Silver Sheids: Thanks, I think
BlackxShootingxStar: Disney World, Aquatica, and Universal were great! I'm glad to be back though.
Kitsune-SuperFox: That's how the villain rolls I guess. I checked out your story and it's starting to come along!
Kitsune-awesomeness: Turns out it was Disney World in Florida I was headed to. Oh well, I still had fun. Plus, Sonic in general is funny. That's why I like him.
Raziel777: Yes he does love screwing with people doesn't he? Glad you liked it!
Kilatails: Okay then... that's fine… I guess… Don't worry the next chapter is here.
Lordoftheluis4: Thank you! The chapter is here so now everyone's happy.
Chapter 37: What's been lost and what shall be recovered
"Damn all these stars!" Sonic was trying to get his running rhythm back on track as he recovered from his mildly unpleasant confrontation with a certain dusty wall. Now as he ran across the buildings trying to desperately catch up to Metal and Amy all these blasted stars he was seeing were messing with his vision.
He quickly regained his original passé and then some. Realizing how far back he must be he blasted himself forward. It still isn't good enough. He still can't see Metal.
"Fine then, next level here I come!" Sonic pulled out his ring and allowed himself the grace of becoming a spinning ball. He shot himself forward twice as fast as he was going earlier.
More robots from Eggman's army decided to get in his way without knowing they were and ended up being sliced in half, sideways, and somehow backwards.
"Hang on Amy! I'm coming!" Sonic was moving so fast that he couldn't even see what he was passing by anymore. All he saw was what lied ahead. Soon his efforts paid off as he saw the somewhat dizzy looking face of Amy Rose.
Amy, who was strapped to Metal's back, was getting very sick from moving so fast so suddenly. This was a nightmare but she couldn't do anything about it except play the role of damsel in distress. There was a positive side though. At least it was Sonic who was playing the hero. Who needs Superman? Screw that guy!
Eventually Amy summoned up enough courage to open her sealed shut eyes in order to see her hero blasting his way past rooftop after rooftop in order to reach her. It was a marvelous site indeed.
Sonic sped up to her and at the last second maneuvered himself so he was directly over Metal Sonic's head. Not skipping a beat he slammed his rolling body on to the oblivious robot's head.
Not a second later had he done so that Metal's face connected with the gravel in front of him. The robot skid across the ground as Sonic stopped his spinning spree and allowed himself to slide into a safe halt.
"Seems that you're a little bent out of shape. Mind if I take that girl off your hands?" Sonic said as he began walking toward Amy.
Metal quickly got up and kicked Sonic hard in the chin. He fell back on to the ground and Metal looked down at him with a disgruntled disposition.
"Yes… I do mind." Metal was fuming at the fact that Sonic was able to catch up to him even after all the crap he had put the hedgehog through. It didn't add up but he couldn't think about disappointment at a time like this.
Metal Sonic quickly got up and sped off. Sonic rubbed his chin quickly and ran after him. They were neck and neck once again. This time they fought as they ran making sure that what they hit were vital spots.
Eventually they ended up hitting each other across the face and almost fell off their pathway. This came into Metal Sonic's favor however, as he rammed into Sonic and knocked the yellow emerald out of the hedgehog's hand.
He quickly grabbed it and clutched it close to his body. The power he generated from it charged his battery up which caused him and Amy to accelerate at an unbelievable passé.
Sonic was mildly surprised but he wasn't about to give this one up yet. They were ¾ of the way there. The race was coming to a close.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 6
"HAHAHAHA! You're going to kill me? Where oh where have I heard that one before." Darkness watched as the fox's dangerous rising anger began to erupt.
With absolutely no hesitation or warning, not that Darkness needed one, Tails assaulted the power hungry monster with all that he had.
Each punch, kick, and well orchestrated maneuver Tails pulled was successfully blocked by the cloaked schemer. He had the upper hand and they both knew it.
The thought wasn't even respected by Tails though. He didn't care what kind of hand Darkness had. This guy was going to die for what he did to his parents.
Tails took faster and fiercer shots at Darkness that seemed to echo loudly across the barren landscape. They all barely fazed Darkness however.
"You're slipping Miles! You're becoming noticeably sloppy with your upbringing."
"Shut up!"
"Your anger will be your downfall."
"SHUT UP!"
"I hate doing things the hard way instead of the malevolent way and I hate it when idiots like you insist on doing it the hard way blatantly to my face!"
"Why won't you shut up!? Fall over! Kill yourself! DIE DAMNIT!" Kitsune Tails let his tears fly all over the place as he continued his attacks. The more attacks he made the further away from Smoke and Big they got.
"Now that I've finally got all the pawns where I need them to be, killing myself doesn't seem to FALL within my interest." Darkness chuckled.
"You know it's odd but I'm not exactly concerned with YOUR INTEREST! YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!"
"I didn't touch either of your parents! Bear Mayor was the one who shot your mom and your idiot dad hung himself. It's not my fault that they gave birth to such an awful son!" Darkness said rather harshly.
Tails just grew madder and picked up his punches and kicks. He let his teeth grind against each other and his tears were all over both of them.
"I wasn't an awful son! I'm not a worthless person! I've learned that now! Sonic showed me! My big brother is right! Not you!"
Darkness' chuckling continued. "You absolutely sure about that one? Because I-"
"You're dead!" Tails let his fist turn bright with power which not only made Darkness wince but it severely burned the area where Tails' fist had connected, which was his chest.
"Arrrgh! What the hell?!" Darkness was confused as to how or why this could've occurred so suddenly. The light emitting from Tails' body grew and grew until he was able to blast Darkness across the ground until he crashed into the side of a building.
As soon as he looked up he saw Tails' fist connect with his hidden face which caused him to fly back and crash through the building. He landed on his back and looked up with an expression of shock on his face.
"Perhaps I've been a bit careless!" Darkness grabbed Tails by the face and slammed him into the dirt. The fox struggled to get free but Darkness' raspy grip was too much for him. He wasted no time in tossing the fox out of the already crumbled building and following it through with a hard kick in his gut.
Tails flew a bit until he landed on the soil and rolled a bit. Some of the dirt accumulated in his already dirty fur as he stopped himself and let his kitsune self completely take over.
While on all fours Tails stared at his target as his fur turned a pitch black. The purple aurora was back and his mind was void of any thought other then 'kill Darkness.'
As he watched the fox the realization of something vital began to sink in. He had failed at something. Throughout this fox's entire journey he had tried to manipulate Tails and get him to turn against the world. He tired to get Tails to willingly join him. Sadly it was not to be.
But how? What was the obstacle that he didn't see coming that led to the fox's strong spirit. His spirit must've always there but what was the unwanted push that made it come full circle.
"That annoying older brother of yours…" Darkness mumbled.
"Did you say something about my brother you bastard?" Tails growled.
"No, of course not. It's not worth my time bad mouthing that idiot." Darkness let his hand light up as he made his merry way over to the fox who was still giving the deity a death stare while on all fours.
They continued to stare deeply into each other's souls by looking into each other's faces until they both launched off the ground and seemingly disappeared. Soon after black shockwaves and sonic booms were taking place all over the sky.
They were basically slamming against each other with their own out of control power. Even though the after effects of the collisions effected Tails more then Darkness the fact was that Darkness WAS being effected, and not in a good way.
They continued to slam into each other across the sky and throw blast after vicious blast of power at each other in hopes that the other would submit to their will.
To the misfortune of both of them neither submitted and neither ran out of steam.
"I guess this is why you were chosen Miles. Your unpredictable power fluctuations and your surprisingly large determination considering your young age are all very baffling to my superior mind." Darkness hovered across the sky that started to flash light cyan colored lighting across the sky.
"I don't care what you think of me now. Maybe I am your pawn or maybe I'm your ticket to a new life far removed from your pathetic and sad life of manipulating innocent people for your own enjoyment. You're a monster. You've destroyed so many innocent lives!"
"Yeah that's right! Tell me the obvious some more! I love hearing how malicious I am from other people!"
"I'd like nothing better than to see you die a horrible slow death but the terrible sad truth is that your way to dangerous to die slowly. It'll have to be an extremely quick one for anyone to accurately live in peace again. That ticks me off so much. Even in death you'll continue to taunt me and everyone else. The fact that you have to die quickly while everyone else you killed suffered in death. It's tragic!"
"You do of coarse realize that when I do get my way I'll have enough power to live until the end of this universe much less this planet."
"You won't get your way! I'll make sure of that!" Kitsune Tails said as the lightning continued to flash behind the two of them. Eventually the thunder showed up which was quickly followed by the rain.
Both of them acted as if neither of them noticed the sudden change in weather when it hit. It was obvious to both of them that an important point in history was about to unfold.
Tails shot himself at Darkness with the soul intention of ramming into him so hard that his corpse would be permanently dented. Darkness simply waved his hands and shards of dark light flew out at the kitsune.
Tails' quick maneuvering made it so that he was able to dodge most of them. A few he took head on but his resolve was too strong for him to fall back even for a second.
His dodging and spinning was amazingly executed and extremely well orchestrated. He was able to accurately come close to Darkness with the hold of actually being a threat this time.
Inches before he reached the deity's face, however, Darkness flung his black gloved hand upward which caused his nightshade aurora to completely overtake Tails' body.
The kitsune didn't expect this to happen and proved his obliviousness by falling back and getting engulfed in the huge tidal wave of black magic.
Tails struggled and struggled to get free but he couldn't find a suitable way of exiting. He couldn't break free though.
"Wh-What is this? What did you do to me you cloaked bastard!" Tails kept wobbling and struggling to break free of Darkness' strange grasp.
"This is nothing short of a disappointment…." Darkness' voice was firm and straight forward. He watched as Tails struggled and tried to claw his way out of the overpowered dark grip.
"I offered you so much! I gave you reason to live… respectfully." Darkness started to shift his position a bit.
"You gave me nothing but a whole bunch of grief! I hate you!" Tails let his tears fall as his angered face droned toward Darkness. He kept trying to reach the evil mastermind but this annoying blob of power kept pushing him back.
Smokestack, Big, and Froggy looked up at the scene that was taking place not at all reluctant that they could hear every word that was being uttered.
Smokestack in particular was doing his share of thinking. So many things were going through his head at once. Was him and his entire clan fooled so easily? Everyone that was under the influence of the kitsune's power throughout time was forced into it?
Darkness made the Diox clan believe that killing the foxes were the answer?
Was it true? After all this time his entire mission was a fluke! Smoke couldn't accept that! There was a reason he was chosen to remain alive long after the time Darkness said he should've died.
"There is something I have to do here! But if my mission isn't to kill the fox… then what is?" He whispered to himself.
Tails just kept struggling and struggling until eventually his tired arms gave out. His resisting movement stopped and he reluctantly let darkness completely immobilize his body.
Tails tried to at least squirm his way out but it was completely hopeless. Tails stopped trying and just let himself cry in frustration.
"Erm… ERM! GAH! D-Darkness! Darkness… "Tails let himself sink into a deep depression as the deity took his time coming close to the worn out kitsune.
"You and your rebellious mind think you can avoid my grasp. It's not just that blasted hedgehog's fault. It's all there fault. The echidna, the crocodile, the chameleon, the bee, the pink haired fan girl, the huge cat, the tiny frog, the bat thief and worst of all Smokestack all contributed to your rebellion. You're so unlike all the others. Unlike them when you were given nothing to live for you searched for something to live for instead of giving in to the will of the kitsune."
Tails just looked up at Darkness with an angered look.
"I look back at all the times I invaded your mind and tried to help you. I tried to convince you that emotions were meaningless and that the true essence of this planet's soul had to offer would become unleashed if the right choices were made. But your inconceivable 4-year-old brain couldn't help but take in all the joy and happiness you felt from acquiring an older brother."
Tails continued to stare at him thinking about all the friends he made during his course through this adventure. The rain continued to come down hard as Darkness continued.
"I feel like a father who's failed at raising his son. My teachings were all ignored by you simply because you made one annoying friend. Perhaps if I kill that friend it'll prove how messed up life is for someone when it's predetermined by fate! Wouldn't that be a joy Miles?"
Tails' fear of lightning and thunder seemed completely invisible as the man spoke. He focused all his emotions on what Darkness was saying and couldn't help but get even angrier.
"What you're saying wrong! All of it is wrong! My life isn't predetermined anywhere! I don't care what some dumb prophecy says! Sonic showed me that I can live a happy life if I seek one hard enough! People who cry and whine about how much their lives stink can still know what it feels like to have a good life I they want it bad enough that they're willing to live and try! If Sonic didn't show up on that island that day I might've jumped off that cliff and it would've been too late for me to realize it!"
"I see... well then-"
"And don't ever compare yourself to ANY kind of father figure. You're a heartless monster that no one will ever love or admire! Did you honestly think Sonic would make me his adopted brother if he thought I was the kind of person who'd willingly join someone as twisted as you!" Tails kept shouting at Darkness his thoughts and feelings.
" … " Darkness just stood there. For once Darkness had run out of things to say. Obviously this fox wasn't going to join him. He was a lost cause.
"Well! What is it? You gonna cry?" Tails yelled at Darkness' face.
"I would've hoped that even after that blasted hedgehog poisoned your mind that their was still a chance for you to see the truth. Maybe not… I guess I'll have to resort to my last means of manipulation." Darkness clutched his fists then uncurled them.
He made his way up to Tails and put his black colored gloved hand on his forehead. Suddenly a tiny black steam started to circle around Tails' head.
"What? What are you doing?" Tails asked in a slightly scared tone of voice.
"If I can't get you to join my side willingly… then I'll just force you to do as I say!" Darkness let his powers circulate around Tails which caused a high voltage infestation.
Darkness took his hand off of Tails' head and let the power flow. He knew that this was it! Despite how sad or angry Tails was in the end it was he who would be the victor.
Tails shouted in tremendous pain and the bolts of black electricity pierced his brain and took control of the part that initiated his free will.
"You should've headed me before this Miles! Emotions just cloud your better judgment, which is why this world is the way that it is! Humans and animals alike can't do what's extremely necessary for the world simply because a few mortals might die or one island may end up sunk. No one realizes that what really matters is the salvation of the entire planet! If a few people die in order to reach a much higher goal then they should all be grateful they died under the premise of a new age!"
"Once again your views are complete B.S!" Came an angered voice from below. As soon as Darkness looked down he saw a huge smoke projectile came straight at his face. Darkness dodged backward and the blast missed him but just barely.
"Smokestack! I would've thought that you, of all people would realize that my views are far from B.S!" Darkness sounded disappointed. Smoke didn't care though.
"As if I would care what a murderer like you things of me. You're beneath me!"
"I'm beneath you? Look who's spouting B.S now!"
Smoke had enough of Darkness' mouth. He fired blast after blast at the annoying deity until Darkness was dodging all over the place. Eventually Darkness grew tired of his constant movement.
"Take this!" Darkness shouted as his body lit up. He twirled around in the air a bit until he shot himself down like a runaway missile at Smokestack.
The commander, Big and Froggy got out of the way as fast as they possibly could in order to avoid the huge impact that was sure to follow.
He slammed into the ground and caused a huge black shockwave that sent Smoke, Big, and Froggy crashing into a crumbled building.
Darkness stood up and let his power flow across the area freely. He looked up at the satisfying scene above him. The fox was feeling the affects of his inescapable control.
First Tails started to lose all awareness of his surroundings. All that was left was him and his mind under siege.
That's when Tails started to forget things. He forgot his mission. He forgot about the Chaotix. He forgot about Amy. He forgot about Knuckles. Each thing he forgot got more and more close to the things his heart cared about. He tried to mentally reach out for the memories but to no avail.
He forgot about Sonic's parents. He forgot about HIS parents. Then he forgot about Sonic.
The only one who remained in his mind was Darkness. He didn't understand what was happening next but his extreme anger for Darkness was suddenly being pushed into a prison cell in his mind. That anger was locked in a mental cell located in the deepest, darkest, and most secluded part of his brain.
What took its place were admiration, devotion, and respect. He wanted to be with Darkness. He wanted to serve him. He wanted to do whatever it took to see to his new master's happiness.
On the surface Darkness smiled to himself when he realized that the operation had been successful. He made a gesture with his index finger that basically said that he was to come to him. The mass of dark light slowly floated down until it was directly in front of Darkness.
With a wave of his hand Tails' restraint was gone. The fox was suspended off the ground a bit until his feet eventually shifted down and touched the ground. He had a blank stare on his face. The real Tails was locked away inside his own mind and there was no way to break free.
"Hello Miles. How are you feeling?" Darkness asked as if he really cared. Tails didn't answer. "It's all right. You can speak." He said.
Tails looked up and opened his mouth to speak. "I'm… I'm grateful to you sir… for showing me the truth." Kitsune Tails spoke with zero hints of emotion in his voice.
"You bet you are." Darkness put his arm on Tails' shoulder and a second later they were headed off into the sky. Smokestack, Big, and Froggy looked up and watched as they were leaving.
"What is this? Another alliance… they way it always was. It was always just mind control and manipulation that drove the previous users of the kitsune's power down the wrong path. Me and my clan killed them thinking they willingly joined them…" Smokestack sounded ashamed.
Darkness and Tails sped off across the sky leaving the three alone. Smoke was thinking out loud trying to understand what really went on after all these years.
"Usually our clan would've done everything in our power to help those who had gone astray. But when our people started to die out we lost sight of our original way of doing things. We, the heroes of our time, were being consumed by hatred for the very people we set out to help. That became the new way we did things and it eventually made its way to me. All that time… completely wasted." Smokestack just stood there confused and ashamed.
That's when someone finally spoke back in a reply to all of his ranting.
"I don't think it was a waste of time." Big spoke up. Smokestack turned to face him.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, really. If what that cloaked guy said was true and you lived longer then you were suppose to in this weird prophecy them there must still be a reason your still here."
"And what reason is that? I've just now figured out that the fox is innocent. There is no reason to kill him anymore."
"No, but the kitsune thing inside him is still dangerous. Maybe the reason your still here… is because your real mission was to recover your clan's lost way." Big suggested trying to sound like he was making sense.
Smokestack thought about it long and hard. Throughout this entire journey he was out to kill Tails. He thought that was his mission. Now that mission was pointless. However, the kitsune power inside of him still needed to be taken care of.
"Maybe your right… but if what you say is true… then my real mission here… isn't to destroy the fox… it's to help him." Smoke and Big stood there with the same look on their face. It was look that said 'what are we going to do now?'
Smokestack faced the direction Tails and Darkness had flown off in and made his decision.
"Okay Big, Froggy, we've got a new mission!" He shouted. Big made a salute and Froggy just yipped happily on Big's head.
"Yes sir!"
"We need to reach that castle and snap the fox out of whatever Darkness did to him. All we have to do is get past the dangerous robots and armed G.U.N soldiers. Make our way inside the huge war zone developing in the castle. Run to the tallest balcony in that extremely huge castle. Find some way to snap Tails out of his trance. Get that annoying kitsune power out of him. Then formulate a plan to kill an evil deity with unmatched power who's lived for thousands of years. Then orchestrate that plan to perfection before we die. Do you think we can do that?" Smoke said slightly chuckling at how hopeless that plan seemed.
Big seemed to stutter with his response.
"Erm… I guess so. But are you sure we can… WAIT did you just call him Tails?" Big sounded shocked. Smoke was shocked to. Throughout this whole thing he referred to Tails as 'the fox'. Never once had he uttered his nickname.
"I guess I did. Oh well, don't worry about that now. Now there's no way we can pull this mission off alone-"
"Obviously…"
"-So we'll have to initiate that annoying hedgehog's help at some point. If we're all clear on the plan then let us move out men!"
"Gotcha!" Big smiled then ran after Smoke as he ran off.
Coordinates 000: War Zone 14
Sonic and Metal Sonic were zooming across the landscape at an ever increasing speed. It was a speed Amy could hardly take and it made her feel dizzy.
Sonic on the other hand was enjoying the rush. He had never raced someone so fast before. Sure Metal had his yellow emerald but he still had his red one and the ring. He could still win.
Sonic charged up the power from both his ring and red chaos emerald and sonic-boomed about 50 times in one second just to catch up to Metal. When he did however, he blasted right past him.
"What? How does he keep doing that? That's it! I need to accelerate more! I must go faster!" Metal sped up as a way to try and reach the annoying hedgehog that was now but a few meters ahead.
Amy grew even more uncomfortable on Metal Sonic's back when she felt something odd. She was burning up! No it wasn't her. It was Metal Sonic!
"Is he… overheating?" Amy asked herself. "Of course! Now I get it!"
Sonic was smiling to himself as he kept running. He turned his head around and stuck his tongue out at Metal Sonic as he sped up.
"Sorry buddy but theirs no way a robot would ever beat me in a race! HAHAHAHA!"
This got Metal Sonic fuming again. How dare this flesh and blood creature tell him who's going to win and who isn't. He's faster! He's much faster! He will win!
"Zip it hedgehog! I'm much faster then you and you know it!"
"It's not all about speed you know." Sonic shouted back. This confused the robot.
"What do you mean it's not all about speed? It's a race!"
"I know! But in a race as long as this you've gotta have endurance! Let's face it no robot will ever out run me!"
Metal was both angry and confused. Of course he had endurance! He's a robot!
'He's faster then your average animal, I'll give him that but he knows nothing about what true speed is! He was given a gift and he carelessly exploits and flaunts his speed thinking that no one can surpass him. No one can beat him! Well I can! I'll show this little demon that you can't win by being overconfident!' Metal thought inside his head.
Metal closed his eyes and tried his hardest to regain control over his composure. He couldn't let this blue monstrosity set him off. As if he knew anything about speed!
Feeling better he opened his eyes only to see something that not only shocked him inside and out but rekindled his anger and doubled it as well.
Sonic was smirking and running backwards in front of Metal Sonic!
"B-BACKWARDS! You're racing backwards! ARE YOU STUPID! Y-YOU"RE PLAYING WITH ME!!"
Sonic just chuckled and watched as Metal got all bent out of shape. Amy even laughed a bit which Metal took notice of.
"All right! That's it! We're almost to war zone 15 and it's time I pulled out all the stops." Metal summoned up his dark blue chaos emerald in his hand. Now he had two!
Sonic's face showed obvious discomfort when he saw it as well.
Metal clutched both emeralds in his hands and fired up even more power. He rocketed straight for Sonic who was still running backwards. The hedgehog maneuvered quickly and got out of the way so that the overpowered metal monstrosity could zoom past.
"All right. I think this has gone on long enough. Say bye bye Metal Sonic." Sonic grinned as he held up his ring and red chaos emerald. He fired himself at Metal but it was obvious to both who had more power.
Metal's body fluctuated with both red and blue light as he sped on. Sonic's feet were in ball form and his both glowed red and yellow.
They were both closing in on the castle and Sonic was still behind. Amy was getting worried. Would her hero lose? That just can't happen.
Sonic, however, was very confident. He knew that by exerting all that power Metal was setting himself up for failure. All it took was a little more of a push…
"Yes! I see it! The castle is just ahead! I win! I am the victor hedgehog!" Metal Sonic's excitement made him oblivious to the loud pop he felt in his chest.
Eventually though, Metal did realize something was amiss. That's when it hit him. His circuits were frying! His body was breaking apart!
"What is this? But how-?"
"It's your own fault you know!" Sonic called out from behind. Metal turned to face the blue hedgehog with a confused expression on his face.
"What do you mean? What did you do?" Metal was spazzing out.
'I didn't do anything. You did it all yourself. I told you a robot, no matter how fast they are, could never beat me in a race. You overpowered yourself and then overexerted your power. A robot such as you could never have the soul it would take to contain the amount of energy in a chaos emerald, let alone two!" Sonic explained feeling really giddy.
"S-so what!? I still win! The castle is close! Victory will be mine and the girl will die! I'm better then you hedgehog!" Metal Sonic didn't at all admit it but he was certainly scared.
"No I don't think so. See ya Metal! I really enjoyed our race!" Sonic revved up his feet and let his entire body take the shape of a yellow and red glowing ball.
Sonic was coming up on Metal's now broken body. He was planning on destroying him here and now.
"Wait Sonic! If you attack him like that you'll hit me!" Amy cried in fear.
"Don't worry Amy! Just hold your legs up and keep them there! I'm gonna do this super quick!" Sonic shouted as he came forward.
"Okay! I trust you!" She yelled back as she lifted her legs. It hurt because it felt like she was doing that annoying six-inches exercise.
"Good!" Sonic gave himself a nice boost of power and rocketed right into Metal's already dismantled back with him barely missing Amy.
"No! You can't do this! I'm the faster one!" Metal cried.
"Whether or not you're faster on your feet has already been established. You're not. I am!" Sonic increased his pressure on Metal Sonic's fuming back and pretty soon he was able to rip right through the robot's stomach.
Because of the huge amount of power Metal Sonic was summoning up during their race a huge explosion of the now released power took place and Metal's body was all but obliterated.
Amy flew into the air screaming as the explosion sent her flying far from Metal's body. Sonic chuckled and held out his hands. With one quick motion he caught her in his hands. The race was over.
"Oh Sonic! I knew you'd win! I just knew it!" She shouted as she hugged her hero around the neck.
"AMY! Please stop! I can't breath!" Sonic shouted as he forced his feet to skid to a harsh stop. By harsh I mean Sonic crashed into another wall, this time with Amy in his hands.
They fell backward and landed on to the ground with dazed looks until the stars flew away. Sonic got up, shook his head, and then offered Amy his hand. Amy gladly took it and pulled Sonic into another bone crushing hug.
"Boy Sonic, you sure showed that imposter whose boss!" Amy happily squealed as she kept hugging.
"Th-thanks… I guess… what did I hit anyway?" Sonic looked in front of him and saw a huge castle with a bright purple aurora flowing around it. Judging by the sound of the explosions taking place inside the war has been relocated to this huge castle.
They were in so much awe by the castle's huge figure that they barely noticed Metal Sonic's parts falling on the ground behind them.
"Well… I guess this is it." Sonic said with a silent voice.
"What do we do now?" Amy asked.
"I guess… we go inside and get to the top… hopefully I'll meet up with Tails there soon." Sonic suggested.
"Okay then." Amy took out her hammer and swung hard at the door. It flew off its hinges on contact and slammed into one of Eggman's robots which destroyed it.
Sonic made an impressed whistle to which Amy chuckled at. They were surrounded by robots and G.U.N soldiers but neither felt any pressure on them. They both knew they were obviously stronger.
"Look out everybody because the fastest thing alive is comin at cha!" Sonic shouted as he dived into the crowd of surprised war participants.
Behind them, in the empty space where the doors were whacked off, two more doors magically resurfaced in their place.
A while later as the majority of the war continued inside the castle Shoui and her group eventually invaded level 1 of the castle. No soon after she did had Eggman arrive at the castle on his Egg mobile.
"I can't believe you mechanical bozos actually got beat by one person, and a woman no less!" Eggman shouted at Bocoe and Decoe as they rode to the castle.
"Sorry doctor." Decoe sulked.
"If it makes you feel better we did successfully get our lead of robot troops into the castle before you handed control over to Bokkun." Bocoe pointed out.
"Lucky for you it does! The fox should be headed there as well however this castle has an interesting set up so I don't think we'll have to worry about him reaching the top before we do." Eggman smirked.
"Why is that doctor?" Decoe asked while hovering over the doctor's shoulder.
"It's because… after examining the castle and using the information on this kitsune to my advantage I've been able to figure out that some sort of magic prevents people from entering the castle or having access to its roof from anywhere other then the front door. This makes it impossible to make it to the top without having come here before anyone else… at least that's true if you're not a killer… which everyone here basically is."
"Then what's the point of being here first then?" Bocoe asked.
"The point is that though they all no how to kill we know how to kill back!"
"That just puts us back at where we started." Decoe said.
"-With me as the unquestioned victor!" Eggman shouted.
"But-" The robots began before Eggman turned around and shouted.
"I said unquestioned victor!"
"Yes sir."
"HOHOHOHOHO!" Eggman laughed as they made their way to the castle's front doors and rode on in.
Meanwhile flying overhead Darkness and Tails were overlooking the empty war zones. Dead bodies and destroyed robots were everywhere. It was almost a shame that such a thing had to take place.
"Before we continue Miles, I must first get rid of the unnecessary terrain. With most of the live participants in the castle having all these destroyed buildings around just seems like a waste of space." Darkness waved his hand and a few smoky numbers aligned themselves in front of him.
"102? That's how many participants are left in this war? Hmmm… it'll be interesting to see who reaches the top first. But as I've stated we must first get rid of this depressing scenery. Everything must go… except the castle." Darkness waved his hand and about a second later the landscape began to dissolve!
Then he stopped and thought for a second.
"No… everything will be dissolved except for the castle AND the place where you so graciously defeated that jaguar. That way he can still live and die a miserable long death. Yes, I like that plan better."
The dirt, the buildings, the dead bodies, and busted robots were all being turned to black particles of evil magic.
"The people who haven't yet made it to the castle but are still alive will be taken to the front doors of it immediately. Whether they choose to enter or not is their call but those who don't will be obliterated just like everything else." Darkness continued to shun away all the unnecessary land and resources as people began popping up at the front doors of the castle one by one.
Hang Nail's location
The jaguar was still unconscious and completely oblivious to the landscape being dissolved around him. The evil magic deliberately left alone the area he lied unconscious on so that Tails' prose that he'd die a slow and painful death stayed in effect.
He had only himself to blame.
Coordinates 000: Prower Castle level 1
Knuckles, Rouge, the Chaotix, Shimon, and a few soldiers and robots were all confused as they were transported from one dusty area to another one with the huge castle plopped in front of them.
"What is this? How'd we get here?" Knuckles spoke up as he began to notice the land dissolving into thin air around them.
"What's happening here?" Espio shouted as he backed away from the edges of the still dissolving particles.
Everyone was confused and scared as to why this was all suddenly happening when a voice of pure understanding showed up.
"This is Darkness' doing." Came a clear and calm voice standing in front of the castle doors.
Everyone turned to face the doors and spotted an orange two-tailed fox with a glazed over half open eyes.
They all knew who he was. The soldiers were sent to destroy him. The robots were sent to capture him. Knuckles and the others set out to help him.
"It's Tails…" Knuckles shouted as he ran up to the fox in excitement. The Chaotix and Shimon did as well.
"Why is his fur black?" Rouge shouted at them from behind. Knuckles and the rest all stopped to look at her then back at Tails. She was right. His fur was black. Not only that but it was glowing purple. Knuckles was the first to get the nerve to walk over to him.
"Tails… what happened to you?" He asked a bit concerned.
"Darkness has decided to completely rid this place of its unnecessary landscape. All of it will be obliterated except the castle and the area where I defeated Hang Nail. Those of you who wish to continue the war inside must come through these doors immediately or else you will be dissolved along with this land." Tails explained in a very straight forward voice.
"What? Tails what's gotten into you?" Knuckles grabbed Tails' shoulders. However as soon as he did a minor shockwave was sent out and it caused Knuckles to fly backward. He would've fallen off the dissolving edge of Coordinates 000 had Rouge not grabbed his hand.
"Those of you who wish to participate should head inside immediately. Those who want to quit should step into the dissolving light particles." Tails pointed behind them all.
One particular soldier slammed his gun against the ground in anger.
"That's it! I've had it with this idiotic war! It's not worth it anymore!" He shouted.
"It wasn't worth it in the first place." Vector said back.
"All war is pointless." Espio said to him.
Tails ignored all the comments and turned back to the soldier.
"So do you quit?" Tails asked. The soldier looked at Tails and turned back to the dissolving scene.
"You know what… I do… but I'm still entering the castle." The soldier took a step forward but bumped into a force field. "Hey what is this? He asked as he felt around.
Coordinates 000 dissolved behind him as he tried banging his way through the obstacle in his way.
"Darkness won't allow anyone through that won't participate in his 'fun'." Tails merely stated as he watched the soldier struggle.
"Wait! I didn't say that I wanted to die!" The soldier shouted back.
"Tails let him through!" Knuckles shouted.
"It's Darkness' doing, not mine." Tails meekly said.
The soldier wailed out for help as he was eventually dissolved along with Coordinates 000.
"Tails is scary again." Charmy cried as he snuggled next to Vector. Knuckles couldn't believe what he just witnessed. That's when he remembered that name Tails mentioned.
"Darkness… you mean that jerk we met back at the Ice Region! Why is Tails working for him?" Knuckles couldn't understand it.
"I don't know but if what I do know is if we don't want to end up like that soldier we need to hurry inside!" Rouge yelled as she flew up to the doors and stood beside Tails.
"Everyone else here has every intention of fighting when they get inside." Rouge said to Tails.
"How would I be sure?" Tails said.
That's when a very familiar voice to all of them spoke up from behind a small crowd of soldiers.
"Because we all have something to destroy in there. The robots have the soldiers. The Soldiers have the robots… and the rest of us have Darkness!" Smokestack said as he and Big walked up to Tails.
Tails just stared at Smokestack and the commander did likewise. After a few silent seconds Tails stepped aside and the double doors opened.
"You may all enter." He informed before teleporting away.
Knuckles, The Chaotix, and Shimon all ran up to Smokestack, Rouge, and Big with looks of concern on their faces.
"You… what happened to Tails? Do you know?" Shimon asked Smokestack.
"He's being controlled by Darkness. But don't worry I'll snap him out of it." Smokestack said.
"You're not still planning on killing him are you?" Rouge asked.
"No… now I'm planning on doing the opposite. The fox stays alive. I'll make sure of it!" Smokestack said as he ran inside.
Big and Froggy smiled at Rouge who merely shrugged and ran after him.
"Ummm… did we miss something?" Vector asked.
"Don't care! Don't care! Tails need help!" Charmy buzzed.
"Charmy's right Vector!" Espio said.
"Yeah! Once we start the job we finish the job. That's out policy. We're Team Chaotix!" Vector shouted as the three of them headed inside.
"Do you think that the land that's being dissolved will stay that way forever?" Shimon asked Knuckles.
"No… it'll all probably come back once we defeat Darkness… but until then all the soldiers' bodies will lie unburied." Knuckles grabbed Shimon's hand and ran him inside.
The rest of the soldiers and robots just stared in confusion before they all just ran straight inside.
Pretty soon all of Coordinates 000 is temporarily dissolved until the war is over.
There are ten levels in Prower Castle
Level 1: Knuckles, Shimon, the Chaotix, Rouge, Smokestack, Big, and Froggy are all here.
Level 2: Sonic and Amy are here.
Level 6: Eggman, Bocoe, and Decoe are here.
Level 8: Bokkun and Shoui are here.
Level 9: Darkness and Tails have sped through all the levels using magic and evasiveness
Participants left: 85
Prower castle: Level 1
It's basically the biggest war zone taking place through out the castle. Very few have been able to make it past the first level and those who have haven't made it far before death overtook them.
Vector and Espio successfully took out 15 robots in their way already. Charmy defeated what he could, which were G.U.N soldiers.
Shimon however had to duck and weave through crashes and explosions to stay alive. Knuckles ended up getting in the obstacle that tried to do the child harm more than once. Eventually he found a way to use this to his advantage.
As the robots began to gang up on him and Shimon he was able to destroy them in a pattern that got him closer to the stair case that lead to the next level.
Rouge and Big were easily defeating both soldiers and robots but Smoke found his job a bit tougher due to him still not at 100 percent power like he thought he was. He eventually came across what Knuckles was trying to do and took it upon himself to jump in and destroy the more noticeable ones in his way.
Now Knuckles and Shimon were backed up against the stair case with Smoke blocking anyone else's path.
"Thanks man. I'll meet you upstairs." Knuckles placed Shimon against the wall beside him and headed on up the stair case. Since he was almost as fast as Sonic it shouldn't take him long to reach the next level.
"Now this is fun! We should do this more often!" Vector yelled to Espio as he punched out another soldier.
"I'd probably agree if in any other situation punching out G.U.N soldiers weren't against the law." Espio said as he sliced a robot in half with his kunai. "Now robots on the other hand…"
The fighting continued until the first level was finally secure.
Partcipants left: 42
Prower Castle: Level 2
"I really wish I'd known we'd be facing this when we came here Sonic!' Amy yelled in both excitement in fear. Excitement streamed from being carried by Sonic. Fear streamed from being almost hit by swinging pendulums.
"Dodging giant axes suspended on sticks weren't on my 'to do list' today but then again neither was facing a deity over 1000 years old." Sonic shouted in excitement as he jumped past pendulum after swinging pendulum in excitement.
This was certainly fun, at least to him.
"Sonic! Look out!" Amy shouted. Apparently Sonic had jumped off balance and was headed straight for a pendulum swinging toward their open pathway through.
"WHOA!" Sonic stopped dead in his tracks just before the pendulum took out his tiny nose. The hedgehog sighed then quickly ran through the rest to reach the stair case.
He set Amy down and watched as she traveled up the steps.
"Aren't you coming Sonic?" She asked as she poked her head down with concern. Sonic was poking his nose and examining it closely to make sure it was all there before responding.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Sonic shouted back then traveled on up the steps to the next level.
Prower Castle: Level 6
"I must admit this is an interesting set up for a castle! HOHOHO!" Eggman laughed.
"How can you be laughing doctor? Arrows are shooting at us from random directions! This is all just luck now!" Decoe cried.
"Luck is exciting especially when the situation is dire! Oh listen to me. I sound like that blasted hedgehog. HOHOHO!" He blasted his Egg Mobile through the room filled with holes that were now shooting poison tipped arrows out at them.
"Of course dodging the arrows doesn't necessarily mean we can't get poisoned. If an arrow were to fly directly over my head then at the speed it was going the poison would most likely fly off and hit me. That's' why my movements seem too dynamic if you're wondering." Eggman sounded like he was truly enjoying this the way he talked.
Bocoe and Decoe however just didn't want an arrow through their brains.
Prower Castle: Level 8
Bokkun and Shoui floated in front of each other waiting for the other to make a move. The room they were in was filled with steel industry presses that came down at unexpected times. Not only that but the floor was covered with poison spikes that you had to walk along in order to reach the other side.
The spikes were sharp enough to pierce through metal so wearing shoes alone won't do you much good. However, Bokkun had a jet pack and Shoui had her energy platform.
"Hmph! I'm not moving from this spot missy! If you want to get to Tails then you're gonna have to get past me!"
"Why would a squirt like you care whether or not I got to Tails?" Shoui asked while tugging on her gloves.
"Dr. Eggman worked to hard to make sure that fox was his to control and after making it past 7 levels I'm not about to lose now!" Bokkun said with his hands on his hips.
Shoui closed her eyes and chuckled which turned into a laugh she had to bring her hand up to get under control.
"You certainly are a brave one I'll give you that much! But this ends here!" She shouted as her hands glowed purple.
'I'm so ready! After braving all that stuff I know I have what it takes to win!' Bokkun huffed as the fight in the room filled with giant steel presses began.
"SHOUI FLATURE!" Shoui shouted as she sent a huge blast of her power out at Bokkun. The half-robot freaked out and dodged as best he could. Her attack ended up hitting the wall which triggered one of the steel presses to slam down on the spikes.
The spikes ripped through the metal as it hit. Then the presses moved back up and the punctured holes magically disappeared.
Shoui and Bokkun saw this and they were both a bit shocked by it.
"Damn this castle is freaky! Oh well. Eat this little punk!" Shoui shouted as she lashed out at Bokkun again.
Prower castle: Level 2
Knuckles entered the pendulum room and scoffed at it.
"Oh please not this old trick!" Knuckles ran straight through the room. Whenever a pendulum came his way he simply punched through it with no trouble at all. That's the way to do things. At least if you're Knuckles.
Prower Castle: Level 3
Sonic and Amy came to a room filled with acid and highly unstable looking platforms. Sonic couldn't help but smirk at this.
"It's like a video game! Come on Amy." Sonic lifted her up and made his merry way across.
Prower castle: Level 7
Dr. Eggman, Bocoe and Decoe have succeeded in making it to Level 7. However, what they found there was a shock.
It was nothing but a bottomless pit. It was the biggest room they've been in yet. There were no walls in here other then the one you needed to climb up the staircase at making the triangle jump impossible. The only way anyone could get across was if the flew across… which Eggman can do!
"It's a good thing that the people who made this didn't consider that we would be able to fly in the future." Bocoe said. Eggman wasn't so sure however.
"No… they're smarter then that. I know it. Something else here is going on." Eggman said silently but loud enough for Bocoe and Decoe to here.
"Come on doctor! Can't we just count our blessings and move on beforeyou jynx us?" Decoe asked.
Not a second later had he said that had a huge fireball shot up from the pit they were hovering over. It took the three by surprise so much that they barely dodged it before they were fried.
Bocoe and Decoe were holding each other in fear while the doctor laughed.
"Ah, I see. Stay in a certain place to long and they hit you with fire. Good. Good. Very impressive!" Eggman smiled as he flew across happily. In his mind he knew Sonic would have a dissapointing field day trying to get past all this. It made him feel so good inside.
Prower Castle Level 9:
Darkness stood by the staircase of the empty room with Tails beside him. He had his arms crossed and his head was facing forward. He was ready.
Whoever had the misfortune of stepping through that door would be given the honor of facing Tails in combat. This was to be the Level 9 challenge.
"And when the fight is done I would have all I need to release your true power and then steal it!" Darkness said to himself. He had already foreseen who would enter through that door first.
No matter how close anyone was to it. No matter who was traveling up the stairs right now. The person who will walk through that door first will defidently be…
Sonic the Hedgehog.
Participants left: 23
Sorry if it took forever to upload. Wait patiently for the next one okay. If there were any mistakes I'm sorry. My computer keeps perventing me from saving sometimes so all the edits get erased. Plus I really don't feel like going through all this again. I'm tired. Review Please!