Jayde and the Seven Shards [1]

17: When Boredom Strikes...✔️

MUSIC: Mendum - Shiver

Later that Afternoon

Tails placed all the crystals they had gathered so far in a small circle. Currently, they had four, including the one Jayde first had when she joined them. They all seemed to glow brighter when they were next to each other. However, not everyone was as enlightened by just sitting around and staring.

The Protector walked around, kicking a small rock around. Sonic was tapping his foot impatiently on the ground, his body urging him to run. Silver was trying to meditate, but couldn't because of this boredom that was itching at his fur. Jayde groaned, "Are you guys getting anywhere?"

Tails, Blaze, Rouge and Knuckles were all trying to figure out what the Shards would look like when they all came together. The twin-tailed fox was trying to improve his reading of different languages by studying the image the blue blur had taken but wasn't getting anywhere fast, Knuckles and Blaze were trying to figure out how and why the Shards and Chaos Emeralds were connected, and if they were somehow also connected to the Sol Emeralds and Rouge was just there because they were jewels and she loved them. She would stare at them all day if she could.

"No, for the fifty-eighth time." Blaze muttered, trying not to glare at the impatient hedgehogs.

Each of them was grumbling in their own way. Even if the Ultimate Lifeform was just leaning against the tree, his arms were crossed and had a scowl on his face. Sonic was pacing around to stop his legs from getting cramped, muttering things under his breath as he threw up a few rocks and caught them again in the same hand. Silver had started to twirl in his place, groaning about how bored he was and Jayde was throwing up her baseball. It struck through some low branches, multiple leaves and twigs falling on the female. Jayde rolled to her stomach, and began tossing bits of twig towards the telekinesis male. The pink hedgehog wasn't so bad. She was sitting on the tree branch with her legs dangling down, trying to balance her Piko Piko hammer on her finger.

"Look. If you lot are bored, the Emerald Hunter is picking up some strange signals about a mile west of here. Why don't you go check it out?" Tails suggested.

"Is it a Shard?" Shadow asked, walking over to the young fox.

"It seems as though it is but I am not entirely sure." Tails answered honestly, handing the EGH to the ebony hedgehog. He took it and began walking away, soon followed by the other hedgehogs, Sonic racing in circles around them until Silver caught him in his telekinesis. The speedster muttered a few things before trying to run in the telekinesis trap but failed badly.

A Few Hours Later

The five hedgehogs walked through the forest in search of the next Shard. The EGH had been passed to the blue blur, the signals changing every so often to turn them in a different direction. Amy Rose had queried the rapid changes but no one really thought much of it.

But the grey hedgehog could feel something inside her as she held onto her baseball, something wrong. She kept looking around, feeling on edge and not understanding why. Her mind was playing with her, making her see things in a negative way; to destroy. She rubbed her left arm, ignoring the shiver that ran down her spine. The ebony hedgehog noticed this and strolled alongside her.

"Renee, are you okay?" Shadow looked at the female hedgehog, his fists clenched to his sides as they walked.

"I... I'm fine." She responded, not making eye contact with the male beside her. She didn't know what was wrong. And she didn't notice her gold inhibitor rings darkening the closer they got to the said location of the Shard.

"Something's not right." Sonic paused, looking around, "If the Shard was close to us, the guardian would have come to us or the EGH would've bleeped." The forest around them seemed to grow darker, as if the only light was the piercing eyes on all of the bushes that glared at the hedgehogs.

"Maybe there isn't one here." Silver spoke, rubbing his arm as a chill rocketed through him. His fingers clenched, a telekinesis swirl evaporating from his gloves.

"Or maybe it's a trap!" Amy pointed out. They continued walking towards the Shard, but Jayde's chest was feeling tight. She stopped suddenly, falling to her knees with a grunt, clutching her arms and dropping her lucky charm, "Jayde?" Amy called her name, not realising the darkening of her fur.

"G-Guys," the grey hedgehog stammered, "Get away from me." Shadow frowned, going to kneel beside her but Jayde roughly shoved the male hedgehog away, "I said get away!" her voice was more menacing, a low growl rumbling from her throat.

Silver's eyes widened as realisation struck him. Quickly, he looked around and yelled out, "Mephiles! Where are you?" A low chuckle erupted around them, a dark creature appearing from the sludge on the ground. The white hedgehog now understood what was wrong as Mephiles pulled out a purple Chaos Emerald, its colour soon vanishing to a pitch black. "Jayde, you've got to fight it!"

"What? I thought you defeated him!" Amy cried, hiding behind her blue hero who clenched his teeth and put a protective arm in front of the pink female.

"Defeat me? Pah! Don't make me laugh. I am indestructible, I will never go away." Mephiles glared down at them, not mentioning the fact Eggman had arose him from the dead. His dull eyes landed on the grey hedgehog whose body was shaking, her eyes shut tightly. It felt like something was tearing her apart from the inside, stripping her from her humanity. It was like she couldn't fight it, she was powerless against the being that rose.

Shadow turned to see the now pitch black hedgehog, a yell escaping her lips as she abruptly stood, showing her piercing light blue eyes with snake-like pupils, her teeth sharpened as an evil grin plastered her face. Her clothes were now dull colours, her shorts ripped around the edges. The inhibitor rings were no longer gold, but a pitch black with a light blue band around them. His crimson eyes widened as he stared at the angered female.

"Get back!" Silver yelled to the hedgehogs, stepping away from the new being that was no longer Jayde, "Jayde, you've got to fight him!"

"Ah, we have another hedgehog, one working for me now?" Mephiles laughed, "Raven, do me a favour and show these hedgehog's the way out."

Without hesitation, a sudden blast erupted from the black hedgehog, force hitting each of the people she once called friends, "Jayde, this isn't you!" Amy cried, tears in her eyes.

The being laughed evilly, "That weakling is gone!" She shot towards Amy, a rough strike to her stomach sent her flying back. Raven clutched hold of her neck, laughing at how scrawny this hedgehog was. The blue hedgehog gasped and a glared formed on his face. As much as he knew that this wasn't Jayde, he couldn't let Amy be killed because of this creature. He sprinted towards the dark being, aiming to crash into her with a spin dash. But her eyes quickly glanced to her right, swinging the pink female around like a rag doll, slamming her straight into the blue speedster. Sonic flew back at the force, and Amy was slung to the ground.

"Now," Mephiles chuckled, liking the new powerful being that was on his side, "If you don't mind, we'll be on our way." The dark being nodded to Mephiles and followed in his chaos control.

"No!" Shadow shouted, running forward, only to be grabbed by Silver. He was supposed to protect her from that creature, and now he's taken control of her. He failed her. The Ultimate Lifeform glanced down, staring at the female's baseball. He picked it up, clutching it in his grasp, a small growl leaving him.

Sonic groaned, moving to a crawl position as he gripped his head in pain. Looking up, he saw the pink hedgehog sprawled across the grass, a dark bruise forming around her neck. He quickly ran towards her, picking her up in a bridal hold before running to the white and black hedgehogs. Shadow and Silver looked towards the blue hedgehog, an unconscious girl in his arms, "We have to get Amy to Tails. There's nothing we can do for Jayde right now." Silver spoke, his ears drooping sadly. The black and red hedgehog's ears slanted, sighing as he looked away. I failed you, Jayde.