I'M NOT DEAD! YAY! :)

Three side notes: One, my long list of reasons why I was unable to update FOREVER is on the bottom; two, for some reason, fanfiction is eating up the spaces between italicized words now (at least with MY stuff). If you have read any of my other stuff and seen the thoughts simply a big jumble of letters before I fixed it, I am terribly sorry. From now on, I probably won't put their thoughts in italics anymore…but whatever! Side note number three: one of you lovely reviewers requested that I post sex in this chapter. The reason why I can't is this—I am a virgin, and I do not know what it really feels like to have sex. I do not plan on losing my virginity any time soon, either, so no sex in this, or else I'd have to bring up the rating and everything! So sorry if that disappoints—I don't have a problem READING about sex, it's just that I can't write it because I've never experienced it, in all honesty.

But anyways, it's not like most of you actually give a shit about all that crap up there. So, here's the story! Hope the wait was worth it! XD

Chapter 18

Rivulets of sweat ran down Shadow's forehead as he glared at his opponent, wiping away some of the blood that had begun to trickle down from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. He spat on the ground to rid his tongue of the foul, metallic taste of it, watching as it left a little red stain among many others that littered the barren and rocky soil of the "training" grounds. His lungs were begging for air, but he was not going to show weakness as his ruby red eyes stared fearlessly at his adversary. Chaos energy crackled around him as his anger intensified with the smirk that was on his opponent's face, and, with a livid snarl, the ebony hedgehog lunged for the white hedgehog who was right in front of him.

As Shadow channeled his fury into his attacks at his offender, Janus blocked the blows with a little more effort than he had been before, because Shadow was attacking with significantly more power now. The warrior made from light dodged and blocked the fierce barrage of punches, kicks, and energy blasts that Shadow was raining down upon him with a vengeance. Frustrated growls escaped from Shadow's throat when he missed, and that only made him more powerful as the white energy flared around him.

They had been at this for a little over a week, with Janus not being soft at all towards Shadow. The black hedgehog was all too glad to comply to the fierce training regimen that he had set up for them, determined to prove to others that he was the Ultimate Life Form, and that no one was truly his master.

That was when Janus suddenly began to attack him viciously, and it took almost all of Shadow's energy to block the fierce attacks before he was able to counterattack with his own moves.

The two barely rested, and when they did rest it was usually in companionable silence—neither Shadow nor Janus usually had much to say. They would sleep, and then they would awaken early and train fiercely. Janus would only allow Shadow to see Aria every day for less than half an hour before returning to the rigorous sparring between the two.

Now, Shadow was getting officially pissed off as he continued to lunge for his teacher, and Janus blocked with more effort, and attacked with more ferocity than he had been before.

"The enemy will never give you a chance to catch your breath!" he told Shadow, who simply growled in response as he continued to try and hit the evasive white hedgehog who was his sparring partner.

You didn't think that I knew that? Shadow thought as he managed to get in a blow to Janus' face, punching his cheek and making his head whip to the side of his face. Then, after he took a moment to bask in his triumph, Janus quickly retaliated, and Shadow was knocked off of his feet as he fell to the ground, his mouth getting full of dust. Instantly, he leapt up, spitting the dry dust out of his mouth.

"Never get too cocky," Janus warned his pupil in a serious voice. "Overconfidence eventually leads to your own downfall."

"Spare me the damn proverbs," Shadow grunted with a roll of his eyes as he lunged once again for Janus.

"It's not a proverb," Janus replied in a clipped tone. "I simply speak from personal experience."

That sentence actually made Shadow falter a bit in shock as he jumped away from Janus, landing far enough to be safe from another attack as he looked at his teacher strangely. "Personal experience?" he repeated, his tone suggesting that he would like an explanation.

Janus looked at his apprentice, scrutinizing every detail of the taciturn ebony hedgehog who reminded him so much of himself. Janus was one of the newest of Iridessa's soldiers—the only one that was younger than him was Thalia, the youngest of all of them. When he was young, he had been slightly rebellious, but he had also been good. Like Shadow, he, too, was determined to prove his power and show that he did not need to rely completely on others, and he also got cocky when he got a blow in on his enemy.

And that mistake had damn near cost him his existence.

Janus sat down, and Shadow followed his lead as the elder hedgehog set his brown eyes on Shadow's own, thinking about how he was going to possibly explain his folly. He decided to start with the basics.

"It was not long after I was created by The Light and I was allowed to live my own life…"

-FLASHBACK-

"Our victor, once again, is Janus!" the announcer said as Janus once again knocked an opponent out of the ring, emerging the triumphant victor once again.

After Iridessa had created him and given him life to help fight Cimmerian's henchmen, Janus had not wished to live a life in peace like the elders of The Light's warriors had. Malachim preferred to travel alone, simply wandering and helping a few bystanders; Uriel aided in wars that needed to be fought and helped the side that was just, but made sure there were minimal losses; Phoebus liked to show himself to others, teaching people the arts of music most of the time, and also, rarely, the arts of healing, because he enjoyed being around mortals; and Numina was a gentle person who helped mothers with their children. Janus didn't want any of that. He wanted to show off his power to the world, knowing that he was powerful and wanting to brag to others about it.

Like the others, he knew that he could only be destroyed by a creature of darkness, or another one of The Light's soldiers—but none of them would dream of striking out on the other. Janus knew that he was perfectly fine, and wanted to have some fun and adventure in his life.

So, he had decided to become a boxing champion. He traveled around the world, competing in tournaments and always emerging the victor. He didn't even have to use his full strength when he fought mortals—they were simply easy to beat for him. Competitors from different planets would come to challenge him, but they all went away with a few injuries, but the main blow was to their pride. Janus was actually having a fine time—his winnings allowed him to live a life of luxury and experience what mortals felt. All he had to do was conceal his power, and he simply appeared as a white hedgehog with no special qualities whatsoever. It was actually quite nice.

"Does anyone else wish to challenge the undefeated champion?" the announcer asked the crowd, and you could visibly see people shrinking back from the mere idea of going against Janus. The white hedgehog smirked—he was going to be the reigning champion once more.

And then, a voice spoke up from the crowd. "I'll go," someone announced, and the voice, strangely, sent chills down Janus' spine. The voice seemed cold and detached, and on the verge of insanity. The owner of the voice revealed itself, and the strangest feeling of uneasiness came over Janus when the figure stepped up to the ring.

He wasn't an animal that Janus was actually able to describe—all he could say about it was that the figure looked solely like a demon. He did not have fur, but his skin was completely red, the dark crimson color of freshly spilled blood. His black hair was as pitch black as the dead of night, the color of coal, and curled a bit around his head, ending right by his ears. Out of his head were two small horns that curved upwards, and they were an extremely dark red that was darker than the color of his skin. His black clothing simply seemed to emphasize the fact that he was dangerous. A thin tail lashed around quickly, agitatedly behind him. It was long and thin, and it ended in a thick-headed arrow shape that seemed deadly sharp. His face looked like a human's, but his eyes were the frightening part of him. Like his hair, they were completely pitch back, and the whites of his eyes were pure, pure white, making the blackness of his irises stand out more, so that he appeared not to have any iris at all, just all pupils for his eye. Thick black eyebrows rested above those narrow, calculating eyes, and a sharp nose was set above thin, barely noticeable lips. He snarled a bit at Janus, and the white hedgehog caught sight of gleaming white teeth that were sharp, glinting in the afternoon sun, his canines much longer than normal teeth should be.

It was like meeting a creature from hell.

Those black eyes bored into Janus' own brown ones with such intensity that Janus felt that this creature knew things about him that he didn't even know about himself.

"I know what you are," the creature hissed lowly, looking at Janus with hatred in those dark eyes. He wore a strange, evil smirk as he added, "Warrior of Light."

Janus fought hard to maintain his composure, not going to give anything away to this demon.

"My name is Azazel," the creature continued, his voice so low that the others would not hear. "And I'm just like you, made by an entity of light or darkness. But I'm more powerful, for I was created by Darkness, not pathetic Light."

There were murmurs among the crowd, wondering exactly what was going on, unable to hear the hushed, one-sided conversation.

"I think that it's better if we settle this without any witnesses, don't you?" Azazel asked, an evil, crazed grin on his face, and before Janus had time to blink, people in the crowd were letting out screams as fires and explosions suddenly began to erupt around the building. People were dying all around him—

—and it was all happening in one single millisecond. Janus was too shocked to react at first, but then he realized that, somehow, Azazel was causing all of this chaos to happen. Furious at the lives that were being lost to this monster's carelessness, Janus let out a roar as he lunged for his attacker.

The two fought a heated battle—Azazel was matching Janus blow for blow, and they were doing it in full sight of whatever onlookers remained. The rest of them were killed by Azazel mercilessly. It was almost, to any spectator, as if an angel from heaven and a demon from hell were having a battle, and, in a way, they were correct.

"You are a fool, boy," Azazel hissed as he and Janus never got a hit on the other, always to block the other's attacks. "You went around flaunting your power—if you had led inconspicuous lives like the other warriors, you would not have been caught. But now…"

Janus barely managed to dodge the punch that had such force that it could probably have ripped his head off.

"What the hell's your problem?" Janus growled out through clenched teeth, having a hard time concealing his true power.

"I'm not the one with the problem," Azazel replied, easily dodging another of Janus' attacks. He smirked when he could feel that the white hedgehog was unlocking his true reserves of power, allowing a bit of it to go free before he shut the dam against his raw energy once more. Two could play at that game, and Azazel raised his energy once more.

"If you're not the one with the problem," Janus panted out as he barely missed another fierce attack, "then who is?" He managed to get a solid punch in on Azazel's face, drawing black blood from his lip. Janus smirked in satisfaction—first blood usually drew the winnings, he knew. He was going to win this battle, and already wore an air of haughtiness as he prepared to end this battle quickly, knowing that he would not need all of his power to finish off someone like this.

All that cockiness suddenly wore off when Azazel began to suddenly rain hell upon him, a fierce barrage of punches and kicks that Janus was unable to dodge. He tried to block them, but the warrior of Darkness was too fast for him, and easily overtook him. It took all of Janus' energy to even try and evade the sudden powerful attacks that were aimed at him.

A cry of pain escaped him as, suddenly, something like a knife dug into Janus' stomach. The white hedgehog looked down to see the sharp tip of Azazel's tail embedded in his midsection, completely impaling him, making some of Janus' own golden blood begin to flow from around the wound. Azazel wore an evil smirk on his frightening face as his tail twisted in Janus' gut, making the warrior of Light suddenly let out a choked gasp as he fell to his knees with the agony, grinding his teeth together fiercely.

"The one with the problem is you," Azazel growled in Janus' ear, twisting the deadly spade of his tail once more as he relished in the sound of Janus' gasps of pain and agony as the golden blood spilled around him, in stark contrast with the small bit of black blood that had fallen from Azazel's own body.

"You believe that you're at the top of the world," Azazel continued, as Janus sputtered, beginning to hack up his own gold blood as he doubled over once more in pain, unable to escape. "You think that you're the best at everything, that nothing is able to beat you. Well, I've come here to put you in your proper place—and remind you who really has the power here."

He quickly withdrew his tail from Janus' body, making Janus stagger forwards as he collapsed, his blood pooling around him as he struggled to stand up. Azazel kept him on the floor with the deadly spear of his tail, digging it into the small of the young hedgehog's back. Janus fought hard to keep his screams of agony at bay.

"I'm having the time of my life," Azazel hissed down at Janus, wearing another frightening smirk on his face. "And I have your stupidity to thank for it. If you hadn't flaunted your power, I never would've found you, and I never would've had the chance to kill you." He leaned down, his voice low, sending chills up Janus' spine as Azazel finished, "Now, what is the most torturous way that I can possibly end your life?"

When Azazel suddenly seemed to have decided on a fate fitting for Janus, a familiar voice echoed around the now completely deserted arena.

"AZAZEL!" boomed the powerful voice that demanded authority, the voice of Uriel. Janus managed to look up through his haze of pain and saw all of the other warriors standing there—Uriel, Malachim, Numina, and Phoebus were all there.

"That is enough," Malachim stated, glaring at the demon with his hazel eyes, the eyes that now seemed lividly orange with his anger.

Azazel threw back his head and let out cruel, vicious, sadistic cackles, the edge of his tail digging in even more into the small of Janus' back, making him gasp with pain once again. Azazel's cold black eyes were mad, insane, as fire seemed to flicker in their depths.

"Oh, coming for the idiot's rescue, eh?" Azazel asked, and then seemed to find this completely hilarious as he laughed maniacally once more. His laughter ceased, however, when both Uriel and Malachim were standing in front of him, glaring coldly at him. Uriel, lightning fast, had gripped the demon's tail and pulled it out, making Janus hiss in another breath of pain as he felt blood begin to spurt from the wound once more. Instantly, he felt warm hands on the small of his back, and recognized Phoebus' voice.

"Janus, just stay calm," Phoebus comforted, closing his eyes as he proceeded to heal his comrade.

Numina, who was now in front of Janus, placed her hand upon his head. Instantly, the pain and agony that he was feeling as his wound was being healed began to leach away from his system, replaced with a relieving sense of numbness that he welcomed gladly. Even though Phoebus had been healing him, the wound had still burned agonizingly.

"There," Phoebus announced, removing his hands gently as the warmth dimmed from them. Janus stood up, brushing his clothes.

"Thanks," he said gratefully, running a hand through his quills absently as his other hand felt his midsection, relieved when he did not feel a gaping hole there. He had known that he was healed, but his mind had been irrational at the moment.

Numina closed her eyes as she removed her hand from his head, shaking her own head from side to side. "Janus, you're very fortunate that we were able to sense your agony and fear," she said seriously. "If we hadn't felt it, then you would've certainly died."

"Yes, Janus, Numina is right," Phoebus reprimanded him gently. "If we hadn't been close enough to you to feel the pain, then Azazel would have been able to kill you."

At the mention of the warrior of Darkness' name, Janus' eyes unconsciously darted over to where Azazel was being fiercely attacked by Uriel and Malachim, both seasoned veterans of war, the first two warriors created by Iridessa. Azazel's screams of pain sounded in the youngest warrior's ears, and he winced a bit as he turned away.

"I hope that you learned a valuable lesson today, young one," Numina told Janus firmly, looking at him with her dark blue eyes, the eyes that were serious and slightly worried about him.

Janus nodded, watching as Malachim, Uriel, and Azazel all continued their battle, the clashing of heaven and hell in a great display of bright white light and dark shadows.

"NO!" Azazel shrieked, jumping away from the white eagle and echidna. Black blood was dripping all over the monster's body, and he was panting raggedly with the effort to breathe. "We will not be defeated!" he snarled, and then suddenly smirked, that insanity dancing within the depths of his eyes once again as he mockingly looked at the two. Then, without a word, he disappeared in a sudden cloud of black smoke.

Malachim and Uriel exchanged a glance.

"Let him go," Malachim said. "It'll be no use trying to follow his energy, and he's been terribly beaten. That is humiliation and punishment enough, and it is not honorable to fight an already extremely weakened enemy."

Uriel nodded, and then, both he and Malachim turned to look at Janus seriously. He fought the urge to roll his eyes, knowing that he was in for a lecture.

But, as he listened to the stern voices of the eldest warriors of Light, Janus realized that he had learned something very important today, something that would probably be one of the most important things he would learn.

In battle, you had to be focused. And, if you become overconfident in yourself, it will lead to your downfall.

He had nearly paid his life for that damn mistake.

Janus vowed to himself that he would never underestimate an opponent again, never have too much confidence in himself. He had learned that very important lesson the hard way, and had no wish of repeating it once more.

-END FLASHBACK-

Shadow had intently been listening to the story that Janus had been saying, his ruby red eyes sparkling with his interest. He was particularly interested when Janus had described Azazel—so it seemed that The Darkness did have warriors like The Light, but they were more like demons than angels.

"I learned the tough way that too much cockiness leads to your downfall," Janus finished, looking sternly at his pupil. "I know that you have plenty of pride in yourself, Shadow, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing—I'm just saying that you can't let it distract you in a battle, or else your opponent will catch you off guard, like I did with you before or like Azazel had done with me."

Shadow nodded, a grudging new respect in his eyes as he looked at his teacher.

Suddenly, Janus' eyes flicked to the right, and he wore a smirk on his face as he looked back mischievously at Shadow. "Hey, your girlfriend's coming over," he snickered a bit, sensing the presence of Thalia as she teleported over to their location.

Shadow rolled his eyes, standing up. "Please," he scoffed, "you act as if you've never had a girlfriend before."

Janus laughed, shaking his head. "Actually, I haven't," he answered honestly, turning away, "and I'm rather glad I didn't, either. Being single is just too damn exciting—settling down and having a girl is boring, in my opinion." He laughed once more, and his laughter suddenly died down into an indignant yelp of pain as a foot connected solidly with his face, leaving him sprawled on the ground.

"Having a relationship is boring to you?" came the voice of Thalia from above him. He looked up into her annoyed purple eyes as her hands were on her hips, and she directed her gaze over to where Shadow was holding Aria close to him, both of the lovers simply content with holding each other. Shadow had only heard the first sentence that Janus spoke before Aria had come running up to him, and he hadn't heard the rest of what he said—but Thalia had.

"Yes," Janus smirked in reply, knowing that Thalia was especially defensive of girls who were in relationships. Each of the warriors of light had a certain section of people who they watched over—Malachim watched over the travelers, Uriel aided and protected the warriors, Numina helped mothers and young children, Phoebus taught healers and musicians, Janus helped adventuring young men do daring feats, and Thalia was the guardian of maidens who were just beginning to find love in their lives or had found love with their soul mate. In a sense, they were like gods and goddesses, each having their own powers and protecting a certain group of people.

Thalia rolled her eyes in annoyance at the immaturity of her comrade. "One of these days," she said, wearing a coy smirk now on her face, "you are going to fall for a girl, and you're going to fall hard."

"Over my dead body," the white hedgehog mumbled under his breath, grinning childishly. He laughed as Thalia lunged once more for him, but he was prepared for her attack and easily blocked her half-hearted punch at his face. This commenced a short, mock battle between the two good friends, who were closest in age compared to any of The Light's warriors, and the youngest as well. They sometimes acted like immature teenagers (in the sights of the elder warriors), which was being expressed now. No one would have guessed, at the sight of the two brawling playfully, that they were actually two deities created by Light herself. They just seemed like two average teens having a mock fight.

Seeing her mentor acting so immaturely, Aria laughed a bit as Shadow turned to see the show.

"At times like this, they don't even seen that different from us," she smiled up at her boyfriend.

Shadow smirked. "True," he snickered, watching as Janus was being overcome by Thalia's graceful movements and attacks, often being mislead by her movements as they continued to pretend to fight.

Eventually, the two stopped brawling when Janus had jokingly given up, stating that the attacks made by Thalia were simply too much for him to possibly hope to handle. Thalia wore a triumphant look on her face.

"Choose who you mock carefully, Janus," she told him with a joyful laugh. "Next time, I won't be so easy on you."

"I let you win," Janus replied, pretending to brush it off nonchalantly as he rolled his eyes and hid his smirk.

"Suuuuuure you did," Thalia retorted sarcastically, her look saying that she did not believe a word he had just said. The annoyed look on Janus' face after she said that made her laugh. She always enjoyed slightly antagonizing Janus—he was just so much fun to tease.

Then, she realized that they had used up enough time from the day. She needed to continue training Aria, and Janus had his own pupil to teach.

"Aria!" she called over to the sea-green cat. At the sound of her teacher's voice, Aria turned her head and met the lovely white cat's violet eyes. "It's time for us to go," Thalia said.

Nodding, Aria quickly gave Shadow one last, tender kiss on the lips. "I love you," she whispered to him, and he returned the sentiment gently, his ruby red eyes gazing deep into her lovely magenta ones.

Then, she unwrapped her arms from around his neck and went over to Thalia. The female warrior of Light nodded gently to her charge, and placed a hand on the younger cat's shoulder.

"Bye, Shadow, I'll see you tomorrow!" Aria called, and Shadow favored her with a smirk. Then, the two females gently faded away back to their training site.

Once they had left, Janus turned to Shadow. "Come on, we must continue training," he said.

"Wait," Shadow suddenly said, looking thoughtful. "Is it true that The Darkness has warriors like The Light does? Such as, was Azazel supposed to be your equivalent with The Darkness' side?"

"That's what we believe," Janus replied gravely. "The Darkness has created warriors just like our creator—we believe that there are six of them, just like there are six of us. Thankfully, each of us is making sure that we are not flaunting our power, so that we will not attract their attention—as I told you, I learned that the hard way."

Shadow nodded, turning his head away for a few moments. More monsters than the umbrae and penumbrae? One that even managed to nearly kill a warrior of Light? His mentor admitting that he had done something wrong?

The ebony hedgehog then smirked a bit. Things were getting more interesting by the hour.

BACK WITH SONIC AND BLAZE…

With a yawn, Sonic's emerald green eyes slowly fluttered open as he woke up. Feeling the soft mattress of the bed under him, he grinned as he looked down at the lavender cat in his arms, what was truly keeping the two warm under the blanket.

Last night had been one of the most incredible experiences in the blue hedgehog's entire life. He had realized there were always exceptions to every belief. He had originally thought that he would never have a girlfriend, never truly love a girl, because it would only slow him down.

But Blaze had changed all that. She was an entirely different story altogether. She was not one of those girls who needed a boy to protect her—she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, as she was always quick to point out to others who believed she needed protection, such as the guards. But she was still someone who Sonic could take care of, still someone he could help. She was lonely, and Sonic could take care of that loneliness, could protect her from whatever forces he could, while not having her completely depend on him like a crutch. She was a girl who could match him for speed, who would fight alongside him in battles, who had been through everything he had been through, and yet could still be comforted by him.

The night before, they had confessed their love for each other, which had resulted in passionate kissing—but nothing else, mind you. The two were simply content with knowing that the other loved them with all of their heart, and would engage in more passionate activities when they both felt ready for it, when they both felt it was the right time. Not yet, though.

After they had experienced what they felt was utter bliss, they had simply stood on the beach, with Blaze resting her head on Sonic's chest as he held her close to him, his arms wrapped around her. Eventually, she had fallen asleep. Knowing that the guards, and probably Ares as well, would be suspicious if they found out that the both of them had spent the night out on the beach, Sonic had gently held Blaze in his arms as he picked her up like a baby, her knees draping over one of his arms ad the other gently held her back, and had dashed back to the palace. There, he had placed Blaze in her bed, and he couldn't bring himself to leave her. Not that night. So he had slipped under the purple covers that made up Blaze's bed and held her close as he, too, fell asleep.

The sun was lightly streaming in through the purple curtains in her room. It gently came into the room and washed over the features of Blaze, making her lavender fur seem to have a shimmer, a sort of mystical sheen to it. She still slept peacefully in his arms, breathing slowly and evenly. Right at that moment, Sonic knew that he was the luckiest damn guy in the world to have finally found his true match in life.

Suddenly, Blaze's eyes began to flicker open, her eyelashes gently beating against Sonic's chest as he looked down at her. With a small yawn, she opened her beautiful golden eyes fully, blinking a bit. At first, shock was in her gaze, but then she smiled when she recognized the face that was grinning down at her.

"Hey, Blaze," Sonic told her.

"Good morning, Sonic," she replied, snuggling into him a bit more. She had never felt so…complete in her life as she did now. At first, she had believed that she was destined to be alone, to never have a companion by her side, but now, she stood corrected. Sonic was always the one, she just hadn't realized it until very recently.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"Perfectly," was her answer as she smiled once more. Sonic wore his trademark grin on his face, and then he began to gently kiss her—going along her neck, along her jaw, to her cheek. At his gentle touch, Blaze actually began to purr—something that she very rarely ever did.

Eventually, though, Blaze pushed him away. Disappointment flickered within his emerald green eyes, and she laughed a bit as she flicked his nose.

"Sonic, we have to get up," she told him, smiling. "If we don't, then people are going to get suspicious, and I don't want anyone simply barging in here on their own accord."

Reluctantly, Sonic let go of her, saying, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Blaze grinned at the blatant disappointment on his face, and she went over and gently kissed his cheek. "It's going to be all right," she told him, smiling. She had never remembered a time that she smiled so much, felt completely on top of the world, that she was able to tackle and obstacle standing in her path. But, then again, she had never remembered a time when she had fallen in love. No, Sonic the Hedgehog was definitely her first, and, Blaze silently hoped, her only love.

Quickly, Sonic dashed in for one last kiss with Blaze, wrapping his arms around her small waist as he gently crossed the small space between their lips. Blaze eagerly responded to his kiss, her arms wrapping around his neck as he held her close, both of them in complete and utter bliss.

Sonic eventually drew away from her, looking deep into her lovely eyes.

"I love you," he whispered. The words felt so right, so perfect, that he did not feel any embarrassment after he spoke them.

Blaze felt something flutter within her at those words—no matter how many times she would hear them from him, she doubted that she would ever grow tired of listening to them, because, as she looked into his eyes, she was able to tell that they were true, not meaningless words.

"I love you, too," she replied quietly. Sonic grinned, squeezing her hand gently, before he finally dashed away, sending her a quick, conspiring wink before he ran down the many hallways of the castle.

Blaze smiled, shaking her head fondly at Sonic's antics. Why did he sometimes act like such a child, without a care in the world? It was a mystery for the ages, but she never cared about solving that mystery. It was what made Sonic himself.

She was unsure if she was ever going to be able to erase the small smile on her lips that day as she gently made her bed. Then, she made her way down to the library, deciding to do a little more reading, since her royal duties were done, unless Gardon told her more. Her small smile was unable to be dimmed as she walked down the halls.

Unbeknownst to either Sonic or Blaze, a set of dark gray eyes flecked with blood red were watching them from the shadows, having heard every single word of their conversation. A small snarl emanated from the figure hidden in the darkness, the protective cloak of the blackness.

"Look at what you've done to the royal line, Blaze," Ares snarled fiercely. "Falling in love with a mere commoner who you need to protect you. You're a disgrace to our royal heritage." Then, a cruel look came over his features—almost a smirk, but not quite. Much more malicious, meaning so much more ill intent than a mere smirk would. "Well, I'll have to do something about that, then, won't I?"

Then, he walked away, knowing exactly how to put his brilliant plan into action. Blaze didn't deserve any of the happiness that she was given. She had stolen his rights as prince.

So, he was going to take away the small flicker of joy that she had managed to find in her life, ripping it away from her while he forced her to watch.

That cruel look came over his face again. He truly enjoyed watching people suffer. After all, how come they deserved to be happy when he had seen his mother viciously ripped away from him, while he was powerless to do anything about it? How come Blaze had to find happiness, while he still found agony and pain, never finding true happiness?

If he wasn't allowed to find any, then his cousin wasn't allowed to, either.

OVER WITH URIEL, KNUCKLES, AND ROUGE…

"This is boring," Rouge announced as she watched Uriel and Knuckles fight relentlessly.

"Shut…up…Rouge!" Knuckles said, each word separated by a grunt as he either dodged an attack by the white echidna or retaliated with his own punch or kick.

The white bat let out an aggravated sigh, sitting on a rock as she brought one knee up to her chin, watching with disinterest as the two continued to spar. A little while before, Uriel had told Rouge that he would like to stop training both Rouge and Knuckles at the same time, and only focus on the red echidna's fighting skills. Rouge, who had been growing tired, eagerly accepted. Now, she was bored as hell with nothing else to do.

"How long can you guys keep on doing that?" Rouge asked. Uriel and Knuckles hadn't stopped fighting for about three hours straight. To entertain herself while they fought, she had actually looked up in the sky and tried to figure out what some of the shapes of the clouds were. However, she wasn't exactly in an imaginative mood that day, and had given up after she had seen about forty clouds that all simply looked like cotton balls. Then, she had flown around in lazy circles to explore the terrain, and was not at al pleased when all she saw for miles and miles were rocks, rocks, and, oh, guess what?...more rocks. After that, she had tried to poke fun at Knuckles, because she always found it fun to tease him, but, when she realized that it only pissed Knuckles off and made Uriel agitated, she gave up on that as well.

Needless to say, Rouge was running out of ideas on how to keep herself from dying of boredom.

When she gained no reply to her question, Rouge let out an irritated "hmph" as she jumped up, flying again. Well, if the boys were going to be idiots, then she was going to have to entertain herself somehow. Maybe…

A mischievous look came over her pretty features as she selected two rocks, fairly heavy, that would definitely cause damage. Smirking, she threw them up and down in her palm, feeling their weight in her hands, before she turned around, grinning. Quickly, before either of the boys could see her, she threw the rocks, aiming right for their heads.

Two THONK! sounds were heard, and Rouge snickered, quickly hiding behind a tan boulder. She turned to look at what she had done, and was grinning.

Knuckles and Uriel had abruptly stopped their sparring. The red echidna seemed to be positively fuming as a large bump from the rock flamed up on his skull, and Uriel was positively dumbfounded as he reached up to touch his head, where a similar inflamed bump was on his own head.

Their expressions were so damn hilarious that Rouge was struggling not to die from laughter now as she held it in, her hands clamping tightly over her mouth as she prevented the laughs from leaving her with very strict self-discipline.

"ROUGE!" Knuckles instantly shouted, enraged, knowing that the damned white bat was the only one who could've done this. His right eye was twitching, his fists clenched, his teeth grinding together, the brief moment right after the outburst before the even longer outburst came.

"COME OUT OF HIDING, YOU DAMN COWARD! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SO SCARED OF, YOU LITTLE BITCH? COME OUT HERE SO I CAN BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU!"

It was too much. Instantly, Rouge began to crack up, falling down to the dusty ground as she clutched her middle, tears streaming down her cheeks in her mirth as she laughed uncontrollably. This only made Knuckles angrier.

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?" he demanded.

"Yes," Rouge managed to get out, before she broke down in peals of laughter once more. He always blew up over the littlest things and screamed the most hilarious things in return. Of course, his hot temper was definitely one of the reasons that she liked him.

"I SWEAR, I—" Knuckles was cut off from his rant by Uriel, who actually betrayed a small laugh at Rouge's antics.

"It seems that we completely forgot about Rouge, my boy," the off-white echidna said, grinning at his pupil. "It's probably a mistake that we will not make again."

Surprised, Knuckles' violet eyes turned to his teacher. He hadn't expected Uriel to actually find this situation humorous. In fact, Uriel seemed to barely have an existing sense of humor at all.

"You see, Rouge has just taught us something else very important in battle," Uriel said, nodding to himself. At the mention of her name so much, Rouge managed to control her laughter, looking at the two male echidnas as she came out of her hiding spot, knowing that Knuckles wouldn't actually go through with his threats to kill her.

It made her smirk a bit, knowing that the worst things would ever come to was him throwing a punch at her, and her retaliating. When she gained the upper hand, however, she often became playful. Usually, when she had the higher position, she often engaged Knuckles in a sudden, intense make-out-fest, and things usually went off track from there…

She smirked again at the memory.

"You see, my boy," Uriel began, looking at Knuckles, "we always have to remember to stay on our guard. Rouge here showed us a perfect example."

"I did?" Rouge asked, looking at the ageless echidna in awe. And all she wanted to do was piss a certain red echidna off, and now she was being complimented for whacking both of them on the sides of their heads with rocks. Things never ceased to amaze her at times like this.

"Even though it may seem that you are fighting only one enemy, there may very well be more than one," Uriel told his charge, a smile actually playing with his normally serious features. "Because both of us were locked in intense battle, having completely forgotten about Rouge, she took the perfect moment to strike, catching both of us off our guard. In battle, you always have to make sure to watch your surroundings, and ignoring your other potential opponents can easily be a very fatal mistake."

Knuckles nodded solemnly, listening to each word his teacher had to say with the utmost attentiveness. Uriel had gained Knuckles' respect when he showed that he wasn't going to screw around with Knuckles in training, and always pushed Knuckles to his limit. The way that he didn't hold back anything to "protect" Knuckles from getting hurt was always something that the young echidna respected about Uriel.

"Now," Uriel announced, standing up once more. "Let's continue our—"

Abruptly, he stopped, his sharp gray eyes instantly darting to the side, and he quickly turned around. When he didn't speak, his eyes fixed on something in the distance that he seemed to be focusing immensely on, a sudden feeling of dread washed over Knuckles and Rouge. The white bat went over to her boyfriend on instinct, and he wrapped his arm around her waist almost impulsively, trying to slightly shield her body with his own. Sure, they fought a lot, but they truly cared for each other, and Knuckles would be sure to protect Rouge, who was significantly weaker than him.

Suddenly, Rouge let out a shriek when a shadowy figure appeared before them, clutching Knuckles tighter. Knuckles looked forward, his violet eyes serious as the shadow began to take a much more solid form than the umbrae and penumbrae did, and Uriel's eyes widened the slightest bit.

No…was the single word that went through his mind. But how? How could The Darkness regain so much power in so little time…?

The dark shadow finally became solid, a solid figure, completely hideous and beautiful at the same time.

Standing in front of the three was a coal-black falcon. His onyx feathers were tipped with silver, glinting a bit in the afternoon sunlight, giving off the appearance that they were razor sharp, like knives. Sharp, lethal talons were golden in color, the long, curved claws seeming even more lethal because of the eerie glint that they had in the light of the great, life-giving star. The beautiful feathers were splotched every now and then with a dark gray color, speckled randomly throughout the feathers of the great bird, which was as large as quite a few houses, blocking out a bit of the sunlight from its great shadow. His head was surrounded by a few feathers, almost encircling him like a lion's mane, but not quite. Those feathers were gray and black, alternating their color in a steady pattern of obsidian and silver. His curved, sharp beak was also golden, and its color was so rich that it seemed that both the beak and the talons were made from the pure metal. His eyes were angled and threatening, colored dark, dark red, the color of freshly spilled blood. The position that the falcon was in made it seem like he was ready to attack, with his body leaning slightly forward over his long, powerful, muscular legs, and his wings extended to their full length—easily more than a dozen feet in their wingspan. Those red eyes seemed to glare right into the souls of the three who were standing in front of him.

Uriel broke the silence by letting out a growl, making the falcon whip his head, using his slightly long neck to cock his head to the side, setting his terrible gaze upon the eldest one of the small group.

"Lucifer," Uriel snarled out, unintentionally revealing his sharp canines.

"Uriel," the falcon, who Uriel had called Lucifer, spat out as well, as if it was the most disgusting thing in the world. His voice was, surprisingly, both melodious and grating at the same time, beautiful and terrible, much like his appearance. It was as if his voice was musical, and yet, there were dissonant sounds within his vocal chords as well.

"What're you doing here?" Uriel demanded, glaring with his gray eyes, which were now steely cold, right back at the falcon.

Lucifer reared his head back, letting out a strange sound between a squawk, a scream, and a laugh. It was hard to tell which he was doing, however. "Oh, you think that my master is so weak that he wouldn't be able to form us?" he asked Uriel tauntingly, turning his gaze so that he could once again meet Uriel's gaze.

"After the beating The Light gave him, I'm surprised that he didn't go running into hiding, trying to lick his own wounds before he used his energy in creating you," Uriel shot back.

Lucifer glared at him once more, his great, majestic wings flapping up and down a bit, causing a small breeze to rush through the barren landscape. "The Darkness is more powerful than you can ever imagine. However, he is unable to feed off the energy of this world anymore, because of what The Light—" he spat those two words out with even more disdain and revulsion than he had with Uriel's own name "—has done, placing a protective seal over this world."

"You know that you've lost, Lucifer," Uriel said. "You may as well so scurrying back to your master."

Lucifer let out a shriek, a terrible sound that was like fingernails raking across a chalkboard, harshly, as he drew his great head back. Uriel actually smirked in response to his reaction.

"You think that you're so powerful, simply because you were made by the precious Light?" Lucifer hissed. "You're a weakling compared to our power."

"I doubt that," Uriel replied, quickly and confidently.

Lucifer let out another enraged hiss, and then swiveled his large head in the direction of the two teenagers. Knuckles instantly tensed, his grip on Rouge inadvertently becoming tighter as she looked at the monster with wide turquoise eyes that were actually betraying the smallest amount of fear.

"Ha!" Lucifer let out a large, barking laugh, sounding terrible and also musical, the way that his voice always seemed to be. "Is this what your precious Light is resorting to as her warriors? Mere mortals? How imbecilic can one be?" This was followed by another cruel laugh.

"Do not mock my creator," Uriel nearly snarled, his anger making him nearly bristle with rage.

"I have a right to mock her. My master is not nearly as idiot as she is, apparently, to actually recruit mere mortals to do his bidding!" Lucifer laughed once again.

Uriel was growling dangerously, glaring fiercely at Lucifer. The great falcon-like creature continued to laugh, seeming slightly off, not all there, as if he was mad.

"Do you wish to test your strength? Are you so eager to lose your life?" Uriel asked him, snarling. "You have insulted The Light, Iridessa. For that, you shall pay dearly."

This made Lucifer cackle even more. "It should be I asking you that question, Uriel. How many times have your precious warriors mocked my master? How many times have you all insulted The Darkness, Cimmerian, and called us weak? You're the one who's going to pay."

"Knuckles, Rouge," Uriel said hurriedly, looking towards his two charges. "Find someplace to hide. This battle is beyond you. Do not come until I ask for your assistance."

"I can't simply leave you!" Knuckles objected heatedly.

"Knuckles, your courage and bravery are to be admired," Uriel told him, "but this battle is one that is too far ahead, even for you, right at this moment. But, you shall get your chance to fight, I promise you."

"Why are you stalling, Uriel?" Lucifer asked, cackling evilly. "It seemed that you were readily eager to insult my master and my comrades before. Where have your meaningless words gone?"

"Oh, they weren't meaningless," Uriel growled out. "I meant every single damn word I said, you coward."

Lucifer's twisted sense of humor disappeared in that instant, his terrible eyes, the color of crimson blood just spilled on the battlefield, became harder and more intense as they glared once more at the echidna, his attention diverted from Knuckles and Rouge. Knuckles took this time to dodge behind a boulder, bringing Rouge with him, making sure that they were concealed. He hated running away like a damn coward, but it was what his master said. And something about Lucifer made Knuckles uneasy, which did not promote him to try and attack him.

"Uriel, choose your words wisely. Do you wish to ignite my anger? So eager to reach your death?" the great falcon challenged, letting out another hiss.

"I won't be the one dying today," Uriel replied, getting into a battle stance. "I'm not sure if I would say the same if I was in your position, however."

Lucifer reared back, letting out another terrible scream. He pushed himself off of the dusty ground, using his great, powerful wings to lift his body off of the ground, creating huge gusts of wind below him. His anger knew no bounds as his shrieks echoed on the barren landscape, the dust swirling around with each beat of his strong wings as he flew up, nearly hiding the sun.

Then, he began to dive down, his talons extended, screaming once more in rage as he lunged at Uriel.

Once again, I'M NOT DEAD! Yay, happy day! And happy New Year, everybody!

So, anyways, here's my list of excuses (if you honestly wanna know): School. That's it. School. So much damn homework and all that bullshit, ya know? And also, remember how I said I have writer's block? Well, that writer's block has suddenly manifested from a small block to a huge-ass brick wall that is damn nearly impenetrable, if you get what I'm saying. Like, around the middle of this chappie, I suddenly went blank and didn't try to write again for another two months because I had no flippin clue what to do. And also…hey, that's really it. Sorry, no more excuses. Please don't kill me for the cliffy!

Oh, and also, for you guys who don't know, I've started up another story—Academy for Mutants! It's another Sonic fanfic, so, if you have the time and like this one, then please give that one a chance!

Anyways, I've wasted enough time! Once again, I have no idea when the next update will be—if it'll be within two weeks or if it's gonna be in another four months like how long THIS update took. Well, I hope that you guys don't mind, and that this is enough. Please review, everyone! I really enjoy hearing what you think! :)