Chapter 19- The Angel

Sotsu placed the glass of ice water on the counter and drew his two pistols. He edged his back against the entrance of the kitchen, which resided only a stride from the door.

"Who is it?" Sotsu asked in a demanding voice.

In reply, another series of knocks came on harder and more aggressive sounding. 

"I won’t open it unless you tell me who you are!" Sotsu shouted lifting his guns to his face level and readying to take action if someone forced their way in.

Sure enough the door busted with a loud bang. Dark Legionaries rushed in with their pistols drawn and their sights sweeping the area. Sotsu decided to take action now. 

He rushed out the kitchen entryway and headed straight for the opposite wall. His pistols shot round after round, the return fire missing as Sotsu hit the wall and ran upward the short way before back-flipping downward and popping off the last few Dark Legionaries.

There was a loud smashing of the windows as Dark Legionaries got in via grappling hooks. They all opened fire on Sotsu. Several tearing holes in the furniture and breaking several other objects in the living room.

Sotsu shot a few, then dived into the apartment hallway for cover. Several Dark Legion ninjas jumped out of the several rooms… sending a barrage of metal throwing stars.

Sotsu stopped all of them before they could reach him using his telekinesis, they dropped to the ground in unison just as he had done with the pebbles before. Then within the second that it took for them to drop the ninjas dropped as well… all of them having found grounded by a quick several discharges from Sotsu’s pistols.

Sotsu turned as he saw more Dark Legionaries rushing in and opening fire on him. He managed to step back and fire a few shots before they finally managed to get him to escape into his room. He headed for the window only to find a Dark Legion helicopter turn to the window and open fire with a chin mounted assault cannon. The helicopter’s spot light lit the room.

Sotsu hit the deck as the large caliber bullets passed over head tearing whatever they hit into shreds, including a few Dark Legionaries that happened to step in as the bullet line came onto them. Sotsu noticed his CD Player on his dresser.

The loud banging of the assault cannon was heard as the weapon began to lower it’s aim and break into the wall. Sotsu hurried and rushed to the dresser. Several more Dark Legionaries entered the room and opened fire, one shot finding home on the dresser, making quick scrap of Sotsu’s goal item.

"You Damn Dirty Hoe Scratch!" Sotsu shouted. Anger filled every vein in his body, he was absolutely pissed at the loss of his valuable CD Player. 

He blazed away with an uncanny assail of shots, all of them finding home in the handful of Dark Legionaries that filled though the door. Even as many as Sotsu took down more came in… and despite that his winning streak was both short ended by the pistols loosing vast amounts of energy and the helicopter fire making the situation more tense then needed.

Sotsu quickly drew on his shadow energy and made a mad-dash for the window. He jumped from the window with several shots blazing about… and the helicopter bringing it’s weapon up.

Sotsu felt gravity take a quick hold on him… he only wanted it to until he was a decent distance underneath the helicopter. He fell a good few stories before he took in and flew himself right onto the helicopter’s underside with a loud thud. 

The fuel tank was close at hand… so Sotsu made the most of the situation. He used his spikes to punch a quick hole into it causing the black liquid to leak out. 

"He’s on the helicopter! Quickly get him!" Sotsu heard from the inside, followed by several footfalls on the interior. He quickly pushed off. Hopefully they’d land before it crashed. Sotsu didn’t want to be responsible for their deaths. He had set the laser guns on a lighter setting just to render his victims unconscious. One thing he’d never do is kill someone, unless he really had to.

He landed on the sidewalk as he watched the helicopter waver, then slowly stalk behind some buildings and out of sight. Sotsu began to head off, but as soon as he rounded an alley someone quickly came out and clubbed him hard with a steel pipe. Sotsu once again found himself unconscious.

Sotsu awoke soon enough. He awoke to find himself held about the arms, forced into a kneeling position. Cold, blue metallic tiles held firm on the floor. A vast room with white marble walls held countless columns of Dark Legionaries. Standing obediently in front of their master who stood on the stage, with Sotsu forced kneel at his side. One thing that caught Sotsu’s attention were the two large windows that sat at each side of the stage… an unusual amount of white clouds held about them. 

"I’m glad you could join us… Black Knight," Kragok said coldly, looking down on Sotsu in a degrading fashion.

"Sir… I think it might be time," a loyal Dark Legionnaire said bowing to Kragok’s side.

"Good. On with the view screen!" Kragok shouted. 

Behind them slid a large panel from the marble walling. Behind it was a view large view screen. On it was a picture of a large metal structure in space. 

"Good Eggman is making this easy for us," Kragok said with a hint of pleasure to his voice. It was sickening to listen to.


The large metal structure rotated slightly. It was shaped like Eggman’s head, the nose protruded from the structure in an odd fashion. 

"Behold!" Kragok said turning dramatically toward his servants," The Space Colony ARK!"

"ARK?" Sotsu said silently, remembering the ARK since he had played Sonic Adventure 2.

"Spoke when you’re spoken to captive!" one of the guards holding Sotsu down said, along with a swift slap to the back of Sotsu’s head.


"Now witness the events unfold! This will provide enough distraction between the Freedom Fighters, Chaotix and the Brotherhood for us to take action!" Kragok ordered over the room, his ragged voice was heard loud and clear.

"With this earthling here! We contain the ultimate weapon in our hands! Our original intention was to assassinate him and the others quietly! But we are instead going to turn them to benefit us! And now shall arise a new era… FOR THE DARK LEGION!" the mad rouge echidna announced, to be meet with applauded and an uproar of cheers.

"Yes now…!" Kragok was stopped as a sudden and swift movement from Sotsu, who now held Kragok at point-blank with a conjured pistol.

Kragok didn’t move… he held his position and looked upon Sotsu only from the corner of his left eye. The barrel staring him down, the guards holding their guns at Sotsu.

A wicked smile broke the surface of Kragok’s face. He slowly lowered his hands to his sides. Sotsu didn’t even know what hit him before he was pinned to the ground. Neither by Kragok… nor any of the Legionaries… but by the demon.

Sotsu looked into the fanged mouth of the beast. Despite her almost looking the same as the girl… the crimson beast was a horrible visage to behold. 

"Hello Black Knight," she hissed into his ear. He was too afraid to look into the face of the demon. Any demon would be too horrifying to behold.

"Y-yes… hello to you to," Sotsu squeaked out in his most polite manner… despite his voice being shaky.

"Come on master wants you up," she said coldly as she grasped Sotsu roughly about the neck and lifted him with one hand onto his feet.

"Thanks much," Sotsu choked out as he found himself planted hard onto the stage.

"Now for our first test subject for the bugging device!" Kragok said waving a hand to some Legionaries residing at the edge of the stage. 

They typed at a console and the wall screen flipped around to a wall segment holding a captive… it was the girl.

Sotsu looked up on horror at the unconscious figure of the echidna… he remembered the dream and how much pain she was in. It built… beyond control. Now it was time for Sotsu to display his "Lunatic Rage".

In one single swift movement that took less then two seconds Sotsu had pulled his conjured pistols and began a terrifying hail on the ranks of the Dark Legion. 

Every second that was used had about thirty Dark Legionaries downed. A hellish fury kept up in Sotsu had finally been unleashed. His fingers pulling the trigger faster then would seem even conceivable. A bullets all finding home… but only to render their victim unconscious. Still the effect was quite worth while as many Dark Legionaries began to panic and run away. It took the demon a few seconds to resister what was going on. She quickly slashed at Sotsu was a blazing speed that would take a trained eye to see. Sotsu quickly began to fire at the demon… to find no effect. The demon quickly came upon Sotsu and beat him merciless until he had practically passed out. The demon laughed as he pummeled the echidna over and over.

Kragok finally ordered her off of Sotsu and got the Dark Legion back in order. The demon held Sotsu up by the hair to look upon the figure of the girl, held high on the wall by metal restraints. Sotsu began to sob a little at the sight. He felt very sorry that he was helpless to save her, though he wouldn’t give in now.

"Kragok! I… ag!" Sotsu cried out as the beast grasped her other hand around his trout and dug one of her long talons a little ways into his neck… only enough to cause him pain though. 

"Now behold the power of our ancestors!" Kragok notioned toward another servant who brought forth a small metal box. 

Kragok stalked slowly toward the wall as the section slowly lowered to the stage level. Kragok drew his hand through the female echidna’s hair and stroked it a few times in a creepy fashion.

"Kragok! Damn… you!" Sotsu shouted as he saw the Dark Legionnaire take advantage of the unconscious girl. Sotsu felt rage beyond the fury hell, more then he had just did before.

The demon laughed as Sotsu pulled a little in a vain attempt to get away from the her grasp. Kragok took the both into his hands and opened it… in fooled about with the contents for a second… Sotsu saw his chance for another go.

Sotsu quickly jabbed a shadow blade into the arm of the demon. For some reason it seemed to effect her as she let go and recoiled back. Sotsu charged quickly at Kragok who had just began to turn to see what was happening.

Sotsu closed into a few strides as Kragok brought up his machine arm in an attempt to either block anything Sotsu might attack with or to try and shoot at him. Either way… Sotsu lifted up his feet and kicked the box from Kragok’s hand with one foot and jutted the echidna in the jaw with his other. 

Then in one fluid motion he spun about and cut the metal restraints with his shadow blade. He took girl’s limp body over his shoulder. The dancing lights of a hundred Dark Legionaries’ shots hit about the two. Sotsu had put up a weak field just strong enough to divert the attacks. 

Sotsu planned on using one of the large windows that resided at the side of the stage. They’d have to pass the crimson fiend first as she was charging from that direction.

"Kill him! Keep Skara alive!" Sotsu heard Kragok order from behind. 

The two closed the distance… the demon moving with the grace and agile of an angel… though be it an angel of death. The crimson terror struck out with her talons. Sotsu aimed himself toward the slightly award side that was her offhand side. Her left talon ripped across his shoulder and her right across his back. The girl, (Skara was her name Sotsu guessed from what Kragok yelled) luckily being on the other side. 

The demon turned as he got under her arm and passed her. Traces of blood drawing from the flesh but the pain not registering on his face… just determination to escape.

She lashed out again. Her blazing fast strikes allowing in two more hits before Sotsu could get enough distance between them. The first across his left side and the second making a good gouge in his back.

"He won’t give up!" Kragok said seeing the not to minor second wound.

"Bastard! Die!" the demon screamed as she dashed after the fleeing black echidna.

Sotsu dived into the window with his free hand first. The glass clattering about like an orchestra of chimes. The blazing blue shots of the laser pistols streaking about him… and the crimson demon trying to close the distance. 

Sotsu waved his arms about as he dropped into the sky… they were in fact on a floating fortress of some type. Far below was the Floating Island… not a safe place. Sotsu aimed himself toward the forest below that. 

Sotsu slowed his descent as they neared most of the way down there. He lightly landed on the ground and slumped to one knee as the sharp pain in his back took in. He rested Skara against a fallen tree and took his own spot across the area, resting against a large stump. He panted heavily as he tried not to cry out from the pain. 

He knew he couldn’t stay down here for too long, the Dark Legion probably knew he wouldn’t go back to the island. Now it was up to him.

"You’d better now turn out to be on the Dark Legion’s side," Sotsu said as he walked toward Skara. 

Sotsu hefted Skara back onto his shoulders. He felt embarrassed… for the most part it’s because he felt some feelings for Skara… of course though he would try to hide that to the best of his abilities. 

He walked a ways before the pain kicked in again and he had to rest. Eventually Sotsu came across a small stream and decided to take a drink. 

The black echidna placed Skara against a large tree and bent down to the stream. He cupped his hands into the cool water and slashed his face a few times. He felt refreshed some… but he was still worn, and wounded. 

Sotsu took this time to quickly use his powers to make a quick patch from his jacket to cover his wound on his back. He noticed something wrong though… he looked over to where he had rested Skara… to find she wasn’t there.

Sotsu looked about in panic. Had a wild animal taken her!? No! I took all of this…

"Ouch!" Sotsu exclaimed as Skara came from nowhere and smashed his nose with her fist… then followed it up by jamming her foot down on his stomach and pinned him to the ground.

Sotsu winced as he felt a small rock jut itself at the wound… his head was stuck turned to the right as Skara’s foot held firm in place. 

Sotsu knew that if she wanted to she could end his life now… but the question is… who is this girl?

-Nicholas D. Wolfwood-