Soul Eater but it's Sonic

Chapter 62

Shadow felt a strange animosity toward reality now that he was seeing Mephiles standing before him with a body of his own.

"This isn't possible," Shadow barked. "You're just a figment of my mind,"

"Clearly that's not true, seeing as how I'm standing right here," Mephiles crossed his arms. His expression and tone bordered on being flirtatious. "Why don't you try another explanation?"

"You're a weapon created by Black Doom. One that was forgotten,"

"Wrong again. Although I certainly was forgotten," Mephiles walked on his pointed, crystalline legs. A quiet clinking came from his steps. "I manifested long ago, when the world was a very different place. Before Black Doom even existed,"

"That doesn't make sense. You were in my dreams, you spoke to me while I was awake, too. You shouldn't be able to link with my mind or Eclipses unless you're a Black Arm weapon,"

"Don't be silly, Shadow. You're viewing this in a very simplistic fashion," Mephiles waved a hand through the air. "The Black Arm series is simply a category created by the people of this world so they can feel better about something they don't understand. Think about it. You and Eclipse are both so unique, yet you're both lumped together. Why is that? Why do you think people treat you so differently?"

Although Shadow was flustered, the answer stood clear in his mind.

"Fear,"

"We do think alike after all," Mephiles stated with pleasure. "Neither of us should be bound by people's flawed perception of what weapons can and can't be. The reason I can do all those things you mentioned isn't because I fit into some pointless label, it's because I have dominion over the dark powers of this world. More than Black Doom ever dreamed of having. Or at least, I did until I was defeated. I kept myself from dying completely and part of me lingered on for some time,"

Shadow pointed at the kishin. "And he brought you back?"

"Yes, I built a machine that could create a new body for him. He was just a pile of black goo when I found him," The kishin explained. "All we needed was a power source. Once Tikal brought in Eclipse, we were good to go. It was a similar process to how I was revived with the black blood, but it required much more power. We ended up siphoning off all the souls Eclipse had consumed,"

Shadow kept his attention on Mephiles. "You've been able to invade my dreams and speak through my mind. You amplified my powers, and tried corrupting Sonic. Why?"

Mephiles shrugged. "You call it corruption, but I don't view it in such a dramatic fashion. I was just showing you how to be more like me. I know it bothers you, but we are a lot alike, Shadow. We belong together,"

"Belong together?" Shadow glared. "What are you saying?"

"Men..." Mephiles groaned, then rubbed his brow. "You'll see soon enough,"

Mephiles became a scythe. Shadow did the same. Their respective meisters armed themselves. The kishin held up one hand, sending a murky red power into the air. A broad dome of energy formed around the tower.

"I'm putting that there to keep both of us from warping around. It's important that we all stay here for now," He looked around the area. "Oh good, Ivo's soul stayed up here,"

The soul in question appeared unusual. It was an incomplete orb that appeared to have been ripped in half. Although it's brightness suggested it held great power, it also appeared to make up less than half of one soul. The kishin spoke to Sonic next.

"Before we get started, I need an outside opinion," He pointed at his triangular sunglasses. "Thoughts on my shades? I want to have a good look for ruling the new world,"

Sonic's expression was as deadpan as possible. "They're lame. And you have Eggman's punchable face, so it doesn't really matter, anyway,"

"Okay, that was---!" The kishin appeared genuinely offended. "--really harsh!"

"You're trying to end the world, dude,"

"I'm not ending the world. I'm just ushering in an era of insanity and darkness which, at worst, will indirectly genocide the weak,"

"Not sure why you thought explaining that helped,"

"It's not my fault, okay?" The kishin threw up his hands wildly. "These things just happen. One day, everything's fine. The next, maybe everyone goes mad and starts killing each other. We can sit here all day and have an intellectual debate on whether or not I'm fully responsible if that happens, but the point is that I have feelings too! I don't want you calling me Eggman now, either. It's mean!"

"What am I supposed to call you, then?"

The kishin rubbed his archaic, gray mustache. "People used to call me Robotnik-Nega, but that didn't exactly go over well. I'd explain why, but that's an issue from a bygone era. We'd be here all day. Just call me Negative. If we become pals you can call me 'bro' or whatever the hip generation is saying these days,"

Sonic sighed. "God, this guy's insane. And annoying,"

The kishin made the first attack: A forceful scythe swing that threatened to knock Sonic over when he blocked. Luckily, he easily shifted the momentum into two consecutive backflips that also enabled him to avoid the follow up. When Negative saw the increased distance between them, he jumped back as well. His resonance increased.

"Witch Hunter!"

His scythe reddened. He drug Mephiles's glowing blade along the ground before sending a surge of energy into a forward slash. The attack continued onward at Sonic, who had generated a witch hunter of his own. The hedgehog cut the incoming attack with a direct slash, which produced an explosion of soul waves.

.

The kishin lost his opponent in the resulting plume of dust until he saw Sonic leap from the cloud to come straight at him. The attack was hasty and predictable. Negative easily found an opening, then cleaved Sonic in two.

The defeated Sonic flickered like a failing digital projection. Another Sonic appeared, but he wasn't alone. There were three more that looked exactly like him, all wielding scythes. Since the kishin was still dealing with the recoil of his pseudo-killing blow, he was wide open. Each of Sonic's copies started cutting him.

"What? The fakes can attack? No fair!" Negative screeched.

He released a pulse of energy in all directions. With all the copies gone alongside the dust, the real Sonic was revealed. His witch hunter was still active, and he was on the move.

Negative didn't have much time to react. He let Sonic hit him directly. The witch hunter's blade ripped away at the kishin's form. Energy as well as blood erupted from the point of impact. He shrieked while his body was damaged severely.

Things settled quickly. Once Shadow's scythe form normalized, the kishin spun his own weapon. It was a strange, sudden disarm maneuver that also required Negative to throw away his own scythe. The weapons flew far across the tower.

Both Shadow and Mephiles were out of their weapon forms when they landed. They had created blades on both of their arms. Many slashes from each of their blades were thrown out, releasing sharp sounds with each collision. Both of their right arms halted in a stalemate with blades crossed. The one belonging to Mephiles began dripping blackness. It liquified, then wrapped around Shadow's blade. He tried pulling his arm back, but the fluid had become solid again.

Shadow impulsively stabbed Mephiles with his other arm. The blow landed directly on the demon's chest, which seemed to be melting into blackness. Mephiles grabbed hold of Shadow's hand; a flicker of desire moved through his crystalized eyes.

"Come along, Shadow,"

Black soul waves swirled around them, spouting darkness into the air. Shadow could feel Mephiles's soul ripping into him. The power was familiar, but overwhelming. If he didn't match the wavelength, he'd pass out. So Shadow resonated with Mephiles and felt their minds pull away. The dark cloud around them obscured their bodies completely.