Chapter 18- The Black Knight

The next day started off like any other. Sotsu headed out to the training grounds. Like expected Mewy was waiting there. The little fox scientist had brought several little floating red targets. Sotsu guessed it was to test out his pistols.

Sure enough when Sotsu began this exercise the shooting was half of it. The other half was dodging the shoots that the targets returned. There was a good thirty or so of the flying targets. The first handful of them were an easy shot… but what Sotsu soon learned is that the later of them learned from the other’s mistakes and adapted themselves to Sotsu’s shooting habits. Mewy was certainly good at making these things difficult.

Sotsu was glad though to that his pistols were laser guns. They rarely had to recharge and even then they only took a good ten minutes or less. After Sotsu finally dispatched the final target-robot he rested.

He fell on the ground where he stood and panted heavily as sweat ran down his face. He didn’t know that he had exhausted himself this much. Mewy a little concerned, ran to his side.

"Are you okay Sotsu?" Mewy asked prodding him in the shoulder with her finger. 

"Yeah… fine just… just a little worn… haven’t felt too well lately I guess," Sotsu replied looking up to her.

"Maybe you should take a nap or something. You look really beat," the fox said as she putting a hand on his forehead.

"Oh my God you’re burning up!" Mewy shouted in shock.


Sotsu felt a brief sensation of heat… then everything faded to black.

Sotsu found himself standing amongst a foggy area. Nothing felt wrong with him… he looked to find that he’s wearing his hat and glasses. Though what happened?

Dew hung from his clothes… the air held a cool temperature. The ground was bear… gray in color… and it held no texture. Above was an endless black abyss stretching over the sky. It was indeed the dream again… yet things had an unusual perception to them. 

Sotsu cast a look about in panic. He expected the demon… but instead he saw the form again, the outline of an echidna of some sort. Sotsu began to walk slowly toward it… the shape didn’t disappear, a demon did not come out to strike him. 

Sotsu got to the figure… to see it was an echidna. It was indeed familiar to him… like someone he might have seen while just walking around. 

She had a soft lavender coat of fur. Her attire was that of a rough figure. A white tank top worn fit about her physically toned body. Her baggy black jeans worn loosely down so the legs covered the top of her large brown shoes. Her black finger-less gloves worn on her hands that hung to her side. Sotsu was unsure weather to be happy to see such a nice face, or weather she’d end up getting killed. Sotsu never seemed to have pleasant dreams… ever. 

She was looking down, almost in a gesture of shame. Her deep jade eyes held fixed to the ground. As Sotsu approached her she looked up, slowly bringing her eyes to his. Her jade eyes were as smooth as marble. Sotsu could see himself in her glossy eyes. But they looked into him… perhaps through him as if he weren’t there. 

Sotsu starred into her eyes for the moment. He was locked into them almost as something he felt was attracting him. It was thought… the thoughts that ran through his mind as he questioned himself about what this meant… and who this was. The pain that reflected through those eyes were too much for Sotsu to comprehend. But despite that they held character… and more.

After this brief second it changed. Sotsu found himself holding a paper… writing on it. Sotsu looked into it hard… it seemed blurry at first, then it began to take form. The first section formed…

"A nightingale cries for the loss of joy

A sparrow mourns for the loss of will

Fog spreads her fingers to cover the ground

The water's lake is like glass and still"

Sotsu found himself reading it out loud. 

Light began to spread from the other echidna’s back. Then in a brief flash of light that flooded over the area… Sotsu thought she might have had wings. 

A loud clattering sound took over the area, as if Sotsu were inside a loud church bell. When the light died Sotsu saw what the sound was being produced by.

The echidna was strapped to a large wooden cross. Her arms and legs bound by large metal chains that clattered on the featureless ground, the sound echoed about the area in a ghostly fashion. Crimson blood spilt from her wrists, were the chains were bound too tight. Her eyes were closed… she might be dead. Sotsu backed a ways away in fear.

Sotsu looked up in terror, tears welled in his eyes at the horrible visage. He looked at the paper as the second paragraph began to take form. 

"Who has no will, but to do what is told 

With wings so soft, an angel by night

A darkness of fire, and hell's awful strife

With claws of death, a demon by light"

Sotsu read choking back the tears that threatened to surface. 

Sotsu looked over to the figure. Some cloaked figure behind the cross, it’s robes flowed about in a vile fashion. It stood shrouded in the darkness of the area. A loud wind picked up as he slowly raised a single arm and extended it’s finger pointing toward Sotsu.

The cross violently tilted forward and came down with a hard crash. It exploded into several wooden chips that showered the area. Stalking from the cloud of smoke that was formed was the other echidna, though she was a crimson color. Large bat wings sprouting from her back. Her eyes were no longer a soft jade, but a deep red that matched her fur… her eyes fixed on Sotsu… she was… the demon.

"A Dark group of death that undoes the seams 

A Legion of lightlessness does deeds of doom

Power-hungry leader who brings no hope for future

The future of the Isle of Angel is shrouded in gloom"

Sotsu read in panic as the demon of the once beautiful echidna stalked toward him. 

Lightning lit the sky… the robed figure was seen perched on a high rock jutting from the ground. His metallic arm held in a commanding way in front of his chest… his red machine eye held fixed on the two below him. He did not move… he stood there waiting to watch on Sotsu’s demise.

"The sky holds the darkness, a landmass of death

The sea holds evil, spread on the sandy floor

The land holds the same, a fortress of blight

My Dark Knight, don't open the door"

Sotsu read ending the last stanza. As he did he looked behind him in reaction to a thunderous bang heard.

He was perched on a high cliff overlooking the ocean. Though it was night and the clouds were storming with the fury of hell itself… Sotsu could see an even darker shape in the water of the ocean. It was dome in shape… no doubt an underwater structure of some form.

In the sky between the water and the black clouds he could make out a castle like structure floating in the sky. The lightning flashed rapidly… lighting the visage of another cliff far off at the end of the horizon… on top of a bluff matching the one he stood on now… was silhouetted another structure.

"Black knight?" Sotsu questioned himself as he looked over to the demon who was now no more the a few strides away.

"This isn’t about you is it? It’s about… me," Sotsu asked the demon.

The demon replied with a blood thirsty smile holding a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, before she pounced at him with her claws extended.

Sotsu gasped in pain as he felt the claws shred through his neck… and everything became black. 

Sotsu jolted upright quickly drawing both of his pistols… he found that he was aiming one at Knuckles and one at Mewy. They both jerked back in surprised, Knuckles actually falling backwards out of his chair.

"Hey calm down," Knuckles demanded as he stood up slowly. 


Sotsu was breathing heavily as he held his stance for a moment to take in the relief that he was back in his apartment room. Sweat ran down to the tip of his nose, then he slowly lowered the weapons into his lap.

"Sorry I was having a bad dream…" Sotsu finally said. 

"Yeah I guess," Knuckles said as he got back into his chair. 

"I wonder why you were running that fever earlier. It’s weird how it suddenly seemed to disappear shortly after you blacked-out. But once that stopped you began to mumble stuff… every once in a while you’d begin to emit some shadow energy. I had to put you into a containment unit because if I had tried to pick you up that stuff would’ve done me in," Mewy explained.

"Sorry. But I think I didn’t just get this dream from sheer imagination or anything," Sotsu began, finally managing to steady his breathing.

"What do you mean?" Knuckles asked.

"When I was in the mall… after the explosion something had me by the neck… I think the Chaotix chased it away or something but I’m unsure. While in the hospital I kept having a dream that that same thing was chasing me about. Now I had this dream that some girl gave me some kind of letter or poem. While I read it, stuff happened. She became some demon… the same one that chased me in the previous dreams. Kragok seemed to have control of her… I think," Sotsu said as he tried to piece together all of this.

"I do in fact remember Vector, Might and Espio saying something about that in the mall. And you are a psychic so it’s possible you might be picking up on this like a foreshadowing of what lies ahead… but we’ll just have to keep an eye out. Well I’d better go check on the Master Emerald just in case. I’ll c’ya later… tell me if you see anything else," Knuckles said as he left the room.

"I should get back but if you want me to stay…" Mewy began.

"No that’s okay I’ll be fine," Sotsu replied kindly.

"Okay then… get some rest I’ll come back tomorrow to check on you," Mewy said before leaving. 

Sotsu sat alone in his room, he hoisteled his pistols and made for the kitchen. He got a glass of water and leaned against the counter. He thought about the girl in the dream. He almost began to cry when he remembered looking into her eyes and seeing how much pain held in them. Seeing someone else in that much pain was too much grief for him to wish to think about. 

He tried to remember the poem to the best of his abilities… trying to remember what information it might actually contain that’d help him. All of it was the best answer for that… but the matter of being able to understand it and use it… that was different. 

"This is really beginning to irritate me," Sotsu said to himself as he took a sip of the ice water.

"Where are the other guys?" Sotsu asked himself as he looked about the place a little. None of the Chaotix were in sight.


Sotsu felt a sense of shock right before the building began to shake violently as if an earthquake began. The glasses clattered from their resting spots in the cupboards and several smashed to the floor. A few cracks spider-webbed across the walls. The place rumbled loudly like the sky was falling. Then it abruptly stopped. Sotsu stood still for a few seconds. There was absolute silence. Then there was a few strong knocks on the door.

 

 

Notes: I’m rounding to end the Sotsu: Chaotix saga. Next will be a saga jointed with Shredded Angel. It’s called Sotsu: A Demon Within. The next few chapters will still be Sotsu: Chaotix despite the lack of the Chaotix’s appearances -_-‘ . Oh well. 

Read Shredded Angel or else! Also check out my pics of Sotsu under the fan art. At this time Sonic_Hedgehogs only has one up but hopefully he get the others. Well we’re rounding chapter 20 and once it hits 23 or so it’ll be the third saga.

I listed some extra copyright information regarding the release of some of the new characters which I was lended… and the poem to (no I can’t write poems).

Mewy, the girl (read Shredded Angel if ya’ want to know her name you bums!), and "The Poem" are copyright of Mew_Ninetails2004 (one of my friends online. Author of Shredded Angel and several nice poems)

Also if you missed it the first time… which I’m sure you guys didn’t… I now accept feed back at GLPdoug@MSN.com 

If you send my death threats I can figure out were you live… and yes, I will show no mercy.

If you send me fan mail (Laughs at the thought of someone doing that) o_O … Well anyways… if you send me fan mail I’ll let you either submit ideas or characters (which could be featured in future chapters) to me.

Well the countdown begins to the large events in the third saga!

Until next time… C’ya!

-Nicholas D. Wolfwood-