Starline batted away Tail's first punch casually by holding up his arm, then letting the seat spin beneath him. The doctor stuck out his leg and tripped the young meister when the chair rotated back around. Sonic tried to follow up, thinking there was now an opening. His target merely pushed off with his legs and the office chair rolled out of the way. Shadow's blade clanked against the ground uselessly.
"Knuckles, let's go for a special attack," Tails yelled.
"Oh, I just love special attacks," Starline's eyes gleamed with excitement.
Tails took off the gauntlet, then threw it underhand so it would roll along the ground. Knuckles burst from his gauntlet form to attempt a strike from below. Starline did a front flip using the chair and flew over Knuckles, bringing his seat with him. After landing he saw that Tails had closed in.
"Miles Shockwave!"
Tails fired his soul wavelength straight ahead. Static fizzled throughout the air and crashed into the doctor.
"That kid can use soul force?" Silver gawked at the monitor.
"It won't be enough," Eggman replied.
"This man, Starline. He's…"
"One of the greatest weapon meisters I've ever known," Eggman hijacked Blaze's sentence. "He can analyze his opponents quickly and adapt his flexible soul wavelength and fighting style to attack or defend as needed."
"Using soul force against someone with that much control won't do anything," Blaze stated flatly.
Just as Blaze said, Starline wasn't affected by the attack at all. The static in the air moved into him harmlessly. Tails took a step back, unable to believe his eyes. The doctor grinned maliciously while he put his gloved hand on Tails's head.
"My turn,"
Soul waves ripped into Tails's body, generating an outline of archaic light around him. He screamed in pain as the attack rattled his body. His eyes rolled back into his head and he crumpled to the ground
"You were my brother, Anakin," Starline said with a fake, heartbroken tone.
"Tails!"
Knuckles tried to pounce the doctor, but the office chair slammed into him. Sparks flew from the chair, stunning him with a dose of soul force as well. Two fighters were now down, but the remaining pair had already moved in to attack.
Sonic spun his scythe to feint once, then moved into an overhead strike. Starline kicked up the office chair and held it against the bottom of his opponent's scythe handle to halt it. All of the momentum stopped before the swing had even started. Starline had managed to break through Sonic's stance as well.
"Nice try,"
Starline rammed his open palm into Sonic's chest and fired a blast of soul force yet again. Sonic was thrown out into the lawn with Shadow still in hand. Pain in his chest made it feel like he'd just been hit by a sledgehammer. He coughed and did his best to stand up. After leaning on Shadow so he could prop himself up, Sonic managed to regain his balance.
"Shadow," Sonic called out to his partner weakly. "I can't beat him,"
"Is that really you Sonic? I don't remember pairing with a meister who gives up so easily,"
"I thought he was just some scientist, but I haven't been able to land a single hit. Tails and Knuckles…" Sonic looked over at his defeated friends. Today felt even worse than his fight against Rouge the Witch. Was this really all he was good for?
"I know you're not planning on leaving them behind. If we're gonna die, let's at least make sure we're the coolest,"
Sonic laughed. He couldn't believe that Shadow was joking at a time like this just to make him feel better. A hopeful warmth built up in his chest that dulled the pain. He thought back to how Shadow had confessed to losing his memory. Being without a past must have left Shadow with a lot of loneliness. Despite that, he had been putting his trust in Sonic for a while now. Sonic felt stupid waiting this long to do anything about it, but the way was clear now. The air around them began to ripple.
"They're going to try a soul resonance after all," Blaze looked on with interest.
Shadow felt guilty trying to resonate with Sonic. He knew it was his fault that it never worked for them, yet Sonic never blamed him. It always failed after he amplified Sonic's soul waves and passed them back. His partner could never handle his wavelength after a certain point. Even now, Shadow sent out his wavelength to Sonic, feeling the cold chill that he knew would stop Sonic in his tracks. The energy around them began to dissipate.
"Sonic, I-"
Shadow was interrupted by a tidal wave of energy from Sonic's soul. Whatever cold emptiness he'd passed on was replaced by a bright and warm sensation. The pair began to yell in response to the intensity of the power coursing between them. Shadow's weapon form began to glow. Sonic wound up a scythe strike. The blade stretched out until it was nearly twice its original size, forming a crescent with hooked ends. Dark red energy gave Shadow's blade an ominous glow, and streaks of the color rippled along the surface.
"The legendary super skill of the scythe meister," Starline articulated as his opponent ran over to meet him one last time.
"Witch Hunter!" Sonic yelled.
Starline caught the blade with both of his hands. His own soul wavelength grinded against the attack. Energy from the collision flew past him and rammed against the house behind. Tiles from the roof and chunks of siding ripped away from the foundation. Streaks tore along the building that sliced the pipes as if everything were being cut directly.
"They did it," Blaze covered her mouth with one hand.
Cracks began to form along Shadow's Witch Hunter form in response to Starline's wavelength. The transformation gave way and all the energy destabilized, shattering the blade's expansion. Sonic fell backward once again. Shadow's regular scythe form landed on the ground next to him.
"Not bad for your first Witch Hunter," Starline walked over to Sonic before being stopped by Shadow, who transformed back to normal.
"You're not touching him!"
The black hedgehog didn't have time to stand. Instead, he opted to lean over Sonic while on all fours so he could shield him. Both were still catching their breath. Starline reached out his hand.
"A+," Starline smiled, patting Shadow on the head.
"What?"
"This whole thing was a ruse," Starlined began. "This mission was only part of your remedial lesson. All the details of it were constructed so you could be evaluated while attempting to complete it,"
"We were set up to lose the whole time?" Knuckles yelled, now off the ground.
"It's often the case that you can learn more in defeat than victory,".
"Yeah right,"
Starline rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised you'd feel that way?"
"Shadow…" Sonic's voice came quietly.
The weapon looked down to see that he was still on all fours looming over his meister. Shadow hopped up at lightning speed. He felt like going back out into the cemetery and finding an empty grave to jump in.
Sonic held out his hand. Shadow pulled him up without making eye contact. The meister smirked. He thought about teasing his weapon, but decided against it.
"Thanks for helping me out back there,"
The sincerity of Sonic's statement made Shadow glance into his eyes for just a moment. He just as quickly turned away and shrugged.
"Typical Shadow," Sonic thought with a grin. "Hey Tails! You're not dead, are you?"
"I'm dead,"
"You don't seem all that dead, pal," Sonic walked over and looked down at his brother, who was still on the ground.
"He beat me then topped it off with a sick reference. I might as well be," Tails kept his eyes closed.
The group of meisters and weapons began to regroup, concluding the remedial lesson. Observers at the DWMA were doing the same.
"I can't believe this," Eggman rubbed his brow. "Are you satisfied with the results, Princess?"
"For now," Blaze began to leave. Silver followed.
"You still plan on observing those two outside of your primary mission?"
"Of course,"
Eggman was now alone in his "death room." He stared at the monitor for a bit longer, wondering what to do now that Sonic had surpassed expectations.
Blaze and Silver walked along the path that led out of the death room. It was lined with odd, mechanical guillotine contraptions.
"That Witch Hunter transformation looked pretty intense," Silver glanced at his meister with suspicion. She was deep in thought and said nothing in response. He wasn't entirely sure she heard him to begin with.
A new day in the weapon meister classroom was beginning. The Sonic Squad sat in a group among the other students.
"How'd the remedial lesson go for you guys?" Amy asked.
"We got the crap beaten out of us," Knuckles huffed.
"Is he being serious?"
"Unfortunately," Tails tried not to think about being zapped at full power by Starline's soul force.
"We ended up fighting some genius meister so we could be evaluated or whatever," Sonic leaned back in his chair, then put his feet up on the table. "He fought all of us at once without taking a hit. He enjoyed knocking us around too," Sonic snapped his fingers and formed a pistol with his right hand. "Shadow and I did pull off a Witch Hunter though. Still got creamed," Sonic glanced over at the young rabbit. "Sorry, Cream,"
Cream giggled "What's a Witch Hunter?"
"It's someone who hunts witches, duh," Knuckles replied.
"It's also the name of a powerful scythe transformation achieved through soul resonance," Tails added. "But when did you guys pull off a super skill like the Witch Hunter?"
"Yeah, we were only passed out for a little bit. No way you pulled off some fancy super move in that time," Knuckles countered.
"Guess you'll have to keep an eye out for the next one," Sonic winked.
"Passed out?" Amy cut in with concern. "This 'genius meister' sounds crazy. Who is he?"
The classroom's door flung open. Doctor Starline rode in on an office chair.
"Hello there!"
"That'd be him," Sonic looked on with a disturbed expression. Knuckles, Tails, and even Shadow looked to be sharing the sentiment. The rest of the class merely appeared confused. The doctor hopped down and approached the blackboard.
"My name is Dr. Starline," He used chalk to write the word 'Starline' in flawless cursive and underlined with a flourish. The 'i' in 'Starline' was dotted with a star. "I'll be your instructor for the foreseeable future," He turned to the class with his hands behind his back, grinning devilishly.
"I'm rather looking forward to teaching you all,"
