(Just a little heads up; in this chapter there will be a change in point of view. Just so you know. ;)
Last time on In the Dark…
The infiltration into Dark's base, nicknamed the Fortress, has been planned. The Refugees set off into their devastated world to find the final Chaos Emerald. It started off without a hitch. It was only until Sally's group was deep into the Fortress when the tables turned. Sally's friends were locked in the treasury, leaving her and Shadow alone in the ballroom with the notorious Dark. To make matters worse, the one who led them right into the trap was none other than the leader of the Refuge, John Stigmont. Now, with all seven Chaos Emeralds and Dark in one place, the only thing that can come from this is disaster. Let the final battle begin.)
I felt my body tense up. So my dream had been a warning. We were going to face Dark.
I whirled around to face John, who stood in front of the closed doors, blocking our only way out. "What are you doing?" I cried. "We have to get out of here!"
"He's not here for us," Shadow growled from beside me. I looked at him. He was glaring at Dark. "He never was."
That is correct," a cold voice confirmed. Dark was facing the Chaos Emerald, his back to us. The glow from it made his dark aura look a softer blue. He turned to us but was looking at John. "Johnathan, please step forward with your offerings."
John nodded and walked towards the front of the room, brushing past us. I suddenly realized that I no longer felt the familiar but light weight on my shoulders. Then I saw my bag in John's hands.
"Hey!" I cried, and tried to lunge at him to get it back, but Shadow's hands clamped firmly onto my arms, holding me back. I turned my head and glared at him. "Who's side are you on?!"
He said nothing.
John approached Dark. He handed the bag over to him, which contained all the Chaos Emeralds and most of my weapons. Dark took it with a grin.
"Traitor!" I screamed, struggling against Shadow, who was much stronger than me. "You're both traitors!" I felt heat behind my eyes and willed myself not to cry.
John looked at me and – was that regret in his eyes? – said in a sad voice; "I'm sorry. It was the only way to ensure the safety of the Refugees…and my unborn child."
"That gives you no right to –" I was cut off. Dark seized John by his head, forcing him to look into his irisless and pupilless eyes. I almost thought he would've kissed him. In one swift motion, with merely a flick of his wrists, Dark snapped John's neck. My voice was cut off with a strangled gasp.
"You were a fool to think that I'd ever really show you and your family mercy," Dark spat at John's corpse as it fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. His eyes stared unseeing up at the high ceiling, sending chills down my spine. "Pathetic." Dark kicked the body aside so I could no longer see the face.
The images of the last time John and Gina had been together filled my head, but the memories sounded distant.
"You haven't done anything like this. I need you. Make it home safely."
"I will. Keep our daughter safe."
My legs felt like all the bones had been taken out of them. I sank to my knees, realizing Shadow had released me. Not that it mattered; I didn't have the strength to attack anyone.
"Now then," Dark began, clapping his hands together once as if he had just finished teaching a pleasant lesson to schoolchildren. "What shall I do with you two pests?" He paced up and down the front of the room, tapping his chin thoughtfully. Then he stopped and faced us. "I know!" He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly.
I heard a sound like garage doors opening. Exes and shadow creatures flooded the second level of the ballroom, leaning over the railing. Some accidentally fell over the rail and hit the floor with bone-crunching force. An anthro voice, not one of the Exes, said something over the commotion, but it was in a strange, raspy-sounding language I couldn't interpret. The creatures seemed to understand; their growls and screams increased in volume in consent with whatever was being said to them, and they started throwing themselves over the railing and onto the dance floor. The entire swarm was headed towards Shadow and I. I reached for my gun in my belt, but they were already upon us. One of the Exes grabbed my arm in a vise-like grip and sank its teeth into my flesh. I cried out as sharp pain spread throughout my entire arm. Then I heard another Exe seeming to be talking to – no, lecturing – the one latched onto my arm. The first Exe seemed to listen, because it released me. It was only then that, through the throng, I spotted Sonic Exe on the second level of the ballroom, and realized that he had been the one speaking the demonic language to his minions. I opened my mouth to say something, but was cut off as more Exes and shadow demons pressed in on us, grabbing me and dragging me back. There was something in the way these things moved and acted that wad different than the ones that roamed the streets. These ones seemed…smarter.
My back struck the wall – hard. The Exes were stronger than I anticipated. They held me against the wall, despite my best efforts to get away. I saw something flash out of my peripheral vision, then felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. I bit my lip to keep from crying out and looked at my shoulder to see what had hit me. A dagger had pinned me to the wall by my sleeve and cut my shoulder, blood already staining the dark fabric. I heard a whistling and felt the breeze ruffle my hair as another blade sailed through the air, its tip sticking in the wall, piercing the fabric of my coat. I looked up and saw that it was Dark throwing knives. He did likewise to my sleeves closer to my hands, torso, and pant legs. Shadow had knives on either side of his head, arms, legs, and torso; if he moved, he'd cut himself. The Exes surrounded us but didn't attack.
Dark grinned. "Let's begin." He picked up my bag and withdrew the six Chaos Emeralds within it. As he walked the length of the room in front of us, more pedestals identical to the one in the center rose out of the floor. He placed the Emeralds on the top of the stands. The pedestals themselves lit up, the elegantly-carved lines in the marble glowing the color of the Emerald it supported. Once all seven were placed in their positions, Dark tuned to face us, a wicked gleam in his eye.
"Now, witness my true power!" he cried. The Emeralds glowed radiantly as he lifted his arms. From the palms of his hands, a huge cloud of blackness burst forth and surrounded him and the Emeralds, spreading to fill most of the ceiling. Gradually, their glow faded and their color darkened.
I heard Shadow groan beside me and looked over at him. He had his eyes closed, and I thought he was ashamed that we had failed. But no…his fists were clenched, and he seemed to be concentrating. I saw the horror on Dark's face as the Chaos Emeralds began to regain their power.
I closed my eyes as Dark began his rise to power. I needed to tap into the Chaos Emeralds' inner energy before Dark poisoned it with his evil. As I concentrated, I felt the energy I was trying to reach fading away, converting into demonic, destructive power. I was able to grasp what little pure power remained and used my own Chaos energies to bring them back to life so I could harness it. The Emeralds recognized my intention to purge the evil from the world and gave me the power and energy I needed to transform.
I allowed the energy to collect in me for a moment before releasing the excess all at once in an explosion of light. The knives holding Sally and I hostage flew out of the wall and clattered to the floor. I now had the power of Super Shadow.
Dark, for the first time, looked surprised, if not, afraid. However, his expression changed to a scowl. "You really think that you can bet me, even as Super Shadow?" He put his hands, palms out, in front of him and charged a blast of dark energy.
"There is always light to counteract the darkness," I said simply, charging my own attack. We shot them at the same time and the blasts collided in midair and exploded. Without further hesitation, I shot another energy blast at Dark before he could regain his bearings. He tried lunging to the side to avoid it, but was caught off guard; the blast hit his arm with enough force to knock him to the ground. Where the blast hit, his skin burned and blistered. He cried out, clutching his forearm. I advanced on him before he could get to his feet and carved a circle of light energy in the floor around him. The circle glowed with pure power and imprisoned him. Dark glared at me, scowling. Then he growled and tried to muster a large dark blast, but it was extinguished almost as soon as it was formed. I started charging a blast large enough to finish him off once and for all.
Dark looks up to the second floor above us. Standing by the railing, looking down at me, - no, him – with scorn, was Sonic Exe.
"Hey, get down here and give me a hand!" Dark snapped.
Sonic Exe just scoffed. "You're more pathetic than you ever let on."
"You dare defy me?" Dark cried. "I gave you everything. I helped raise your army. I let you rule with me!"
"Ruling my own world was better than ruling with a leech like you," Sonic Exe spat, his words coated with acid. "You never helped me. You only used me to boost your own useless power! This time, you are alone." With that, he turned his back and left, hissing something in demon language to his minions. The Exes who were holding Sally back headed toward us. Without looking back, I threw my arm out behind me and sent a wave of energy spears at the horde, taking most of them out one-by-one. The survivors screamed in protest and scampered away like animals, climbing the pillars to the second floor and disappearing in retreat. The blast I had been slowly charging was now larger than a basketball, a fair size to finish Dark off. I raised my arm –
"Shadow," a voice said distantly. It came from behind me. I froze. At first I confused it for Maria, but that was impossible, for she is dead. I dismissed it as me being delusional again and snapped back to reality.
"Shadow!" The voice came again, but louder, more desperate. My head whipped over my shoulder.
It was Sally who had spoken. She looked at me pleadingly, her cheeks streaked with tears.
"Don't kill him," she said quietly. "He's still Sonic."
I looked back at Dark, who had gotten to his feet and was glaring at me defiantly. Of course this was Sonic, but he had transformed the world into the very would he had sought to protect, however a hundred times worse than he could ever imagine. In my mind, anyone who had the will to do such things deserved death. But what would I accomplish by destroying Mobius's hero, who could very well help restore the world to its former glory?
These thoughts ran through my mind in a matter of seconds. I hesitated momentarily. Though it didn't look it, I changed the makeup of the blast I was forming, and let it charge.
"How the mighty have fallen," I said quietly.
"Shadow!" Sally cried out.
"Trust me," I replied in a louder voice. I let the light expand rapidly to where it was not contained within my hands and began to fill the room. Before it swallowed up us up, I saw Dark cringing away from the light, the first look of true fear on his face. I smirked, and released the energy. It engulfed everything and everyone in the room.
I felt like I was floating. I couldn't see anything but the pale gold light surrounding me. It felt too light, and I knew it wouldn't do enough to get rid of Dark. I released my Inhibitor Rings, and they fell with a soft ching to the ground where they lay. I felt the power the Rings contained flood me, making my very veins run with adrenaline and pure power. I would now be able to weaken him, as well as put him out of power. All at once, I released all my power, all my energy, into the light filling the room. Now the air seemed alive and shimmering with the energy I had put into it.
Soon, the light faded. I opened my eyes. In front of me stood the one who had been struggling against Dark all this time; his navy blue fur now azure, his quills no longer raised, his eyes that had once been completely white now had the emerald green irises which shown brightly in the light from the Chaos Emeralds, all of which made up Sonic. Then his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed, unconscious.
I sighed with relief, my job done. I felt drained. I didn't have the strength to even stay awake. I fell to my knees, and then fell forward, all my energy gone.
(*deep breath, sigh* Okay…One chapter left. I have a question. Does anyone still want me to do epilogue/bonus chapters? If you do, I need ideas. By the way, I AM NOT DOING OC CHARACTERS. I'm sorry, I don't do that. If you'd like to see your point of view on how certain events were played out or what was going on in the background, please review or PM me your suggestions and you may see it as a chapter! The bonus stuff will probably be very short, and I'm contemplating between putting them as part of this story, or a new one entitled In the Dark: Bonus Content or something. I really appreciate the ideas!
I just want to thank you all for your support on this story. I know it got quite dark, and that actually wasn't my intention when I first started writing it, but the ideas YOU guys gave me have transformed it into what it is. I know it's not the best story out there, but I hope soon I will write one that will really become a hit. Other than that, I suppose that's all I have to say. See you guys in the next chapter!)
~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd