Soul Eater but it's Sonic

Chapter 30

"Hm,"

"What is it, Starline?"

Starline glanced away from the witch in front of him, then down the hallway across the room. "I sense that Sonic went rogue to take on the darkling himself,"

Tikal laughed. "I guess we can cross those hedgehogs off the list of players in this little game of ours,"

Starline shook his head. "You were hoping Sonic would become corrupted by the black blood in Shadow's system but he surpassed your expectations. I have confidence in him. You should be worried about your creation,"

Tikal shrugged. "If Eclipse can't kill those two idiots, he deserves to die,"

Vanilla's voice rang out from her weapon form. "How can you say that? You raised the child yourself,"

"I created him, but it's not like he's my kid. His job is to be a powerful weapon. That's all I need him for,"

"You really don't care if he dies?"

Tikal giggled slyly. "Oh my, I didn't realize you were so sensitive. You enlisted your daughter into the academy at such a young age. Are you getting worked up because we're similar?"

"We are not alike!" Vanilla barked. "Cream's life will always be impacted by having a mother who's a death scythe. The best I can do is keep her safe while helping prepare her for her future as a weapon. I want her to grow up with the freedom to live a life that makes her happy,"

"I don't know if I'm buying that," Tikal waved dismissively.

"Starline, let's take care of this witch already,"

"Of course,"

Starline ran in. He swung the hammer through the air, but Tikal darted away quickly. Starline barely registered what had made her move so suddenly when he felt himself changing direction unwillingly. The ground below moved until he was launched backward.

"What the-"

Starline kept himself upright and landed safely, but the ground below him moved again, launching him back towards Tikal. The witch wound up a kick that caught him midair. After falling away and landing on all fours, he coughed several times. He then saw what pushed him. Magical energy was concentrated at a point on the ground where he had landed. Little glowing arrows were moving along the ground in the direction he had just been thrown.

"You like my boost panel? They're quite handy,"

More arrows appeared beneath Starline. Tikal anticipated her opponent to be sent toward her, but he remained stationary. Then, he struck the ground with his weapon, sending a network of sparks through the ground. Tikal jumped, but wasn't ready for Starline to suddenly be launched by her own boost pad toward her. His angle wasn't ideal, but he caught the witch with his palm before he passed her. His soul wavelength blaster Tikal, then sent her into the wall.

"What?" Tikal's eyes widened after her body failed to move. She looked down at little white lines bounding the edges of her arms and legs to the wall. He must have also used these to delay her earlier attempt to throw him. "Your soul wavelength?"

Starline spoke while closing the distance. "Death Scythes are handy as well. Weapons this powerful make it easier for meisters to manipulate their own wavelengths,"

Starline readied his hammer for a finishing blow. A bouquet of tendrils burst from behind Tikal, severing the stitches. She maneuvered a fair distance away.

"I understand why the authoritarian rabbit is trying to stop me, but what about you, Starline?"

"What about me?"

"You have a murky history with the academy. You're also a fellow scientist. The hypocritical rules that the grim reaper imposes on the world are only there to hinder our pursuit of knowledge while he does as he pleases. I'd have to imagine you feel similarly to me on this subject,"

"I wish I could say you were wrong. When I was much younger, I quickly realized I was different then other people my age. So many things came easily to me. I never really understood why others struggled so much. I resented them; viewed them as inferior. It wasn't long after that I realized that plenty of the adults around me were a bunch of idiots as well. There wasn't much incentive to follow their rules,"

"You left the academy shortly after becoming a full time meister. Despite your success,"

"I had to ask myself if I made the right choice. There was no shortage of temptation for me to take a darker path back then,"

"You were right to ask yourself that question," Tikal concurred. "Being a lackey to the so-called Grim Reaper doesn't suit you. So why not join us instead? With your help, the kishin would be revived easily. After that, you'd have a natural world without rules that you can explore to your heart's content,"

"What makes you assume reviving the kishin will be a good idea? Do you really think you'll gain an ally?"

"That's the most ideal scenario. Even if the kishin has no interest in working with me, the spread of his chaos wavelength will still boost the abilities of witches across the planet. I'll have plenty of power to do as I please,"

"You think his power won't just drive you mad instead?"

Tikal laughed. "Don't play dumb. We both know that his power is simply the rawest form of chaos waves that witches are already attuned to. Ever since the chaos emeralds were destroyed so long ago,"

Surprise gripped Starline. "How do you know about that?"

"Because I've been alive long enough to see it firsthand,"

"Long enough to see what?" Vanilla wondered.

"The chaos calamity," Starline's tone was hushed until he began speaking across the distance between him and Tikal. "You were caught in the explosion that started it all then?"

Tikal nodded. "I survived. Became quite strong as a result. Although I still had to hibernate for long stretches of time to last this long,"

"You really waited that long? Why didn't you take advantage of your new powers back then?" Starline asked.

"My magic is also a very pure form of chaos energy, but it took time to develop. I decided on waiting for the Robotnik family to weaken. I awoke occasionally to poke around, but now really is the best time for a decisive move,"

"What's the chaos calamity?" Vanilla asked.

"A destructive event involving ancient, powerful gemstones. One that created the kishin and wiped out so much of the human race along with many other species,"

Tikal cut in. "The rest of the humans would die off in the coming generations. All that's left is the Grim Reaper, and I don't know if I'd call him a human anymore. Would you?"

Starline didn't respond. Tikal resumed speaking.

"I suppose my people didn't fare any better. Not many echidna's around these days, are there?" She threw up her hands. "Seeing that gauntlet does have me feeling nostalgic though. If he doesn't die down here, I'll make him my next test subject once those hedgehogs expire,"

"Your experiment on Sonic and Shadow hasn't succeeded, but you're still planning another? I don't think things will go as smoothly as you think, especially if Knuckles is involved,"

Tikal shrugged. "If I revived the Black Arm series, I can revive my tribe as well," Tikal tilted her head back after releasing a pleasant sigh. "Imagine it. A budding society of echidnas armed to the teeth with demonic Black Arm weaponry and magical abilities. I could establish a dynasty that would dwarf everything the Robotniks built,"

"And I thought I was ambitious," Starline chuckled. "I appreciate your candor, as well as your determination. However, I'm not particularly interested in joining you.

"Still clinging onto the Grim Reaper's failing legacy?"

Starline shook his head. "With or without the Robotnik family, I find it more comforting to exist in an orderly world," Starline's grin was sinister now. "Especially while I'm in a position of power,"

Tikal sneered. Starline continued his assault.