Chapter Five: Bloodlust

Edge sat up in bed with a jolt, cold sweat dripping down his forehead onto his cheeks. He quickly wiped it all off and hopped out of the bed. The room he was in was different; the bed was a deep dark shade of ivory and had a white nightstand sitting next to it. The walls were lavender and the door was white with a rose bush painted upon it.

Suddenly there was a cold breeze that made the young shadow shiver. He looked towards the source of the fresh air and saw that it was an open window. Below the window was a birch wood desk with research papers and pencils scattered across the smooth surface.

One of the pencils slowly began to roll down the desk, pleading Edge to catch it. Edge rushed to catch the pink pencil, and successfully did so. He examined the pencil for a few moments before a knock was heard at the door.

"Come in." He said softly as he began to read over the research. He didn't bother to notice who came in. He felt a warm, mitten-clad hand place itself onto his. He looked up to see a pair of gold eyes starring deeply into his blue ones. "Susurri, is something wrong?"

"No. I just thought I would stop by and visit, so I did." Susurri stated as she shook her head. "Do you happen to know where you are?"

"Umm.., actually.., wait... Ok I have no idea where I am." He said hesitantly.

"You're at Fumu and Bun's house! This is Fumu's room." Edge lightly blushed. "She insisted that you stayed her room and not in that God-forsaken tent!" She blurted.

"I guess she's right!" Edge chuckled. They began to lean in for a kiss, but the sound of a door slam open stopped them. Edge looked to where the sound came from and saw an aggravated Fumu.

"So you're cheating on me?" Fumu huffed.

"Where'd you get that from?" Edge asked as a confused look painted his face.

"YOU TWO ALMOST KISSED!" Edge began to worry. "HOW CAN I NOT TELL YOU'RE CHEATING ON M-"

"WOULD YOU STOP?!" Edge screamed at the top of his lungs. "YOU AND I HAVEN'T EVEN DATED OR ANYTHING TOGETHER! CALM DOWN OR I'LL END UP KILLING SOMEBODY!" Tears formed in the girls eyes.

"S-so you don't.., love, me?" Edge's heart dropped to his stomach at her words.

"Fumu... I'm sorry. I'm not cheating on you! I love you as my own sister!" Fumu continued to cry as she ran out of the room and to her parents. "I'm in some major Wolfwrath poop..."

...

"Mum! Dad!" Fumu ran into her father's arms.

"What is it, dear?" Memu asked in a worried tone. She watched as Edge stumbled into the room-pale as Chilly's snow-built body and fell to the floor. Then came a horrified shriek that came from Susurri. "Oh my! Edge, are you alright?" She stood up and run/walked over to the poor boy.

"N-no... I feel.., terrible..." She quickly turned him over with the help of Bun and Parm. Edge's eyes slowly opened, revealing something quite unusual. His pupils were black and the rest of his eye was red. "P-p-please.., get T-Thorn..." With that said he fell under nausea's blanket of darkness.

...

Fumu, Bun, and Kirby rushed through the halls of Castle Dedede in search of Thorn.

"Where are you three heading?" A masculine voice said from behind the children. They froze in their tracks. Fumu turned herself around with a woosh following close behind.

"Meta Knight! We need to find Thorn, and fast! Edge is in danger!" Tears began to well up in her eyes as she sniffed.

"I'm very sure of where he is! Follow me!"

Meta Knight guided the three to the Campgrounds. "Now that we're here, we need to split up into self-operating groups." The kids gave him confused looks. Meta sighed. "It means split up into groups of one."

"Ohhh..." Bun blurted, then ran off in the opposite direction.

Soon enough, Meta was finally alone-or so it seemed. He looked around to see the soldiers gathering supplies and equipping themselves of armor and weapons. 'What is going on?' Meta thought to himself. He spotted Randal from the corner of his eye and rushed to him. "What is going on?" He asked.

"All I've heard is that a scout saw a large black cloud. You know what that means." He said in a low voice.

"Dark Matter!" Meta shivered at the thought of it. "What do you think brings him here?" He asked.

"Look! There!" A soldier announced, causing the others to turn towards where he was pointing. Horror filled their eyes as they saw what Randal and Meta had expected.

"EVERYONE! GET OUT OF HERE FOR WE STAND NO CHANCE!" A familiar voice bellowed. It was none other than Thorn.

"Thorn!" Meta yelled to his old friend. Thorn turned his head slightly so that their eyes could meet.

"Sir Meta Knight! What brings you here?" The warrior asked. The three children then ran up to Meta's sides, with worried looks.

"Edge is in danger! He needs your help, and fast!" Fumu quickly yelled to Thorn. She could've sworn that she saw Thorn's heart drop to his toes.

"Well don't just stand there! Hurry to the castle!" Thorn yelled as he and the others began their short journey to Castle Dedede.

...a few moments later...

Loud noises were heard from down the hall as the group headed towards Fumu and Bun's home. Crash! Bam! Crack! Thorn and Meta gasped in horror as they realized what was going on in the children's home. They ran faster and faster, leaving the three small children in their dust.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Yelled Bun gasping for air. Meta skid to a halt, turning his round body towards the three. He began to run towards them, but was stopped by Thorn's low voice.

"Sir Meta Knight! We have no time to waste! Move quickly!" Thorn yelled and kept running to the small house. Meta then nodded and ran to Thorn's side.

Eventually, the five got to the house in one piece. The room was dark, but light enough that they could see a shadowy figure not too far from them. Fumu tried to turn on the light, but it was no use. The power was out somehow.

"Edge?" Fumu whispered. Suddenly, he was standing right in front of her. His body was snow-white and his eyes were blood red with black pupils. He smirked sinisterly.

"Nice to see you again, Fumu." He looked to the other four, which all glared at him. "Oh, don't worry! I won't hurt her," he pulled out his silver/white sword - Ivo - out of it's sheath and held it up to her throat, "I'll just kill her." She shook uncontrollably behind his sword as it inched closer to her skin. "Don't worry, little one. It'll be quick, but fun!" His grin grew wider, but was then turned to a scowl as Bun shoved him away.

"Stay away from her, ya big meanie!" Bun yelled out, making Edge glare at him in hatred.

"How DARE you interrupt the ritual!" Thorn and Meta glared at him intensely.

"This is not the Edge we know! Tell me who our newfound foe is!" Thorn yelled, causing the possessed boy to chuckle cold heartily. The chuckle burst into bloodthirsty laughter, then cooled back down into silence.

"Fools! Of course I'm not! I'm 02!" 02's wings sprouted out from Edge's back and blood dripped from his eyes to his jaw, falling to the floor in a quiet drip. "Ever since that surdikin entered this boy's flesh, I've been in him! It's taken two days for this boy to fall under my bone-crushing grasp! And you," His eyes met Thorn's grey ones. "You stood no chance against one of my minions. For you are weaker than your shadow."

"You DARE say that to me!" Thorn yelled furiously at the demon.

"Ahaaah! Oh but you're too late! Your shadow is already possessed by one of the strongest demons in the galaxy! So now that my work is done, I shall be heading back to the Dark Army base. Ta ta! For now!" He burst into yet another bloodthirsty laughter as he jumped out of a nearby window. The five ran to see if he survived the fall, but instead they saw him gliding over the castle wall towards Whispy Forest.

...

02 landed on the soft ground with a grunt. He looked around and found that Yamikage was nowhere to be found. Same goes for that shadow of his. 'Where'd they go?' He thought to himself. He began to walk through the crowds of demons to the general's quarters. Sir Beyangan was asleep in his chair behind a large spruce desk. Loud snores emitted from his throat. "WAKE UP YOU FOOL!" 02 shrieked, causing Sir Beyangan to wake up in a jolt.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, jumping onto the table with his sword unsheathed. "Oh. 02. It's just you..." He sat back down in his cushioned arm-chair. "What is it you need?"

"I need to know where Yamikage and Anonymous went." 02 said flatly.

"Yamikage turned on us and joined the GSA, and Anonymous.., well.., we have no clue as to where he is at the moment..." Sir Beyangan stated quietly.

"Well then. That's not enough information, but I'll try to bear in. I'm going to send out scouts to find Anonymous." 02 concluded. He left Edge's limp body and flew off.

"What will I do with you, Edge?" Sir Beyangan thought aloud. Edge stirred in his sleep, moaning in pain. "I got it! Your transformation starts tomorrow!"