Chapter Twenty-five: Desperate battle. Fatal trap. Prelude to Secret of the Fires.

Sonic crouched on the building tops, waiting for Tails signal. He, Riku, and Shadow were in position, ready to strike. How this would go, none of them knew. The Xeneth waited in the shadows, sleeping. Sonic was breathing calmly, Riku was tensed up, and Shadow was just breathing normal. Riku asked, "Are you sure about this, Sonic?"

Sonic replied, "No, but I know that we have to give this a shot. It's now or never."

Shadow said, "You shouldn't say that. What if there's another option that you haven't thought of?"

Sonic looked at him, and then asked, "What do you mean?"

Shadow replied, "I'm not sure myself. But, don't hesitate to retreat if you need to, Sonic. We don't want to lose too many people."

Sonic looked at the Xeneth, and said, "Okay...I'll remember that. Are we ready for the attack?"

Riku replied, "Ready when you are."

Shadow replied, "Same as him."

Sonic nodded and then looked for Tails' signal again. There was a slight flashing light in the distance, and Sonic took one last deep breath before saying, "Let's go."

They dashed towards the Xenith, and Sonic crashed into its head in a ball at high speeds. It awoke with a roar. Riku then slashed it along the belly and Shadow finished their combo by kicking its head downward with a mighty blow. It now stood up and swung at Sonic, who had rudely awoken it from its sleep. Sonic dodged, and Riku hit its belly again while it was open. There was now an X-shaped cut on its belly. It roared again, and Sonic watched as it swung at Riku. Riku leaped aside, and cut it along its paw as it swung down at him. It was now getting extremely angry, and Sonic knew that they were going to have to start being cautious. It suddenly blew black fire at Sonic, but he threw himself aside and through a window. The black fire melted anything it touched, and part of the road collapsed inward, turning into piles of magma. Sonic said, "That's not good..."

Riku attacked one of its eyes, but it swiped at him and knocked him aside. He slammed into a building and fell down, somewhat hurt. Riku stood up, groaning in pain, and then he was slammed again, this time being sent flying through a wall. Sonic called, "Riku!"

The Xenith turned towards him, and then a Chaos Spear hit it in the eye. It reared back and roared, probably attracting even more attention than they needed. Suddenly, Tails came over the intercom, "Sonic, we've got trouble! G.U.N figured out what we were doing, and are trying to stop us...we're doing the best we can, but this plan isn't going right all of a sudden."

Sonic thought, That's not good...

Shadow called, "Sonic, watch it!"

Sonic looked up, and then he dove aside at the last second to avoid its huge paws from smashing him into the ground. He spindashed up its arm and smashed into the other eye. It was now bleeding from that eye, and then it hit Sonic with one of its gigantic claws. Sonic rolled along it, and then got cut on the back by one of its claws. He let out a scream of pain and landed on the building near Shadow. Shadow said, "Maybe this wasn't the best idea?"

Sonic replied, "Maybe...I'm not sure!"

Shadow looked around for Riku and then the Xenith let out another roar. It's massive tail dropped to the ground and black blood shot out from where it had been attached. On the left side of the creature...landed Riku, covered in the dark blood. He said, "That should weaken it over time! Sonic, Shadow, I have an idea! I need you to keep it distracted!"

Sonic and Shadow looked at each other, and nodded. Shadow charged up while Sonic kept attacking, despite the sharp pain in his back. He rolled down its back, cutting it with his sharp quills and his super speed. It tried to flick its tail to knock him off, but it had no tail, so it failed. He rolled down to where its tail had been and then leaped off right as a huge number of Chaos Spears assailed it on the back like meteors. It swiped at Shadow while he was casting, but he merely teleported further away and continued his barrage. Riku got up onto one of the buildings, planning to strike at its eye, and then some. He had a protective mask on, Sonic noted, and he wondered what he was planning.

Shadow then got hit out of the air and sent flying a good two hundred yards away. It swiped at Sonic, and Sonic had to leap back to avoid being sliced into pieces. Then, Riku suddenly made his move. He leaped towards the eye, and literally delved inside. The creature let out a huge roar, which was suddenly silenced as it twitched. It fell, and Riku slid out of its eye socket, covered in even more dark blood. Sonic asked, "What did you do?"

Riku removed the mask, revealing that there was none on his face. He replied, "I hit it right in the brain, and cut into all of its lobes while I was at it!"

Sonic said, "That's all well and good, but we have another problem. We need to get to Tails and his group. I have a bad feeling, suddenly..."

Riku asked, "Why is that?"

Shadow came running up, and said, "C'mon, let's get to Tails, now!"

Riku asked, "What's going on?"

Sonic replied, "G.U.N knew what we were up to! We have to make sure that they're safe..."

Shadow said, "I haven't been able to contact any of them. I'm wondering if G.U.N is jamming our transmissions?"

Riku said, "That's...bad. C'mon, guys! We need to get going!"

Sonic said, "Follow me! I'll lead you to the G.U.N base!"

He began running off, with Shadow tugging Riku behind him with Chaos energy. Sonic was sure that this wasn't going to end well, and he was beginning to dread what was going to happen. They dashed on top of the buildings and began leaping from rooftop to rooftop to cover more ground faster. They're destination was the G.U.N base. Sonic kept trying to contact Blaze, one of the people who had went to attack the G.U.N base. He was gravely worried about her, as they had become engaged, after all.

Finally, they reached the entrance to the G.U.N base, and he finally got into contact with Blaze. He called, "Blaze? Can you hear me?"

Blaze's voice came weakly over the intercom, "Sonic...help..."

Sonic said, "Oh...god! No! Hang on, Blaze! I'm on my way!" He quickened his pace, outracing Shadow and Riku. Sonic had a bad feeling that something big was going to happen, and he was not going to like it one bit. He reached where he was sure they were, and saw them in the computer room, all of them, tired or beaten. Sonic saw Blaze being held up at gun point in front of all of them.

He called, "Let her go!"

The G.U.N commander himself turned around and asked, "Really? You think I would just do it that easily, Sonic the Hedgehog? You made a mistake coming here...and now you must pay a severe price for your intrusion. One that you, sadly, can't bring back."

Sonic heard the click of a safety on the gun, and he asked, "Wait...what?!" His eyes went wide with horror and he cried, "Wait! Don't shoot! No!!!"

A gunshot rang out, and for a moment, everything seemed to go in perfect, agonizing slow-motion. He saw the bullet ring through her head, the blood fly out, and she dropped. Everyone gasped in horror as the G.U.N commander stood there, a smirk on his face. Sonic's jaw dropped in horror, and then something snapped in him as the commander began laughing. There were still twenty robots, robots that Sonic would have a hard time breaching the armor on, and his friends were going to be killed next, he knew it.

The G.U.N commander said, "Kill them all!"

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Sonic looked up in a new kind of anger, one that he had never before felt. He first muttered, "You bastard..." then, he yelled, "No!!!" He leaped forward as one raised a gun to shoot Tails, and kicked the gun aside. With one motion, he spun through it...effortlessly. He went at a speed that no one had imagined that he was capable of attaining, blurring through the robots faster than any of them could track. He tore through the robots in a frenzied rage, his blur now golden. After only five seconds, he landed in front of the G.U.N commander, glowing golden like he was super.

The G.U.N commander looked completely bewildered, and said, "This...this shouldn't be possible!"

Sonic said, "You will pay for this...you son of a-"

The G.U.N commander fired a shot. The bullet bounced back and hit him in the forehead. Sonic glared and said, "You're a fool."

The G.U.N commander fell, killed by one of his own bullets. Sonic then calmed down and for a moment didn't realize what was going on. Then, as he turned, his eyes fell upon Blaze. He nearly choked suddenly, and he dropped to his knees next to her. He said, "Blaze...can you hear me?"

Blaze barely turned her head towards him, and she faintly whispered, "Sonic..."

Sonic said, "Blaze! I'm going to get you medical attention, and fast! There should be a medical compartment here!"

He picked her up as Shadow and Riku arrived. Riku saw the scene, and muttered, "Oh...my...god..."

Blaze whispered, "Sonic...it's no use..." She sounded like she was struggling to even talk.

Sonic said, "Don't talk, Blaze. I can save you! I know I can! I have to!"

He dashed past Shadow and Riku on his way out. He began desperately searching for a medical facility, but Blaze whispered, "Sonic...take the kingdom...they need...someone to rule..."

Sonic said, "You'll be fine, Blaze! Hang in there!"

Blaze finally whispered, "Son...ic...I...can be...brought...by...the Fires..." she looked up and whispered, "I'm...being...called. Good...bye...Sonic..." She went limp in his arms.

Sonic stopped, and stared. She had gone completely limp, only a smile remaining on her face. He checked her pulse...there was none. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he realized what had just happened. He couldn't believe it. He asked, "Blaze? B-B-Blaze?! Say something! Oh...god..."

He collapsed onto his knees, holding her. He looked out into the hallway, filled with trashed robots, and spilled blood, and then he remembered the plan. People had died to do this, and one of them...his own lover...his soon to be wife. He cried, "Why?!" His scream echoed through the halls, and Riku and Shadow, as well as the others, heard it.. Riku said, "Oh no...it's not happening, is it?"

Sonic let his head fall onto her body as he started crying uncontrollably. He asked over and over, "Why me? Why me?"

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The next day, they stood in a special burial place for the heroes who had died in that battle. Sonic was in a formal suit, tears running down his face as he read the list of the two who had been killed somehow in the battle. The first one reported was Blaze the Cat, his true love. The next...Emerald. She had died chasing Ixis, who had escaped their grasp before they could truly catch them. She had died fighting honorably, alone, against innumerable odds. Espio hadn't been able to reach her in time, and had disappeared after that day. Sonic said, "We dedicate these names to those who died for the honor of this kingdom. Blaze, queen of this nation, and Emerald, a great helper and supporter. Blaze...she and I had plans to be married before this point, but now they are merely memories to look back on..."

He couldn't hold the tears back. They flowed freely down his face, and his voice began sorrowful and broken. He said, "Blaze...she and I...we had just gotten to love each other...and then this happened...I don't believe it..." He walked over and placed his hand on her black coffin, and said, "Blaze...may you rest in peace...my love."

He stepped back as a sad song started playing, and the people in his group began to weep openly for them. Sonic turned away, not able to look at the coffin. He looked up at the throne room, and said, "She told me to take it up. So...I must...for her sake."

Riku walked up and said, "Sonic, there's still hope."

Sonic asked, "Why? No, there isn't any hope!"

He left, and Riku watched him leave, too ashamed to show his face. Riku said, "The Secret of the Flames...I wonder what that old man meant by that? And what did he mean by finding someone to my liking in time? Hmm...if it's the key to destroying Ixis and brining peace to this world for once...I'm interested."

Amy looked over at Riku, who didn't seem sad in the least. She was crying, and she found herself mad at Riku for not feeling the same way. Riku saw her glance, and said, "If only she knew that I'm beyond grief nowadays...and beyond hope..."

Several years later...

Sonic was king of that nation. He had taken over the rule, but he never was known to be happy. He said that he could never be since that day. Riku wished that he had just moved on, but he didn't. Riku didn't bother thinking on it too much. He just went back into the solitude that he deserved. One day...things began to change in that now nearly ruined world...

"What's this?! An architect finds flames in a temple that are floating without any source of wood? Also finds a tablet saying, "The Secret of the Flames lies within this...temple...where have I heard about that...secret of the Flames?" Riku asked. He set the newspaper down and looked out into the park. He caught sight of a midnight blue hedgehog girl seeming lost. Being a good person, he walked over and asked, "May I help you, miss?"

The girl looked over, and she was only about a year younger than him...sixteen. She asked, "Excuse me, but you have you heard of a someone named Riku-kun?"

Riku said, "Um...Riku-kun? My name's Riku, and if you're looking for me..."

The girl said, "My name is Kara. Please, come quickly. Chaos-san says that she needs to see you and see if you are the one she's looking for!"

Riku stared at her bewildered. Kara began dashing out of the park, and motioning for him to follow. Riku said, "Here we go on another adventure."

You guys are going to kill me for what I did, but don't worry. I'm putting up a sequel to this story, and I'm basing it a lot off of what one of my other favorite writers did. Btw, Kara and Chaos belong to Inudemon02. They are her OC's. Stay tuned for more stories by me!

Quick question...what rating would you give me as a writer? (Bad? Average? Good? Exceptional? Those are the choices to choose from. See you all later! This is DarkCloud...signing off.)