Roleplay:Hunt For The Elemental Orbs/A Cimmerian Search

Plot
The Aphotic Orb, the object representing the God of Darkness, Voidstar, is said to be hidden deep within the Fearful Caverns, the home of the Dark Clan of Voidstar. The caverns run far deeper than most people see, but access to these deeper areas is prohibited by the Clan themselves, due to how hazardous the terrain is.

This does not halt the growing interest in the Orb, particularly from the likes of Dr. Eggman, who wishes to acquire the Orb for himself, in order to finally complete his latest creation; the Egg Chameleon, a sinister mecha designed to be fueled by darkness. Conquering the Fearful Caverns and the Dark Clan, to take advantage of the supposed mountains of Tenebrite hidden within the caverns, as well as take a good amount of prisoners, is his other goal.

Rules

 * 1) Stick to the plot. Do not alter it to revolve around your character, do not change it drastically, etc.
 * 2) No Godmodding. You should all know what this means; no auto-hitting, no random attacks, no constant avoidance of damage, etc
 * 3) No Trolling.
 * 4) No picking random fights with others.
 * 5) Do not just randomly jump into a scene. Either ask, or build up your arrival accordingly (I.E "Suddenly, such and such and such" or "Meanwhile, somewhere else blah blah blah")
 * 6) No hogging all the glory.
 * 7) No controlling other users' characters without their permission.
 * 8) Canon characters are allowed. Please make sure to not have them steal the show, however.
 * 9) Put effort in your posts. I mean it; none of this "Person: Shadow Ball! *uses Shadow Ball*" crap.
 * Acceptable method: (Person: Shadow Ball! *charges up a concentrated ball of shadow energy, and then fires it at Person 2*)
 * Preferred method: ("Shadow Ball!" Person yelled. Cupping his hands in front of him, he began charging up a concentrated ball of pure shadows. After a few seconds he threw the ball at Person 2.)

Current Participants
''Moderators are the peacekeepers of the RP (their names are in green). Listen to them if they tell you that you broke a rule, and don't throw a hissy pissy fit if they give out constructive criticism on how you RP. Only people that I (Ryushusupercat) absolutely trust get to be moderators.''
 * green - RP Owner/Moderator
 * Strikes: 0


 * green - moderator
 * Strikes: 0


 * Skyblade743
 * Strikes: 0


 * Garydeansonic
 * Strikes: 0

Protagonists

 * Characters with generally heroic motives (wanting to stop the villains, wanting to keep the artifact safe, etc.).


 * Dark Clan of Voidstar - Played by Ryu and anyone else who has characters that are members of this clan.
 * Vendeta the Hedgehog - Space-fairing hedgehog and last Guardian of the Chronosabre, Vendeta traveled to Earth after hearing about Vendeta Blue's return, seeking to destroy the robot once and for all. However, priorities change after hearing about the Orb and Doctor Eggman's return. Played by Skyblade.
 * Lightning the hedgehog- Lightning is the brother of Sonic the hedgehog when thay were young sonic played a prak on his bro and Lightning left to train a few years later during a fight with metal sonic Lightning saved Tales a few days later Lightning was tricked by Eggman and almost killed his brother but he snapped out off it Eggman reviled his egg colosis Sonic and Lightning fused into Lighnic and bet him from ther Lightning chasesd after Eggman

Neutral

 * Characters with unknown motives.

Antagonists

 * Characters who may have less-than-noble motives (greed, chaos, etc.), or are outright villainous.


 * Mackenzie Hartley the Tiger - A character who's always been difficult to figure out in terms of what side he's on, when Terra told him and Scarlet, the only two present members of Team Mask, about the Elemental Orbs, Mac is determined to find one and either sell it or keep it for himself. Inviting Scarlet along to join him for the party, this electrokinetic mercenary is looking for some fun. Played by Max.
 * Scarlet June the Fox - Team Mask's resident hotheaded gunslinger, Scarlet has been revived and is ready to get back into some action! Disappointed in herself for falling to Luna so easily, Scarlet wants to make up for it, and when Mac gave her a wonderful opportunity, she couldn't afford to refuse. Now, Scarlet is along with Mac for the ride, hoping for some action and adventure. Played by Max.
 * Sephtis Briona (the Fifth) the Eagle - After learning that Luna had lied to him, Sephtis desperately wanted a chance to do something that he actually wanted to do - no bias involved. When he learned that Mac and Scarlet were leaving, seeing as White and Tina were being bums, he begged to go with them. In a "why not" moment, they agreed, and now, the lance-wielding assassin-in-training is on the bandwagon. Will the thirteen-year-old be able to deal with this challenge of pride and bravery, however? Played by Max.
 * Dr. Eggman - Eggman wants the Aphotic Orb to serve as the core for his latest creation. Played by whoever claims him first.
 * Eurish Egg Soldiers - Initially sent by Eggman to scout out the area, but they plan on following the doctor's orders. Unnamed soldiers are played by anyone (anyone can make a soldier if they wish); Norrix the Wolverine, Gavriil the Weasel, Armand the Hawk, Sustineo the Fox, Olga the Rabbit, and Birgitte the Dog are played by Ryu.
 * Charlotte Berute the Monkey - A disciple of the Lamak Zone's strange and mysterious goddess of wisdom, Keira, Charlotte was sent in order to retrieve the Aphotic Orb in order to mend special body parts for her fallen daughter. Charlotte, being the trigger-happy fun-loving monkey she is, quickly rose to the challenge, determined to use her axe, gun, and Rakek spells in order to get the orb. Will it be too much trouble for the monkey, or can she finish her task? Played by MaxIrvaron. 
 * Vendeta Blue - Having repaired himself from his previous defeats after a short trip to Platinum City, Vendeta Blue has returned to complete his mission and kill his original template, and anyone else who gets in his way. Played by Skyblade.

Part 1
In the Dark Clan's village, a small group of children were gathered near the fenced-off area a bit far away from the back of the village; the old fence was what separated the village from the deeper and more treacherous parts of the Fearful Caverns. The children seemed to be talking among themselves, discussing rumors they've heard about the darkness beyond the fence.

"I heard-" one of the youngsters piped up, "-that a giant monster lives back there."

"No way! How would it have even gotten back there??"

"It probably lived there before anyone even came here, duh!"

The fence wasn't anything impressive, and was only about four feet tall. It was possible to see through the horizontal slots in the fence, and one of the kids poked his head through one; he saw nothing but inky blackness.

"How would a monster even live back there, though...? Isn't it all just spiky rocks?"

The small group was interrupted by a shout.

"Hey!"

A female chinchilla carrying a spear trotted towards them, trying to shoo them away from the fence with her free hand.

"C'mon now, you know this place is off-limits!"

This was met with a groan from the kids, and she crossed her arms.

"I mean it, now come on."

She gazed sternly at them, and the small group finally relented, jogging away from the wooden barrier that sat between safety and the unknown. The chinchilla gave one glance towards the darkness, before walking away as well, going back on patrol. For the people of the Dark Clan, life was currently normal...but of course, that was likely to change at any moment.

At that moment, a small group was making its way towards the Fearful Caverns, moving stealthily under the cover of the trees and the sunset; they were being led by a wolverine. However, the group was about to intersect with another fearsome yet ridiculous one, which was also going to the caverns.

Mackenzie Hartley the Tiger was prowling through the area, using his tiger smell and sensing to help guide a way. Wearing a thick-black headband with a lightning bolt insignia, a yellow shirt that had a sleeve on his left arm but no sleeve on the other with blue lining along with what seems to be a white ribbon tied around multiple times and blue pants with a white spiral all over, the tiger was determined to succeed in his mission. He was even on all fours!

Scarlet June the Fox wore a modified version of her yellow tank top that now had pink sleeves, with very short jean shorts accompanying them. She wore white and green socks with cyan and green boots. She was following her best friend Mac with her arms crossed and eyelids lowered, annoyed they'd been walking for so long. ''When will we be able to get that Apocalypse Orb or whatever? The cash we could make off of it isn't worth a month of our lives.''

Sephtis Briona the Fifth was an eagle wearing a red, black-striped hoodie along with jean shorts and a red headband. He was flying above the two with a smile on his face, happy he could accompany them. Suddenly, Mac's tail went static, and Sephtis asked, "What's wrong, Mac?"

Mac turned around, stood up, and smiled as he said, "I think we found some peeps who could be some competition. Get your weapons out." Mac took a golden sword from his belt, Scarlet took a gun from a belt of her own, and finally, Sephtis took a large lance from his own belt. When he saw that they all were ready, Mac yelled, "WHO GOES THERE?!"

Norrix's squad stopped in their tracks upon hearing Mac's yell, with the burly wolverine frowning.

"Damn. Looks like we're not alone," he huffed, pulling out a laser rifle as he started to step forward. "Stay here."

Stepping barely past the treeline, Norrix glared out into the distance, ears perked; his squadmates stayed nearby the trees, hidden in the dark and getting their own weapons ready.

"Who's out there screaming their fool head off?" he barked, hefting his weapon. "Come out!"

Mac swung Angel around before cutting down a tree. Then, he jumped on the stump for the person to see him. "Here I am, fools! Get a load of this!" Mac started doing stupid dances on the stump, trying to provoke these noobs they just met.

Scarlet facepalmed before grabbing Sephtis by the arm and jumping back. "Wait. If Mac takes care of them all, no problem. If not, we'll help." Sephtis groaned, and after Scarlet glared at him, Sephtis nodded in agreement, frightened.

As the tree fell, the Skullhead Sylphs that were nesting in it immediately flew away, screeching in panic. Norrix only quirked an eyebrow at Mac, his weapon lowering slightly.

"...uh-huh. Okay," he said; the wolverine was definitely confused and maybe a touch irritated at the tiger's ridiculous behavior. "If you don't have anything better to do than dance, then we'll be on our way. We have important business to take care of."

He turned and started walking off to the side to get around Mac, Scarlet, and Sephtis, with his squadmates starting to move out from the treeline; a female Broholmer with Cybernetic lower legs looked over at Mac and shook her head in disdain. The Egg Soldiers kept their hands on their weapons and an eye on the three strangers at all times, however, in case they suddenly decided to jump at them.

Mac, seeing this, opened his eyes wide and ran in front of the wolverine and his squadmates. "Hahaha, sorry, bub, but you kind of hafta leave if you're looking for the Apostle Orb. My gang is searching for it, and... yeah. Just squaddle on home, 'kay? Actually, don't - taking you out'll be way more fun."

With an irritated snort, Norrix stopped again, narrowing his eyes at the tiger.

"So you're after it too, hmm?" he asked, hefting his laser rifle again. "The Aphotic Orb. I'm afraid we can't let you have it; our boss wants it, and we intend to get it for him."

The symbol on Norrix's fatigues made it rather obvious just who his boss was.

"So maybe you kids are the ones who should 'squaddle on home', hmm?" he sneered, while his squadmates gathered behind him, weapons at the ready.

"Okay, watch it, Grandpa," Scarlet said, appearing behind Mac with her gun equipped. "First, we're not kids. Second, we mean serious business. Third, if you want to dance..." Scarlet grabbed Mac's arm and took them both into the air before she could finish, and a strong burst of air was blasted at the soldiers from behind them.

The gust of wind ended up knocking over everyone save for Norrix and the female Broholmer dog, the latter of whom pulled out an Energy Stave.

"Then dance we shall," Norrix growled, cracking his knuckles; the other soldiers quickly climbed to their feet, pulling out their respective weapons.

As the trio fell, they pulled out some weapons of theirs too - Mac took his black-and-yellow sword Angel and a gun, Scarlet had two guns, and Sephtis had a lance. Scarlet fired electric bullets at Norrix and the Broholmer, while Mac suddenly disappeared and Sephtis flew into the sky.

"Take cover!" Norrix barked, pulling out his own firearm, a laser rifle, and taking cover behind a tree, firing at Scarlet now. The Broholmer dog, not keen on ranged combat, took cover as well, looking for an opening to go after Scarlet. Meanwhile, a female rabbit started scaling the closest tree, using her powerful legs to nearly leap up into the branches for a better vantage point.

Scarlet put up a force field out of energy to block the bullets before firing at the tree Norrix was hiding behind. Meanwhile, Sephtis blasted wind at the dog, and a couple lightning bolts were heading the rabbit's way.

Hopefully the force field could block 'bullets' of pure energy. Using her Cybernetic legs to anchor herself, the dog very slowly made her way towards Sephtis, using one arm to shield her face. Seeing the lightning bolts, the rabbit hurled a ball of water at one of them; if they collided, they'd likely explode in midair and hopefully away from the rabbit. Sephtis stayed in the air and fired multiple aerokinetic orbs while Mac appeared behind the rabbit, twirling his sword around before boosting forward and attempted to stab her in the back.

Scarlet's force field succeeded, and it neared Norrix. It'd explode when it got near him.

The dog, Birgitte, dodged the orbs the best she could, using her Petramite-core Stave to deflect other orbs if possible.

"Coward!" she barked at Sephtis. "Come down and fight me like a man!"

The rabbit's hyper-keen ears picked up on Mac's appearance, and she whirled around to block his strike with her rifle. Norrix, meanwhile, swiftly backed away from the nearing force field; he wasn't dumb enough to go near it.

Mac smiled when she blocked his strike before releasing an electrical discharge around him. Scarlet fired a red laser at Norrix, making it go through the force field.

Sephtis, however swooped down, pulled his mouth wide open and stuck out his tongue. "What? You mad, bro?"

The discharge of electricity sent the rabbit falling out of the tree; luckily, one of her allies quickly caught her, helping her back onto her feet. Norrix dodged the laser, growling a bit.

"Yes, actually," Birgitte growled, before dashing forward with shocking speed as she swung her Stave at Sephtis' face. But now there was a din of voices approaching the battle... Sephtis blocked the stave with his lance before releasing an explosion of wind, blasting him into the air (where he started flying) and having the possibility to do the same to Birgette.

Mac still charged at the rabbit, firing a couple lightning bolts before blasting a blade beam from Angel. Scarlet started running at Norrix, seemingly trying an offensive approach.

The explosion of wind was enough to stagger Birgitte, but she quickly got back up, growling as she glared up at Sephtis. Olga and the hawk that caught her, Armand, dodged the electricity and fired their laser rifles at Mac.

Norrix, meanwhile, held his ground, waiting to see what Scarlet would do. But the voices were getting louder; it sounded like people shouting. One of the soldier's ears perked up.

"Boss, I think we got company."

Mac twirled Angel around to block the lasers before hearing the voices.

"What the..."

Suddenly, in a burst of electricity, Mac disappeared. Sephtis also heard the voices and flew off to them. Scarlet continued to run at Norrix, before jumping back when she was just in front of him, leaving a red energy clone in her place. Seeing her allies turn tail, she decided to do the same, running off to the voices while the energy clone exploded.

The soldiers watched as Mac and Sephtis disappeared, while Norrix used his arm to shield himself from the explosion, while also backing away; the explosion staggered him slightly, but he was unharmed otherwise.

"Now what do we do?" Birgitte huffed, looking at Norrix. The wolverine frowned a bit.

"I'll bet you anything those voices belong to Dark Clan soldiers," he said. "Well...perhaps we can let those kids distract the soldiers for us. Come."

He motioned for his soldiers to follow him, and the group left the area as quietly as possible.

Scarlet kept running, and appearing as electricity, Mac reformed in his body, landing next to her before running. "Hey, Scarlet, aren't those voices weird?"

"They aren't just weird, they're irritating," Scarlet said. "It won't take much for me to want to shoot 'em in the head... especially since they sound hostile."

Sephtis flew low, flying above the duo. "Eh, no problem. We're, well, us! We'll be able to solve any problem and destroy any obstacle that comes our way! Let's just check these voices out."

Norrix was right; the voiced did indeed belong to a group of soldiers from the Dark Clan. The sounds of fighting had reached all the way to the Fearful Caverns, so naturally an investigation had to be launched. The group was led by a male bear.

"It sounds like the fighting stopped," a female serval mused. The bear huffed a bit.

"I don't care if it did; I'we need to make sure that whoever was causing that ruckus isn't going to be a threat to the Clan..."

"Excuse me, but I think that was us," Mac said, cutting down some trees so that the Dark Clan could see them. "We saw some intruders, so we tried to take care of them."

"Mac, that's a load of bullshi-"

"So, who are you guys?" Mac asked, quickly shutting Scarlet up. "Or we could answer first, if you want."

Varjud narrowed his eyes at Mac, a disgruntled snort escaping him; clearly the felled trees didn't sit well with him.

"Do you really need to destroy parts of this forest in your supposed fight against intruders?" he asked, arms crossed. "Anyways...we're from the Dark Clan of Voidstar. You can call me Varjud."

The female serval looked over at Varjud, and then at Mac, frowning; she said nothing, but she didn't seem to really believe the tiger's words.

"Well, who am I to talk to you without you seeing my face?" Mac said, smiling at Varjud. "I'm Mackenzie Hartley, your everyday rich boy. I you don't mind, could I please know more about this... 'Dark Clan?"

Scarlet walked to the serval. "Hi. I could tell you what's really happening here, if you're not stupid enough to believe Mac."

"It's called walking. Walking past trees so you don't need to cut them down," Varjud said, rolling his eyes. "And...what is there you really need to know? We live here, namely, in the Fearful Caverns, and our primary deity is Voidstar."

"Ooh, Voidstar? Sounds edgy. Is this some kind of religion? Because that catches my interest," Mac replied. He sheathed Angel, trying to be peaceful.

The serval, Synkka, looked over at Scarlet.

"I would like to know what's really going on, yes," she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"So, me, the eagle, and playboy over there were just fighting some soldier-like guys. We ourselves are here to learn about this powerful ball of darkness we heard rumors about," Scarlet explained. "Mac is trying to play nice, but ultimately, he's going to try to learn about the orb."

"I...suppose you could call it a religion of sorts?" Varjud shrugged. "Voidstar is one of the primary deities of the Element of Darkness; in fact, we believe him to be the progenitor of that Element."

"The element of darkness sounds pretty dangerous. So, I'm going to stop dancing around the point and dive straight into it - if you guys are a clan of darkness, and your god is the god of darkness, then do you know where the Apocalypse Orb is?" Mac asked.

Synkka's eyes widened a bit at Scarlet's words.

"The...Aphotic Orb, you mean? But, no one knows where that thing is...! No one's even sure if it exists!"

"No one was sure if there were Black Arms around, either, but we killed one a few months ago," Scarlet said. "If it's a rumor, then we gotta check it out."

"Dangerous? Yes, it can be, but aren't all Elements dangerous and powerful in come way?" Varjud asked, frowning. The mention of the 'Apocalypse Orb' caught him off guard.

"You mean...the Aphotic Orb? As far as we know, that's just a myth; and even if it exists, we've never seen it before."

"Aw, man, you're kidding, right?" Mac said with a huff. "Well, if it's a myth, do you know where the myth says it is?"

Synkka looked over at Varjud and Mac now, before looking back at Scarlet.

"What are you guys implying...? That we're hiding the Orb or something?"

Scarlet shook her head. "Not in the slightest. We're just wondering if you guys know anything important about it, like where it may be."

Varjud frowned.

"No, we don't," he said a bit shortly. "The myth says that it's supposedly an infinite source of Darkness energy, formed from Voidstar's own power. It even says that the Orb can be used to...to control Voidstar. Like a puppet..."

"You can use this thing to control a god?! That's super cool. But if you guys worship him, why don't you know where his weakness is?" Mac asked, suspicious.

Synkka nodded, narrowing her eyes a bit.

"So why do you guys wanna know where it is so bad, huh?"

Scarlet nodded also, crossing her arms. "It's kind of the entire reason we came out here, so yeah."

"No, that's not cool; you don't understand what could happen if someone were to do just that, do you?" Varjud asked, a bit of a growl in his voice. "And nobody knows where it is, not just us!"

"I don't trust these guys," a nearby male skunk muttered to his comrades.

"Fine, fine, I'll lay off the Orb," Mac said with a sigh. "but could you tell me more about this religion of yours? Like, Voidstar - what is his history? Special things about him? Why do you worship him?"

"Why do you want this Orb so bad?" asked Synkka.

"You see, my friends and I... we're constantly fighting against threats to the world. Just a few months ago... one of them had taken our friend. We haven't seen him since." Scarlet huffed before continuing. "If we had this Orb... we could make sure this type of thing doesn't happen again. We could have the power to stop threats against the world. That's why I'm so determined to get it."

"What is there to say, really?" Varjud said with a shrug. "I already told you that Voidstar birthed the Element of Darkness; there are claims he roams around in a Mobian form, however, as do his siblings. But none of us have really seen him in person; he primarily communicates through our priests and priestesses. We worship other deities as well, of course."

Synkka frowned a bit.

"That's a noble cause for sure, but we still don't know where it is. And even if we did, I wouldn't feel comfortable with it being in the hands of strangers...I feel like the Aphotic Orb is something that's best left untouched."

She crossed her arms again.

"Besides, aren't there other ways to fight against the horrors of the world without relying on something that might not even exist? That famous guy Sonic does it without relying on stuff like that."

"What about those Chaos Emerald things?" the skunk piped up.

"Uhh...besides those, I guess."

"Well, our worst enemy is a genocidal demigod hybrid, and I think Sonic would need a couple Emeralds to handle that," Scarlet shot back.

Mac looked intrigued again. "Other deities? Wait, there are more?"

"This world is full of deities," said Varjud, nodding once. "Ancient things that've walked this planet ever since its birth."

"Then why do your worship Voidstar so much to the point where this entire clan of yours is centered around it?" asked Mac. "Why don't you equally worship 'em all?"

"Well, we do still heavily revere the other deities of Darkness," said Varjud. "Voidstar's simply the progenitor of it all; the alpha, if you will. Don't some other religions have a central deity, as well?"

"In my religion, we only have one," Mac said with a grumble before smiling at Varjud. "Well, what are some practices you do? Like, summoning stuff? What happens when you're attacked?"

"When we're attacked, we fight back; simple as that," Varjud said. "As for practices, well, we sometimes hold little ceremonies; we also trade goods back and forth with other nearby territories, like Avalon. As for summoning, well, we do have Summoners in our midst."

"Summoners? What're those? Do they manipulate god magic to create beasts of legend or something?" Mac asked. This was like finding about a whole new world!

"Well, no," said Varjud. "They specialize in fighting alongside creatures that they've bonded heavily with."

"So, Pokemon Trainers?' Mac inquired.

"What? Uhh...I guess so?"

"Oh, cool," Mac said. "Well, it doesn't look like we're gonna find anything here. Unless you have even the tiniest piece of knowledge?"

"Again, we don't know where the Orb is, or if it even exists," said Varjud.

Mac sighed. "Guess there's no reason for us to stay here. Thanks for trying."

"You're welcome," said Varjud.

Synkka sighed.

"Okay, fine, so the threat is a genocidal demigod," she huffed. "And say you did get access to the Aphotic Orb if it even exists; how do you know this demigod will be weak to the Darkness element, anyways?"

"What do you mean weak to the Darkness element? If you slap her with fire, it hurt. Slap her with lightning, it hurts. It's not like any sort of attack is 'super effective' or anything," Scarlet explained. "And also, my friend has heard some myths and rumors, so we're searching them out."

"So your search led you here, then," Synkka frowned. "And...you intend to take the Orb when you find it? If you even find it? What are you going to do with it once you fight off this threat?"

"Whenever she comes back..." Scarlet made a finger gun before shooting a laser from it, causing it to go through a tree. "Bang. She's dead. It's simple, really."

"And when she's dead? What will you do with the Orb, then?" asked Synkka, not terribly fazed by the laser.

"Probably give it to Keira, if Mac doesn't interject," Scarlet replied.

"And who is this Keira?" Synkka asked, her suspicion quickly roused once more.

"...another god. In fact, even if we didn't, she would probably take it from us," Scarlet said with a sigh. "She's been getting more involved with us these days."

"I don't like that at all." Synkka frowned. "What would Keira want with the Orb then, hmm?"

"Keep it.... I think. She's complicated," Scarlet answered.

"I like that even less," Synkka sighed. "So...what are her motivations, anyways?"

"She's a goddess of wisdom - she gives prophecies to heroes and/or guides them through journeys," Scarlet replied.

"Why would a goddess of wisdom want something like the Aphotic Orb? That doesn't make any sense...!"

"She wouldn't really want it as much as she would keep it to make sure it's safe," Scarlet continued. Synkka raised an eyebrow.

"Somehow I doubt that...and even so, I feel like it'd be best for the Orb to just remain untouched..."

"Well, then, why does it even exist, if it does? I'm not going to let it sit, collecting dust," Scarlet said. "But it's obvious you guys won't be of any help, so there's no point of being here." Mac walked by Scarlet with a slightly disappointed expression.

"Hey, Scar, let's be out. There's not anything we'll get from here," he said, to which Scarlet sighed and nodded. The duo gave halfhearted waves before turning around and going back to where they came from, with Sephtis following them.

"You guys didn't learn anything, huh?" Sephtis asked.

"You know it," Scarlet replied.

Unfortunately, that distraction gave Norrix and his squad ample time to reach the Fearful Caverns, where they were already trying to find a way to sneak inside.

Suddenly, Mac and Scarlet stopped walking, causing Sephtis to bump into Mac's back. "Hey, guys, what's up?"

Mac looked to Scarlet. "You sense that, right? The people from earlier."

Scarlet smiled and nodded. "They probably know more about what they're looking for than us. Maybe we should get some info out of them!"

Sephtis pumped his fist into the air. "All right! I have no idea what you're talking about, but it sounds like we have a lead!" The trio then ran to where Mac and Scarlet sensed he signatures, eventually coming to the Fearful Caverns.

"We might need reinforcements," Norrix mused while his men continued to scout the area for a way inside that wasn't the front entrance. The rabbit, Olga, perked up her Cybernetic ears, and she stopped, pulling out her laser rifle.

"I hear something, boss...!"

That caused the others to stop and immediately pull out their weapons. Norrix frowned.

"Just great."

Mac saw the ground and waved. "Hiya." He pulled out his two guns, Zip and Zap. "You guys seem to know more than we do about whatever you're looking for, so we have some questions. Comply, and no bullets need to be shot."

Sephtis took out his spear, Kyoya, and smirked. "Or you don't, and I get some good practice with Kyoya!"

None of the soldiers flinched when the weapons were drawn, still armed with their own. Norrix huffed, arms crossed.

"Fine; you want answers? Geological readings indicate that there's a massive underground cave connected to the Fearful Caverns, with strong readings of Dark-Elemental energies in it, to boot."

He smirked a bit.

"I bet those pagan idiots did't tell you that, did they?"

"...oh wow! So, we barge in there, nab the orb, and get out? Simple," Mac said with a smile.

"That girl didn't say anything about that... the liars. I bet they knew, but didn't want to tell." Scarlet reloaded her gun with static bullets. "Thanks for telling us! We'll be on our way."

"Aw... I wanted a fight," Sephtis said, pouting. "But I guess this is easier."

"No problem," Norrix chuckled; he seemed more than willing to let Mac and his group do the dirty work for him, if they even survived the cave...

Meanwhile, Varjud and his group were heading back into the Fearful Caverns. Mac and his group were entering the Caverns, with Scarlet putting energy in the form of a fire in her hand to light up the place. "You do realize they are probably trying to trick us, right?" Scarlet asked Mac.

"Yeah, it's too obvious. We tried beating the stuffing out of 'em, and now they tell us this? That's stupid. Be on your guard," Mac warned.

The cave quickly opened up into a large village, where there were other Mobians milling about, doing their own thing; some were patrolling, some were tending to crops, some were simply engaged in conversations, etc. There were some skylights in the ceiling of the cavern, fitted with windows to prevent rain from spilling in. Varjud and his group were already back in the village, as well. While Mac and Sephtis admired the scenery, Scarlet headed straight for Varjud.

"Hey, Varjud!" she said, having overheard his name from his and Mac's conversation. The bear looked over at her, frowning.

"You again...what is it?" he asked.

"Your goon told us that y'all didn't have the slightest clue where the Orb was, but these soldiers just told us that there's been notices of spikes of dark energy near here. What the hell's up with that?" asked Scarlet.

"She's not a 'goon', she's a soldier, thank you," Varjud huffed. "Second of all, what soldiers? As for Dark energy, you're probably thinking of that."

He pointed towards the fence that blocked off the Point of No Return.

"There's probably mountains of Tenebrite and Caligium back there, but it's fenced off for a reason; far too dangerous to traverse."

He turned back to Scarlet, eyes narrowed.

"I would like to hear about these other soldiers you encountered, though."

"There was a wolverine, a rabbit, and a dog. Those are the only ones I remember," Scarlet admitted. Varjud frowned.

"...do you remember anything specific about their outfits?"

"Wait, no, I have another question," Scarlet said. "The wolverine specified that there were spikes, not simple signatures. That means there's more than normal. Why should I even listen to you at this point?"

"I asked you a question," Varjud growled, his hand going to the hilt of his scramasax. "What were those three wearing??"

By now, other Dark Clan members were starting to gather.

"And I asked you a question: why should I listen to you?" Scarlet's hand started to go to her gun, prepared to start combat if things got out of hand.

"Listen...none of us know just what the hell's back there," he said, keeping his eyes trained on Scarlet's. "For all we know, it could just be massive amounts of Tenebrite and Caligium...or it could be some monster. Hell, it could even be the Aphotic Orb, not like we know if it actually exists or not."

He huffed a bit as he stood up a bit straighter.

"But the point is, we don't know. No one's been able to get back there and investigate."

"Well, I'm not some coward." Scarlet snapped multiple times, getting Mac and Sephtis' (who were checking things out) attention. "C'mon, guys, we know what we want and how to get there."

"So, we're bouncing?" Sephtis asked, to which Scarlet nodded. Sephtis smiled and did a loop in midair before flying to her, and Mac walked to her. The trio then started to head out.

"You're not seriously thinking of going back there, are you?" Varjud asked, following the three now.

"We've come all this way, so why not? When I look back at everything I've been up against, there's nothing in there that could really scare me," Mac said, confident.

"Plus, I'm super bored, so I'm coming with them," Sephtis said, giving Varjud a peace sign.

"You're all probably going to die back there," Varjud frowned, still following them. He stopped at the fence; the space beyond it was somehow darker than pitch black, with no ground in sight.

"If I had a penny every time I heard that, I'd be rich," said Mac.

"Mac, you are rich," Sephtis replied, to which Mac chuckled.

"Why do you even care?" Scarlet asked Varjud. The bear shrugged.

"Seems rather cruel to be okay with people dying via impalement, blood loss, degloving, etc," he said, arms crossed.

"Touche. Well, see ya," Scarlet said, jumping over the fence with ease. Mac did the same, and Sephtis flew over it. There was only a little bit of solid ground past the fence, and after that, only an endless sea of limestone stalagmites, razor sharp; slipping on any of those would likely be fatal...

"You're making a huge mistake," Varjud frowned.

"Yadda yadda yadda, can we go already?" Sephtis said. "I can fly us over these." After Mac nodded, he grabbed their arms, and they flew in the air, trying to find the end of the sharp stalagmites.

It was incredibly dark up there, and what cave would be complete without stalactites hanging down from it? They were just as sharp as the stalagmites, and just as numerous; bumping into any of them would be a painful experience...

"You can fly back at any time now," Varjud called out to them.

Sephtis winced, for he had not seen the stalactites and was hit by a few of them. Scarlet, sensing that Sephtis was in trouble, and created a red force field in order to protect them for a bit. Sephtis, seeing the force field, sighed and stopped flying, allowing the trio to all land in a bubble as Scarlet strained to keep it up. They kept rolling, though Mac and Scarlet had to switch control of the force field eventually, and when Mac got tired, Sephtis had gathered enough energy to carry the two of them again. Basically, they were all taking turns.

Watching the force field roll away into the darkness, Varjud just sighed and walked away from the fence.

After a bit of time, the trio finally got past the stalagmites and stalactites, and they were finally able to hit the ground again. While Mac was fine due to having such a high energy reserve, Scarlet and Sephtis were on their knees, panting. Mac turned around. "Hey, Scarlet, take this." He put his hand on her forehead and transferred some of his energy to her, allowing her to feel better.

"Thank you," Scarlet said with a sigh. "What about Sephtis?"

"All I did was fly," Sephtis said inbetween breaths. "And as soon as I knew what way to fly to avoid those spiky things, I was pretty much free. I'll be alright."

Mac gave him a fist-bump and told him "You're the man, Sep!" causing Scarlet to smirk.

There was still nothing but darkness around, and still some stalagmites, but they weren't as numerous as before. There was also a flapping sound... As soon as Mac heard the flapping, he crackled with electricity, showing some light. Sephtis equipped Kyoya and Scarlet did the same to her gun, and Scarlet tried to sense what was near.

It sounded like the wings of bats, probably thousands of bats. The light of the electricity allowed the trio to see just what they looked like; they looked like they were made out of pure shadows, with glowing red eyes. When Mac saw the creatures, he burst out laughing, and Scarlet and Sephtis looked at him like he was crazy. He responded with "Look at them! They're Lunabats! This is hilarious!"

Sephtis chuckled a rolled his eyes before twirling Kyoya, creating a whirlwind around them that would send bats flying away. Some bats were sent flying away, but still more were taking their place, starting to dive at the trio now, eyes glowing brightly; they were trying to drain the very energy of the three! Sephtis kept twirling Kyoya, creating a makeshift shield of wind, and Scarlet yelled "RUN!" and the trio ran, trying to protect themselves.

The bats continued to pursue them, screeching and squeaking as they tried to get past the wind shield. There seemed to be no end to their numbers... Mac knew this, and though Sephtis sure was skilled, he was only a pre-teen - he wasn't going to be able to hold the wind shield up for long. With a deep breath, Mac was suddenly surrounded by a blue aura, and his fur, his clothes and hair color changed to shades of white and blue. Before Sephtis or Scarlet could react, he grabbed their arms and burst forward in a twister of lightning, determined to clear a path and/or find one.

The lightning twister shredded through the army of bats with ease, and would likely let them break through any limestone stalagmites in their path; of course, shards of razor-sharp limestone were going to end up flying all over the place... The lightning twister was able to defend Scarlet and Sephtis from the stalagmites, but Mac was hit repeatedly, yelling multiple times. He couldn't wait until he sensed the Aphotic Orb... or at least something that wold let him stop.

"Varjud?" Synkka came running up to the bear. "Those three... did they really go back there??"

Varjud nodded.

"Yup; they didn't wanna listen to me when I told them it was dangerous," he said, shaking his head. "I'll be honest, though, if they come back alive, I'll be damn impressed."

Part 2
Deeper down in the cave, flashes of light radiated through the tunnels. Orange and green illuminated the area like a strobe light, followed by a strange sound. The sound of psychokinesis.

Vendeta the Hedgehog was knocked back against the wall as Vendeta Blue flew over to him, grabbing him by the neck and pinning him to the wall.

"I...killed you..." Vendeta said, struggling to breath "I...ripped out...your circuits. You're...dead."

"Correction," the robot replies "Previous damage. Not critical. Boundary Gate. Still active. Teleportation. Possible."

"How did you...rebuild...yourself?"

"Teleported to. Platinum City. Dimension VA-TIO. Repaired systems. Using city's tech."

"You're...damn...persistent."

Vendeta's palm struck the robot in the chest and fired a Force Palm, knocking the robot away.

"But so...am I." Vendeta said, breathing heavily. The two then fly towards each other, clashing in mid air as a huge blast of light radiates through the caverns.

Mac sensed their battle and stopped when he neared them, landing onto his stomach. Scarlet and Sephtis landed onto their feet and looked at the Vendetas and Mac stood. ''Is that.... Vendeta?! What is he doing here?!''

"That's the white hedgehog from before, right?" Scarlet asked. "The one you felt dèjá vu with?"

Mac nodded. "I feel it with that robot, too... but it's not good. I need to recharge though, so, Scarlet, you could-" Scarlet whipped out her gun and fired plasma bullets at Vendeta Blue. The robot is hit by them, too busy dueling Vendeta to notice. Vendeta Blue is knocked back and Vendeta floats over to Mac and Scarlet.

"Well, this is quite a reunion," he said. "What are you two doing here? Where even is here?"

"We're looking for this edgy orb of power," Sephtis said. "If you can sense it, it's super strong! ...at least, that's what they tell me. But whatever - how have you been? Has life been okay?"

"Yeah, life has been fine. Who are you again?"

As he said that, a blue blur struck into the side of Vendeta and Vendeta Blue was back to pinning the Guardian to the wall again. Mac put his hand back, signaling for Scarlet and Sephtis to not move forward. "You guys look for the Orb. I feel like this guy and I have unfinished business."

Scarlet sighed, and Sephtis grabbed her arm, flying them away. Meanwhile, Mac unsheathed Angel and tried to stab Vendeta Blue's arm. Vendeta Blue elbows Mac in the face but as he does so Vendeta uppercuts the robot. Mac, in turn, fires a lightning bolt at the robot for a team attack. Vendeta Blue is knocked into the celing, and Vendeta followed up by kicking him in his face.

"Thanks for the help, Mac," Vendeta said "That won't keep him down for long. Let's get moving: I want some answers."

"So do I," Mac said, a headache roaring in his head everytime he looked at the blue copy. Why did he have so many memories he couldn't remember? "Should we head to my gang, or in private?"

"Either would work for me," Vendeta said "So long as we are away from that thing."

As he said it, Vendeta Blue started to pull itself out of the ceiling it had been imbedded into. Mac nodded, surrounded himself in electricity and burst forward, fast as a lightning bolt, trying to get with his allies. Vendeta teleport dashes with him as Vendeta Blue pulls himself down from the celing. The robot scans the darkness, but sees nothing and flies off down the tunnel, blindly looking for Vendeta.

Scarlet and Sephtis, who were shooting and cutting down stalagmites and broken stalactites, turned around to find Mac and Vendeta. Before the duo could get a word in, Mac quickly asked Vendeta "What the hell are you doing here?! I thought we were done with that dimensional bullshit! Is Luna back, too?! What about Tel-Eth?!"

"I don't know what happened to Luna," Vendeta said "And Tel-Eth vanished after me and Ion defeated him, although I doubt he's dead. That thing is a robot copy of myself, created by Doctor Eggman a while ago when I was on another adventure. I thought I'd killed it for good, but then it came to Kryte and tried to kill me. It opened this portal and I ended up here. It wasn't until you turned up that I'd realized I'd jumped dimensions."

"...wow. That's tough stuff," Mac said.

"I still remember being stoned," Scarlet said, clenching her fists. "Should we kill the bot, or ignore it?"

"I'd rather not be thrown to another dimension right now," Vendeta said. "Especially when I have friends here who can help get me back. Now let's get moving."

The current area seemed to be less cramped compared to the deadly forest of limestone stalagmites, but it was still darker than any moonless night.

A blue hedgehog with black legs and red stripes on his quills was walking into the fearful caves. “ Geez I can’t see a thing in here.” He said

There were some soldiers on high alert now, patrolling the village; after word had gotten out that intruders had gone into the Point of No Return, things were tense. It wasn't too dark in the village, though, there were torches lighting the way, and moonlight was filtering in through the skylights carved into the cavern ceiling. A few soldiers did notice Lightning, but didn't say anything to him.

“This is the place.” Lightning thoug. Just then Lightning saw the solders “I need to come by.” Lightning said

One of the soldiers, a male skunk, looked at Lightning.

"Who are you?" he asked.

“Lightning the hedgehog” he said

"And what are you doing here?" asked the skunk, suspicious of Lightning.

“ Chasing after Eggman.” Lightning said. The skunk frowned.

"Eggman...? We've seen no trace of him or his men, what makes you think that he's here??"

“I followed him here.” Said Lightning. The skunk remained suspicious of Lightning.

"Then where did you see him go, exactly? We certainly didn't see him come into the village."

“Ok then.” Said Lightning Just then Lightning ran past the soldiers and said “See you later.”

"HEY!!"

The skunk, as well as some other soldiers, took off running after Lightning.

“Do you know who my brother is?” Lightning asked with a grin just then Lightning became a blur. By then, Lightning would likely be too far away to hear the soldiers' response.

"For Chaos' sake; why are people so damn desperate to get into the Point of No Return?!" the skunk cursed. Another soldier, the female chinchilla from earlier, just sighed.

"Let him die back there if he wants to," she huffed. The soldiers had given up chasing Lightning.

Lightning slowed down “I better be careful.” Lightning said to himself. The fence that barred off the Point of No Return was still there, and beyond that was an expanse of pitch-black darkness.

Lightning carefully walked “Ow.” Said Lightning. Lightning noticed that blood was coming out of his finger then he noted a razor sharp stalagmite.

The stalagmites were absolutely everywhere, and navigating through them would be incredibly difficult; it was unlikely that Lightning would get through unscathed...Back with the gang, Mac was using his sword to cut down potentially threatening stalagmites with Angel, while Scarlet was holding a force field above them all to protect them from falling stalactites. "Who put that blasted orb in here, anyway?" Mac grumbled, slashing at another stalagmite. "What does that thing do, anyway? It probably isn't just going to transform you into Luna 2.0."

"Maybe it gives you demon powers!" Sephtis said with a smile on his face, blasting a stalactite away with Kyoya. "It'd be cool if it, like, gave me the blood of my ancestors. I'm pretty sure my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandma's nephew's fifty-fourth cousin's aunt's twenty-first cousin thrice removed was distantly related to a demon, so.... maybe I would be able to fly!"

"You already can fly," Scarlet reminded him. "We were literally flying ten minutes ago."

"Oh...." Sephtis replied, now sad. The native creatures of the cave, mostly blind, pale lizards that fed off mineral deposits and tiny insects, scattered left and right as the group blasted their way through the razor sharp rock formations. As they traveled, other things besides chunks of stone were flying around, now; namely, purple-hued minerals of a resinous lustre. Vendeta used his psychokinesis to grab one and draw it towards him, examining the object.

It was a chunk of raw Tenebrite, decently-sized; it seemed to absorb a small amount of any light shed on it, making it look darker in color than it actually was.

"Huh," Vendeta said "Never seen this stuff before. I'm no mineralogist, but I guess keeping this stuff with us wouldn't hurt."

Vendeta keeps the material held by his psychokinesis, continuing on with the rest of Mac's group and looking over his shoulder for Vendeta Blue.

"Huh. That stuff is weird," said Scarlet. "It's energy signatures kind of remind me of Luna's, but more... dark." Scarlet shivered. "Like... pure darkness. I have a feeling that if I could feel goodness, these things would be pure evil."

"Eh," Sephtis started with a shrug. "It's not like they're alive or anything. They're just some jewels, that's all."

"Hey, doesn't the Abomination Orb or whatever also have spooky energy?" Mac replied. "We definitely shouldn't let the robot back there get its hands on it."

"Or this," Vendeta replied. He brings the Tenebrite closer and grabs it with his hands.

Lightning was walking through the cave but a stalagmite nearly impaled him by now lightning was bleeding from several cuts. There seemed to be many more broken stalagmites along his way, however, as if something had broken through them in their path. Lightning reached a drop where it curved downward there was a stalagmite just begging for him to ride on like a surfboard. Lightning pulled out his sword and cut the stalagmite and rode it down.

Eggman was trying to contact Birgitte. “Birgitte do you copy?”

Birgitte frowned a bit as she pulled up her wrist-mounted PDA and flipped it open.

"Lord Eggman, sir?"

“ Do you have the orb yet?”

The dog bit her lower lip, rather afraid to answer; as much as she hated Lord Eggman, she still feared him.

"N-No, sir, not yet," she said, wondering why he had contacted her instead of contacting Norrix; he was the Sub-Boss, after all.

”Well hurry up Sonic’s brother is close behind me and is looking for me. also if you fail me I will robotisize all of you”

"Y-Yes sir," she said, not bothering to ask any further about what Eggman was going through; she didn't want to risk irritating him.

“Also tell Norrix to send a few troops to slow Lightning down and that is a order “

She nodded briefly.

"Yes sir," she said.

Eggman turn back to his machine. Birgitte sighed and went up to Norrix.

"Norrix, sir? Apparently some brother of Sonic's is after our boss, and he wants us to send troops after him..."

"Wait... since when did Sonic have a brother?" Norrix frowned. "Oh, nevermind. We better do what he wants..."

Lightning jumped off of the stalagmite. Lightning walked deeper into the cave and thought he saw another group. Vendeta is still studying the Tenebrite when Lightning arrives. Lightning reached for his sword and pulled it out a bit. Vendeta's hand was covered by a green glow as he raised his hand with his palm now facing towards Lightning, although he keeps looking at the Tenebrite.

"Who are you?" Vendeta asked "And why are you here?"

“Lightning the hedgehog brother, of Sonic and I am looking for Eggman” he pulled the sword out a bit more

I don't remember Sonic having a brother, but I never pay attention to that guy anyway, Mac said before flashing a smile. "Don't think I don't notice that sword, now~" Mac took out his own sword Angel, twirling it before resting it on his shoulder. "We've got some stuff to deal with, so if you're gonna try to kick my ass, could you hurry it up?"

Could people please stop talking about that Sonic? Vendeta though to himself. He was mostly ignoring Lightning, and trying to see if any of his psychokinetic powers reacted to the Tenebrite. A faint 'spark' of Darkness-energy seemed to emanate from the mineral when Vendeta tried to use his psychokinesis on it.

Lightning ran down and pulled his sword out and spend forward, causing Mac to surge with electricity. "Oh, so you are looking for a fight. Well then, I'll be happy-"

"Hey, Mac, you can't hog all the action!" Sephtis wailed, jumping in front of him. "If he's gonna fight ya, I want in! I'll show you why I'm a junior assassin, just you wait!" Sephtis equipped Kyoya. "You guys keep trying to figure out that jewel stuff, and I'll deal with him!"

"Just don't die, got it?" Scarlet said, pulling a very disappointed Mac's arm. "Mac, you and I have to focus. Don't you sense that weird energy?"

"Maybe it's a part of the Apophis Orb?" asked Mac.

Sephtis, meanwhile, swung Kyoya around, blasting three powerful gusts of wind at Lightning.

Lighting jumped out of the way landed and ran over in a blur, making Sephtis smirk. "Alright, speedy, let's see how you deal with this!" Sephtis raised Kyoya above his head and twirled it around, creating a strong gust of wind that would either suck nearby Mobians in or push them far out. However, it also messed with the stalagmites and the stalactites, and Scarlet saw three heading towards Mac's back. Effortlessly, she walked behind him and swatted them away.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Scarlet, annoyed. "Do we study the jewels, look for the orb, or look for the robot?"

Lightning looked around and ran around in a circle and made a tornado to counteract the gust of wind. Sephtis grunted before blasting his own gust of wind, along with three stalactites, at Lightning. If this keeps up, the other three are gonna be hurt!

Lighting broke the stalactite and charged forward, charging his fist with energy. Vendeta sighed.

”Can we please calm down and answer each other’s questions?” he asked. “I think we have better priorities than fighting each other."

One of the pale, gecko-like lizards was climbing up Vendeta's leg, now; how it could see where it was going despite being blind was a mystery. Or perhaps it just thought Vendeta was a weird stalagmite. Vendeta thought little of it, seeing he had other priorities.

Lightning slowed down “that depends are you evil”

"Kid, the answer to that may take a while."

”umm ok “ Lightning touched the gem on his sword and started to change

"...the hell are you doing?" Scarlet asked, wondering what was happening. ''This guy... he goes off and on at random. Way too dangerous to keep around, and that's saying something, considering I'm looking for a gem of great dark power with a trigger-happy assassin-in-training and a jokester mercenary.''Donning silky white clothing with blue and lilac-colored lining along with a blue/purple box, Charlotte Berute the Monkey walked through the Dark Clan's village without a care in the world. Sure, she was probably gathering a lot of attention when she was supposed to be getting information, but who cared? If anyone tried to interfere, she could blow them up easily. It was for Keira, so it didn't matter who had to die.

Making sure she was keeping her axe well-hidden in the back of her shirt, Charlotte walked to a random clansman with a light smirk. Pushing her golden locks away from her face, she stared at him intently with her light blue eyes. She fluttered her eyelashes a little before asking, "I'm sorry to be suck a bother, sir, but do you happen to know where a very amazing artifact might be? I was hoping to see something very magnificent, but I'm afraid I don't know where it is. I believe that it goes by the name of the... Aprophet Orb?"

The clansman, a teenage grey wolf, blushed lightly. Who was this random foreigner, and why did she want to know where the Aphotic Orb was? Sure, she was cute, but... he was sure that the other clansmen wouldn't want him spreading rumors around to a foreigner. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I don't think that I have the right to tell you."

Charlotte stood in place for a few seconds. Who was this kid, calling her ma'am?! She was only a few million years old! ''I hate this... but I can't break character. I'll get my revenge after I know.'' "I was visiting one of my relatives here, so it's a shame I can't participate in the folklore. It'd be fun to introduce you to them and tell them about how awesome you were, but oh well-"

"Oh, the Aphotic Orb?! That's right past the gate, in the cave!" The teen didn't waste any time. He was never any good with the other girls, so this was like a Get Out of Jail Free card! And all he had to do was tell her a place where the orb might've been? He couldn't believe his ears!

"Oh! I think that's them behind you. Hi, Auntie!" Charlotte said, waving to nothing with a smile on her face. The wolf turned around... and Charlotte took her axe out.

SHWING!

He fell on his stomach, a red line across his back. Charlotte smiled and hid her axe before screaming, yelling for someone to come. Once a crowd gathered, she slipped out of them, heading straight for the fence.

A crowd was starting to gather, and it was't long before some soldiers started to arrive as well, doing their best to usher the panicked people away from the scene of the horrific crime. Varjud was among them, kneeling down next to the teen's body, putting a hand to his neck to check for a pulse. Already a deep blossom of blood was pouring from the axe wound.

"Who did this??" Varjud growled, his free hand clenched in anger; what kind of coward went after an unarmed civilian?!

"I saw someone!" a middle-aged woman piped up, slamming her walking stick on the ground repeatedly in her rage. "They were a blonde-"

Before she could finish, her head exploded. Still running, Charlotte sighed, and her glowing hand was hid in her pocket. ''Phew. That was close.''

The head explosion caused a chorus of horrified yells to erupt from the crowd (a few people were on the verge of fainting), and the soldiers were hard-pressed to try and calm the panicked civilians.

"Get them out of here!" Varjud roared. "Get them back to safety, now!"

Thankfully, the terrified people seemed eager to flee the scene, and the soldiers had no issue in shepherding them away from the the area. Varjud had gotten no pulse from the teen wolf; he was dead. Even worse, he now recognized the corpse...

"Var, what's going o-"

The bear grimaced a bit; he recognized that voice. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"Fal... I'm sorry, but-"

As soon as she saw the body, the wolf scout shoved past Varjud.

"No...!!" she cried, practically falling to her knees next to the body, shaking hands hovering over it. "No, no...!"

She gingerly attempted to turn over the corpse. It seemed like whatever weapon had been used was able to tear through flesh, because the a pressed red blood at his front, looking like he'd been cut through the chest. The sight made her gasp and recoil, her hands going up over her mouth.

"M-Melns...!!"

The sound of her shout sent another wolf running to the scene.

"Faleisus, what ha-"

The sight of the body of the wolf Melns made him falter.

"Melns...?"

Varjud sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, you two," he said. "I don't know who did this, and our only other witness is, well..."

He looked over at the headless corpse of the middle-aged clanswoman, and shuddered. Faleisus, meanwhile, was hugging the slightly smaller wolf to her body, crying silently, ears pinned back.

"Does anyone know where they ran off to??" Ahvardus demanded.

A young boy was still around, and he bit his nails, wondering if he should tell or not. I don't want my head to explode, but... if they killed Melns, I won't let them get away! "I saw the woman run into the caverns!" he yelled, pointing to the fence. Melns was such a good friend to me... I can't believe anyone would do something like that! "If you find her... can I punch her before she's executed?!"

"Those damned caverns again... why is everybody so obsessed with them??" Varjud grumbled. Ahvardus, meanwhile, turned towards the boy.

"You saw her?? What did she look like?" he asked.

"She was a blonde, like the elderly lady said, and she had a bow. She also hid an axe behind her shirt..." he said.

Ahvardus frowned.

"I'm certain that none of the clanspeople here are blond," he said. "It had to have been an outsider...!"

"Do you think... this axe-murderer wanted the same thing that tiger and his friends wanted?" a stoat mused. "The Aphotic Orb?"

Varjud just snorted.

"They can die back there for all I care," he growled, clearly on edge. "Whether the Orb's actually back there or not, I don't give a damn!"

"I want that b**** dead," Faleisus hissed, still hugging onto Melns' body.

"You are not going in after her, Fal," Varjud said brusquely. "Nobody is going into those caves. We don't need any more deaths..."

Back outside, Norrix and his group were gathered near the entrance to the village.

"Did you hear all those screams, sir?" asked Olga, frowning. "Sounds like something bad went down in there."

Gavriil couldn't help but smirk a bit, but he said nothing. Norrix, meanwhile, nodded.

"Yes, I did," he said. "They're likely to be much more guarded right now... and Lord Eggman doesn't want us to go in guns blazing."

"Why not?" Olga huffed. "What are swords and spears going to do against our weapons?"

"Well, for one, we're vastly outnumbered," Norrix replied. "Two, many of their numbers are combat-capable. And three, Lord Eggman wants us to conquer, not kill, if we can help it; a dead Mobian is no use to him at all."

“My story is this - a long time ago, when I was young, my brother played a prank on me, so I went to train. From there I saved Tails' life from Metal Sonic - then, I was tricked by Eggman into almost killing Sonic, Shadow and Silver but I snapped out of it before I killed Sonic. Then Eggman revealed his robot called the Eggtiton. The four of us then went super, and Eggman almost beat us until Sonic and I fused into Hyper Lightnic and beat him, and I ended up here.” Lightning said as he finished his story.

"...the hell?" Mac said, getting Scarlet's approval until he revealed why exactly he was confused. "You've fused with someone before too? It's weird, isn't it? I mean, it's like you're one person, but two people at the same time! You can hear their thoughts, their secrets... but then again, Ken is technically me, so maybe it was diff-"

Scarlet reloaded her gun and shot Mac with a cryokinetic bullet, freezing his head and effectively shutting him up. "All right, dramatic backstories aside, why are you here? Do you want the orb? Why do you want the orb, if you do? 'Cuz we have enough subplots in the roleplay as it is, and if you're looking for the orb, there's no way in hell you're gonna get any help from us."

"Yeah! We're gonna steal that orb fair and square, so you better not get in our way! I'm an assassin-in-training, y'know!" Sephtis declared proudly, putting his thumb to his chest with a large grin.

"...you don't have to make us sound so evil, y'know," Scarlet dully replied. She sighed before aiming her gun at Lightning's head. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now. If it's decent, I might be nice and give you a five-second headstart."

“One, we fused a lot, and I have no idea who or what you are talking about. Also,” Lightning moved out off the way in a flash. “I have no trouble with you - I am only looking for Eggman."

A vein throbbed in Scarlet's head, and her eyes turned bright pink. Mac started to melt rapidly (and his frozen head had a scared expression), and Sephtis backed away from her. A red aura flared as she yelled, "THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! EGGMAN ISN'T ANYWHERE NEAR HERE, SO GET YOUR ASS SOMEWHERE ELSE!"

"Cool your jets, Scar!" Mac said, finally free. "We can safely tell you we don't know if that robot thing works for Eggman, but isn't Vendeta a space traveler or something?" Sephtis shrugged, leaving Mac to give him an annoyed expression. "Anyway, I don't think Eggman would be interested in any of us-"

"And we'd all take turns murdering him if he dared to put his hands on Alexia again," Scarlet angrily added.

"-so I think you're probably best looking out for... hmm..." Mac seemed lost in thought.

"Hey, weren't there some soldiers outside?" Sephtis continued. "Who knows, maybe the clan is led by Eggman too!"

“Fine I will leave ok?” Lightning turned to leave and started to run away.

"Wow," Vendeta said to Mac "I've only seen you that annoyed fighting Luna."

Meanwhile, the Tenebrite chunk in Vendeta's hand seemed to pulse faintly, the normally dark purple sheen brightening somewhat.

"Interesting..." Vendeta muttered. He made the rock float in the air with his psychokinesis.

"I don't get that thing," said Scarlet with crossed arms. "Its energy signatures are so... weird."

"It seems to react with my psychokinesis, somehow," Vendeta replies. "I have no idea what it's doing, but I want to figure this thing out. I think we should get moving, incidentally. The blue guy could appear at any moment."

Lightning stopped. “Who are you talking about?“

"A blue hedgehog based off this him. Makes us look like a buncha jokers," said Mac, pointing to Vendeta with his thumb.

"Please," Vendeta replied "He went down easily both times I fought him. The time before this I didn't even need help. He's got a power boost now, admittedly, but he's nothing we can't handle."

"Correction," A mechanical voice said from behind Vendeta "I can kill you all."

Vendeta whirls round as Vendeta Blue force palms him in the face, knocking him away and making the Tenebrite fall out of his hands. "Alright, screw it, I'm killing this thing," said Scarlet, creating three afterimages of herself. The only real one was the one of Vendeta Blue's left, who was trying to kick him in the face, towards some stalactites. Vendeta Blue uses his psychokinesis on all three, quickly discovering that the Scarlet on the left is the only one who has mass. He grabs Scarlet's foot and throws her against the cave wall.

Lightning pulled out his sword and had it at the ready. The blade gleamed as Lightning charged at Vendeta Blue. In this area of the cavern, the walls and ceilings were chock-full of Tenebrite, creating a mysterious and oddly beautiful purplish that shone all around the group as they continued to clash, seeming to intensify as the fight did.

"My, what's going on here?" said the blonde monkey from before with a stalagmite held tight in her tail. She then saw Vendeta, Mac, Scarlet, and Sephtis. ''Oh, Keira told me about them. One of them being Luna's one-off enemy, two of them being long-running nuisances, and one of them being a traitor. ''"Well then, you all seem busy. Why are you all here?"

Sephtis was flying towards Vendeta Blue, blasting bursts of wind to help Lightning, but as soon as Mac saw the attractive female, he immediately lost focus. "Well, we're here looking for a beautiful artifact... perhaps one to give to someone as beautiful as yourself," Mac said with a wink.

''Oh, great. He's a flirt.'' Charlotte gave Mac a meek look. "Wh-Why, I'm flattered..." I'm way out of this bozo's league. "It makes me so happy that you would say such kind things about me..." ''He probably says that to all the girls. Unfortunately for him, I'm no moron.'' "However, I am in need of something else. I've heard that there is, in fact, a powerful artifact, and I was wondering if any of you had already claimed it."

Mac blushed and scratched the back of his ear. The slightly-damaged Scarlet slapped him upside in the back of the head. "Hey, attention queen! Take your dainty requests somewhere else, we've got a problem to deal with!"

"Oh my... how aggressive," Charlotte said. "I guess I'll be on my way..." Charlotte's eyes momentarily turned yellow, and right above Mac and Scarlet, a large amount of stalagmites and Tenebrite fell, with Scarlet luckily being able to put up an energy shield in time. However, unless they want to do a large attack that'd damage everyone, they were very much trapped, not able to hear anything outside of the rubble dome.

Charlotte smiled. ''Those two must've been the long-running nuisances. Well, then, I'll need them to keep a high opinion of me.'' Charlotte approached Vendeta. He must be the traitor. "You. I'll be claiming your skull unless you get me that orb."

Lightning was launched into the air by the air and he came down sword over his head, while the light from the Tenebrite embedded in the walls and the ceiling seemed to pulse slightly. Was all this activity causing the crystals to behave oddly?

"Is that a euphemism, lady?" Vendeta replies to Charlotte. He then tries to punch Charlotte. Meanwhile, Vendeta Blue is staggered by the bursts of wind, but manages to steady himself and tries to uppercut Sephtis when he arrives. Sephtis blocks the punch with Kyoya before trying to nail Vendeta Blue in the side with it.

Charlotte smiled at Vendeta's attempt before jumping over him, turning around, and attempting a sweep kick. Vendeta jumped over the sweep, floating in the air, and tried to hit Charlotte horizontally with a Force Blade. Charlotte quickly took out her axe, deflecting the blade, before trying to kick him upwards in the chin. Vendeta blocks the kick with his other arm and tries to kick Charlotte in the head. Vendeta lands his blow, but Charlotte does multiple backflips to regain her footing.

"My, my. You're keeping up with a god's intern. You're not a bad fighter, are you~" she said, before throwing her axe like a discus at Vendeta's head. Vendeta catches the axe with his psychokinesis, pulling it into his hand. He then fired Psychdarts at Charlotte. Charlotte groaned, her hands glowing yellow before making the ground explode underneath Vendeta. Then, she's hit by a PyschDart, but she runs to avoid the others. Vendeta is knocked upwards, but quickly rights himself in midair, hovering just bellow the ceiling of the cave. By the time he had rightened himself, Charlotte had jumped at it, trying to chop at his scar with her glowing hand. Vendeta leaped back from Charlotte's attack.

Meanwhile, Vendeta Blue teleport dashes past Sephtis' attack and tries to Force Palm him in the back of the head. Sephtis was hit by the attack and was sent flying, but he regained his composure and blasted more air to Vendeta Blue. Lightning turned around and started to make a tornado to help. Vendeta Blue weaves in and out of the blasts of air and tries to kick Sephtis while also firing PsychDarts at Lightning.

Sephtis grumbled, flying at Vendeta Blue and trying to whack him in the head. Vendeta Blue is hit and his eyes flicker slightly, before he tries to punch Sephtis in the gut. Sephtis smiles before using Kyoya to block the block and bring a gust of harsh wind from the side, trying to hit Vendeta Blue's side. Lightning blocked the darts with his sword. Vendeta Blue is knocked away by Septhis, being knocked into one of the cave's walls in a cloud of dust.

The impact of Vendeta Blue crashing into the cave wall almost felt like it shook the entire place; the sound was mingled in with something else... something suspiciously like a low groan.

Underneath the rubble and Tenebrite, a red explosion occurred, sending a ripple through the. Where the rubble had been, an annoyed Scarlet and slightly frightened Mac stood. The chunks of high velocity rubble smashed into even more stalagmites and stalactites, causing a bit of a noisy chain reaction and more pieces of limestone to fall down from the ceiling around the fighters.

This explosion also caused a particularly tall stalagmite to start to crumble and finally collapse. Did the general area seem to get a bit darker...? Lightning was laying on the floor, unconscious and with some rocks on him, but he was alive. The tornado he'd made saved his life. "Is it just me, or are the shadows getting closer?" Sephtis asked.

"That's an edgy way of putting it," replied Scarlet.

“ ughh ow” Lightning moaned as he woke up, his head hurting. Oddly enough, the darkness seemed to be more concentrated at an area further back into the cave. And then there was a noise; a noise not unlike some huge creature that sounded quite upset.

"Well..." Vendeta said "I'm not sure continuing to fight is a good idea."

"Correction," Vendeta Blue said, floating out from the cloud of dust "Continuing. Excellent idea."

He tries to fly at Vendeta, and the Guardian throws Charlotte's axe into it's chest. However, Vendeta Blue catches the object with his psychokinesis, pulling it to his hand just like Vendeta had and swings it at Vendeta. Vendeta screams as the axe leaves a gash on his shoulder. Mac bolted forward, trying to stab Angel in Vendeta Blue's chest.

Vendeta Blue created a portal to a frozen mountain in front of Mac, stopping Angel from hitting him and resulting in snow falling into the cavern. Vendeta Blue attacks Vendeta with the axe again, but Vendeta creates a Force Blade in his hand and the two Vendetas start dueling.

"Mac, you, Sephtis and Vendeta deal with the robot," Scarlet yelled out to them, reloading her gun. "I'm gonna check out this thing."

"Well... I don't want to be useless. I'll help," replied Chalotte, knowing Scarlet didn't see any of her misdeeds.

"You coming?" asked Scarlet to Lightning.

It sounded like there was something huge moving around back there, with the sound of massive claws scraping into the cavern floor. There was another eerie howl, quite loud. Whatever was making that noise was not happy.

“What is that thing?" Lightning asked, picking up his sword. Wait, was that some eyes in the darkness, high up in the air? More importantly, what was that concentration of darkness on the cavern floor...?

The Vendetas keep dueling, and the real one catches a quick glance at Lightning.

"Oh, for crying out loud, now he has a concus-"

Before he can finish, Vendeta Blue force palms Vendeta in the chest, and he's sent flying into the wall again.

Lightning turned around.

“Catch!” Lightning yelled as he threw his sword near Vendeta. Vendeta Blue hadn’t noticed the sword, and before he had time to register it Vendeta pulled it to his hand with psychokinesis and stabbed Vendeta Blue in the shoulder with it. The robot responded with some garbled noise before trying to punch Vendeta with his free arm, but Vendeta quickly pulled the sword out and teleport dashed out of range.

”Good call, kid” Vendeta told Lightning, keeping his eyes on his robot duplicate. There was another howl, even closer this time...

"I say we kill it," Scarlet said, glowing.

"Why, what a brutal strategy," Charlotte replied. "Maybe we should tame it?" I want to kill it too, but she can't know I'm a fighter too early...

The glow from Scarlet made it easier to see the odd concentration of darkness on the ground, almost as if it was coming from an object. Far above that, there was another glow; one coming from at least four golden eyes. Lightning picked up a sharp stalagmite, and a low rumble came from the general direction of the eyes as they lowered; it was still too dark to see the thing's true form... Scarlet intensified her aura even further, lighting up the cave with red lighting while yelling. Charlotte looked at Scarlet with interest.

The source of the darkness was clear, now; it seemed to be a bowling ball-sized orb comprised of pure darkness energy, laying on the cavern floor. But the red light also illuminated something else, something that was looming over the two; a huge creature, horned creature with four arms that seemed to be covered in Tenebrite armor, with pitch-black fur growing from the exposed areas.

From behind, Mac came dashing in with his own sword, trying to slice off Vendeta Blue's shoulder.

Lightning looked back "Restrain the robot but dont be to close to it" lust then Lightning chuked the stlagtiet at Verda Blue then moved