Soul Eater but it's Sonic

Chapter 64

"Shadow!"

Watching his weapon be enveloped in darkness almost distracted Sonic long enough to take the kishin's next hit. He dodged a murky energy blob, then sprinted forward. Negative's body had only just begun repairing itself, so he was still severely injured. His left arm was mangled and blood-soaked while his damaged left leg wasn't holding his balance well.

Sonic threw out a punch to the kishin's face, but the man didn't flinch. He tried kicking his opponent on his wounded side, but Negative still wasn't phased. Sonic's balance shifted awkwardly in response to the lack of impact from his own attacks. Negative was able to use his good arm and land a punch. The blue hedgehog choked on a pained groan before being thrown aside.

"Nice try, but..." Negative limped over to Ivo's broken soul. "...you're not even close,"

The kishin swallowed the grim reaper's soul. Not long after, his body's rate of reconstruction increased. His leg was much less crooked while his arm was almost back to being functional.

Sonic clutched his aching chest with one arm, using the other to push himself back up. Now he was even farther from the black cloud surrounding Shadow. He felt a change in the kishin's wavelength, so he concentrated on his soul perception. Negative's soul was oddly shaped, much like Ivo's had been, but its form started filling out.

"So, Eggman had the rest of your soul?"

"Yep, we were both working off half of one soul. His has been passed down through many generations of Robotnik clones, while mine was stuck inside me all this time. Of course, the grim reaper that created me had a complete soul. I was meant to be the ultimate Grim Reaper. Ageless. Unstoppable. A ruler without flaws,"

"Ageless? You don't look ageless. You look like an old goon,"

"Why don't you try staying young and juicy with only half a soul in your body for decade after decade? I'll have a sick gun show once my soul is complete," Negative flexed his good arm. "Anyway, I was meant to take over as Grim Reaper eventually. Apparently others viewed me as defective. But I wasn't going to let them start from scratch without a fight,"

"Is it true that Eggman couldn't kill you?"

"I'm sure he could have found some way. The problem is, dying with half a soul isn't ideal. The amount of power required to kill me would have likely ruined my soul. Plus, he didn't have a way to consume souls without transforming into a worse version of me. My mind would easily take over any of the other Robotniks if they weren't careful. None of the reapers could stay alive very well without me. That's why I was always kept close"

"So the machine keeping you imprisoned was also keeping him alive?"

"Exactly. I could do what I want after escaping, but he was stuck on life support. Now that I've got my soul back, all that's left is cleanup,"

The kishin brought out metallic tendrils from his healed body. The appendages began generating thrust, allowing him to close in on Sonic in a heartbeat. Negative threw a punch that was so reckless, he was on course to lose balance. When his hit missed, the metal tentacles touched the ground to keep him upright. This allowed him to try a kick alongside another punch. Despite his unorthodox line of attack, Sonic was able to avoid every strike.

"Will you-" Negative punched again unsuccessfully.

"-stop-" Another failed hit.

"-dodging!"

The kishin punctuated his statement with a yell, followed by a powerful blast of energy. Sonic moved out of the attack's range with ease.

"You're annoyingly quick. You shouldn't be able to move that fast alone," Negative assessed.