Sonic the Hedgehog: Blood Pact

Author's Note: It's a shame format can't use different fonts; I had a great font picked out for Daxis, but it didn't translate when I uploaded the chapter. Ah, well.

Copyright info: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other character used in this story. If I did, though, you can bet there'd be a super cool Sonic game with SatAM characters for the Wii (and since they already used "Sonic Heroes", I'd call it "Sonic Legendz".)

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

Where once was light
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say goodbye
Don't say I didn't try

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Five: The Gathering

By Blue Eyes Shining Dragon

Sifting through the seemingly endless piles of obsolete technology, Rotor had to admit he was fast losing patience with his attempt to find the device Geoffrey had sent him to retrieve. "Did I really build all this stuff...?" he pondered absentmindedly as his seemingly futile search continued.

It had been the walrus' hope to have found the tracking device built to locate Sonic before Geoffrey and Hershey returned from recruiting Knuckles and Julie-Su, but that was becoming increasingly unlikely. Just as Rotor prepared to give up all hope, a slight tap on his shoulder caught his attention. Turning around, he saw Tails holding a familiar machine in his right hand, a small black rectangular object with a blinking blue screen in its center. "The tracker!" Rotor exclaimed in joyful surprise.

"I found it earlier," Tails said with a smile, though Rotor noted a strange tone in his voice.

Moving away from the mountains of old inventions with a sigh of relief, Rotor reached for the tracker with a polite "Thank you," only to have Tails yank it away from him at the last second. It was then the inventor was struck by a realization: Tails had no way of knowing he had been looking for the tracker. "Tails...?" the inventor asked warily.

"Let me come with you," he answered firmly, "or I'll go after Sonic alone." Seeing the question form in Rotor's eyes, the young fox continued, "I saw the search party leaving Knothole and realized something was wrong, so I flew to the council room and listened in on your meeting."

Tails intentionally omitted the part where he had seen the party leave only because he was patrolling the skies as he had for the last few mornings as a way of relieving the terrible stress his previous encounter with Sonic had left him with. For his part, Rotor was struck by the situation he was now in; under different circumstances, it might have been funny. Back when the fight against Robotnik had begun so many years ago, he and the others often made the mistake of underestimating Tails because of his youth; now the fox had grown quite a bit, yet they still made the same mistake. Focusing on the task at hand, Rotor gave a deep sigh before he spoke to the fox. "Look, Tails...I appreciate your concern, but we can't let you come with us, it's too dangerous."

"They're my family, Rotor...", Tails insisted. "I have to help them."

Rotor prepared to argue further, but one look at Tails' eyes showed a determination that would make any such attempt futile. Shoulders slumped in relent, the walrus simply muttered, "Geoffrey's not gonna like this..."

Tails' demeanor lightened. "Thank you, Rotor." he said warmly.

Rotor was unsure what to feel then: glad that he had done Tails a favor, or upset that no sooner had he finished one headache-inducing mission, he had just been coerced into another one.

Sonic really wished the Princess would stop screaming. Even through the stone floor that separated the main chamber from the sanctuary where the Princess was being held, he could hear it loud and clear. To be frank, it was quite annoying, and disturbing his attempts to take a good nap. The hedgehog was not alone in his frustration; perched upside down on the roof, Lilith squirmed as if in pain. "Gahh!!!" she shrieked angrily. "I can't stand that squirrel's whining anymore!!!"

Sonic sympathized; as bad as it was for him, for Lilith and her sensitive bat-ears, it was probably ten times worse. Impatient as always, the hedgehog was quick to suggest a solution to the problem. "If it's such a bother, let's get outta here."

Even as she squeezed her ears to the side of her head in a futile attempt to shut out the noise, Lilith bit her lip in uncertainty. "I don't know, Blue...I mean, Amodeus told us to stay here..."

Sonic had to grin at the bat's nervousness. Even when they had been growing up together, she had been fearful of the old goat, while he could never be bothered to care. "He didn't say we couldn't leave, either..." he argued with a laugh.

Lilith did not answer right away, looking off in thought. Her silence allowed the annoying screams to re-enter Sonic's hearing. The longer he listened to them uninterrupted, the more he desperately wished to be away from them. Foot tapping up and down with annoyed frequency, he shouted up to his partner impatiently, "Well?"

A part of Lilith desperately wished to go with him, but she had learned long ago what it meant to defy Amodeus. "I wish I had your courage, Blue..." she thought sadly. "I wish I could finally face my fears..."

Alas, the bat knew that simply wanting Sonic's courage did not give it to her. Reluctantly, she called back down, "Sorry, Blue...if you wanna go, you'll have to go on your own..."

Though not surprised, Sonic had to admit he was disappointed. He was unsure if he even wanted to bother leaving if Lilith stayed behind, but it only took a few seconds of the damnable shrieking to convince him. "Guess I'll be seeing ya, Lil..." he sighed. With that, he put on a burst of speed and tore through the chamber gates.

"See ya, Blue..." Lilith whispered longingly, no longer quite so aware of the shrieks that pierced her hearing.

Bursting through the other side, Sonic rushed out onto the open fields that surrounded the hidden temple. Though a good deal of the structure was located underground, a small portion of it was located on the surface. To any who saw it, the temple's entrance was a small and simple building: a single domed room with no windows, one door, and a painting of the planet. It was through that painting that Sonic emerged, as if he were passing through liquid, and if another possessed the blessings of the Order, they could pass through the painting in the same way. "Glad to finally be out of there..." Sonic thought to himself as the gap between himself and the temple widened.

He cared deepy for Lilith, and though he would never admit it aloud, the hedgehog even had a grudging respect for Amodeus. Most of all, Sonic believed in their mission. The young speedster had seen how Mobius constantly suffered from the chaos wrought by its inhabitants, and he wanted to see that destruction ended. And yet..."How could you say that, Sonic? After everything we've been through?" an unwelcome memory nagged at him.

"Oh no you don't," Sonic muttered to himself as the Princess' words rang in his mind, "I got out of that temple to get away from you..."

Distracted and unfocused, the hedgehog barely took notice of his surroundings, instead blindly bolting across the terrain. It was thus with a bit of surprise that Sonic found himself coming to a stop in the midst of a most peculiar site: an abandoned city, Overlander from the look of its architecture, that was...not ruined, exactly, but...hollowed was the only word Sonic could think to describe the place. The buildings still stood, but large chunks of them were missing and their windows were all broken. The streets were pristine, but empty. It was a ghost town in the truest sense of the word. If not for the faintest echo of footsteps, the hedgehog would have sworn it was completely abandoned. Yet the sound was there, and so he knew he was not alone. Turning to where the noise had come from, it was only a moment too late that the hedgehog stepped out of the way as he saw a small kunai dagger flew through the air, grazing his cheek. Even as he felt a small trickle of blood drip down the side of his face, the hedgehog ran up the side of the nearest building, stopping at the roof to overlook the area. To his surprise, his enemy entered the open without hesitation. Though his height was hard to judge from Sonic's vantage point, it seemed the attacker was small, a full head shorter than the hedgehog. Dressed in a red ninja gi and mask with a slim katana strapped to his back, the assailant's four arms signified he was a spider. "Hey!!!" Sonic shouted, excited at the prospect of a good scrap, "Didn't your mom ever teach you not to play with knives?"

With those words, Sonic leapt off the rooftop and into a spin dash, crashing directly in front of the spider ninja. The spinning hedgehog soon began to circle his enemy like a shark, coming in closer to his target with each rotation. With a surprisingly high leap, the ninja leapt over Sonic, who stopped spinning once the warrior was clear of his attack. "Aw, running away so soon?" he asked smugly. "Not yet, pal."

With a boom, Sonic pursued the spider. To his shock, however, rather than reaching his target, he fell flat on his face: something had wrapped his legs together, tripping him at the last second. Angrily swerving his head to see who had interfered, Sonic was surprised to see two more ninjas, each identical to the one he had just been chasing, standing upon the rooftop of a small building with lengthy chains in their hands. "Where did they come from?" Sonic wondered.

It did not take the hedgehog long to figure out the chains were what had hindered his attack, and so he flipped himself over to face the new enemies. "Bet you guys think you're so clever, dontcha?" he asked with a laugh. "Pin his legs and he's helpless, right?"

Clapping his hands together, Sonic slowly pulled them apart. Strands of electricity seemed to crackle in-between his fingertips, and an eery black sphere began to grow between his hands. "Wrong."

With a thrust, Sonic opened his hands fully, sending the black sphere flying at incredible speeds towards the two ninjas. Though they managed to dodge, the spider twins were then knocked off their feet when the orb collided with the building behind them, creating an explosion that sent them flying. The chains immediately slackened on Sonic's legs, allowing him to slip out of them and silently thank his good luck. Though he had trained on using the Dark Sphere since he had been young, Sonic was still only able to use it most effectively when Lilith was there to help him. Whenever he tried it alone, it was usually unstable or else far weaker than normal; fortunately for the hedgehog's situation, this had been the latter. Back on his feet, Sonic prepared to go after the first ninja, even as he wondered why the spider had not taken the opportunity to attack while he had been incapacitated. To the hedgehog's surprise, the ninja had gone after his own dagger, still stuck in the same building side, and was preparing to pull it out. "Get your priorities straight, ya four-armed freak!" Sonic bellowed as he dashed over to the ninja. "Kill your enemy, then pick up your toys!"

Just as the spider reached the foot of the building his kunai was buried in, Sonic appeared beside him and launched his elbow at the ninja's face. To the hedgehog's surprise, his arm was grabbed inches from its target. "No way he had enough time to counter that..." Sonic thought in shock.

The hedgehog was literally knocked out of his distraction as the ninja slammed his free fist into Sonic's face, releasing the hedgehog's arm so that he could fall over. Without a word, the ninja leapt onto the wall, climbing along it without having to grab any ledges. "Stupid spider..." Sonic growled as he recovered.

A whooshing sound entered the hedgehog's ear, and as he ducked to avoid it, another dagger flew into the building's side. Three more followed it, and though Sonic managed to dodge each one, he was growing annoyed. As the two other ninjas approached, literally bouncing off the walls to make a speedy assault, the hedgehog rose again. Deciding to push his luck, he placed his hands together once more and began to attempt a dark sphere. Alas, this time he was not so fortunate, and the attack crackled and faded before it could form. "Damn it..." he cursed as his opponents drew closer.

A loud whistle seemed to cut through the air then. Looking upwards to its source, Sonic saw the first ninja, his blood-tipped kunai now in hand, standing straight on the building's side. Immediately, his companions ceased their approach. While the flustered hedgehog struggled to understand what, exactly, was going on, his enemies all reached into their pockets. Before Sonic had time to act, all three had pulled out small pellets and thrown them to the ground, causing blinding clouds of smoke to envelop them. "COWARDS!!!" Sonic shouted angrily at their retreat, rushing upward to where the first ninja had been.

His fists both extended, he charged through the smoke in hope of hitting his target. To the hedgehog's further enragement, no such target was found by the time he had reached the roof. Shouting angrily, the hedgehog punched the air in frustration. After a moment, his temper cooled, but only slightly, giving room for Sonic to wonder, as he touched the small wound on his cheek, what exactly his enemies had wanted.

Tails and Rotor approached the edge of Knothole nervously. This was the meeting place Geoffrey had selected for his team to depart, which meant each step the two Freedom Fighters took toward the village limits was one step closer to a confrontation neither was looking forward to. The pavement eventually gave way to grassy fields, however, and so whether they wanted it or not, the time had come for the young fox to make his stand. "No matter what," Tails resolved, "I'm going to find Sonic and Sally."

It was not long before Tails and Rotor found the small group of Knuckles, Hershey, Julie-Su, and Geoffrey standing alongside one of Robotnik's old hover craft units. Soon enough, the skunk noticed the approaching duo. Deciding to simply go all out, Tails propelled himself forward with the twin appendages that were his namesake until he and Geoffrey were nose to nose. "I am coming with you!" the fox said with the same strength he had used with Rotor.

To the fox's shock, the response was a calm, simple, "Very well."

Rotor, who reached the group in time to hear that, practically fell over himself in surprise. "Really?" he blurted unintentionally.

Geoffrey smiled knowingly. "To be honest, I was expecting you'd find out sooner or later. I'd have been disappointed if you hadn't."

"So...", Tails guessed, "you knew I'd be coming?"

The skunk nodded. "Don't get me wrong," he warned, his jovial attitude now stern, "I'm not thrilled at the idea of you coming with us; this mission is dangerous, and the fewer people on it, the better..." A lighter tone returned to him as he finished, "...but I also know you'll go looking for Sonic, with or without us, so it might as well be with us."

For a moment, the fox was silent. Certainly, whatever he had expected Geoffrey's reaction to be, this was not it. Recovering quickly from his stupor, he heartily shook the commander's hand. "Thank you, sir!" he said, hastily adding the last word to convey proper respect, "You won't regret this, I promise!"

"Welcome aboard, Tails. It's good to know you'll be coming with us." Knuckles congratulated.

As the group boarded the hover craft, Hershey explained, "We'll be using one of the old hovercrafts we managed to find and repair in case we run into any of Eggman's patrol ships."

Once everyone was inside, Geoffrey closed the door and sat down at the pilot's seat. Turning it around to face the others, he said, "Alright, men!" After a friendly nudge from Hershey, he started over, "Alright, team! We've left Antoine, Sir Charles, and Doctor Quack in charge of the city for the duration of our absence, and will maintain radio contact with them at all times to inform them of our progress. We will try to avoid combat if possible, but I can't guarantee anything. Rotor, Tails, you two came in a bit late, so Knuckles and Julie-Su will fill you in on the new information we've gotten."

"New information?" Rotor interrupted. "What new information?"

"We'll talk about it on the way," Knuckles assured.

Geoffrey coughed lightly, signaling the two to be quiet and allow him to finish. "I don't know what is going to happen on this mission," he said honestly, "but there is a good chance we will be placed in extreme danger. If anyone wishes to back out now," and Tails was not ignorant of Geoffrey's quick glance at him, "this is the time."

To no one's surprise, the offer was met with only silence. "Very well then," Geoffrey concluded, "let's get moving."

With that, he returned the seat to its original position and faced the controls. Everyone else settled down in their own little spot on the relatively cramped vehicle, with Hershey taking her place at the co-pilot's seat. "You ready?" she asked quietly as her husband activated the ship with unsteady hands.

"Always, luv, always." Geoffrey whispered back confidently.

Rotor switched the tracker on, handing it to Hershey once its radar screen flickered to life. Looking it over, the cat observed, "We've got a reading due north."

"Than North it is." Geoffrey answered.

The group felt the ship rumble as it slowly lifted from the ground, rising higher and higher until it was above the tallest trees in the forest. Once its ascent was complete, the ship launched forth, sending an unprepared Rotor tumbling to the back. "You OK?" an unshaken Julie-Su asked, to which the weary walrus gave a thumbs up.

Once things had settled, Knuckles explained the glimpse of information he had attained through the Book of Myths to Rotor and Tails. To say the least, Rotor was intrigued. "I had read about cults of that kind popping up across Mobius during the formative days of current society..." he mused thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I believe there was even a cult called the Order of Ixis that came into prominence during the reign of King Frederick..."

"Ixis? As in Ixis Naugus?" Tails interjected.

Rotor nodded. "I'd always suspected a connection, but I'd never found any conclusive evidence..."

"Let's stay focused, guys," Knuckles interrupted. "Rote, what do you know about these old cults?"

Rotor had to think about that for a moment before answering, "Not much. They were all very secretive, existing on the fringes of Mobian society. However, they did all seem to worship the same deities, if different variations of them. Ixis, for example, seemed to have been a collective name for the Ancient Walkers used in certain circles."

"So you think 'Daxis' might be another name for them?" Julie-Su asked.

"I'm not sure," Rotor admitted. "Some of the cults worshiped the Walkers as separate beings rather than a collective, so Daxis could refer to one specific Walker."

Hand to his chin in thought, Knuckles shook his head in disagreement. "Whatever that creature Sally told me about from her nightmares was, it didn't sound like an Ancient Walker to me..."

"How much do we really know about them, though?" Tails asked. "You, me, 'n' Sonic are the only ones who've ever seen them face to face before, and we didn't exactly walk away with an encyclopedia of info on them."

As the conversation continued, several loud clanks were heard on the roof, shaking the ship slightly. "What was that?" Rotor asked nervously.

"I don't know..." Geoffrey responded, tightening his grip on the controls in fear he had somehow made a mistake. "Everything seems fine with the ship..."

Without hesitation, Tails opened the ship's oval window. "I'll check it out!" he said, and true to his word, the fox was gone before Geoffrey could shout "Tails, wait!!!"

Falling through the clouds, the young fox soon willed his tails in to motion, spinning around faster and faster until they were able to guide him through the air. Swooping upwards, Tails flew back to the ship as fast as he could. As he came in closer, the fox began to see three shadowy figures perched upon the roof: spider ninjas. "Uma Arachnis' kids..." he realized aloud.

Tails had never met "The Arachne" as Sally had called them, but she had told her foster nephew about the large ninja clan of spiders and how they had been entrusted with the Sword of Acorns when Sally realized the sword had been trying to control her. The fox could tell their arrival now was no coincidence. Moving in closer, he chose to fly alongside the hovercraft rather than get on top of it; he didn't know how the three Arachne were staying still on its roof, but the fox knew if he tried to land, he would simply be swept off by the winds. It did not take long for the spiders to notice him. "The Chosen One..." they all simultaneously intoned reverently, bowing in respect.

"Uh...hi..." Tails responded awkwardly. "What are you guys doing here?"

They all answered in turn, each one's words flowing into the next in succession. "We wish to provide you assistance."

"The Child of the Source is in grave danger, and the Sword commands us to give aid to her."

"You seek the Blue One, but finding him alone will not be enough."

Ignoring the shiver their almost mechanical speech pattern sent through him, Tails asked, "What do you mean?"

"He is hidden in a temple we can not find."

"We only know entry is not possible unless your blood is promised."

"We have his blood, and so we can enter."

Although a bit confused, it was easy enough for Tails to get what they're saying. "Well, I'll see if I can get Geoffrey to land...maybe we can talk this out." he suggested, lowering himself to the window he had flown from in the first place.

As he did, the Arachne warned, "Time grows short."

"The Forbidden Walker draws closer..."

"We must hurry."

It hurt to breathe. It hurt not to breath. In fact, it hurt simply to exist at that moment. Though the gate had been forged and the pain it brought with it had stopped, the after-effects of its creation were equally cruel upon the Princess' body. Struggling just to open her eyes, Sally was barely even conscious any more. Yet she could hear a voice...a familiar, terrible voice straight from her worst nightmare, that rang like thunder in her ears, and it snapped her mind awake.

"The gate is formed...I can feel it..."

"Yes, Lord Daxis...all that is left now is for her blood to be given to you, and you can return to this world."

"Then DO IT, Shaman...I am eager to bring this world its salvation at last."

"Now, My Lord? I would prefer we let her...rest...a bit. She is our savior, and deserves..."

"I am your savior, Shaman. You would do well to remember that!"

"A thousand pardons, My Lord...I simply meant that she is the key to restoring you to this world. The least we can give her is one last time of peace before her end."

"Very well...she shall have one hour, and then we finally end this. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Tired and unfocused, Sally still struggled desperately to use what she had just learned to create a plan of escape. At last, her eyes opened, giving her a blurred view of the chamber. She was still on the strange bone altar, and the swirling vortex of energy still rested above her, though it seemed larger now than before. Amodeus stood by her side, but by the time the squirrel's vision cleared enough to realize that, he had already begun to leave the room. "Where...where'reyougoin'..." Sally asked with some effort, even then only managing a slurred sentence.

"To give you some time alone." the shaman answered without turning back to look at Sally. "I recommend you use your final hour to look back upon your life and contemplate the paths you have taken, Child. Perhaps that will give you the peace you so desperately need..."

With those words, Amodeus seemed to meld into the wall, and was gone. Still exhausted from her experience, Sally could not muster the strength to struggle against her bonds, only to think. Unfortunately, this too proved difficult, because every train of thought she could create all ultimately came to the same conclusion. She had failed, and now the world was going to suffer for it.

"Child...why must you think of these things in such wrong-headed terms?"

"My...myhead..." Sally gurgled, "yourinmyhead..."

"No need to struggle with words, my dear...I can hear your thoughts just as easily."

The princess was in no rush to talk with Daxis, and so she tried to keep her thoughts clear and silent. It was ultimately futile, however, and the disembodied voice continued to speak to her.

"You can not hide your thoughts from me, Child. They are as bright as the sun."

"What do you WANT from me?" Sally's mind shrieked angrily. "You already have my body, and once Amodeus comes back you'll have my blood too! Isn't that what you want? What more are you after?"

At that, Daxis laughed, a terrifying, electric sound that caused Sally's fur to stand on end. "All I want is to talk. Does that terrify you so?" After a moment of silence, the voice continued, "Are you afraid talking to me will reveal things you don't want to know?"

"No." The thought rose unbidden from Sally's mind, but it was true. "I'm not afraid of you..."

"OF course you aren't," Sally felt the smug words course through her, "You are far more frightened of yourself...your weakness..."

Sally's heart skipped a beat. "That's not true..."

"I told you, Child, it is pointless to try and hide yourself from me. I can see everything you are, know everything you think and feel...we are bound now, you and I, and so I feel the fear that claws at you."

Ignoring how badly it hurt to move, the squirrel finally began to try and escape from the altar. She knew it was useless, but she did not care. "You don't know me as well as you think you do!" Sally envisioned the thought as an arrow, shot at Daxis in defiance.

There was no answer at first, only a feeling that crashed upon Sally like a wave. It was like being crushed under a huge weight, the pressure gradually growing greater and greater. Just as suddenly as it had come, the feeling passed. "A Familiar feeling, isn't it, Child?" Daxis finally spoke again. "Everyone depending on you, so many responsibilities piling upon your shoulders...you have lived with that terrible weight since you were a mere child."

"That's part of what being a leader means"Sally mentally hissed. "It's not always pleasant, but I learned to live with the burden of responsibility."

Sally could practically feel the smile on the deity's face as he chuckled, "Perhaps. Yet whether you learned to live with it or not, it did harvest a terrible fear in your heart, didn't it?"

The princess became terribly cold then, shivering uncontrollably. "You..." her rattled mind thought, "you're...toying with me, aren't you?"

Again, Daxis' terrible laughter echoed across the room. "You are just so very fun to toy with, Child..."

Rather than compose a response, Sally screamed her venomous disapproval. "No more games!!!" her mind shouted as loudly as her voice.

A violent quake shook the room at her words. "No more? My dear, the games have only just begun..."

To Be Continued...