Soul Eater but it's Sonic

Chapter 8

Starline batted away Tails's first punch casually by holding up his arm, then letting the seat spin beneath him. The doctor stuck out his leg and tripped the young meister when the chair rotated back around. Sonic tried following up, thinking there was now an opening. His target merely pushed off with his legs so the office chair would carry him out of the way. Shadow's blade stabbed into the ground.

"Knuckles, let's go for a special attack," Tails yelled.

"Oh, I just love special attacks," Starline's eyes gleamed with excitement.

Tails took off the gauntlet, then threw it underhand so it would roll along the ground. Knuckles burst from his gauntlet form to attempt a strike from below. Starline did a front flip using the chair and flew over Knuckles, bringing his seat with him. After landing he saw that Tails had closed in.

"Miles Shockwave!"

Tails fired his soul wavelength straight ahead. Static fizzled throughout the air and crashed into the doctor.

"That kid can use soul force?" Silver gawked at the monitor.

"It won't be enough," Eggman replied.

"This man, Starline. He's..."

"One of the greatest weapon meisters I've ever known," Eggman hijacked Blaze's sentence. "He can analyze his opponents quickly and adapt his flexible soul wavelength and fighting style to attack or defend as needed."

"Using soul force against someone with that much control won't do anything," Blaze stated flatly.

Just as Blaze said, Starline wasn't affected by the attack at all. The static in the air moved into him harmlessly. Tails took a step back, unable to believe his eyes. The doctor grinned maliciously while he put his gloved hand on Tails's head.

"My turn,"

Soul waves ripped into Tails's body, generating an outline of archaic light around him. He screamed in pain as the attack rattled his body. His eyes rolled back inside his head and he crumpled to the ground

"You were my brother, Anakin," Starline said with a fake, heartbroken tone.

"Tails!"

Knuckles tried to pounce at the doctor, but the office chair slammed into him. Sparks flew from the chair, stunning him with a dose of soul force as well. Two fighters were now down, but the remaining pair started their next attack.

Sonic spun his scythe to feint once, then moved into an overhead strike. Starline kicked up the office chair and held it against the bottom of his opponent's scythe handle to halt it. All of the momentum stopped before the swing had even started. Starline had managed to break through Sonic's stance as well.

"Nice try,"

Starline rammed his open palm into Sonic's chest and fired a blast of soul force yet again. Sonic was thrown out into the lawn with Shadow still in hand. Pain in his chest made it feel like he'd just been hit by a sledgehammer. He coughed, doing his best to stand up. After leaning on Shadow so he could prop himself up, Sonic managed to regain his balance.

"Shadow," Sonic called out to his partner weakly. "I can't beat him,"

"Is that really you Sonic? I don't remember pairing with a meister who gives up so easily,"

"I thought he was just some scientist, but I haven't been able to land a single hit. Tails and Knuckles..." Sonic looked over at his defeated friends. Today felt even worse than his fight against Rouge the Witch. Was this really all he was good for?

"I know you're not planning on leaving them behind. If we're gonna die, let's at least make sure we're the coolest,"

Sonic laughed. He couldn't believe that Shadow was joking at a time like this just to make him feel better. A hopeful warmth built up in his chest that dulled the pain. He thought back to how Shadow had confessed to losing his memory. Being without a past must have left Shadow with a lot of loneliness. Despite that, he had been putting his trust in Sonic for a while now. Sonic felt stupid waiting this long to do anything about it, but the path was clear now. The air around them began to ripple.