Vargus is © to me


                    A NEW ALLY

          Sonic could not avoid the ambush attack made by Amy Rose. But to her and everyone else’s surprise, he grunted and pushed her away rather violently, knocking her flat. “OW! What was that for?!” she demanded, trying to get up from the ground.
     “I… I’m sorry, Amy. I don’t know what came over me,” he said semi-truthfully. He knew that something happened, but he didn’t know what. “Are you alright?” he said, offering his had to hers. She nodded, and accepted his help.
     “Maybe you should see someone about this,” she suggested. She knew that Sonic was irritated easily, but she never saw him react like that to one of his friends.

          It was a restless night for both Sonic and Knuckles, who were now both having nightmares. Knuckles would awake in the middle of the night, looking like he had saw the whole world destroyed. Sonic awoke in the night as well, but he would always wake up screaming in pain, and having a look of terror on his face.

          Knuckles was now getting ready for what he hoped would be a peaceful night. Ever since the attack by those skeletons, he’s had the same nightmare every night. “Kuckles? You gonna be alright tonight?” asked the voice of Julie-su.
     “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Knuckles lied, knowing that the dreams would come back. Julie-su sighed, and gave the echidna a peck on the cheek, causing him to blush. She smirked at that sight, and went off to her room. Knuckles just smiled, and tried to think pleasant thoughts before falling asleep. Before the nightmares returned…

          *”NO! Don’t do it!” Knuckles yelled, but it was too late. The Chaotix had charged into the room, and Knuckles, unable to move, could only hear their cries as they were killed. Then, the Freedom Fighters Sally, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, Hershey, Geoffrey, all of them, made the same charge. “No, TURN BACK!” But that plead, too, was to no avail, as Knuckles could now hear their screams emit from the chamber, and their blood splattering out the doorway. Then, from the entrance came Sonic, wearing a black robe, and blood on his hands. “Sonic! How could you do this?!” he demanded.
     “Sonic is no more, mere mortal,” Sonic said, but not in his voice.
     “Huh?” was all Knuckles could manage to say before whatever kept him immobile was no more. He then advanced on the hedgehog, when he (Sonic) reached into the entrance, and pulled the bloodied, but still living body of Julie-su. There was now fire in the Guardian’s eyes.
     “Let her go, you monster!” he demanded, cracking his fists. But the evil Sonic just smirked, and pulled out a dagger, which he now held to Julie-su’s throat. “No, don’t do it!” Knuckles yelled, now willing to kill Sonic.
     “Knuckles, go. S-save, yourself, p-please,” Julie-su barely whispered, weakened by whatever was done to her. Knuckles was now furious, ready to kill Sonic at the first opening. But it was too late, as the hedgehog, without a word, slit the young echidna’s throat, and let the now limb body drop to the ground. Knuckles could take no more, and he charged Sonic with everything he had, knocking the hedgehog back a few meters. He then turned his attention to Julie-su, who lay motionless, blood pouring from her throat.
     “Julie-su! Please, don’t die on me!” But, she still did not move. “I love you, Julie-su. Please, come back...” Still silence. He lay her body down gently, and turned to where Sonic had landed. But, there was now no sign of the hedgehog. He turned around, and saw a huge shape, charging at him. He wasn’t able to see exactly what it was, but he could hear it. A roar that would strike fear into the bravest of souls.*

          Sonic was now in his dwelling (I try not to be specific on houses, apartments, etc.), trying, like Knuckles, to think pleasant things before falling asleep. But, like Knuckles, he failed…

           *”You know you can’t escape me.” A whispered voice said. Sonic observed his surroundings. There was nothing. Nothing, but darkness. And that voice was all he could hear. “You know that you can’t beat me. You are weak, mortal. Don’t be ashamed. Make it easy on yourself, or suffer.”
     “NEVER! I don’t know if you heard, but I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t know how to give up!” the hedgehog yelled, not knowing exactly what direction to do so.
     “Many have tried to resist my power. Leoric, Albrecht, Lazurus, and Kejoon (the first mortal to defeat Diablo in combat). They all thought they could contain me, that they could beat me. They were all fools,” the voice laughed. Sonic could not take any more. But then, he wasn’t surrounded by just darkness. He was now in a very hostile environment, sharp rocks on the ground, and unbearable heat coming from the rivers of magma the surrounded him.
“Soon, this will be your new home…”*

          Sazabi was now at the clearing where this had all started. ‘It will only be a matter of time, now. The hedgehog’s will is strong, but not strong enough to resist my Master,’ he thought to himself. He then began to ponder his fate when Sonic would be fully possessed. ‘Will I be serving the devil, or will I just become another victim in his path?’ These thoughts ran through his mind, and then he thought. He realized. He knew. He, himself, had been possessed by Diablo the whole time. That’s what all the Three Prime Evils do. They each select one mortal from each realm, each dimension, and them corrupted, should the situation call for it. He had been under Diablo’s spell the whole time, and now that he knew, the spell was broken. “What have I done?”

          Knuckles, Julie-su, Sonic, Tails (no, I’m not leaving him out), and Sally, were meeting at an outdoor restaurant, trying to understand these dreams that were happening.
     “Well, what do we know about them, besides the fact that they started after the attack?” Tails brought up, only to get stern looks for bringing up that day. “Heh, um, sorry.”
     “Well, I know that mine takes place in some medireview fortress,” Knuckles pointed out.
     “I can’t really give much on my location. One moment I’m surrounded by darkness, the next I’m in the River of Flame,” added Sonic, who was now getting strange looks.
     “THE River of Flame, Sonic? I think that adding, ‘the,’ makes it a bit specific,” said Julie-su.
     “What? I don’t know how I knew its name, I just did.” Then, Sonic was startled by a voice from behind.
     “What do you know about the River of Flame?” Everyone turned to where the voice was coming from, and saw an unfamiliar figure standing there. He was a wolf, about Knuckle’s height, who was wearing a half sash over his torso. His fur was colored a mix of light brown and gray, and he had a white stripe running on the top of his muzzle. His eyes were blue, and he had a battle staff on his back (note: a battle staff and a bo staff are NOT the same thing! There’s a difference!).
     “Who are you?” Sonic demanded.
     “I am Vargus. I am a member of the Vizjerei mage clan. If you know of the River of Flame, then you must come with me.”
Sonic just shrugged, and told everyone that he’d be back.

          After Sonic told Vargus everything he cold remember happening to him, the wolf knew that it was one of the Prime Evils, but he didn’t know which one. But, he did manage to tell Sonic the basic lowdown of what was happening to him.
     “Okay, so you’re telling me that some demon is inside my body, and is trying to gain full control over my mind?”
     “Pretty much,” the wolf said, “only this is no ordinary demon, remember. This is one of the Prime Evils.”
     “Prime Evils? Who are they?” the curious hedgehog asked.
     “The Prime Evils are the three supreme rulers of Hell. Under them are the four Lesser Evils, and below that, it’s all just minions. Are you sure that there were no names mentioned in your dream?” Sonic thought hard for a moment, then snapped his fingers.
     “Now I remember! There were a few names mentioned. Leoric, Albrecht, Lazurus, and Kejoon.” Vargus’s eyes grew wide at these names. ‘This kid’s fighting off the Lord of Terror…’
     “Why don’t I like the look that you just got in your face?” Sonic asked.
     “I don’t think you should know just now. The only thing that can save you now isn’t in this realm.”


          To be continued…

It’ll get better soon, I promise…