Blood Pact Chapter 12a

Continuity info: This takes place in the Archie comic's continuity immediately after the infamous #134("Say You Will", featuring what Dan Drazen aptly titled "the slap heard 'round the fandom" and Sonic and Sally splitting up…again…). Everything that happened after that issue is disregarded. The events depicted in this story act as a substitute for the events that take place at this point in the comics.

Where once was light
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say goodbye
Don't say I didn't try

-"Gollum's Song", Emiliana Torrini

Chapter Twelve: Upheaval
Taking stock of the scene directly below him, Knuckles tried to piece together what had happened.  On the one side, Sonic, Sally, and Tails stood in front of the rope he'd thrown down to them, ready to leave the horrible temple that had been a battlefield for the last few hours.  On the other, there was that strange bat Lilith, a goat Knuckles had never seen before, and...and someone…some THING…else.  A tattered mass of red upon which a floating skull rested.  It was the skull that gave Knuckles the most pause, because he had seen it before, carved in stone on the top of Death Mountain.  "That must be…" he realized with no small fear.  "That must be Daxis…"
In the sanctuary below, the two sides both stood in deadlock, each trying their best to make their moves without setting the other off.  Sally, Tails leaned against her body, was slowly guiding the fox toward the lifeline Knuckles now held with soft and subtle steps.  Sonic, meanwhile, stood protectively in front of both of them, arms cautiously spread out in a shielding position.  Like a tiger, Lilith stood crouched now, wings flexing predatorily every so often, anger clear in her gaze.  Amodeus had shaken his shock off and now held his staff tightly.  Then there was Daxis, floating still, eyes transfixed intensely on Sally.  His form was hooked, as if at any moment it would spring forward like a spear and pierce whoever was in its way.  "You cannot escape, Child…" he threatened, crooking his head to the side.
Sally, however, was unshaken.  She began swiveling Tails around toward the rope as Sonic swiped his nose at the Walker.  "Tough talk for someone who just got his ethereal ass handed to him!" he spat back.
Amodeus sputtered with rage.  "Your tongue's run free long enough, whelp!" he roared.  "We don't need you anymore, so it's time I did something I've been waiting a LONG time for!"
Even as winds whipped around the goat's body, Sonic glanced behind him.  Tails and Sally were both wrapping their hands around the rope.  Clenching his fists and tensing his body, the hedgehog readied himself to take the charge and give them the cover they needed to escape.  Then, in a heartbeat, the powder keg was lit.  Amodeus, staff now a pillar of flame in his hands, moved to strike, but Sonic cut him to the quick.  Blasting forward, he rammed the Shaman with all his strength, sending him flying with a yelp.  Lilith was quick to react, striking at Sonic with claws bared.  "RUN!" the speedster shouted to his friends, dodging out of Lilith's way and jumping just in time to avoid the sinkhole Daxis had made for him.  "RUN, RUN, RUN!!!"
"Go, Tails, GO!" Sally urged, and the fox began to climb as best he could.
Turning back, the squirrel's eyes rested upon Sonic, still dancing about through the many attacks of his enemies while simultaneously shifting their focus off the rope, but soon she too began to climb.
Up above, Knuckles tried to pull the rope up to no avail.  The two Mobians clinging to it were too heavy.  "I can…I CAN…" he thought briefly, but shook it away.  He'd learned his lesson.  Hiding his weakness did not make it go away.  "J…Julie-Su!" he grunted, still trying, "Help them up!  Quickly!"
In a heartbeat, the pink echidna was at his side, pulling the rope with all her strength.  Feeling her warmth at his side…knowing how close he had come to losing that warmth forever because of his stubbornness…it gave Knuckles pause.  Yet he did not lose sight of their shared goal.  Slowly but surely, their efforts proved successful: inch by inch the rope climbed up, and with it Sally and Tails. The fox came up first, stepping onto the cracked stone, adding his own arms to the effort.  Sally's form soon came into view, yet she did not let go of the rope.  "C'mon, Sally, we have to get out of here!  Somehow!" Tails urged, the last word a concession to the fact that he had no idea HOW they would get out; Lilith had destroyed the kunai they'd used to enter.  
Rather than follow that instruction, however, Sally remained still, feet pressed to the broken ledge of rock.  "Knuckles, Julie-Su…thank you both for coming to help me." She said, looking up at the two echidnas with a warm smile.  "And Tails…I love you.  So, SO much."
"Aunt Sally…?"
"This isn't goodbye, Tails.  There's just something I have to do.  Take care of yourself and the others, OK?"
Knuckles, Julie-Su, and Tails all stood stone still, not quite sure what to make of Sally's statement.  It became a bit more clear when she released her hold on the rope, her feet leaping off the stone's edge.  With an athleticism she had not used for some time, the Princess flipped back down to the Sanctuary, landing on the tips of her toes.  Looking out ahead, she saw that Sonic was still playing decoy.  Yet he was slowly being boxed in; the sanctuary's roof may have been all but gone, but it was still ultimately a confined space, and the less of it Sonic had to use, the worse.  Still, at the end of the day, HE was not the one they wanted.  He was a hurdle to overcome for them, and one they would dismiss without hesitation if their true goal was within reach.  Knowing that, Sally took a deep breath, than shouted at the top of her lungs, "DAXIS!!!"
Sure enough, all three froze mid-motion, and slowly their gazes turned toward the Princess.  "You…" Daxis hissed, eyes flaring up in intensity.  
"Yes.  Me." Sally answered tersely.
As before, a brief stillness settled upon them all, but this one was far briefer.  Body bubbling and throbbing like a flame fed fresh kindling, Daxis rose up like a serpent into the air with a howl that spoke of terrible evils.  For a moment, the Princess felt a familiar, choking fear well up inside of her…a fear made of nightmares and dark voices…but it passed quickly this time.  Daxis was still dangerous on a level few others could be, but he could not control her with fear any longer.  That was why she was here now: this was a fight she could not run from.  This had to end.  HE had to end.  
From below Daxis' body, the ground cracked and splintered into chunks, swirling up like a dust cloud around him.  Then, with a pulse of crimson, they dispersed, flying out at Sally with their sharp edges face forward.  Leaping out of the way, the squirrel found herself rolling across the floor as the stone knives flew about, crashing and shattering behind her.  "You should have escaped when you had the chance, Child," Daxis shouted angrily at her, "because now…you will NEVER leave this Temple!"
Even as she continued evading the flurry of rocks and stones, feeling the fragments nick her body along the way, the squirrel wondered what the Walker's plan was.  "Does he intend to kill me?" she wondered.  "I thought he'd want me alive to finish the job…"
She did not let it worry her; regardless of Daxis' plans, HER plan was to stop him either way.  Breaking out of the roll with which she'd evaded attack so far, she began running as fast as she could, stone still shattering close behind.  Yet in the corner of her vision, she could see Amodeus and Lilith both preparing to join their Master in the attack.  "Time to stop playing defense…" she thought sternly, beginning to change her direction.
She was not alone in that regard.  Sonic had not spent his window of escape from attack idly.  The whole time he had been backing away from the trio, hoping to put a solid deal of distance between them before striking.  Now, back to the wall, the hedgehog braced himself.  "Hang on, Sal, here comes the cavalry!" he thought before revving his feet up and around.  "A good ol' fashioned Triple Eight Peel-Out oughta do it!"
With a fierce spring he sped forward, fists outstretched.  "LOOK OUT!" Lilith shouted, her sensitive ears picking up the sound of Sonic's movement.
Though Amodeus and Daxis both moved out of the way, the time Lilith had taken to warn them left her without time to dodge the attack herself.  So it was she found herself rammed into by the hedgehog, moving at top speed and carrying her like a train down the hall.  As they rushed past Sally, the hedgehog's gaze briefly met the squirrel's.  It was a split second, neither one stopping for knowledge of the battle still being fought, but it was a powerful moment for both even so.  All too quickly it was over, however, and the fight continued.  "This is wrong!" Amodeus shouted to Sally, stepping forward in front of Daxis and raising his staff up defensively.  "You and Daxis are ALREADY linked, Child!  Why fight the inevitable?"
The Princess did not bother to answer.  Knowing Daxis controlled the ground around him, she instead leapt into the air, tackling Amodeus and grabbing at his staff.  If she could rest it from him, the Princess knew, it would deprive the goat of much of his strength.  "I beg of you, see reason!" the shaman growled in an oddly pleading way, "This is the only hope for our world!"
"I've heard that line enough times!" Sally replied sharply, feeling the goat's grip on his staff loosening.
The furs on the back of her neck, however, prickled.  The ground beneath the two struggling Mobians began to sift away like sand.  Gasping, Sally reluctantly rolled off the shaman and dashed for cover.   Behind her she heard Daxis' haunting shriek and heard stone once more begin to crack.  From above, however, flashes of light burst down toward them.  "The Source?" Sally briefly thought, but soon realized it was laser fire.
Julie-Su, beam rifle aimed, fired off another round at the floating spectre.  Knuckles stood by her side, Tails leaning on him.  "C'mon, Sally!" the fox shouted.  "Get back up here!"
"You too, Sonic!" Knuckles cried.
He tossed the rope back down into the Sanctuary.  Sally looked back and forth between it and Daxis, unsure now what to do next.  There was no way she could leave this fight unfinished: Daxis had to be stopped.  Yet in the Temple, he had the advantage, and though she and Sonic were holding their own for now, she knew they would never be able to win on this battlefield.  To retreat with Knuckles and the others, however, meant invoking Daxis' wrath on them as well, something Sally could not bring herself to do.  Ultimately, however, the choice was made for her: Sonic scooped the Princess into his arms, circling back and leaping up onto the rope as high as he could get.  One hand on the rope, the other holding Sally close to his body, Sonic then began to struggle upwards as fast as he could, Julie-Su's continued laser fire providing them cover.  "Come on, COME ON!" Knuckles shouted encouragingly, "You're almost there!"
"Hurry up, I don't think this is going to work forever!" Jule-Su added, watching as her beams passed harmlessly through his body.
The Walker gave soft grunts of annoyance at her continued attacks but, beyond light burns on the red of his cloak, showed no signs of harm.  Yet he made no move to attack the retreating group.  With an intense and unwavering glare he watched Sonic reach the top with Sally, climbing up to join his friends at last.  Amodeus lifted himself off the ground, a bit shaken at almost being submerged by his Master.  "My Lord?" he asked softly.  "Why do you not pursue?"
"They should be DEAD already…" Daxis snarled in reply.  "They should have died the moment I wished it so."
"Your body is…incomplete, Master," Amodeus said soothingly, but silenced himself at the reproachful way the Walker's body glowed.
"LILITH." He barked, watching the group above retreat down the upper corridor, out of eye sight.  
The bat, wearied by Sonic's unexpectedly forceful assault, nevertheless roused herself and stood back up.  "Yes, My Lord?" she asked.
"Pursue them.  Kill them all if you can."
"ALL of them?" she asked uncertainly.
The wraith nodded.  For a moment, Lilith hesitated, but it passed quickly.  "If only things could have gone differently, Blue…" she thought sadly before answering aloud, "As you wish."
With that, the bat took to the skies and flew after the others.  "Should we not join her?" Amodeus asked anxiously, afraid to question his Lord's judgment but unsure of just what he was planning.
"We have more pressing matters to attend to." Daxis answered firmly.  "Take me to the Deadlands of Northwood."
The goat felt his heart skip a beat.  "N…Northwood?" he asked, coughing a bit.  "But…"
"NOW."
Loyalty and fear overrode hesitation, and the shaman nodded in acquiescence.  Slamming his staff to the ground, the light of teleportation erupting from it, he only prayed that whatever they were travelling to Northwood for would not disturb those who rested there…  

              XXX

For all the excitement surrounding them, there was a stunned silence surrounding Sonic and the others when he and Sally finally finished their climb.  The squirrel removed herself from Sonic's arms, trying hard to say "thank you", or else chastise the hedgehog for forcing retreat on her, or SOMETHING, but somehow nothing came out.  Sonic too wanted to ask Sally what in the world she had been thinking coming back like she had, perhaps congratulate her on giving Amodeus a good thrashing, and he failed just as much as the Princess.  Instead, they both kept their gazes unfocused and away from the other.  Julie-Su, the nozzle of her rifle still smoking, did not feel so patient.  "Hey, sleepyheads!" she said forcefully, "We need a way out of here, right now!"
Both immediately snapped back to attention.  Sally reacted swiftly.  "I should be able to move us out of the Temple…I did it once before." She said, remembering her earlier escape.
Sonic, meanwhile, was looking back down the hallway toward where the Sanctuary was.  Why weren't they being attacked already?  The Order had the power to strike them at will in here, yet no one had yet appeared, and it unnerved him deeply.  It could only mean they were planning something truly destructive.  "Sonic!" Knuckles called to him, "Come on, we're getting out of here!"
The hedgehog turned back to see Sally kneeling before their unconscious team-mates.  Geoffrey, Hershey, Rotor, and the three Arachne all remained still and motionless on the ground.  The Princess was linking their hands together.  As he watched her help, the hedgehog smiled; she really WAS back.  It was hard to believe, thinking over the panicked and frightening memories that rested prominently in his mind.  After all that chaos, the idea of things going back to normal seemed impossible, but…there Sally was, leading like she had in the good old days, confident and sure, and it felt right.  "C'mon, Sonic." Tails urged, adding his own hand to the growing chain.
"Right, Big Guy."
Sally took his hand into hers, holding it tightly.  She too felt the warmth of memory in that moment, the comfort of these people who were such a strong part of her life.  To have that back…to have those constants thought lost given back…meant so much to the Princess.  It was how she had gotten this far, after all.  Again, the urge to say SOMETHING to Sonic reared up, but she knew escape had to come first.  Recalling how she had done so before, Sally focused her mind upon the floor, envisioning the Main Hall where the exit was located.
Then, from right beneath them all, Lilith burst out of the floor.  Knuckles and Tails were tripped off their feet by her appearance, but Sonic, Sally, and Julie-Su reacted fast enough to avoid the bat.  Despite her sudden and severe entrance, however, Lilith seemed oddly calm.  There was a resigned melancholy in her eyes, and Sonic, looking up at them from his crouched position on the ground, could see it clear as day.  Though it did little to relax his tensed and ready-for-battle posture, it piqued the hedgehog's sympathies.  Sally saw it…sensed it…too, and so, immediately stepping in to be the voice of reason, she asked simply but sternly, "What do you want?"
Lilith shot her a cool but contemptuous look, then replied in kind, "To make an offer."
Sonic gritted his teeth.  "No offer YOU could make is worth listening to!" he snapped.
Yet he soon realized Lilith was not paying attention to him.  She was, instead, focused entirely on Sally.  "You want Blue to walk away from this place alive, too, don't you?" the bat asked, tone blending loathing and understanding in equal measure.
Sally nodded gently, eyes looking straight into Lilith's, trying to gauge the bat's thoughts.  "Then here's the deal," Lilith said bluntly, "YOU, Princess, and ONLY you, surrender to me, and I will let Blue and all your little friends leave without lifting a finger to stop them."
"Not a chance!" Sonic snapped venomously, rising up and striding in front of Lilith.  "In case you didn't notice, we thrashed your Big Bad Boss back there.  We can get out of here WITHOUT your help!"
"You think that NOW," Lilith replied tersely, "but I guarantee your tune will change very soon, Blue."
"We're not afraid of Daxis!" Sonic retorted, not willing to concede an inch.
"In THAT case, you're dumber than I thought!" Lilith shot right back.
Sally had to blink as she watched the two bicker.  Just as before, there was an air of familiarity to their arguing, only this time it was tempered with feelings of unease.  The way Sonic and Lilith argued…it was just like how SHE and Sonic would argue…right down to that subtle but undeniable sense that beneath the frustration and genuine conflict, there was a spark of something more.  It was most disconcerting to see for the Princess.  "I'd almost forgotten…" she realized.  "The way the two of them were side by side when they showed up in Knothole two days ago…how close they seemed…"
Yet she steadfastly refused to allow such thoughts to sidetrack her now.  Instead, she placed her hand on Sonic's again, to let him know he had given Lilith an answer they all agreed on.  The hedgehog's sudden silence as he felt her touch made it clear he understood.  Lilith noticed him stop, noticed WHY he stopped…it made her blood boil.  Clenching her fists, she backed away from the group slowly.  "I see…" she said lowly.  "THAT's your choice?"
Sonic's only answer was a nod and a wry grin.  For a moment, the bat felt sorrow…but it passed quickly.  If the hedgehog was so determined to die with his Princess, who was she to stop him, after all?  Bowing mockingly, she said, "Fine.  Then consider this Goodbye, Blue.  I've clearly mistaken you for someone else."
"Clearly." Sonic agreed.  Then, a flicker of regret in his eyes, he said, "But…you don't have to stay here, either."
Everyone looked at the hedgehog in shock as he said that.  Ignoring their gazes, he continued, "I know…the person you thought I was…knows you, Lil.  You can leave this place, leave the Order, and still be happy."
The bat smirked, chuckling grimly.  "If that's what you truly believe…" she said bitterly, "then I really HAVE lost you…"
With an ominous glare fixated upon Sally, the bat sank into the ground.  No sooner was her head out of sight did the temple begin shaking violently.  Sally felt ill all of a sudden, like waves of nausea were overwhelming her.  "That backstabbing, underhanded…" Knuckles barked angrily, struggling to keep his balance.  "She was STALLING us that whole time!"
"Everybody, link hands!" Sally shouted, fighting against the cold sickening sensation that felt like poison in her veins.  "We've got to get out of here, NOW!"
                XXX

The unending gray of the Deadlands was only slightly livened by the column of light that cracked down upon it.  The light faded, and Daxis and Amodeus emerged into what was once Northwood.  As it had before, the sight of the barren land stirred up painful memories for the Shaman.  Before, he had been in control of them, hopeful that this dark symbol of what freedom truly entailed could convince the Child of the Source to give up her fight.  Yet now…now he had NO idea what he was doing in the graveyard of his closest, dearest friends, and their dying howls were fresh in his thoughts.  Even the fact that it was at Daxis' command that had brought them here did little to stifle that, and that too disturbed Amodeus.  "Daxis' word is law, I've known that for years now." He thought tensely.  "So why…why does his order to bring us here fill me with such dread?"
"This is where you and I first met, is it not?" the Walker asked coolly with his back turned, bringing Amodeus' attention back to the present…somewhat.
"Y…yes, my Lord…" the goat replied.
"The place where you saw the truth of your race and recanted your old Gods for me, yes?" Daxis pressed, the sound of hidden purpose in his rumbling voice.
"Yes, Lord Daxis…" Amodeus repeated, feeling his body quiver, a cough suddenly racking its way through him.
With frightful speed, the wraith turned to face him.  "What were your EXACT words, Shaman?" he asked sharply.
Another cough preceded Amodeus' answer.  "M…my Lord, that was…many years ago…"
"Your VOW, Shaman…" Daxis growled, eyes burning brighter.  "Repeat your VOW to me."
The scar over Amodeus' face burned like a red-hot branding iron.  Hissing in pain, he choked out, "I…I swear to you…your name alone shall be the one…I take in worship..."
"And other names which hold claims of sanctity?" Daxis asked, remembering his own words with the perfection of his timeless memory.
"F…falsehoods…" the shaman answered as he had all those years before, "Pretenders…Ignorant Gods…who do not understand the true value of this world Mobius…"
"Will you serve me loyally?  Speak my message flawlessly?  Carry out my wishes without question?"
"…Yes…I shall serve you with loyalty and faith…to create your new world!"
The burning in Amodeus' scar stopped.  Lurching over in relief, the goat gasped loudly.  "Hold that memory strong, my Shaman…" Daxis said ominously.
Amodeus found it hard to hold ANYTHING strong at the moment, though his vitality was slowly returning.  Nevertheless, reciting his vow had left him even more unnerved; there were very few reasons Lord Daxis would ask for such a clear and powerful affirmation of loyalty, and none of them were pleasant.  "We are closer now than ever to our victory," Daxis said, "If we wish to grasp it, we must make…sacrifices.  My body is incomplete, too weak to finish the job.  We MUST strengthen it to succeed."
"Lord…Daxis…?"
"Summon the Echoes of Northwood, Shaman."
Amodeus felt his heart freeze.  Bach…the troops…all the souls who had died on that fateful day…the Echoes were the last shred of existence they had left.  The rest had been lost to the ethers of time and death.  To take that away from them…to effectively kill the only thing of his friends that remained…it staggered the goat's mind.  "My…my Lord…is there no other way?" he asked desperately.  
"The Echoes are fragments of pure life force," Daxis explained, "and I know of no other place on Mobius that holds them in such magnitude.  Summon them to this plane so I might take their strength and add it to my own."
Again, terrible coughs choked out of Amodeus, trying to rationalize what was being asked of him.  Daxis had his reasons, he thought.  Daxis needed to claim the Child fully, he thought.  This was the only way, he thought.  Yet none of those thoughts overcame the guilt swelling in his stomach.  "I…I…Lord Daxis…" he wheezed in fear, knowing defiance was unacceptable, but…, "I don't know…I don't know if I can…"
He felt his scar begin to grow warm again.  "You mean you don't know if you WILL…" the Walker growled.  
"They are my friends, Lord Daxis…" Amodeus said pleadingly, tears forming in his good eye despite his efforts to hold them back, "You are asking me to…erase them from existence…forever…"
"Yes I am," Daxis answered bluntly.  "And you will.  Because that is what NEEDS to happen in order for us to succeed."
The goat licked his lips anxiously, still feeling that eerily alien moistness in his eye.  To create a better world…a world where War was dead and tragedies like what happened to Bach would be silenced forever…that was why he had turned away from Aurora and her teachings.  That was why, when he had felt himself hovering between life and death on the scorched battlefield and that faint, powerful voice had spoken to him, he had listened.  That was why, when he had awoken, a scar ran along his face to remind him of his promise.  That was why he had kidnapped an innocent young girl from her home and subjected her to terrible torture.  For Daxis.  He had done it all for Daxis and the new world he had promised.  In all this time, that had been enough.  "SHAMAN!" the Walker roared, all patience lost.  "Summon the Echoes!  NOW!!!"
It had been enough before.  It would be enough now.  It WOULD be enough now.  It WOULD.  Repeating that thought over and over and over in his mind, Amodeus nodded, blinking his tears and doubts away.  "Yes…Master." He answered.
Closing his eyes, the goat whispered the words needed to bring the Echoes forth.  "Tes'p Rof-wad, Coeshe, out'n sith nelpa… Tes'p Rof-wad, Coeshe, out'n sith nelpa… Tes'p Rof-wad, Coeshe, out'n sith nelpa… "
Again and again he recited the spell, each repetition a little louder than the last.  From the ground, threads of mist began to rise up, coiling like snakes around each other.  There were voices, whispers from within them that chorused together in a strange sort of blissful agony.  Vague faces and shapes pulsed inside the mist as it rose higher and higher, growing thicker and thicker.  "Yes…yesssssssss…" Daxis hissed eagerly as he watched them emerge.
Amodeus' chant continued, his eyes gazing only at the ground, unable to look upwards for fear that what he would see could crush his will to continue the spell.  Daxis opened his cloak, revealing the empty red interior.  "Come to me, Echoes…" he whispered hungrily.  "Feed your True God…"
They obeyed.  Without question or will, they obeyed, flowing into the endless red of the Walker.  As they entered, their moans began to distort and mutate.  The beauty…the twisted harmony…of their anguish vanished, replaced with pain.  Pure, unending pain.  Amodeus shut his eyes, wishing as hard as he could for that noise to just go away…but then, in one last gasp, he felt his mind reverberate with familiar words: "…Preacher…Man…"
"Bach?" he gasped aloud, looking up before he could stop himself.  
Perhaps it was the goat's mind playing a cruel trick on him.  Perhaps it was real.  Whatever it was, though, Amodeus saw as clear as day the tusked face of his long-dead friend in that final wisp of mist, only to watch it sucked away like water into a drain, melting into nothing within Daxis.  Growling lowly, the wraith felt the Echoes flowing inside of him, their power feeding into his own.  For a moment, he simply trembled, but then, in a burst of light, the skull ascended into the sky, body rising up like a towering inferno.  Caught off guard, Amodeus found himself literally blown away as waves of sheer force emanated from the blazing Walker's body.  Roaring inhumanly in pleasure and triumph, the demon glared down at his servant.  "You have served me well, Shaman…" Daxis rumbled.  "Now…we must return to the Temple to finish this."
Exhausted physically and mentally, Amodeus could give no answer.  The Walker did not mind; he did not need the Shaman's help any more.  With a bolt of crimson, both had vanished from the place once known as Northwood.
The Temple quaked at their return.

XXX

The trembling that shook through the Temple was getting worse, to the point where pieces of stone had begun to chip off the wall.  It was thus little ease on the growing tension that racked her body that Sally emerged with a gasp from the floor of the Main Hall, Sonic and the others still circled around her.  The giant gate loomed before them, the promise of escape in its open doors.  "OK, now what?" Julie-Su asked loudly.  "The end of the hall's the only way out, but it'll take us forever to get there with so many unconscious bodies to drag around!"
"I can run 'em out in no time!" Sonic answered, already beginning to scoop Geoffrey into his arms.  
"Are you sure you can still move through the walls, Sonic?" Knuckles asked, even as Tails' eyes found themselves falling to the floor; up until now, he and the others had not given much thought to the fact that Sonic's blood was what had gotten them into the Temple to begin with, which could only mean…
"He won't need to." Sally replied swiftly, responding quickly to the fox's distress.  "I'll go with him."
Knuckles nodded silently at that.  No risk that Sonic would fail, then.  Tails too gave a soft "mm-hm" of approval.  Neither, however, felt much more comfortable about the fact that had just been brought back to the fore of their attention.  Nevertheless, the more present problem kept them alert.  With Geoffrey in Sonic's arms, Sally silently crept onto the hedgehog's back.  His prickly quills were uncomfortable, but not unbearable.  Once he was sure she was safely on, the hedgehog sped off into the dark tunnel.  
The self-imposed silence between the two remained even as they sped past the ruined remains of the Hovercraft.   Before too long, the end of the stone hall came into sight.  Sally shut her eyes, focusing as best she could.  "Outside…" she thought strongly.  "Take us outside…"
Sonic leapt without pause into the wall, passing through it at last into the outside world.  It was strange for the Blue Blur to behold that world again with his eyes wide open, stranger still that his first glimpse was of a storm swept field that was the very portrait of dull grey misery.  Laying Geoffrey softly upon the ground, he immediately turned back to the trembling dome.  Again, Sally focused, and again, Sonic entered.  Back and forth they went, the quake growing worse with each trip.  Before too long, only one of the Arachne remained.  "Almost there…" Sonic comforted his friends, kneeling down to lift the spider up.  
Sally slid off his back.  At this point, the group would travel together sans Sonic's speed.  As soon as her feet touched the floor, however, the tight pressure in her gut restricted like a vice.  Taken by surprise, the squirrel gasped in pain, doubling over.  Immediately, all eyes went to her, but they had little time to react.  A screech, like the dying call of some unnatural animal, tore through the air, and with it came a trail of shattering stone, a crack that moved like a serpent through the ground like a bolt of lightning.  Then, from out of the bolt's edge, a tendril of throbbing red, like a fountain of blood, lashed out and whipped toward the group.  "Look out!" Julie-Su shouted, drawing her pistol.
The red wave crashed downward, causing the group to scatter.  Sally, still feeling her insides burning up, stumbled in her step, tripping over but quickly recovering.  "It's him!" she cried out through the pain.  "It's Daxis!"
Sonic, still holding the Arachne in his arms, felt the small ninja begin to stir.  "W…what…?" the spider mumbled in confusion.
Tearing through the stone floor, the throbbing red tendril lashed out again, this time at Sonic.  Dodging quickly, the hedgehog attempted to run toward Sally, only to be cut off by another thrash from the tendril.  "Man!  Just a few minutes ago, this guy couldn't even touch us!" Sonic yelled in frustration as he dodged again.  "How'd he get so strong all of a sudden?!?"
There was no time to answer that question, for soon another screeching sound joined the current one.  Before long, the first tendril was joined by a second, both whipping to and fro wildly, ripping the chamber apart.  "His…his body…" the spider clutched to Sonic's chest whispered.  "The Source warned us…his body can absorb life force…"
Circling around the chamber, even as it fell further and further apart under the continued thrashing of the crimson enemies, Sonic attempted to regroup with the others.  "Glad you could join us." he muttered sarcastically to his passenger.
"My brothers…" the spider coughed, body beginning to move more and more in Sonic's arms, "Where…are my…brothers?"
Another attempt to get back to the others thwarted, Sonic leapt back as yet a third pillar of red crashed out of the ground.  "Outside, which is kinda where we were hoping to go!" the hedgehog answered.
"SONIC!"
It was Tails.  Still leaning on Knuckles, who was clearly running himself ragged dodging the attacking tentacles with the extra weight on him, the fox's fearful eyes were cast to the skeletal throne on the far end of the room.  From within its bony structure, eyes of sheer flame were slowly emerging.  Taking notice, Sonic knew time was running out.  They had to get out now, or it was over.  "Hey, spider-guy…" he said, "how you feelin'?"
"Weak…but growing stronger…" the Arachne replied.
"Strong enough to go for a little spin?"
"Wh…what do you…?"
Before the spider could finish his question, Sonic bolted to the side as a tendril crashed down toward him.  Then, rather than try to head toward the group as he had before, the speedster took to the wall, rushing across its surface so swiftly it was as if his feet were stuck to the stone.  One of the tendrils took notice of his movement, hurtling toward him.  "Right on cue…" Sonic whispered smugly.
Leaping into the air, the hedgehog curled into a Sonic Spin, taking the Arachne into the swirling attack with him.  With a buzzing strike, he collided with Daxis' arm, quills spinning fast enough to cut through steel.  It was an odd feeling, passing through the Walker…his body felt like slime, thick and wet…but there was something else as well, something not felt so much as sensed.  Something chilling…something hateful…something familiar, buzzing in the back of his mind.  Pushing through it all, Sonic's cutting body emerged safely on the other side, chilled by the experience but still sturdy.  "Sonic, over here!" Tails called out.  
He had made it to Tails!  He and Knuckles were not far from Sally and Julie-Su.  All of them had managed to retreat closely to the gate as the monstrous tendrils closed in on them.  Suddenly, Sonic felt himself relieved of the Arachne's weight as the ninja swiftly leapt out of his arms.  Trembling a bit, head spinning, the spider tried to compose himself.  "Please…if ever you do something like that again…" he mumbled, "warn me first."
"Let's make sure there's a 'next time' for anything first!" Knuckles replied.
Sally, the pain in her body reduced to a dull ache, watched the throbbing claws of red with suspicious eyes.  As the others moved cautiously toward the gate, she could not help but feel something was…wrong.  The burning eyes remained in the throne, unmoving.  "What is he waiting for…?" she wondered cautiously.
Rolling out of the way as a tentacle smashed down toward them, Sally's suspicions only grew as the red claw tore down one of the gate doors, making escape even easier.  "Aunt Sally, c'mon!" Tails cried as the group retreated into the corridor.  Watching their forms fade into the shadows, the squirrel's mind raced.  "This is a trap, this is a trap, this is a trap…" her panicked thoughts warned her, but what form would that trap take?
That was when it hit her.  "NO, DON'T!" she shouted in fearful realization, dashing in a desperate attempt to grab one of them.  
Too late.  From behind her, all three tendrils rose up, merging into a single wall that knocked Sally into the corridor and blocked the exit.  "I can't merge through the walls of the corridor…" Sally thought.  "Now that his body's blocking the entrance, we're trapped between here and the exit…and if Daxis was trying to trap us in here, that means…"
The dull ache flared into searing pain again, confirming Sally's fear.  The floor…she felt something moving through the floor.  Even as the others turned back in surprise at their entrance being blocked, it continued to snake beneath them.  "Move…" Sally urged, eyes fixed on the ground.  "Move, MOVE!"
Everyone began running as fast as they could toward the exit, save Sonic, who maintained a slowed pace to keep the others in sight.  Yet none of them could have moved fast enough.  "Move…move, MOVE!!!" a taunting echo hissed from all around.  "Yes…flee from me, FEAR me…quiver in my shadow, as your kind has always been meant to!"
From out of the ground, from the walls, from the ceiling, crimson whips lashed out of the cracks and stone.  Before any of them could dodge, all five found themselves tangled up in the red, slimy tendrils.  Arms, legs, torso…all wrapped up.  None of them could move.  
"In the end, though…" Daxis gloated grimly, "you cannot fight Destiny."
Though his body was thinned considerably, stretched out across the hall as it was, the wraith still made an imposing figure as he rose out of the stone floor.  The blood marks upon his skull pulsed and shimmered rhythmically, as did his blazing eyes.  Looking closely upon the face she had so neatly memorized from her nightmares, Sally realized there was a beat to those pulses…her heart.  Each beat of her heart, and the marks…the eyes…glowed a little brighter.  Struggling against her slimy restraints, the Princess stared the Walker down as best she could.  Sonic too fought to free himself, grunting from the effort even as his eyes darted to and fro between Sally and Daxis.  The Walker, however, paid him no heed, focused entirely on Sally as he spoke, "The Source tried to protect you…after you first made contact with it, it sensed my presence within you and sought to insulate you from my powers…it failed.  Just as YOU failed.  Now…at last…I can finally reclaim what is mine…"
He coiled back, snake-like…and lunged forward.
"NO!"
Several snapping sounds.  A blur of blue.  A gust of wind swooping into the ground.  It all happened so fast, Sally could barely tell anything had happened at all.  Blinking for a minute, she quickly pieced together what had occurred, finding herself freed from Daxis' clutches.  Tails, Knuckles, and Julie-Su had been released as well, the tendrils having sunk back from where they came.  Flipping over, Sally pressed her hands upon the floor, trying with all her might to will herself through the stone.  It did not work.  "He took Sonic…" she whispered desperately, "that monster took Sonic!"

X X X
Down, down, down Sonic fell through shadows and cold, hands gripped tightly against the bony shoulders of his enemy.  Entangled in the demon's amorphous body, they plummeted down into the deepest, darkest level of the Temple, finally crashing on the dank floor.  Like quicksand, Daxis covered Sonic's body, pinning the hedgehog to the ground.  "STILL getting in my way, 'Hero'?" he asked incredulously.
"Call it a bad habit…" Sonic cough-chuckled beneath the pressing weight of the Walker's body.
"Fine…I'll deal with you first, then."
The wraith's skull and shoulder blades sank into the red robe, flowing through it and emerging again next to Sonic's head.  "Flexible little bone-head, aren't ya?" he quipped, feeling a strange vertigo as the push of the threads became upward rather than downward, as if the flowing form had reversed direction.
There was an eminent heat in Daxis' eyes as he looked over his struggling prey.  "Do you think you're stalling me?" he asked calmly.  "Think you're sacrificing your life to protect your friends?  Your beloved Child?"
As if pulled by an invisible string, Daxis rose upward without actually bending a single piece of his form.  Feeling as if a hundred tiny hands were pushing him back, Sonic nevertheless replied, "Can't…can't really say I thought it through that far.  Just knew I had to keep you away from Sal…'n' I did."
"For a moment, perhaps." The wraith whispered ominously, a lone tendril stroking the scar that ran along Sonic's chest; to the hedgehog's surprise, it stung as if the wound were fresh, even though it was two days old by now.  "But she will not leave you behind.  None of them will.  She will come back for you, just like she did in my Sanctuary earlier.  What do you say to THAT?"
"I'd say…" Sonic said, pausing a bit to hiss at the continued probing but finally finishing, "I'd say you're…ngh…in big trouble."
The tendrils tightened their grip on him.  "For one in as poor a position as yours, you sound quite confident…" Daxis growled.
"I've…hrn…danced this dance before, Skull-Face..." Sonic replied, doing his best to look the Walker in the eye.  "'Buttnik, Eggman, Naugus…urk…Mogul, the Xorda…they all had power too, 'n' they all thought we were nothing compared to them.  Same old…same old song 'n' dance…they lost.  YOU lost...because…"
For the briefest of moments, he saw all of them…his family…his friends…Sally…right before his eyes clear as day.  That was the reason Robotnik had lost in the end.  Why Eggman and Mogul and Naugus all failed.  It was an image that faded quickly, however, as the soft sensitive sting turned to sharp stabbing pain.  Blood trickled down Sonic's body as Daxis' claws drilled into his scar.  "Lost?  There is no LOSS for me, 'Hero', only infinitesimal delays!" the Walker snapped furiously.
Sonic tried his best not to scream, but the squirming tentacle slowly burrowing into his body made that impossible.  Howling out in pain, he thrashed about, trying harder and harder to bust out of the Walker's body.  Yet this time, there was no give to the crimson robe.  It held him down strong and tight, forcing him to endure.  "Crow all you want about the strength your bonds of Friendship have given…think all you wish of how deep your affections for the Child run…but in the end, your Blood is MARKED by my touch…and I can see through it into EVERYTHING you are." Daxis growled, a strange hunger in his voice.
Deeper and deeper the wraith's claws sank.  At first they felt like hot metal, but as they crawled down further they began to feel…cold.  Ice cold.  "L…look all ya want," Sonic spat in challenge, trying to ignore the biting shiver racking his body.  "You…won't…find anything…"
Yet even as he said it, Sonic felt the claws clench inside of him.  Shrieking out in pain, his mind filled with horrid images.  Charred trees strewn across a burning landscape…houses crumbling to ash…and in the middle of all, Sally was staring up at him in horror.  Antoine, Bunnie, Rotor…all were by her side, all shared her frightened expression.  "Hm hm…your time in my service wasn't the first time you've fought your friends, I see…" Sonic heard the Walker's clearly-amused voice over the scene...and slowly, he began to realize why it all looked so familiar.
Looking down, he felt his blood chill at the sight of his hand: metal where once was flesh, a blaster warm from having just fired jutting out of his wrist.  "Quite the thrill, wasn't it?" Daxis taunted.  "Getting to let go of your inhibitions…running wild with Power, no need to regard the safety of others for once…you enjoyed that, didn't you?"
"Being Roboticized was a nightmare!" Sonic hissed, closing his eyes and trying to will the memory away.  "I NEVER wanted to hurt my friends!"
Against his will, the hedgehog's eyes opened, and a stream of crimson energy blasted out of them, igniting another batch of Huts and trees.  "Yet I can feel it…" Daxis said, breath deep as if he was taking in some wonderful aroma.  "Buried beneath the fear and confusion, there is glorious exhilaration…"
The fires finally began to fade.  The cold, mechanized shell of Metal Sonic seemed to peel away like dead skin.  Only now, there was another familiar and unwanted image from the past standing in front of him.  Sally, Rotor, Bunnie, and Tails…all crumpled on the ground.  He was in the heart of the Freedom Fighters' base, on a mission for…Robotnik?  "Ahh…ANOTHER battle with your friends…for people you supposedly care for, you've come into conflict with them quite often…"
"Not…my fault…" Sonic insisted weakly.  "Robotnik…he messed with my head…"
"Yes…but you still DREAM of these battles, don't you?  You still think long and hard about what they were like…what it felt like to apply your power without Rules.  Without restrictions." Daxis whispered exuberantly, taking in the wondrously conflicted sensations pulsing through his prey.
He gasped suddenly, eyes widening as his claws sensed a deep, lingering darkness within Sonic's blood…a memory from another time.  The wraith's claws clenched, and Sonic watched as the world in front of his eyes morphed again, a whirl of colors dissolving one scene into the next.  This time, however, Sonic felt himself moving with it…his body and thoughts shifting into the flow of change.  "No excuses now, are there?" Daxis asked as this new scene set itself.  "This time…it was you and ONLY you ready to break those chains…ready to cut loose with all you had…"
Sonic was now in a deep, dank cave.  His body was covered in bruises and cuts, and a pair of hard and fierce hands were gripping down at his shoulder and head.  Pressing back up fiercely, animalistically, he could feel the strain of physical and emotional exhaustion gnawing at his very bone.  He was grappling with Geoffrey St. John, exchanging heated words with the skunk, but that was only vaguely known to him.  All that mattered was the rage…the blood-pumping RAGE that was the only thing that kept his body moving in that moment.  Sally was dead, the world blamed him, he had been chased over and under and all around and he was tired and angry and Sally was dead and…
"And you want HIM dead too, don't you?  You want to finally cut loose, let go, end it…you can do it…you have the POWER…"
"NO!!!"
With a sudden gasp, Sonic felt himself awaken.  The memory was still there, but he no longer felt like he was inside it…he knew where he really was.  "I'm not…" he urged strenuously, still feeling the sting as Daxis' claws probed inside him.  "Not…like…that…
The push and pull of the Walker's flowing form felt stronger against Sonic's body, like the pull of the ocean tide sucking him off the beach.   "But you ARE, my little 'Hero'…" Daxis hissed, his head suddenly emerging directly in front of Sonic's face.  "For all your pretensions of nobility, in the end your actions are NEVER about love or honor or duty…they're all about that next thrill, that next rush.  THAT's why it was so easy for Lilith to seduce you: because you'd grown bored of only applying yourself in the ways Heroism demands.  You were ready to find a NEW path, a more PRIMAL path that would unleash all the pent-up energy inside you and lash out against EVERYTHING…friend, foe, what would it matter?"
Sinking…Sonic felt himself sinking beneath the Red.  His breath grew shallow, the claws felt sharper.  "…you're…wrong…" he protested weakly, finding it hard to even speak anymore.
"I'm right.  And you KNOW I'm right." Daxis laughed triumphantly.  
Pressing his cold forehead against Sonic's, the wraith looked him straight in the eye.  "Tell me, brat…how does it feel?" he asked, sadistic joy dripping off every word.  "How does it feel to know everything you tell yourself you are is a delusion?  That you're nothing more but a bloodthirsty animal looking for the next Kill to sate his desire?  How does it feel to choke on your own Soul?"
Sonic's thrashing had calmed.  His struggles had weakened.  Though he still looked Daxis square in those blood-red eyes, his body was simply falling deeper into the wraith's formless being.  Daxis pushed him down, ready to feast on even MORE life force.  "Can you sense it, Child?" he thought proudly, eyes looking up to where he knew his true prey still rested.  "I have your friend on the edge of Death…come save him, if you can…"