Chapter Fifteen – Sacrifice

Dimension – 23691 – Beyond The Madness

Sukko was still unconscious on the dinning table in Tails' House, on the main timeline, and nothing anyone did, awoke the Sorcerer. He been there for some time, and now it was getting desperate. They had heard nothing from the Titans and the constant otherworldly earthquakes which seem to resinate from the Multiverse itself, were deeply concerning. Both Frank and Everglade was both extremely worried, but for entirely separate reasons. The Doctor was deeply concerned about the horrendous strain Sukko had been under, but the Wizard, was far more panicked. He recognised Magical corruption when he saw it, and it was there, just peaking through the Embodiment of Madness. Granted, Sukko had successfully fought off corruption before, but one, he didn't the madness over the top, and two, Sonikku was with him, the other side of the Psychic Link.

Everglade had no idea how the the Blue Hedgehog could walk from this one, and prayed it didn't lead to the ultimate worse case scenario. The Wizard fighting the Sorcerer, to his death. But if Sukko became fully corrupted, then Everglade may not have a choice. However, it was something, he was, unfortunately, prepared for. He'd discussed it at length, with Blaze, back in the Sol Empire. Sukko was incredibly loyal to her crown, but being the best in the business, especially in Magic, also made him a target. He managed to successfully fight off corruption once, but could he do it again? Was that first time a fluke?

Even with Sonikku's help, Everglade suspected so. The Wizard knew it was simply a matter of time before someone came and tried to corrupt the mighty Sorcerer again. What if they succeeded? They had to put together a contingency plan, behind the Sorcerer's back, for that exact event. Everglade hated it. He despised dealing on the quiet, especially against his own best friend, but he knew, if push came to serious shove, Sukko would rather die, then corrupt, every time. Everglade knew he'd eventually be forgiven.

But as the time ticked on, and still no word from the other Titans, the situation was starting to get worse.

Sukko was down in the deep depths of the darkness, having the time of his life, throughly enjoying himself. His mind was become so twisted, that the more gruesome the nightmare, to more he relished it's content. Then it came, the corruption. But whereas before, when the highly-corrupted deep red Magic began to flow deep into Sukko's mind, body and soul, it was excruciatingly painful. Now, the Embodiment of Madness had already broken him, Sukko found it intensely pleasurable. He moaned, as the corruption took hold of him, forcing the Sorcerer to loose himself and permanently succumb to the incredible power. The Black Magic within him was getting stronger, but his mind and soul were fading fast. Nothing was stopping it, no last minute rescue from a Blue Blur, and the Psychic Link, well, the creature oblivious on the other end, was a good as dead, once the corruption was through.

But wow, it felt so good, but with literally minutes to spare, Sukko was rather abruptly, and extremely painfully, snapped back into existence. His brother's voice on the ether. It was so loud that it rang extremely hard, inside the Sorcerer's head.

Manic.

Calling his name. The Sorcerer screamed, unable to believe he'd fallen for the clutches of both the madness and the corruption so completely, but it was too late. He could successfully pushed them back, with his deep, internal raw anger, but he couldn't fight them off. He'd fallen too far, and as he grabbed whatever Magic he still had control over, in the darkness, he surged upwards.

In fact, he moved so aggressively, that his Sukko's entire body bolted upright into a seated position, with the most otherworldly scream possible. The Sorcerer's had literally forced himself to wake up, and as it worked, he was left panting hard, still sat up, on the dinning table.

Everyone has jumped, terrified, as no one saw it coming. Suddenly, their cheers turned to horror, as they realised all was not well. Sukko sat there, strong and unmoving, his long black coat, draped along the floor. The Hedgehog was no longer royal blue, but had a deep purple aura, now surrounding his entire body. His eyes, a deep crimson red, fixed on them all, his teeth gritted, a permanent growl on his face.

Corruption.

Everglade's when white, as the tears began to fall. Sukko's been taken again, and this time, the corruption had succeeded. Sukko was gone. His worse nightmare was coming true, and as the Wizard approached the Sorcerer, suddenly, he jerked and stuttered, coughing hard, as Sukko grabbed the Skunk's hand. He gasped.

"Everglade." He panting, heaving hard, then he looked right in the eyes of the Wizard. "I've got about fifteen minutes." He reported. But Frank swore and hard.

"Chaos hell, he's still in there." He gulped, but immediately, Everglade wiped away the tears and sprang into action. Somehow, and the Skunk had no idea how, the Sorcerer, entirely on his own, had smashed right through everything to come back to him. He could see it in his eyes. The Wizard nodded, grabbing Sukko's head.

"Yes, but he doesn't have long." He heaved, as he grabbed the Sorcerer's hands back. The Blue Hedgehog was giving them a chance, and Everglade was going to grab it, with everything he had. He wasn't loosing his best friend, without a fight, and he knew that by doing this, the Sorcerer, almost certainly had a plan. Putting his entire trust, like always, in the most incredible Blue Hedgehog out there, not a Blue Blur, Everglade growled.

"What do you need."

Sukko smirked. But it wasn't a narcissistic sly smile of pure evil, but a massive hint of pure sass, that could have only come from the Sorcerer himself. Behind those deep, dark, evil red eyes, Sukko was indeed behind them, fighting with everything he had. Right now, he had the control, but he had no idea for how long for, and he knew if he lost it, he'd never get it back, and the darkness and the corruption winning. Regardless, it hurt, a lot. He coughed again, as talking was rather difficult.

"The staff." He spluttered. Everglade ran. He knew exactly where it was. The staff he'd conjured back in the Greater Cosmos, but dropped near Tails' House when fighting Shads. Within minutes, Everglade had placed it into the Sorcerer's hand. Immediately, Sukko surged the Magic through the staff, making the crystal glow bright white. But he had to fight with everything he had, to stop it was corrupting through him, turning it deep crimson. He screamed with horrendous pain, as he grabbed the staff, with his other hand, and while being steadied by Everglade, Sukko physically pulled the staff apart, as he conjured two fully functioning staffs, one in each hand. He split the first one apart.

Suddenly, he exploded, activating his Super-Flight, as he perfectly hovered, crouched, just above the dinning table, his long black coat, flapping out behind him. Both the staffs in his hands, their their crystals shining bright white, ready to go. Everyone was in utter awe, but Sukko didn't care, as he had his eyes fixed on both Everglade and Frank. The two people, whom, in the entire Multiverse, other then his own family, he cared deeply about. More then he dared to admit. But then Sukko heaved.

Yes, he did have a plan, but there was no guarantee it would work, and that this was, potentially, a one way trip. Everyone knew where he was going. Cthulhu and the Greater Cosmos. They too had heard Manic call for him. The one that woke him.

Everglade nodded, again in tears, knowing this was going to be the last time, he'd see his friend again. But he let him go, allowing the Sorcerer to die with dignity. But as Sukko smirked again, before leaving with an almighty flash of bright white light, teleporting to the Greater Cosmos, Frank wasn't so sure. He sniggered, as the dust settled.

"He's coming back." He smiled. But Everglade rounded on him, crying his heart out. He sniffed and hard.

"How can you say that. This isn't an ordinary fight. Theres Magic, the Embodiment of Madness, corruption, and the strongest of all monsters, Cthulhu. He's not walking away from this." He cried. But Frank heaved, and nodded.

"Agreed, I'm not arguing with you on that." He declared. "But I know Sukko, and that dam smirk. Do you honestly think that those Magical monsters, he fought in the Sol Empire, were the only monstrosities he ever battled. He fought Eggman, the Metal Virus, the Mobian Authorities, Dr. Starline and his Replicas, the Robotropolis Underworld, Black Magic, Eggman's father, Julian, with Lazarus and Doomsday, and finally Black Doom and the alien race, the Black Arms, in rescuing Stripes, and all that before he even hit the Sol Empire." He heaved. Everglade blinked. Whoa. He had no idea about any of that. But Frank giggled. "Yeah, Sukko's the brother of the Hero for a reason. He's one himself, though he'll never admit it. But every time, he left for a fight, he gave me that smirk." He heaved, indicating the dinning table, the Sorcerer's last location. "And every time..." He added, to be immediately cut across by Tails, who'd been listening intently.

"He came home." He gasped. Frank nodded.

"Yes, but listen hard. It won't be in the way you'd expect. Something spectacular will happen. Good, bad, no idea, but I can guarantee, Sukko was walk away and come home, in the very end. Like he always has." He nodded. Everglade, still in tears, nodded and hugged the Bear hard.

"I hope your right."

The Multiverse – The Greater Cosmos

When Sukko landed in deep space, he immediately heard chanting in his ears, from the Embodiment of Madness, he was just about keeping at bay. He'd never heard the language before, and yet, he knew exactly what it meant.

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."

The Sorcerer growled. In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming. The chanting repeated itself constantly, getting louder each time, it desperately trying the grind the mighty Blue Hedgehog down. But Sukko resisted, gritting his teeth. Panting hard, and still in the horrendous grip of corruption, the Sorcerer finally realised he was in the almighty presence of the Great Old One himself.

Cthulhu.

But the monstrosity had yet to notice the Sorcerer's arrival, as Sukko saw his brother getting bombarded with constant attacks. Lines of deep black malice, sliced through deep space, towards him, badly cutting him up, but not taking him out. The entire cosmos was being wrapped beyond recognition, and the distances between everything was constantly changing. It was confusing but extremely dangerous, and Sukko was impressed that Manic had lasted so long out here.

What had saved him was his super-high speed reflexes, which everyone in the family had and Cthulhu had failed to sneak up behind the mighty Green Hedgehog. No matter what the monstrosity did. Be it, mist, fog, wrapping reality, Manic always saw him coming, and successfully blocked him. Being Chi, he just saw everything entirely differently to anyone else, and Manic was living up to it's name as the greatest of deadly defenders.

Impressive but one Hedgehog couldn't permanently stop him. Cthulhu knew it was simply a matter of time, before he began to tire. He smirked, as he saw Manic begin to stumble. There was not much left in the tank, and the Sorcerer knew if he didn't intervene soon, the mighty Earth Bender would also fall. He looked at the Titans, their remains floating all around him. He gritted his teeth, remaining as emotionless was possible. He couldn't grieve them. Any show of feeling would weaken his shield holding back the Madness and the corruption, which he seriously couldn't afford. His eyes drifted to the Multiverse itself, nothing but tatters. Incredibly badly damaged, but thankfully, as Sukko heaved with relief, largely intact.

It would recover.

But as Sukko finally faced off Cthulhu, in his ultimate, deep purple form, he realised that he didn't actually need to defeat the Great Old One. Sukko just needed the monster to leave, back through the tear, and never return, and the Sorcerer knew the was only one thing that would persuade the beast to withdrawal.

Him.

As Sukko perfectly floated in deep space, still surrounded by his deep purple aura, his eyes, a hard crimson red, he surged his Super-Flight forwards, and in a temporary lull in Cthulhu's almighty attacks, the Sorcerer put himself between the monstrosities and his sibling. Facing side on, he raised one singular staff, it's crystal glowing bright white and growling hard, Sukko knew, a simple word across his mind, which was guaranteed to be heard, would immediately cease everything.

{Stop!}

There was instant silence. Manic blinked, panicking hard, as the cosmos all around him, literally froze in time. He finally looked up, from behind his barricade, and saw the mighty Sorcerer there. He cheered with glee, but quickly realised something was seriously wrong. He gulped and hard.

"Bro?" He stammered, but Sukko barely gave him a sideways look, as his raised his other staff, using the crystal on the end, and then blasted a nearby deep purple inter-dimensional portal, and immediately indicating Manic to go through it. He'd needed to almost goto super-form, to produce a inter-dimensional portal, before with Magic. Not anymore. The Earth Bender refused, shaking his head.

"No way." He hissed. He may have been on his knees but he wasn't leaving. But Sukko growled, through his mind, his voice was so incredibly hollow and otherworldly, that it sent chills straight down Manic's spine. He hissed, extremely coldly.

{Take the others and go.} He ordered, and this time Manic agreed, as he went absolutely white. As he looked back at the monstrosity, he pleaded to the Sorcerer, desperately shaking his head, but to no avail. Sukko was already lost, and only his sacrifice to the Great Old One, was the only thing that would get him to leave.

As Manic looked over to the battered and broken Multiverse, he understood. It was something all of the Titans were willing to do. It was what made them all mighty soldiers. To sacrifice the one, to save the many, even if it meant one of their own.

Finally, Manic nodded, and with his eyes streaming with tears, he grabbed his all the floating remains of the other Titans, Saffie, Shads, and Kee Kee, and plummeted himself backwards through the inter-dimensional portal, taking them all with him, and vanished.

Cthulhu stared, smirking hard. Finally, he had arrived. His impressive challenger, the warrior. The monstrosity immediately stopped everything to bore down on this new arrival, and immediately smiled with evil glee. He didn't need to telepathically charge at the mighty Sorcerer, to know he'd already succumbed to his Embodiment of Madness. Cthulhu knew it was simply a matter of time, before this fine warrior would be his.

But...

Rather annoyingly, Sukko was putting up a fight, blocking him and hard. He could feel the Sorcerer's incredible strength. It was greater then the other three Titans combined. Sukko could potentially push Cthulhu back indefinitely. He growled. Fine, let's see if he can fight a war on two fronts.

As the Great Old One charged at the Sorcerer, he watched the Earth Bender leave. He ignored it, the real prize was ahead of him. He threw several Severes, only for them to be literally rebound by the Sorcerer, as he swung one at his staff's at the oncoming black malice, straight back at Cthulhu. Nothing happened, he was immune to his own attacks, but it was significant, none the less. The monstrosity leered, and hard, wanting Sukko even more. When the Sorcerer, finally retaliated, he charged up the staff fast and threw an almighty power shot, right at the Great Old One's left shoulder. He tried to avoid it, by warping space time, but Sukko's Magic just blasted straight through it and hit true.

He screamed, recoiling hard.

The incredibly powerful bright white power shot punctured a hole into the monstrosity's flesh, but as it quickly healed, he sent ripples through his deep purple, ultimate form, as he squealed in horrendous pain. Regardless, the wound was superficial, and left no lasting damage.

Sukko was left desperately swaying. That was a ridiculously high-level powerful shot, but on top of holding back both the Embodiment of Madness, and the corruption, the Sorcerer had desperately little left.

Less then five minutes, and then he'd fall permanently to darkness and never return. But Sukko had something left, one final act of pure defiance against the Great Old One. Prove that he was, indeed, the God Of The Cosmos.

During the temporally lull, of Cthulhu's distraction from the power shot, Sukko using both two conjured staffs, crossed them above his head, and using the most powerful Magic, ever cast in the entire extended Greater Cosmos, he sent an almighty power beam of sheer roar energy, right at Cthulhu's head. A cast of pure Telepathy. Realising from Everglade, that the behemoth was frightened of boats, Sukko telepathically tricks him into seeing every planet in the Greater Cosmos as a sea vessel sailing across the vast black ocean of space, right towards him. For just a split nanosecond, he is fooled by the illusion, and panicked.

In Cthulhu's terror, the deep purple ultimate form disintegrates, and he returns to normal size, as per when he originally came through the tear. He is growling and hard, right at the Sorcerer. But then he suddenly stopped, as he realises the truth. He smirked, as he is seriously impressed by the incredible Sorcerer's power. Never had anything ever telepathically overwhelmed him. He gets two words with the image. 'Home' and 'Leave'.

Seeing the Titans, they are just defending their home, Cthulhu now understands this. The tear in space time appeared above his home. The nightmare corpse-city of R'lyeh was built in measureless eons behind history, by the vast, loathsome shapes that seeped down from the dark stars. There lay great Cthulhu and his hordes, hidden in green slimy vaults. The tear had initially angered him, and he'd just gone charging through it, in pure anger, likewise defending his own home, and with a look of pure respect towards the Sorcerer, but he still doesn't leave.

He can still feel the Madness on the Sorcerer, and wants the Blue Hedgehog's power. Sukko literally had less then a few minutes before he succumbed to the darkness, just about holding back the immediate collapse from the drain. A Magical cast that immensely powerful, it should have instantly knocked him out. His entire plan rested on him going unconscious, before the darkness took him. But Sukko had to negotiate with Cthulhu first. It was going to be incredibly tight. He growled, still strong in his mind.

{If I willingly go with you, will you leave the Multiverse, and go back to R'lyeh, through the tear.} He cried.

Smirking with evil glee, Cthulhu immediately agreed, nodding hard. This Multiverse, had seriously lost his interest. But the potential the Sorcerer could bring to his ranks back home was enormous. How could he turn down such a willing follower. Finally, Sukko crashes extremely hard, and collapses, out cold, from the cast. Deeply unconscious, less then thirty seconds before he completely succumbed to the Embodiment of Madness, and the corruption. He was down.

He did it, just.

Suddenly, any and all Magic casted by the Sorcerer, in the area, not permanently set, began to dissipate. Both the two short but ornate staffs his used to fire at the monstrosity, disintegrated, as they were not Sorcerer's Relics, and the floating lifeless body of the Blue Dragon, Archie. The solid illusion, which had been abandoned by Manic, just exploded into dust, and vanished.

Now keen to collect his prize, and leave, Cthulhu, warps time and space in the Greater Cosmos, and grabs the Sorcerer in his hand, grasping him hard, he takes his well earned award, through the tear and home. As the tear heals up behind him, the monstrosity left utter carnage in his wake, as everything returned to normal. The Multiverse would recover, but was going to take centuries.

Finally, the tear vanished and the Multiverse returned to peace, but the mighty God Of The Cosmos was gone.

However, Sukko had an ace up his sleeve, one that he wouldn't even remember.