in a flash. But you insisted."
"This is my war. Don't interfere." Ancient Sonic declared puzzling Sonic. It was like ancient Sonic was trying to silence ancient Tails.
"Is there any chance my ancient self lied?" Sonic wondered
"I draw. Perfect. I activate fiend's…"
"Fiend's sanctuary. I know" Ancient Tails said "but you can't. Ra's disciples force you to only summon them or a god. You are stuck."
"Oh no!"
"Not just yet" Sonic said to ancient Sonic "You have monster reborn. Revive the fallen disciples and summon Obelisk."
"But if I use monster reborn now I won't be able to use it later!"
"There won't be any later! Do it!"
"Fine. I activate monster reborn to revive my fallen disciple. Then by sacrificing them all I invoke the great god warrior! Come forth! Obelisk the tormentor!"
A small earthquake took place and Obelisk appeared from the ground and flew to the top of the tower standing behind ancient Sonic. Ra roared in response to Obelisk's summon.
"So you summoned it. But it doesn't matter. Ra's far stronger."
"Not for long. I play the continuous spell class system. Now only a monster with higher level than Obelisk can destroy it. But same goes for Obelisk. He can only destroy monsters with lower level. And Ra has equal level. Also the two of they don't damage each other so we don't take damage from their battle."
"So we're stuck in neutral for now. But no matter. I'll break through soon enough."
"I end my turn."
"I draw. I activate the spell card the true name. if I guess the card at the top of my deck I add it to my hand then I can summon one divine monster from my deck!"
"Divine monster! That means…"
"I declare heavy storm! I draw! Perfect! Heavy storm! Now appear! Slifer the sky dragon!"
The sky started unleashing lightning and thunder. Slifer appeared from inside the clouds and descended on the field next to Ra. They both roared at Obelisk.
"And now I activate heavy storm! It destroys all spells and traps out! So class system is gone! And now to secure my victory! I play the spell card card of sanctity! We both draw until hold 6 cards! Now to finish you off! Slifer attack! THUNDER FORCE!"
Slifer prepared to attack but suddenly 2 monsters appeared on ancient Sonic's field.
"What in the world?!" Ancient Tails said in shock.
"When you destroyed my face down card you activated its effect. It was statue of the wicked. So it summons a wicked token. Then you also made me draw cards, drawing watapon which summons itself upon being added to hand by an effect.
"So what? They're in defense mode so they get to live. But you really are so desperate to survive that you depend on them?"
"I depend on them alright. But to win?"
"Win? Please! Obelisk is going down! And without him your fate is sealed!"
Ancient Sonic smiled.
"Do you know what Obelisk's ability is?"
"Yes. To tribute 2 monsters and destroy every one on my field. But you have to do it during your turn! And now it's too late!"
"Wrong! I am your king! You will submit to me now! I activate Obelisk's ability! SOUL ENERGY MAX!"
At that very moment Sticks started screaming.
"NOOOOOOO!"
"What's wrong?! Knuckles tried to calm her.
"Evil is taking over! We need to stop that duel now!"
She immediately started climbing the stairs 4 at a time and slammed the door to the top of the tower open. She saw Obelisk turning red due to soul energy max activation.
"Stop my king! I remember! You mustn't do this!"
"I don't need your advice archpriest! I'm winning this! Obelisk! I offer you my 2 monsters! Destroy Slifer and Ra with your unlimited power! And burn away Tails to oblivion. GOD HAND IMPACT!"
Obelisk unleashed his power on Ra and Slifer. But instead of their destruction and Tails' defeat, the attack turned into forms of spirits that flooded the field. They flew for a second aimlessly and then turned to Sonic in shock of the singed ones who arrived at the top at that very moment exhausted from the climbing. Ancient Sonic looked around him scared.
"What is this?! Help!"
"Sinner…. Sinner.." the spirits kept saying.
Suddenly the gods started roaring. They roared so loudly that the singed ones flinched. Soon afterwards they disappeared and energy was left in their place. The energy was the cast into space. In horror the singed ones saw it exiting the atmosphere and turning into a meteor twice as big as the moon. Ancient Tails then started laughing like a maniac.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IT'S OVER! YOU ARE FINALLY PAYING!"
"What is that?!" Sonic said emerging and sending the ancient Sonic out of his body turning him again into energy projection.
"That… is nibiru the primal being!"
"What?!"
"It is the end of your planet! Once nibiru descends on Earth, in just 7 short days, he will break your planet apart and destroy all you love!"
"Why are you doing this?! What did we do to you?!" Sonic screamed in rage.
"What did you do? Ask your ancient self! Or is he gonna lie again?!"
"Again?!" Sonic said looking at his ancient self in anger "You lied to me?!"
"No I didn't" Ancient Sonic said trying to defend himself.
"What a bad liar you are my king. Should I reveal the truth if you won't do it?"
"Shut your mouth. I order you as your king!"
"No! You shut up!" Sonic said shocking everyone "What is he hiding from me?"
"Isn't it strange? I have a deck that resolves around summoning the god cards that you have already defeated? And instead of letting you deal with me he requests he does it? With a deck that also summons the gods? A lot of coincidences or is it just me?"
"I order you to.."
"Shut it!" Sonic silenced him again.
"And the fact that he wanted to keep monster reborn for later? Doesn't that ring a bell?"
"Enough with the riddles. What are you trying to tell me?!"
"That your ancient self… he was the real villain in our war!"
"What?!"
"During that time we had trouble with an enemy nation. Instead of trying to solve it peacefully like I was suggesting he used the power of the lunar dragon to create the illusionary beasts! It was his idea!"
"Is it true?!" Sonic said referring to ancient Sonic.
"I…"
"You created the gods as a tool for the destruction of a nation?!"
"I.. I only wanted…"
"To protect his people! That's what he keeps saying to play innocent! But he created these beasts to destroy our enemies! I tried to stop him but instead got hit by their dark energy! I am evil because of him!"
"I can't believe this!" Sonic said shocked
"He is the sole reason of your world's destruction! The very same blood that once ran in him runs through you! That's the reason why the illusionary beasts will not answer to your commands! You have the blood of a sinner in you! He would destroy an entire nation just to avoid the trouble of making peace! He deserves everything he gets!"
"How could you do this?!" Sonic screamed in rage to ancient Sonic "Am I the only Sonic in the time space continuum that would never ever harm anyone on purpose?! First my evil descendant… and now you?!"
"I'm sorry. I sinned a lot. And I thought stopping Tails from destroying the country and making peace with our enemies would help me atone a little."
"Too bad. As you saw, the spirits of the past still hold a grudge against you. They were the ones who turned the energy produced by soul energy max to nibiru!"
"But there is still something inexplicable" Jet said " Soul energy max can only be used during Obelisk's controller's turn. So how did he use it on your turn?"
"As the original holder of the Egyptian gods he can tap into their secret abilities. That's why he wanted to keep monster reborn. Ra, in contrast to what you thought, can exist as one card instead of 3. The sphere mode, the battle mode and the immortal phoenix. But in the hands of my king" he said spitting when he uttered the word king "Ra's 3 modes can be manifested into the battle mode card. And when Ra is summoned from the graveyard he can activate the one turn kill effect that allows it to bypass any obstacles to his attacks, attack all monsters on the opponent's field and attack directily once. Also the attack points of Ra are the points the player pays except for 1. So he would heal himself first the initiate the 1 turn kill and end me if he got the chance."
"You kept all those things secret?!" Sonic said angry.
"But this all matters not now. Nibiru has appeared. It's over. Enjoy your last week of life! Ahahahahahahaha!" Tails screamed jumping off the top of the tower. The singed ones looked down and saw him activating a hidden parachute, landing next to his runner, riding it and driving away. Then they looked once again hopelessly to the sky, witnessing nibiru continuing his travel towards Earth.
"What now?" Sonic wondered "How do we prevent the end of the world?"
