Author's Note:
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 Eleven: Collision
Sally had always imagined exactly how she would look when the time finally came that she would become Queen. She would be tall and powerful, garbed in a flowing blue cape, her father's robes fitted perfectly upon her body. The Sword of Acorns would always have its hilt in her hand, the Royal Crown comfortable upon her head. That was how she looked now: the perfect Queen, the Queen she had always dreamed of being. Her kingdom stretched on into eternity, its fields dotted with years of memories. Her family and friends, her triumphs and defeats, the moments she had always treasured and the ones she wished she could forget…all of it lay out there across the horizon for her to see. "This is…my Kingdom…" she whispered.
Streaks of black tore through the air above, rips in the serene portrait around her. She realized then that she was not alone, that standing at her side was the one from whom that darkness stemmed. "This WAS your Kingdom, Child…now, however, it must fall so mine can rise…"
He faced away from where Sally looked, eyes fixed on a different horizon. The Queen turned to see what he saw in the gaping black that began to crack and slither about all over. Within the shadows, Sally saw it…saw eyes of red gazing down happily at a world untainted and fresh, healed after eons of desolation. That gaze turned from one of joy to one of sorrow, however, as the purity was spoiled by…things. Wretched little…THINGS…crawling about on the surface, through the air, in the sea of the fresh world. "Mother…what are those THINGS crawling about on OUR world?"
This was HIS past, Sally realized…Daxis' past…
"Those are the ones we are meant to protect, my Child, and Mobius is just as much their world as it is ours." A voice…the most wonderful, perfect sound Sally had ever heard…spoke to the eyes that looked down on the young Mobius, though who said it could not be seen.
There was a strange sadness in those eyes now as they watched over hundreds…thousands…millions…billions of years as life grew and spread across the planet. The green became browner, the blue became blacker, and all around the world the crawling things made their mark. It was disgusting to watch…and then Sally's eyes were forcefully torn away from that world back to the decaying symbol of her own existence, back into the burning red of Daxis in the present. "Do not throw your last moments of life away on things better left unknown to you…" the Walker growled in a voice that seemed more powerful now than ever before. "Not when you have so little time left to exist…"
The Queen's cape began unraveling at the seams, its strands flying off into the ether. Sally could feel a terrifying emptiness beginning to…crawl…through her, like snakes under her skin…while before her very eyes a new vision grew more and more whole. Daxis looked as he had in the waking world, a mere skull, but now the skull was marked with blood-hers, Sally could tell-and beneath it a body was forming. It was like water rising from below, globs merging together to form more cohesive wholes, the promise of unfulfilled life in their shimmering shapes. "I must thank you, Child." Daxis said. "Without you, I would have been doomed to spend eternity in that…non-world...stripped of the glory of life without the relief of death. Now, however, I can rise again and re-claim what is rightfully mine."
It was strange to listen to those words, because laced though they were with the ominous threat of what the Walker would do with his returned life, they were still…sincere. It was not only his original goals for Mobius that Daxis wanted, but his freedom as well. Could it be that this sacred being had, in fact, been…frightened…of its captivity? That as much as he believed himself separate from them, Daxis was not all that different from the people of Mobius? "As I said," Daxis' voice harshly cut into her thoughts, "Best not to worry yourself over matters that no longer concern you."
"Until I'm completely gone…" Sally said, quivering slightly as the emptiness wrapped its cold touch higher and higher up her form, "what happens to Mobius still concerns me."
The Walker made no reply. His eyes simply gazed long and hard at Sally, as if taunting her with silence. All the while, the body beneath those eyes gained more and more form. Unsure, frightened, and confused, the Queen could only stand and watch it happen. Somewhere, from out of the ever-fading world of memories that surrounded her, she heard years of voices calling her name as if in desperation…
"Sally…"
"Sally…"
"Sally…"
X X X
"Sally…"
Sonic's pained grunt was so soft as to go all but unheard amidst the din; the criss-crossing streams of energy flowing around the room crackled like thunder, and the entire room trembled as if an earthquake shook its very foundations. Yet Sonic, no longer able to wait for his body to feel strong enough to walk, crawled across the floor regardless of the chaos around him. Watching Sally float in the air like a puppet on strings, her body writhing as if in horrid pain, while all the while that…that THING…fed off her life-force…it was too much to bare. A man of action as always, Sonic thus braved the strange storm that stirred all around to reach the squirrel. As he was, he knew there was probably very little he could actually DO when he got to her, but dammitall he had to be by her side for this, no matter how little sense it made! "I ain't lettin' ya go that easy, Sal…"
Tails, meanwhile, remained sprawled across the ground. He wished he could be by Sonic's side, helping Sally any way he could, but try as he might the young fox simply could not muster the strength to even crawl. That did not stop him from trying, however. It also did not make him call to the hedgehog to wait; Tails knew there was no time for that now. There was only time to watch, to hope that somehow this could end with everyone he cared about still OK. The ever-increasing roar of a world falling apart around the boy, however, made that a hard hope to sustain. It made him sick to look up into the torrents of red and black, to see Aunt Sally floating there like that…like she was being taken away from the world. "Sonic…please…" he thought…pleaded…as if the hedgehog could read his mind. "Don't let this happen…"
If Amodeus, kneeled before the altar in wide-eyed worship, noticed Sonic's slow crawl, he did not show it. Instead, he watched with awe and respect, whispering prayers and invocations under his breath. It was hard for the shaman to fully absorb the fact that this was happening…that the mission he had pursued so fervently for so long was finally being fulfilled. Tears streamed freely down his face. It was beautiful. "Bach, my friend…I wish you could see this…" he thought joyously.
Crawl…crawl…crawl…it hurt, badly, but Sonic kept it going. Crawl…crawl…crawl…almost there now. The skull…Daxis…its form was changing further. The cape had grown longer now, to the point where it was like an entity unto itself. Shoulder blades of pure bone protruded from its upper corners, with a similar collar of sorts hovering directly beneath the skull. It was a disgusting sight to Sonic, but one that only spurred him to crawl that much harder. "Still trying to interfere, I see…"
The double-voice, speaking both from within the void of light that was the center of this catastrophe and Daxis' still-forming body, took all three Mobians by surprise. It brought Tails' attention to Amodeus, Amodeus' attention to Sonic, and Sonic's attention to Daxis. The ground beneath Sonic shifted, and he soon found himself tossed into the air, only to stop as stone from above slinked down and snapped onto his ankle like a bear trap, causing the hedgehog to howl in pain. "Sonic…" Tails whispered fearfully.
The hedgehog wriggled about in the stone's grip as much as he could, grunting and growling angrily all the while. "I am awake now, Little 'Hero'…" Daxis' voices rumbled frighteningly as his still-forming body turned its burning eyes on Sonic, "You cannot sneak past me so easily."
Thrashing about angrily, leg still stinging from the stone's grip, the hedgehog spat back, "You talk big, but if you were REALLY as powerful as you say, you wouldn't have spent a gajillion years taking a NAP!"
Daxis' skull seemed to sneer as shoulder blades of pure bone emerged from within his flowing red cape. Sonic felt himself turned around as the stone shifted on his aching leg. With a gasp of surprise, he found himself facing Sally's motionless floating body. "And what of your beloved Princess, 'Hero'?" Daxis asked mockingly. "Look at where HER strength has led you all…look at the 'good' SHE'S done…"
Sonic tried not to pay attention to the booming twin-voice, instead focusing on Sally. "Maybe…maybe if I touched her…" he rationalized desperately, "Maybe that'd wake her up…if I can just…"
He reached out to her, fingers stretching as far as they could go. Reeeeeeeeeeach…reeeeeeeeeeach…only to come up short. Taking a deep breath, Sonic steadied himself and focused. "You waste your energy, 'Hero'." Daxis grunted nonchalantly. "The Child is already gone…you look only upon the empty shell that remains."
"I DON'T BELIEVE THAT!" Sonic shouted back, reaching again…close…so close…but again his touch came just short. "Sal's a MILLION times stronger than YOU, Bonehead! She ain't beat yet, 'n' neither are we!"
He began to swing himself, pendulum-like, toward the levitating squirrel. A normal person might have found it odd to expend so much effort for such a small and seemingly insignificant task and chosen to simply let it go. Sonic, however, was not now nor would he ever be quite normal. The thought occurred to him, certainly. It just never deterred him. Somehow…somehow touching Sally, even for a second, even just a tiny little bit…that just seemed important to the hedgehog right then. Maybe it would achieve some greater good, somehow help break Sally's connection to Daxis before it was too late…maybe it would disrupt the Ritual in and of itself. More likely, however, it would give Sonic one last chance to feel the soft, familiar fur on Sally's body before all life was sucked away from it…one last reminder to whatever part of the squirrel remained that she was not alone in this world. Whatever the case, it was just something the hedgehog needed to do right then, right there. One…last…swing, and then…
"Sally!"
His fingers brushed lightly against her arm. Sonic stretched them out as long as they would go, trying to just…just hold on. Just for a minute. Just one minute, please…that was all he wanted…
X X X
"It is time."
The Source of All had gone countless eons without ever truly knowing the concept of the finite. It was ageless, the lifeblood of the planet. Death had no baring on its existence. Yet that had changed. When it had been forced to take refuge in the Sword of Acorns, it had known for the first time what those concepts meant. It was thus with a sense of true urgency that the Source had felt its Child's heart begin to pour out into the open world, fed to the Dark Walker. Action had to be taken, immediately. The Source would not be ended, it was determined on that front. "Are you ready, my loyal warriors?"
From their seven standing points spread out across the world, the Arachne all bowed in reverence and obedience. "We are ready." They responded in unison.
"Then farewell, my loyal warriors…farewell to you all…"
From within the Sword, what remained of the Source of All reached out through the webs the Arachne had dragged along with them throughout the world. Threads once all but invisible glowed bright gold as its essence flew across the world. "And thank you."
At the volcano, in the fields, on the beach, outside Robotropolis, within the crater, inside the cave, atop the mountains…all seven groups of Arachne saw the light flowing through their web. When it reached them, each and every one felt it pierce their very beings. Their eyes and mouth burst open as the Source moved within them, reaching out of their bodies like hands and into the environments surrounding them. The tendrils of light shimmered and throbbed as they tapped into the natural powers around them, shifting from gold into…red, green, blue, yellow, orange, black, silver…flowing back from the spiders and retracting through the webs. As the energy left, all the hundreds of Arachne fell dead to the ground, the life gone within them. They held no regrets. They had promised their lives to the Source, and the Source had collected on that pact. "Now, Daxis…" the lifeblood thought as it felt the energies of nature surging toward it. "Now I will show you the true power of the planet you wish to defile…"
One after the other, the seven groups of webs ran their collected energies into the Sword of Acorns. "I will show you why this world can never be yours."
The blade shimmered with the light of the seven elements. Fire, Plant, Ocean, Lightning, Stone, Darkness, and Light…the seven chaotic powers which formed the world…the same Chaos that had given birth to the Source of All in the first place. Focused through the magnifying powers of the mystic Sword, the Source now wielded those elements as it had never been able to before. As it had been at the beginning of time, before the Chaos had been harnessed and the planet calmed, before it had been reduced to one form, this was how the Source had been: primal and all-powerful. Yet even as it felt the familiar return of its old powers, the lifeblood also felt the pull of that power's limits: it could not be both finite AND infinite. In this form, its very strength was too much bare. It had known from the beginning that this would happen, this clash between its current form and the one it had held long ago. That was why it had waited until the last possible minute to execute its plan…because now that it had begun, there was no turning back. The future it had once seen with great acuity was no longer clear. What would become of the Source from this point on was unknown…but that was all worth it to protect the Child. The Child HAD to survive. Daxis HAD to be stopped. No matter the cost. "Aurora…" the Source mused to itself, "if you can hear me…if you can see this…remember it all well. Remember the consequences of your son's actions…and of yours…"
The Sword of Acorns glowed like a star at that point, bright enough to light the rain-filled sky. From every corner of the planet its radiance was visible. Cracks appeared in the steel of the blade as the light began to compact upon itself, forming a column of energy that shook the ground around it. With one last explosive burst, the column struck out into the sky like a bullet, and the Sword of Acorns shattered into a million pieces, its hilt melting away into nothing. The Source had been unleashed.
X X X
Knuckles' eyes snapped open suddenly. Something was happening, he could feel it in his bones. He could also feel deep, unmistakable fatigue. Nevertheless, with a pained grunt, he tried to rise up off the ground. "You…you guys…OK?" he asked hoarsely, surveying his fallen companions.
Even as the echidna waited for an answer, he noticed there were three friends missing. Three very important friends. "Tails…Sonic…Sally…"
"Ungh…w…what happened…?" Julie-Su groaned from nearby.
Knuckles sighed in relief. She, at the very least, was OK. The others, however, were not stirring, and he still saw no sign of Sonic, Sally, or Tails. "Dunno…" he answered Julie-Su's question honestly. "Last thing I remember is Lilith's…power…blowing up in our faces…"
Julie-Su was back on her feet in only a moment, and though he would never say so aloud, Knuckles was more than a touch aggravated at her ease of movement even as he struggled with his. "Sonic…Sally…'n' Tails…they're all gone." The Guardian continued, gritting his teeth as he lifted himself up as best he could.
"THEY might be," his soulmate mused, "but SHE'S not."
She slowly walked over to where Lilith lay face down upon the ground, unmoving. Poking the back of the bat's head with her laser rifle, the pink echidna pondered what, if it had been Lilith who had knocked her and others out, had knocked LILITH out. Looking over the bat's silver fur, she noticed…burn marks? It looked like five burn marks, spread out across the back of Lilith's head like a hand had been gripping it. "THAT's weird…" she mused aloud.
"Not after everything ELSE we've been through today…" Knuckles grumbled.
A brief twitch of movement in Lilith's wings caught both echidnas' eyes, and they were immediately on guard. Julie-Su pressed the nozzle of her rifle to the back of the bat's head in a heartbeat. "Don't. Move." She said lowly.
Surprisingly, Lilith obeyed, though it did not seem she had actually heard Julie-Su. Instead, her eyes seemed to be roving the cavern as if watching some invisible creature moving about, a sinister grin slowly forming on her face. "…gonna die…" she mumbled into the ground. "…alllllllllllllll of you…you're gonna die here…"
"What're you…"
The ground beneath them trembled. The crystalline walls shimmered with an eerie, ghostly glow. Soon, the entire room was shaking. Then…they appeared. Thick strands of black burst through the ground like demons from some horrid nightmare, tearing through the floor and roof. More and more appeared all around, thrashing about and ripping the stone above and below the bewildered echidnas to pieces. Weary as he was, Knuckles was slow to dodge, finding himself instead tossed around by the cracking stones. Julie-Su, meanwhile, leapt about as nimbly as she could, trying to keep her eyes watchful not only for Knuckles' safety but that of their still-unconscious team mates. Attention divided as it was, it was difficult for the pink echidna to keep full track of herself in the commotion. One leap later, she found herself flung back by one of the dark tendrils. Landing with a pained yelp, she watched in horror as the thick shadow seemed to curl, snake-like, down toward her. "JULIE-SU!" Knuckles cried out in a panic.
"She's going to die! She's going to die, she's going to die, she's going to die, GET UP AND SAVE HER!!" his mind howled in fear and rage.
But he couldn't. He just…couldn't. No matter how much the Guardian did not want to believe it was true, all that time…all that training…it had been meaningless. He'd survived the scrape with the Daboro purely by the skin of his teeth, while all the others had walked away far less harmed. He'd been acting like a petulant child trying to deny that fact, desperate to believe he was still useful, and now…now he couldn't get himself up when Julie-Su needed him most! Teeth gritted, hands clenched, eyes wide, Knuckles shrieked out as the shadow plunged down upon his soul mate…
"FORGIVE ME!"
…only to be torn apart as a stream of concentrated light poured down from above, piercing the darkness. This was it…this was the force Knuckles had sensed, the one that had awoken him. Watching in awe as it passed before, he could feel its power emanating toward him. A voice…faint but firm…echoed briefly through the Guardian's thoughts, but faded away so quickly he was barely sure he'd heard it at all. No matter what, however, Knuckles knew one thing: whatever power this was, he owed it a debt he would never be able to repay. Julie-Su was still alive…
X X X
Sonic's fingers brushed ever so briefly against Sally's arm…
Daxis' shoulder blades, their growth finalized, began to grow ethereal whisps of arms from within…
Sally's red strands of life grew thinner and thinner with each second, Daxis' black essence only growing stronger…
And then the piercing light of the Source crashed down into the middle of it all.
"WHAT?!"
Daxis' cry of confused rage came only milliseconds before the Source crashed down between his ever-growing body and Sally's form. The bonds of crimson and darkness that bound them both together trembled under the strain of this powerful new light, yet they did not break. "You will NOT interfere!" Daxis' twin voices howled out angrily, blood-red light crackling around his body.
Sally's mental kingdom, still deteriorating as Daxis ate away at it piece by piece, found itself illuminated under a powerful formless light, one the Princess knew all too well. "You…" Sally whispered, unsure of what to make of this unexpected arrival.
Daxis, still forming before her, turned to the light with wrathful eyes. "Presumptious, arrogant BRAT…" The Source rumbled at him. "I am the Lifeblood of this world…I know well that your dark powers have no place here!"
"Lifeblood…HA!" Daxis laughed bitterly. "Do not delude yourself… you have sat idly by, even HELPED these filthy creatures turn 'your' world into a war-torn wasteland! I will not be stopped by the likes of YOU!"
"THEN WE BOTH DIE HERE!"
The light soon began to throb and spark, changing from a formless blob into a sharpened bolt that flared like the wildest of flames. It cracked down upon Daxis, blowing Sally back from the force of its impact. Despite such power, however, Daxis stood strong against the crushing waves of energy that pounded relentlessly against him. His crimson eyes flickered in concentration, his cloak fluttered wildly about (exposing the lack of body beneath it quite keenly), and his form was pushed back by the Source's attack. Yet the Walker did not yield. "Your time…is OVER, Source…" he growled strenuously.
Watching in a mixture of fear and awe, Sally saw that familiar ominous light shimmering around Daxis' body as he spoke. The Source continued to press upon him, its golden energies lashing out like lightning to and fro, a storm raging against Daxis with all its might. Yet the Walker's crimson aura only grew brighter…larger…fiercer. "You may be…this planet's lifeblood…" he hissed, "but I…am this planet's…"
The red light burst out, a wraith of energy streaming out of Daxis as if it were a living beast. "…PROTECTOR!!"
It tore into the Source's golden pillar ferociously, and slowly but surely, bit by bit, the light was pushed back by this glowing red monstrosity. Daxis shrieked out in exertion, pressing against the Source with all his might. Sally could not believe what she was witnessing. "This…this is how powerful Daxis really is…" she realized with no small amount of fear, unable to keep herself from picturing someone she loved on the receiving end of that dreadful onslaught.
Even as its very being began to dissipate under the fury of its enemy's sheer strength, the Source said nothing. This had always been a possible outcome, it had known…whatever happened now, it could no longer help. It had done all it could. Still pouring itself against Daxis, the Source struggled on even as the Walker's darkness tore and ripped into the remains of its essence. At last, their colliding powers exploded in a final, glorious finale. Sally shielded her eyes from the pure white sphere of light that emerged from their confrontation's conclusion. When that light faded…the Source was gone…
And so too was it in the waking world. It all happened so fast, even Sonic could barely keep up. The light had come down from above, bolts of electricity sparking out of its blinding form, just before his hand had slipped away from Sally's arm. In that one brief moment, he had felt it through her…felt that warm power flow into him. The fatigue that had plagued him so doggedly seemed to disappear, replaced by renewed vigor and vitality. Yet even as that rush surged across the hedgehog's body, a bright burst of light, like a supernova exploding, burst out from nearby, breaking the stone gripping his leg and knocking the speedster away as if he were paper in the wind. Body reacting with that good old speed-"Finally!" he thought to himself-, he flipped himself about to land gracefully on his feet.
When the light cleared away, Sonic was more than a touch unnerved to see that the flares of red and black that had been moving so vigorously before had just…stopped, floating stone still in the air. Smoke and debris floated everywhere, a gaping crater was now in front of the altar, and Daxis was nowhere to be seen. The hedgehog was not the only one to notice that absence. "L…Lord Daxis!" Amodeus cried out in a broken voice. "LORD DAXIS!!" he shrieked out desperately when no response emerged, running into the crater's dark depths in a panic. "It can't be…IT CAN'T BE!!"
With the Shaman otherwise occupied, Sonic checked quickly on Tails, who had thankfully been too far away from the blast to be affected by it. "You OK, Big Guy?" Sonic asked just to be sure.
"As OK as I was before, at the least…" the young fox replied as cheerfully as he could. "Don't worry about me; get to Aunt Sally, while you've got the chance!"
The hedgehog had been ready to do THAT from the moment he'd felt himself healed. In the blink of an eye he had dashed to the altar, standing at the still-floating Sally's side. "Sal…" he said softly, placing his hand firmly but affectionately upon the same place on her arm he had brushed against before. "Please…please tell me you're OK…"
To his surprise, the Princess' eyes fluttered open. "…who…who's there…?" she asked weakly.
Her vision was blurry…everything around the squirrel seemed a blend of the world within her own mind and the reality she knew. It was hard to see or think straight…the squirrel felt terribly weak, starved and thirsty and frail. "…who's there?" she asked again with a strained squeak.
Sonic found himself trying to answer, only to come up short every time he tried. If she'd seen him and reacted, like she had in the hall above, that would've been one thing. That was something visceral, something physical. That was something Sonic could handle. This, however…she looked so frail right then that it broke the hedgehog's heart, and the sight of her terrified face when she'd seen him before still remained fresh in his mind. "Who can blame her, after all I did to her?" he thought remorsefully.
Yet he was here now, and silence could not save her. So Sonic said the only thing he could. "It's me, Sal. It's Sonic."
The squirrel's face slowly turned to him, looking up with tear-strained eyes that showed just how much of Sally's life had been taken away so far. "...w…why are…YOU here…?" she asked.
Looking at the hedgehog, she was him in as the child he had been when they were growing up…as the young boy who'd helped her turn a rag-tag group of kids into Freedom Fighters…as the teenager who'd helped her through so many hard times…and then she saw that red-eyed monster who'd beaten her bloody, spat in her face. And suddenly all the other Sonics she saw faded away, because she understood now…they were lies. All of them. Maybe, once upon a time, they'd been true, but not anymore. They were just memories now. "…Sally?" Sonic whispered, unable to keep just standing there having her…look at him like that. "Please, Sal, I know…I know a lot of bad stuff's happened, but…"
"…Stop lying…" Sally hissed harshly. "…You hate me…"
It took a second for her words to fully sink in. He remembered what she was talking about…what he'd said. "No, Sal…" he replied. "I could NEVER…"
The continued cold glare killed that sentence before its end. Sonic wished this could be like the days back in Knothole, when he could pick fights with Sally for no other reason than because he was bored and not have to worry about the outcome. He wished he could know for sure that the entity he was speaking to still WAS Sally; what if Daxis was right? What if too much of her was gone to bring her back? Looking at those cold, empty eyes, it certainly seemed the likeliest possibility. "No…" he thought. "I can't…I WON'T accept that! Sal's ALWAYS been there for me…ALWAYS. Even when…even when things got bad, she stuck with me. I can't lose her…I won't!"
With that resolve hardened, Sonic then did something he had never really done with Sally before: he conceded. With a heavy sigh, he knelt down next to her so that they were at eye level. "OK, so…maybe I got a little mad at ya." He said, then hastily backpedaled. "OK, OK, REALLY mad. I just…"
His hand tightened around her arm. "Sal, we've known each other since we were just kids. I still remember the exact second I first saw ya. Ever since then we've butted heads every now 'n' again, but we've always been friends."
Even as he spoke, the hedgehog could see that image…a little intruder in his Uncle's workshop, ripe for pranking. It was an image that stood side by side with those OTHER memories, the ones the Order had given him, but there was no difficulty determining which one was real. Which one REALLY mattered. "The thing is, as fun as it was to butt heads with you," he continued, a waver in his voice that surprised even him, "it never meant as much to me as being…close…to you. You were my best friend, Sal…you were always there, keepin' me honest 'n' out of trouble 'n' lookin' out for me. For all of us."
Tails had finally begun to feel the ability to move, rising up into a sitting position as Sonic spoke.
The fox was unsure whether or not he could help, but he wanted to, badly. Too often he'd put Sally to the side over the last year; everyone had. She'd needed them all after what had happened with the Xorda, and none of them had really been there for her. Sally had pretended not to care, but looking back at it now, Tails felt, he should have known she was lying for their sake. That was what she always did: protect her friends and their feelings, even at her own cost. "Aunt Sally…" he whispered sadly, tears welling in his eyes.
Sonic, meanwhile, continued to speak to her. "I…I'm not really good at this, Sal, ya know that." He said with a chuckle in spite of himself. "Talkin' about this sorta thing…it's just never been my forte, but…"
He pressed his forehead softly against hers. "But you need to know the truth. 'Cuz none of us have been giving a whole lot of that out lately."
The squirrel seemed to tremble ever so slightly, a movement so slight the hedgehog was unsure if he actually saw it or if he just WANTED to see it. Regardless, he steeled himself for his next, most important words. "See…sometimes, it just…I would just get so MAD. So ANGRY that you couldn't just see things MY way 'n' let it go. I cared about you, Sal, I did, a LOT. But every now 'n' then…I'd just wanna run away from you 'n' never look back."
He felt himself starting to cry. "Not now." He chided mentally. "Stay tough. For Sally."
"Then…then you asked me to be your Consort and I…I just PANICKED. I was just plain SCARED, Sal, because you were asking me to do something I just plain couldn't. I didn't understand then…I guess I STILL don't quite get it, but…but I made a big mistake that night, Sal. I let my fear 'n' my frustration team up. I turned ya down and then high-tailed it out of there, even though I knew...I KNEW how upset you'd be. I just didn't want to have to deal with that. I was a coward, and I am so, SO sorry."
This time, Sonic KNEW he saw her moving…it was a small, subtle movement, but it meant so much. "But no matter WHAT has happened…" he told her with conviction, "no matter how mad or scared or frustrated I get with you…I will never, NEVER hate you, Sal. EVER."
He held her hand as tight as he could, gazing into those eyes which began again to flicker with the faintest hints of life. "I lo…"
Wind boomed out of the nearby crater, followed swiftly by an invisible, unseen force that hammered into Sonic's body like a million fists. Launched off his feet, the hedgehog crashed down next to Tails with a THUD. "NO!" he shouted in a panic; he was SO close! He got back up almost instantly, knowing just who had knocked him away. "LEAVE HER ALONE!!"
The only response was another forceful blast, pinning Sonic to the wall. Amodeus floated out of the crater, followed closely by Daxis. Though his body was clearly wounded, gaps in its robe and cracks in its bone, those wounds were slowly healing, and the bright glow of his eyes marked him as the attacker. "Stop this meaningless resistance, 'Hero'…" the Walker growled with some strain. "Your precious Source cannot save you any more. This ends NOW."
With the smooth grace of a serpent, the wraith flew over to Sally's body, the threads of energy resuming their motions in and out of their two forms. The storm was renewed, but Sonic was not about to let that stop him. "I SAID STAY AWAY!" he shouted, ready to run full speed toward the altar and pound that arrogant skull to dust.
Yet as he dashed forward to protect Sally, his feet suddenly sank into the ground. "Wha…?"
"My powers are...incomplete…for the moment…but this Temple is bound to me like any other member of my Order." Daxis explained, a tone of amusement to his voice that belied his frustration. "Though only in the areas closest to me for the moment, I can still bend its form to my will."
With Sonic's interference eliminated for the moment, Daxis resumed his feast: Sally fed him her life, the Vortex fed him his, and the Source's marks faded all the faster. Connected once more with the Princess' fast-fading mind, the Walker felt a great deal of pleasure as he returned to her memory world. No longer a proud Queen standing in a glorious kingdom, the squirrel instead lay on a barren and dying wasteland, kneeling on the ground and struggling just to keep herself from falling down completely. Bits and pieces of her "body" were gone. "How the Mighty have fallen…" the Walker gloated.
Sally gave no answer. "Silent for once, are you?" Daxis asked. "A shame…I would have relished one final chance to break your will before you…"
That was when he felt it. Her life force…it had stopped feeding his body. The barren wasteland around them stayed as it was, dissipating no further. Before him, the young squirrel was struggling to her feet. "D…don't…worry…" Sally coughed roughly. "You'll GET that chance…"
From out of her back, threads of light began to emerge like wings. They were faint, almost invisible…but they were unmistakably there. The ties that bound Sally to the world of the living…the ties whose severance had opened her soul for Daxis to feast upon...
"Impossible…" the wraith hissed in disbelief. "IMPOSSIBLE!!"
"I…I understand now, what's been happening…" Sally said, voice gaining vitality with each breath, "In all the chaos of the last year…with all the terrible things happening, pushing me and the people I cared about apart…the foundations that have always kept me tied to Mobius…to my friends and family…began to break down. It was gradual, subtle…but it happened."
Sally stood at her full height now, the threads of light shimmering brighter and brighter. Daxis, to his own surprise, felt himself waver with fear. This should not…COULD not…have been happening! "YOU realized that too, didn't you? That was why you only had the Order interfere directly only AFTER Sonic returned home…because it was only then that you realized what you needed to do to get what you wanted from me. You had to break the LAST bond...even if it was for just a moment, all the things keeping me alive would be gone if you could just do THAT." The Princess continued, now practically booming. "But before…when I saw the others, realized they'd come to rescue me, my bonds with them came alive again. Only that wasn't enough, not anymore. You'd already sunk your claws into me, you were already pulling me away. I needed to know that ALL the things…the PEOPLE…I cared about most were still with me."
Sonic…everywhere, everything around the two clashing entities focused on that name, that person, for one powerful moment. "No No NO!!" Daxis shrieked in a tantrum. He had come so far…tasted the sweet nectar of existence again. He COULD NOT be denied, not NOW! "YOU ARE DEAD! DO YOU HEAR ME? DEAD! UNLOVED! ALONE!! I HAVE YOUR LIFE NOW, YOU ARE BOUND TO ME! THESE PATHETIC…'BONDS'…ARE MEANINGLESS NOW!! I DESTROYED THE SOURCE, I BEAT YOUR FRIENDS, IT'S TOO LATE! I WON, I WON , I WON!!"
Despite herself…despite EVERYTHING…Sally laughed. "How the Mighty have fallen indeed…" she chuckled, enraging the Walker further. "You came close, Daxis, but ultimately…"
Hissing and roaring and foaming in rage, the Walker could only watch as Sally's body lit up like a star, illuminating the world around them back into life. Green fields, a majestic castle, a world of memories that symbolized everything Princess Sally had ever been…and a strong, proud Queen, finally able to stand tall on her own two feet and know she was home. "…you can't TOUCH me anymore."
With a violent shriek, Daxis the Forsaken Walker was flung away from Princess Sally Acorn for the second time in short order. The vortex shattered away, the waves of black and red faded into nothingness, and Sally fell the short distance back down to the Altar. After the bombastic display, everything was silence. That silence was rather awkwardly broken when Sonic, feet no longer stuck in rock, sped forward and crashed headlong into the ground. Brushing that incident aside as gracefully as he could, the Blue Blur lifted Sally into his arms. "Sally!" he said, not sure what was happening but needing to know. "SALLY!"
Amodeus sank to his knees, unable to believe what he was seeing. The Child…had REJECTED Daxis? "How…how can that BE?" the Shaman questioned in his thoughts, comprehension eluding him in the face of such a devastating, inconceivable sight.
He thus made no moves to keep Sonic and Sally apart. "C'mon, Sal, tell me you're OK!" the hedgehog continued to prod, hoping beyond hope to get an answer.
It was thus with unimaginable relief and joy that he saw her eyes-complete again-open, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "S…stop yelling…" she replied with a bit of a stammer. "I'm…right here…"
Sonic laughed, the first good long laugh he'd had in a while, and simply threw his arms around her, hugging her as strongly and lovingly as he could. He didn't say anything. He simply continued to laugh. She was back. Sally was finally, FINALLY back! The Princess returned the gesture, glad to have Sonic in her arms again, glad to know that, somehow, she really had made it home. She laughed too, because that was what listening to someone laugh for long enough tended to do to her. With a squeak, the squirrel found herself swept off the altar, swung around like a child in the arms of her father. Before long, her feet touched ground again right next to Tails, who was beaming with all the joy he could muster. "Aunt Sally, Aunt Sally!" he called happily, and she, still laughing, knelt down and held him close and kissed his nose like she had when he was a younger boy.
The Princess felt…incredible. After all the trials and tribulations she had faced in this place, she had finally rebuked the demon that had haunted her nightmares with finality. Daxis was still alive, Sally could feel it, but somehow…that fact did not scare her as much anymore. The squirrel knew she could face him now, because Sonic, Tails, her family…they were here with her. No matter what happened, they were still with her.
Watching the happy reunion between his friends, Sonic smiled, but had fallen silent.
A sudden rumble than passed through the room, nearly knocking Sonic and Sally to their feet and finishing the job started by the storm of energy earlier: the cracks and lashes in the roof of stone above gave way, exposing the upper level of the temple. Dragging Tails out of the way of the falling rock, Sally looked upward to see where the holes in the roof opened up to. The answer came when a familiar red echidna poked his head over the hole. "Sally?" he exclaimed in surprise. "Julie-Su, look! There they are!"
"I'll fly us up there!" Tails said gleefully, then hissed a bit in pain. "As…soon as I can, of course…" he finished with a sheepish grin.
"Don't bother, we've got rope!" Julie-Su shouted down to them from above.
Yet even as the two echidnas moved to bring them up, Sonic could…sense…that something was wrong. A gust blew past the trio, and that feeling was confirmed. "Well, well, well…I AM impressed, Blue. You 'n' your little friends have managed to screw things up pretty bad for us…"
Appearing as if from nowhere, Lilith landed next to Amodeus, who remained on his knees. "But we're far from beaten yet." The bat growled.
Then a third form appeared behind them. Only half-formed, but still alive, Daxis rose like a shadow over his two servants. "I…will NOT be beaten…" he rumbled, a single voice now. "Your life…WILL be mine, Child of the Source…"
Sonic, Sally, and Tails all stood resolutely before the Order. "I've already beaten you once, Daxis…" Sally said firmly. "I'm more than ready to do it again."
To Be Continued…