[Deleted]

C12CKFptp_1d20+2p_1d20+2

(Oh come on.)

Zera was petrified, frozen in fear of what had happened to her boy, her son. Why didn't he-

"SHADOOOOW!"

Then he struck.

Zera is sent hurdling backward, tumbling and skidding on her back, body gathering and losing static in an even keel as she sparks to a stop, barely managing to bring herself to her feet before she watched her baby boy stand so defiantly, gathering all that energy into his body. Oh no..! She tries to get up, to just... stop him, hug him or something, but instinct overrides maternal love, and the cat doubles back away from the blast...

p_1d20+2
(Much better.)

With a deft dive down, she manages to evade the rubble. Tears well in her eyes further as Zeraora slams her fist into the ground. Rage finally grips her tired, weary heart, and the sorrows of being struck by someone she truly loved were silenced in the deafening roar of the stormclouds in her heart and mind. Tough love was the only option.

At last, she had the resolve to undertake this mission.

To tend to herself, Zeraora calms down, and begins drawing in energy while she laid there, and pulses it all out at once to bring her power back up to some semblance of nominal. 

(Two actions spent. Zera uses one to charge and gain 5 stacks, and another to heal!)
p_1d5+1
(Zera heals 5%!)

Zeraora rises to her feet, dusting herself off and calling out to her son one last time. She had the energy, the courage, to see this through.

p_1d20+1
(Zera's... intimidation roll?)

"If I can't get through to you by words, punkin... I'll do it by force! Krystal! Pac-Man! Knock those gems down from the pillars! Any means necessary! I've got a bit of disciplining to do with the thing that has my boy here."

She rolls her neck, cracking those fluffy knuckles before walking in, slowly. She... actually attempted to shove Krystal aside if she could. A fire burned in her heart, a thunderstorm clouded her mind. Zera wasn't going to let this... thing puppet her son around any longer.

"Whoever you are, pulling strings on my baby boy - I'm coming for you next. I swear on Arceus' golden fence, I'll beat you to death with my own two hands. I'll rip you out and whoop you myself! YOU HEAR ME?! Shadow! I'm doing this out of love! I love you! You're the little kitten I never got, and I'm not gonna lose you to some adult-child possessing COWARD! SO COME ON! Focus on me! Show me you love me, too! These two aren't even here right now! It's just you and me, punkin!"

...Zeraora was practically sacrificing herself to let the others disrupt this ritual!

"PROVE YOU LOVE ME, TOO, SON! FIGHT ME!"


ZERAORA
HP: 75/130
Shield: 40/40
Cooldowns: Volt Absorb (0/3)
Static: 1/50

1d20+2·1d20+2·1d20+2·1d5+1·1d20+1

[PacAttack]

That... worked? He couldn't really tell. Shadow look confused more than anything when it came to him which was what he was expecting. It be surprising if he showed and sign of recognition in his word salad speech. At least he wasn't going to sock him in the face like a moment ago. Pac let out a bit of a huff and allowed his arms to rest from their rigid stance.

Shadow's aggression picked up with the other two to yellow one's dismay. Ugh, he really didn't want to hit this guy but as he watched him dash about and throw lightning bolts, he felt he wasn't going to be doing much good with what he was doing. He took a few steps back and placed a head on the back of his head as he thought over the situation, watching the hedgehog trail around a trace of red.

|v0sV5oQp_1d20+1(Chaos Blast evaded.)

Those few steps back might've given him the edge he needed as the red swirling around Shadow looked to grow larger and move more swiftly around, almost like a storm was building. Pac took another uneasy step back as the black hedgehog's words reminded him of Knuckle's warning. Now that he was here in the moment though, he felt some reassurance in himself. The past had definitely taught him a few things. He did a small back flip, rolled himself up into a ball, and slid back away from the blast. Pulling himself back out revealed the destruction of the "chaos blast" as he called it. Alright, one thing to keep an eye out for.

PAC-MAN listened to the thunder cat gave her a look before looking back to the glimmering gems.  He was going to attempt to speak to Shadow again but didn't really see a point in that when he wouldn't understand what he would be saying anyways and at least sounded like a plan.  Pac glanced back to her and nodded before kicking out his legs.  Time to move it or lose it.

p_1d20+3(DEX Rev Roll with two charges. Deals 23% if someone gets in his way.)

The dirt beneath the yellow hero began to give way, being torn up and tossed back by the rapid cycling of his feet as he aimed in on for one of the gems that were around Shadow.  He wasn't holding back on this one and put every bit of energy he had in this one.  A hole was dug up from how much he speed he had built up before he let himself go like a rubber band, quickly springing forward and taking off.  He let his feet carry him and as long as things went to plan, he'd snag a gem on his way by and skid to a stop.

---

PAC-MAN

HP 155/155

SH 50/50

1d20+1·1d20+3

[heirtothemonado]

PLC4_Vvlp_1d20+2 (Krystal's Chaos Lance dodge Attempt 1: Failure)

p_1d20+2 (Krystal's Chaos Lance dodge Attempt 2: Failure)

p_1d100 (Paralysis)

p_1d20-1 (Duration: 2 turns)

Krystal had started rushing toward Shadow, ducking under Zera's shove and pulling out her staff,  spinning it to full size. But she was so focused trying to get to Shadow that she was completely blindsided by the lightning bolt that the dark hedgehog threw at her. She was sent flying, landing hard on her side and rolling to a stop a couple feet away. Shaking, she got to her feet, a tingling feeling coursing through her limbs as she leaned on her staff. She took a few seconds to regain her footing, but before she could even call out to Shadow again, energy started coursing toward her, tearing up everything in it's path

p_1d20 (Krystal's Chaos Blast Dodge attempt 1: Failure)

p_1d20 (Krystal's Chaos Blast Dodge attempt 2: Success)

Forcing her limbs to work with her, Krystal managed to pull herself out of the Chaos Blast's path, but only just barely. A few hairs on her tail were still notably singed, but it could have been so much worse. Once she was safely out of range, she tried reaching out to Shadow, mentally this time, trying to drown out the cacophony that was his mind. ("SHADOW! Please, you don't want to do this! Think of all the promises that you still have to keep!") Krystal couldn't keep that link up for very long, the sheer volume of the mental noise too much for her to handle. With a grunt, she cut off the connection, almost getting knocked off her feet again.

p_1d20+2 (Krystal's attempt to talk to Shadow!)

As Zera yelled out for her and Pac-man to destroy the gems, Krystal nodded and spun her staff in her hands again. There was no way she was going hit Shadow from here anyway, but she could at least attempt to get those gems away from him. Pointing her staff toward one of the fallen gems, she blasted a cone of flames toward it, with Shadow lining up quite nicely with her shots

p_1d20+2 (Krystal's Fire Blaster! 12%, 30% chance to burn, Krystal's staff-based moves gain a Burn chance)

p_1d20+2 (Again)

---

Krystal

Health: 115/140

Shield: 45/45

Status: Fire Stance

Paralysis (2 turns)

1d20+2·1d20+2·1d100·1d20-1·1d20·1d20·1d20+2·1d20+2·1d20+2

[cynda1]

Shadow's teeth snarled at the cat, allowing himself to lose focus on the other two for a moment. The hedgehog seemed to try to glare into the cat's soul, which if he was home it would probably work. However, Li had thrown a few wrenches in his intimidation, whether he wanted to intimidate people or not. One of those wrenches were Zeraora. The cat never seemed to be afraid of Shadow, only sympathetic. Shadow was never foreign to the concept of someone being sympathetic to him... He had Maria after all who was always treating him with great love.

But once the girl had been slain and that sympathy taken away from him, Shadow's view on it twisted. The hedgehog always would scoff at the notion of anyone being sympathetic to him... Zera was no exception.

Not at first.

However, there was always something about Zeraora that interested him. Perhaps it was her own determination? Or was it stubbornness? Either way, Despite appearances, deep down Shadow and Zera seemed to have a lot in common. Both cared deep for people even if one was more forward about it than the other, both would protect them viciously, and both would do whatever it took to get what people needed, even going as far as to disregard their own safety.

However, one knew not to take it too far. One currently had control of their power, and mind. The other went off the deep end, took what they thought was right too far, and can't control either their power nor mind. That love that they were capable of having, though...

...That never dwindled.

l0tRh87Dp_1d100 (Shadow's comprehension roll... Shadow heard and recognized Zera.)

Shadow didn't show any signs of lowering any aggression, but the cat could probably see it in his eyes. Though still clearly yellow, Shadow's eyes refused to break contact with hers. Shadow was silently keeping himself still for a moment, recognizing that Zeraora had a plan. This plan needed to be seen through, and Shadow, in his own deranged way, was trying to hold himself back enough to let the other two carry out their plan.

That being said, Shadow wasn't completely free. Far from it. Shadow could feel his power increase incessantly again, but Shadow didn't dare to look back at the other two. Instead, he did what Zera wished: he kept his focus on her. Shadow rolled into a ball and dashed to try to hit her... but it would only graze past her. Shadow seemed to be aware that this was Zera... for the time being. As a result, he couldn't bring himself to hurt her, but he did play along enough to keep up a sort of charade that he was doing what she asked.

However, the moment she fell out of sight was the moment things went wrong again...

Shadow's head instantly spun around when Pac Man laid a hand onto one of the emeralds... the purple one. Shadow shook his head and tried to keep the image of Zeraora in focus, but she faded again... and in her place was...

...Professor Gerald.

Shadow started shaking... shaking in anger and rage. What did this... maniac think he was doing bringing his ugly mug back? After everything he'd done? Every problem Shadow had every faced, the whole reason he was in this position... it was all this man, this evil, evil man's fault. Shadow only ever wanted to please him, but all the Professor, the mad scientist ever did, even after death, was torment him! And now he came back from the dead to try and face him?

Shadow wasn't about to let that happen. Robotnik wouldn't get another chance to bring harm, nor would he get a redemption. He was one person who didn't deserve one...

Shadow was completely blinded again. Krystal was most likely forced to feel it as his mind was screaming more than ever. The slight relief she may have felt when Shadow recognized Zeraora was gone. However, this didn't stop her. Krystal still attacked the emeralds all the same.

However, the emeralds were still just rocks, so... it didn't hurt them. It did, however, Pac Man grabbing one to separate them as well as Krystal attacking some of the others cause the energy to fade and the floating rocks to plop to the ground. At first the silence might've flown over the group. Even Shadow's mind was quiet. However, with this peace a feeling of dread seemed to slowly creep up everyone's spine...

...Where did that infinite amount of energy go?

In a flash of light, another source of energy flashed, one that had been forgotten on the ground.

Shadow's Inhibitor Rings... A creation of Gerald Robotnik, and the very things now carrying an infinite amount of energy from the emeralds they just drained. Before anyone could even blink, the rings vanished and had returned to Shadow's wrists, causing Shadow to let out in sheer pain again. The rings were burning his wrists until his fur turned into a familiar cream color. Shadow's entire body felt like he was burning as he fell to his knees, screaming his lungs out as he was taking on power so intense it would've killed a normal human in an instant.

After being in this state for several agonizing moments, the hedgehog finally stopped screaming... the hedgehog opened his eye, no longer screaming like a wild animal, no longer hearing the voices in his head, and no longer confused. In fact, Krystal wouldn't be able to hear Shadow anymore at all.

This wasn't Shadow anymore... This was a weapon... a robot... everything Shadow wasn't.

Phase two has just begun...

Great job, everyone! You stopped the emeralds from pumping energy into the Inhibitor rings. Unfortunately, well... Shadow's now a Super Shadow zombie. Eh, that's life. It's never perfect. Now you're going to have to fight a Super Shadow who isn't exactly all there, if you know what I mean.

Or is He?

I guess we'll see what happens.
Krystal! Only you can do this! Make an INT roll of p_1d20. You have two tries. No one gets hurt this round, but things are about to get crazy.

1d100·1d20

[heirtothemonado]

As both Krystal and Pac-Man connected their attacks to the Emeralds, the two they hit dulled and dropped to the ground. What....just happened? Where did their energy go? Weren't they supposed to be infinite? Krystal was confused about what just happened, but that confusion only lasted for a fraction of a second, because she received her answer in the most raw, shocking way possible.

As Shadow almost inhumane scream assaulted Krystal's ears, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying her damnedest to drown Shadow out. She couldn't even move from where she stood, all she could do was endure the noise

Then, all of a sudden...it stopped

Just as soon as the scream started, it stopped all together. Krystal's ears were tingling as the new silence rang within them....wait, silence? And then it hit Krystal. Not only did Shadow stop screaming, his mind was also completely silent, despite having never shut up in the entire time Krystal had known him. "...S-something's not right..." Krystal said. She focused on Shadow himself, and her fears were confirmed. That look....Those empty eyes, the blank expression...This wasn't the Shadow that she knew.

lTBFjhsOp_1d20+2 (Krystal's INT Check: Success!)

Seeing no other options available to her outside of straight up attacking him, Krystal tried to call out to him mentally one more time. His mind might be silent, but she could at least try

("Shadow? Can you hear me? It's me, Krystal. Answer me, Shadow. Let me know that you're still there!") Krystal pleaded. She could hear her message echo in her head, but it was still worth a shot. Even with Shadow like this now, she still didn't want to fight him if she could help it, but she held her staff close. She was ready to defend herself if she needed to.

---

Krystal

Health: 115/145

Shield: 45/45

Stance: Fire Stance

Status: On guard

1d20+2

[PacAttack]

Blazing past the gem, Pac stuck an arm out and snagged it before pulling himself around. His foot dragged across the ground as he attempted to 180 himself in the opposite directon but managed to pull a bit of a twister off as he continued to spin in circles a few more times, waving his arms a bit as he catches his balance. He rolled over the purple gem in his hand, watching the light catch it and admiring the stone. It was a nice little thing. Probably go for a good amount of pac-bucks if it weren't for the fact that it was a battery of sorts or whatever. He tossed it up and down a few times in his hand before pocketing it.

PAC-MAN started to feel something. Something wrong. His pac-senses were tingling and it wasn't something he liked. He turned his attention back to Shadow who looked to be really out of it. Not the slightest clue what was had as to what was going on. The stones were looking to be something big in the scheme but he didn't understand what was so special about them other than looking cut. With Shadow now screaming his lungs out there was nothing he could really say (ha) or do for the matter. There were some flashes across the hedgehog and then he began to turn gold-ish color... Uhh yeah. A slight look of confusing crossed him as his eyes flattened a bit. They narrowed as if attempting to deeply look into him. It kind of reminded him of the five golden fruits back home where they were used to store Spooky. He remembered collecting all of them and bringing them back to the tree. He began to put the fruits back on the tree to have them circle around it and float up in the air. Spooky arrived in an attempt to stop him but Pac soon found himself in a sheen of gol--

The connection in his head was all too similar and he took a small step back having a feeling of what was to come.

---

PAC-MAN

HP 155/155

SH 50/50

[cynda1]

Krystal had to force all the noise out of her head, ignore her inner worry, and even drown out the sound of her very heart beat to even tell that the Shadow she knew still existed. She would have to be prepared for anything given what had happened so far…

“...Where…?” There it was! Krystal could hear his inner thoughts. “Where… did everyone go?” Shadow’s inner voice sounded tired and confused, which at this level wasn’t really that surprising. However, if any of the three facing Shadow looked at his actions rather than his thoughts, Krystal could probably connect that Shadow wasn’t in control anymore. Shadow was still clearly targeting the three of them, but the hedgehog was more direct, almost robotic in his movements.

When Shadow did hear Krystal’s voice, the hedgehog grew silent for several nerve wracking moments before everything seemed to click in Shadow’s head. “...Krystal, I’m sorry…” Shadow said almost coldly, clearly depressed and remorseful, drained of all hope. “I… didn’t want this to happen… I... I should've... listened to you.” Shadow seemed very much aware that things weren’t good out there. He knew more than anyone how dangerous he could be, and the fact that he could only hear Krystal’s voice and couldn’t see her cleared up what was happening to him.

Shadow, or the hedgehog now being completely overwhelmed by Chaos energy, faced Krystal getting ready to stop her connection with Shadow before turning to the panicked Pac Man. The hedgehog’s expression didn’t change, as he started moving toward the yellow ball. In a flash of blue, the cream colored hedgehog vanished and he attempted to grab the yellow hero’s face before glowing an intense red. If Pac Man didn’t avoid or get out of Shadow’s violent grasp, the yellow man would be enveloped by Chaos Blast.

(Pac Man! Shadow’s about to grab you and use Chaos blast! Shadow’s in his Super Form, so you only have one chance this time! Roll a CON roll of 15, or receive 70% of damage with a guaranteed burn.)

Shadow slowly turned to face Zeraora with his cold stare. The hedgehog slowly stood up and turned completely to face her as he slowly started walking toward her. If the cat tried to look for any sign that Shadow could be reasoned with, she wouldn’t find any. The hedgehog got ready to form a dark purple energy before launching himself at full speed toward the cat, getting ready to envelop the cat in a Chaos Nightmare.

(Zeraora! Shadow’s about to inflict the power of Chaos Nightmare on you! If you don’t dodge with a 14 in DEX, you will get hit with 60% of damage, though Shadow will receive 15% of recoil regardless! You only have one chance.)

“Krystal,” the fox could hear Shadow’s voice growing more tired. “You need to get out of here… along with everyone with you…” Shadow outwardly clenched his fist for a split second before going to swipe a punch at Krystal. However, this attack just narrowly missed as the cream colored hedgehog held his fist inches from her face. “If you don’t leave… I’m going to destroy all of you… and I won’t be able to stop.” Shadow paused for a moment as his fist opened up, getting ready to unleash an energy.

Despite energy being charged to attack, Shadow didn’t attack Krystal. It seemed as though being aware that Krystal was there was keeping the hedgehog from attacking her, though he still had an attack aimed at her.

(Krystal! You have a chance to knock Shadow’s hand away by inflicting 20% of damage! If you don’t either do that or dodge with a roll of 14%, Shadow will attack with three blue Chaos Spears, which aren’t fully charged. You will be inflicted with 20% of damage 3 times if you fail, and you will lose your connection with Shadow.)

“Leave, and evacuate the planet…or destroy me... I won’t stop until everything’s destroyed… You have to save everyone, please. Promise you’ll protect everyone from me...”

(There's a new way to prevent Shadow from attacking! If Shadow realizes you're there, he won't be able to attack you that round, but that won't stop him in the next round. Take the opportunity to run while you can.)

---

Super Shadow
Health: ? (-15%)
Status: Out of Control ; Lost all hope now
Sanity: 7/100 (Has little control now)

[PacAttack]

YFVbdoUtp_1d20

The now golden shadow fit the bill. He was practically glowing at this point and gave off an unfamiliar vibe to Pac-Man. His facial expression didn't help either as he still looked really out of it. Nonetheless, Pac held his ground and stared back unsure of what to do.

The autonomous motions of him didn't give off any clues. When he had suddenly vanished, Pac-Man simply blinked in disbelief. Before he could register what had happened Shadow's hand was gripped around his face. A startled noise escaped his mouth as he took both his orange mitts and wrapped them around Shadow's own glove and shoved the hedgehog back. The red glowing coming off of him was definitely not a good sign so he followed up by giving himself more ground and turning to run.

Turning around in time, he had managed to witness the chaos blast, the red energy wave consuming the area around the hedgehog. Oh yeah, great, why couldn't he do that? Let's just make everything explode why don't we. Sure would've made things easier back then. Pac watched out to make sure he wasn't going to try and grab him again and make his face detonate before coming back out. Pac couldn't tell what was with this guy. All grumpy and no smiles. Maybe he had just stumbled into the wrong game and given a bad set of cards. Shoot, the other animals here aside from the one trying to take his life knew Shadow better than he did and he couldn't even communicate with him. Pac-Man huffed. No use in crying over it. Something had to be done.

As much as he'd like to reason with him, there wasn't much he could say in the matter. Getting him to calm down was the best bet or maybe wear him down in Pac's case. He really wasn't going to like it but then again, life isn't all about enjoyment.

p_1d20+2 (STR, Pac-Man's grapple on Shadow.  An (impressive) effort to restrain him.)

While Shadow's was off attempting to make someone else explode, Pac took a moment to ready himself.  When the time was right, he hopped out from behind the rock and made a dash up behind the golden menace and reached out for his arms.  If that worked, he put a foot in his back and bury the other in the ground for support.  It was a more rough than he would've liked but this wasn't the time to be messing around.  

"Wakka wakka wakka, waka!"

He remarked.  Pac-Man really didn't look too panicked.  In fact, he was smiling.

1d20·1d20+2

[heirtothemonado]

It took a lot of effort on Krystal's part, but after what seemed like an eternity, she felt the connection go through. Even with that connection, though, there was a lot of mental noise that Krystal had to shift though before she could hear Shadow. Eventually, she did manage to get through...

Krystal breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Shadow's voice ("Shadow...It's okay, I'm right here.") she thought back, trying to calm Shadow down a little. He...he sounded so tired....

When Shadow apologized to Krystal, the vixen grew solemn. If he was stooping to that, then things must be very dire. ("It's....okay, Shadow. I won't say I didn't try to warn you, but what's past is past. Now it's up to us to try and pick up the pieces.")

Krystal winced as Shadow, or rather, Shadow's body, made a grab toward Pac Man and blasted away and Zeraora. It felt so...disconnected from what she was hearing, but it was all she could do to hold this connection. Now that she had it, she didn't want to lose it again. However, her attention was quickly grabbed back to Shadow with what he said next.

("...No! Shadow, we're not leaving you behind! Things may be bad now, but we can fix it! I'm not going anywhere, and neither are the others. You want me to promise to protect everyone? Fine. But that includes you too, and I can't do that by running away! And if protecting you means fighting you...then we'll do what we have to!")

As Shadow lifted his hand to attack Krystal, she spun her staff toward him, firing a quick burst of flame that went wide. But this was just a distraction...

Yr7WYfAZp_1d20 (Krystal's Fire Blaster! DMG 12% 20% chance to burn.)

While Shadow was hopefully distracted by the stray burst of flame, Krystal had another trick up her sleeve. Putting away her staff, she held her hands out in front of her, and a large Gatling gun formed in her grasp. Training the barrel on Shadow's body, Krystal let the gun spin up for a little, before opening fire!

p_1d20 (Krystal's Gatling Gun! Takes 2 actions, deals 22% DMG, successfully blocking Shadow's attack!

p_1d20 (Crit Confirm)

After a few seconds of continuous fire, Krystal let the gun spin down again. Fortunately, during all that, Krystal had still managed to hold on to her mental connection with Shadow. ("Come on, Shadow, try and fight back! Take control of yourself again! If you can do that, then this will all be over!")

---

Krystal

Health: 115/145

Shield: 45/45

Status: Fire Stance.

Mentally connected with Shadow

1d20·1d20·1d20

[cynda1]

Shadow wasn’t able to get a grip of Pac Man’s face, but the emotionless expression the hedgehog had made it clear that he wasn’t really deterred. Before Pac Man would attempt the grapple, however, Shadow rushed straight for Zeraora at full speed, attacking her with two spheres of distorted time and space, causing the Electric Type a lot of damage as she didn’t seem interested in trying to get away.

Shadow would then bring his attention to Krystal, though the hedgehog couldn’t bring himself to cause the vixen any kind of harm. Krystal was able to maintain her connection with Shadow, which gave Pac Man the golden opportunity he needed to grab the hedgehog from behind. Stiff like a statue, Shadow’s body refused to move in response at first, but the tense stance might’ve been… rather unnerving. Shadow wouldn’t take even a moment to relax, a constant storm brewing, and even as he’d let it loose as is, he wasn’t nearly done.

Krystal insisted that leaving Shadow behind wasn’t an option, but his inner voice spoke up again when she allowed the realization to hit him. “Others..?” Shadow asked somberly. “There… are others with you..? Who..?” Super Shadow started lifting himself off the ground, attempting to bring Pac Man along with him. The black hedgehog glanced over at Pac Man, squinting at him ever so slightly…

...Super Shadow wasn’t one to hold down so easily… Pac Man may have made a mistake.

The hedgehog took off like a jet plane, spinning around in circles trying everything to get the yellow man off. The hedgehog would try to ram him into trees and then tried to ram him into the ground before aiming to ram him into a stone wall. Shadow may not have been in full control, but his aim was surprisingly fierce and precise.

(Pac Man! Super Shadow’s trying to shake you off! Make an STR roll of 15 or higher three times. If you fail the first roll, it’s 15% of damage. Second roll is 25% of damage, and third is 30% of damage. You will lose your grapple if the first and second both hit, or if the third hits.)

Regardless of whether his attempt to shake him off worked or not, Shadow would land on the ground, facing Krystal again. “Fight… how am I supposed to fight this..?” Shadow asked, desperately as he tried to even gain a bit of grasp of what was going on. “What am I even supposed to fight, there’s nothing here!” Shadow’s inner yell of frustration caused his outer self to let out a scream, though his face remained unsettlingly emotionless for just how painful that scream sounded. Quite the contrast…

Shadow’s inner self squinted at the sound and let out a bit of a gasp. “What was that? Who was screaming just now?” It sounded like someone was in danger, but… that was his scream, wasn’t it? Why wouldn’t Shadow know that he was screaming?

“I’m sorry, Shadow…” A familiar voice spoke up, one that Krystal could hear, too. The voice sounded old, and broken, like all the life had been drained of him. Shadow turned to face a human, one much taller than Shadow, and much rounder, too. The man looked like a certain egg shaped man Shadow was all too familiar with, but this one seemed to cause Shadow even more grief. “I was hoping that you would see the path to insanity sooner than I had… I never should have encouraged you…”

“Encouraged..?” Shadow pondered aloud before the realization hit him. “...You’re… it was you, all this time…”

Professor Gerald didn’t say anything, but that was enough for Shadow to know the truth.

“I knew I couldn’t trust you…” Shadow practically hissed, the venom of hatred clear within every syllable he spat. “Why-”

“Now isn’t the time, Shadow,” Gerald explained. “I understand your mixed feelings about seeing me, but I need you to understand the gravity of what’s happening. Right now, as I speak, you are going into a complete rampage-”

“I know,” Shadow said. “I-I know, Krystal’s right here, she’s been-”

“You’re unleashing your power-”

“I know.”

“In your super form-”

“I know…”

“And you’re going to destroy everything!”

“I know all that already!” Shadow spat at him in annoyance as he let out a grunt, sliding a hand over his forehead. “Just… Just, how do I stop it?”

“Shadow, I’m afraid I’m at a loss,” Gerald admitted somberly. “I went insane before my final moments, and ended up doing horrible things that I can never make right for all eternity. I was hoping that you would be able to avoid this outcome if I could encourage you to use your power to restore everything-”

“So you tricked me,” Shadow spat. “Again.” Silence resided between the two as Shadow ran a hand over his face and let out a scoff. “No,” Shadow scowled. “No, you’re not the one in charge of my destiny I am! I’m the one who allowed all of this to happen, I’m the one who let myself get out of control, and you’re not going to be an excuse for me this time.”

“Insanity isn’t possible to-”

“It wasn’t possible for you, Gerald,” Shadow spat, refusing to give the Professor any sort of dignity. “...But I… If I don’t do something, everything’s going to be…” Shadow let his sentence fall, before hearing Gerald’s voice again.

“You must detach yourself, Shadow,” Gerald instructed, causing Shadow to spin his head and face his creator with a look of horror. “In order to finally be at peace, you must let this play out and pull yourself away. You won’t be able to fix this… You’re too far gone.”

Shadow stood in complete silence as he squinted into the darkest recesses of his mind, unable to see anything but the man who created him. This inner voice who’d been playing conscience this entire time was now telling him to abandon everything he believed in? But… If he didn’t… what could he do about it..?

“Shadow…” The hedgehog slowly peered over his shoulder to see another familiar face… one for more sinister reasons. The figure gave him a sinister smile as they looked at each other…

...Shadow took a step…

(Everyone! It’s time to give it one last push! Shadow needs all the support he can get to overcome this demon… One last threshold to meet everyone! Allow Shadow to receive your wishes!)

SssC7tPhp_1d20

(...Wow, that threshold is pretty puny, so never mind! Forget about the threshold, just make a roll and give him your thoughts! Seriously, that 5 is only there for a joke now, you can ignore it.)

Super Shadow
Health: ? (-37% of damage)
Status: Hope fading, fast...
Sanity: One step away from being completely disconnected...

1d20

[PacAttack]

vdWZXBHEp_1d20  (grapple lost, -15HP)

p_1d20 (safe)

p_1d20 (-30HP)

He felt he had a good grasp on the super hedgehog and it seemed like he was calming down for a moment.  A moment, at least.  He kept his grip on him not wanting to let him get all violent again.  He felt pretty good about it until he was starting to hold Shadow up higher and higher until his felt his feet leave the ground.  It startled him a bit and caused his smile to falter as he looked down at the ground and see it growing farther away. He comically began to kick his legs in a flurry attempting to cancel his new tour of the haunted woods. 

The rapid barrage of branches barreled into Pac's face and he let out what might've sounded like a yell only to catch a limb in his mouth.  He slammed his trap back shut, sending the inner half into the void and spitting out the rest. At this point he was barely able to keep his hold out the speeding jet.  He had just the tip of a hand on one of Shadow's arms and it was let slip when he zipped him into a wall.  There was a split moment where Pac felt his face reel back before slamming into it.  The yellow ball ricocheted of the wall like a pinball and sprung back, tumbling across the uneven ground and gathering some more damage.

"Wishful thinking of mine..."

"Wakka wakka waka waka..." Pac muttered audibly as he got back up, reorienting himself.  He looked back over to where Shadow now was.  What was going on with him was still mystifying to him and watched as he was down by the blue fox.  Making a brisk pace, Pac-Man made his way back over to them and looked onto them from the side.  They both sort of stood there motionless.  Nothing really going on.  He looked over at Krystal then back at Shadow.  This was repeated a few more times over the course of what was probably a few minutes.  His mouth shifted to the side of his face in a frown giving off an unsure expression.  Pac raised an arm slowly, pausing for a second, before waving it in front of Shadow's face.  The sudden yell from him caused him to quickly pull back.

He was stumped on this one.  Puzzles were his kind of thing but this was just bizarre.  Pac-Man stood by watching the two, unsure of what to do next.  He kept his guard up in case Shadow decided to sign him up for another airline trip or anything else that would result in making him really want to boot him upside the head.  He entertained the idea for a moment while watching them, wondering if that would get his head straight but decided against it. 

Pac-Man turned around for a few seconds to check behind him.  Standing around out of the sphere wasn't really a great idea.  From what he read the poison in the air would eventually get to someone if they were in it long enough and he wasn't really wanting to be in it to begin with.  If they were all going to stand around it would be better to do that back there.  Turning himself back to the two, Pac thought he saw Shadow move but maybe it had been the fact that he was weirded out by the situation. 

p_1d20(Threshold achieved.)

"Waka?" Pac-Man stepped forward a bit and looked to Shadow. 

"Wa wakka wakka wakka waka, wakka waka wakka wakka wakka waka waka."

Pac raised another hand towards him again and patted him on the back twice.

"Wakka wakka waka waka waka wakka waka."

He smiled at Shadow, although, in the back of his mind he had a feeling that he might get punched in face or drug through the trees again.

---

Pac-Man

HP 115/155

SH 50/50

1d20·1d20·1d20·1d20

[heirtothemonado]

Krystal had to wince as she watched Pac-Man get dragged around with Shadow and eventually tossed against a wall. That looked....really painful. Krystal wanted to stop and make sure Pac was okay, but she couldn't risk breaking her connection with Shadow. If Shadow lost that connection, he might not know that she's there anymore. That could be a problem. So instead, Krystal kept paying attention to what Shadow was saying, or rather, thinking

However, to Shadow's next question, Krystal didn't have an answer for him. There...really wasn't much for him to fight in his mind. Krystal didn't even know what Shadow was even seeing right now. So she kept quiet....until a new voice entered her head. No, wait.....she'd heard that voice before. Many times.

"...You. I know you..." Krystal said, but the other voice didn't pay much attention to her. It sounded like this was someone that Shadow recognized though, given how angry he sounded about the voice that had been leading him on all this time. Similar rage started building in Krystal. She had heard every conversation Shadow had had while she was there. She knew what that voice tended to tell him. "You....encouraged him. Goaded him along knowing he'd to his best to ignore you...." Krystal's mental voice was barely holding back her anger, but she couldn't lose her cool now. Not with Shadow in such a delicate position....That is, until the voice gave its own advice. Detach himself? What did that mean? Losing Shadow to the void, letting his empty shell destroy everything? That.....she couldn't let that happen!

As Shadow took a step toward that sinister figure in the darkest recess of his mind, Krystal called out to him in desperation "Don't listen to him! You're not too far gone, and you can fix this! You just have to trust us! We'll get you back to normal. I promise!"

lUqY7m9wp_1d20 (Krystal's attempt to reason with Shadow. Well, it's not the most airtight defense, but it'll work in a pinch!)

---

Krystal

Health: 115/145

Shield: 45/45

Status: Pretty much pleading at this point

1d20

[cynda1]

Shadow hadn’t taken another step since the first one. Despite all the words that were being spoken to him, Shadow couldn’t actually hear them at this point, not even Krystal’s. There was something about Maria’s face that seemed to drown everything out. And yet… he refused to take another step. Or rather, he couldn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to move forward, almost as if something was keeping him from doing so.

Shadow felt a sort of renewed strength from somewhere, though it wasn’t much. It certainly didn’t get rid of his despair, but… there was something about it that Shadow could grasp on to. The hedgehog felt something on his back, causing him to straighten himself up before squinting in Maria’s direction as he finally started hearing the muffled voice of Krystal once again.

Shadow couldn’t coherently hear the majority of what she was trying to say, but somehow… he understood it. He knew what she was trying to say. It wasn’t too late. The very fact that she could still talk him out of this, that this was still his choice to make proved this. And, what, he was going to run away? Because why? Because his creator told him to?

When had believing a word Gerald said every done Shadow any good? ...Well, there was that one time, but even a broken clock is right twice a day, and that was when the Professor was sane. What reason did he have to trust him now?

“You just have to trust us!”

Shadow’s fists clenched as they shook. He couldn’t trust him, but he knew who he could trust. Shadow formed a Chaos Spear in his hand before unleashing it at Maria, forcing her grin to falter as she vanished away from the attack. Shadow scowled. That certainly wouldn’t be the last time he saw her, but now he needed to find a way out of this nightmare. Shadow glanced around his surroundings before locking eyes with… Rouge and Omega. That’s right. Shadow thought. What kind of person would I be if I quit now? I’d… I’d let them down more than I already have.

But as Shadow started walking toward Rouge and Omega, two souls in the universe Shadow had believed were the only ones who could truly understand him, more lights started to appear. The first one he caught sight of was a young, redhead holding a robotic helmet, smiling at him warmly. Frankly, something Shadow didn’t think was even possible yet, but he couldn’t stop thinking about how he last saw the boy. The child had just survived a suicide attempt, and looked squarely at him and cried on him. Not Isonus, not Reimu, and not even Vessel, the one who wanted to hug him. He went to Shadow.

How could he quit on Claus?

Seriri smiled at him, placing her hands on her lap, lightly waving at him. Seriri was the first person in LI he actually reacted to without anger. She was the first one he legitimately tried to help in this new world, and he was the first one she could actually trust. Since then, Seriri has proved just how courageous she could be, insisting she should be able to take care of herself. How could Shadow do any less?

Isonus was such a strange soul, but there was a kindred spirit there. Shadow felt like he understood him somehow, if for no other reason than their own greatness being the thing that made them outcasts. Sweet Isabelle had been nothing but kind to him from the moment she met him. She was the reason he was able to get past his initial anger, and he was never able to repay her like he wanted to.

Richter was a loyal friend, one that respected him relentlessly. Shadow could only respect his sense of morality, his courage. Shadow only wished he could have the kind of strength and resilience that Richter had.

Jr looked up to him, even though Shadow didn’t know why. Even when Jr would let Shadow be, the hedgehog knew the koopa prince wanted to help, almost as badly as Krystal. He just didn’t know how.

Shadow and everyone else would be dead if it weren’t for Amy Rose’s belief that he could overcome Professor Gerald’s insanity.

Zera… Zera with the heart of gold, and the warmth of someone who truly loved him as a son. Shadow could trust because of her. She made him believe that everything was going to be alright, she had unrelenting faith in him. Shadow knew that, no matter what, he could always come to her, and say nothing, and she would understand. He’d lost her once, or so he thought. He knew that grief, and now he was on a rampage! What kind of grief was he causing her?

All of these people and more… he had no idea just how much they really meant to him until this very moment. And for him to completely set aside everything they were to him all to try and do everything himself? And then to have the audacity to think he could just walk away from it?! There stood Sonic, folding his arms over his chest with a grin as confident as ever. The ever constant hedgehog Shadow could always trust in never changing. Countless times he’s wanted to tear him limb from limb, annoyed at the very prospect that he refused to change… but he wouldn’t really want Sonic to change anyway.

Shadow wouldn’t change a thing about any of them.

“You just have to trust us!”

Krystal’s words continued to ring out as he looked up at her, shouting at him to snap out of it. This whole time, he still felt something on his back as a sort of support. Krystal, once again, was right. If only for Shadow to make it up to these people, and more, Shadow had to escape.

But the hedgehog had no idea what kind of damage he’d just caused. Still, he glanced at Zera again.

Shadow’s body had been still for what seemed like hours, but was merely several minutes. Suddenly, as the hedgehog within had launched a Chaos Spear at the dark Maria, Shadow’s outer form, too, had launched a Chaos Spear. This one was cast right past Krystal, and aimed right for… Zera. The Chaos Spear made a decisive blow to Zeraora’s chest, holding there for several, horrible moments.

The dark woods went silent for a moment, the light of the Chaos Spear twinkling as the lone light in the entire woods… before finally fading out.

Zeraora had fallen…

As requested by Phreeze, Zeraora has been felled via rp. But good news is we’re almost done! Shadow’s regained his reason to fight! This is the last leg of the mission, we’re almost there! Just… try to keep the need for damage control to a minimum if at all possible. Oh, also, Shadow can hear both Krystal and Pac Man now, he’s almost gained control again. Just a little more push! No need to meet a threshold this time, he’s almost there!

---

Shadow
Health: ? (-35%)
Status: Renewed strength!
Sanity: Starting to climb back into the light.

[heirtothemonado]

Krystal was focused on Shadow, trying to get him to come to his senses, holding her breath as Shadow was both silent and motionless. She was so focused that she had forgotten her other allies that were still with her. A fact that was very cruelly brought back to her attention when she heard Zera cry out in pain, a bright light flashing throughout the wooded area before slowly fading as Zera's trophy clattered to the ground. The connection with Shadow very nearly dissolved as Krystal cried out. "Zera!" she yelled, rushing over to the Thunderclap Pokemon's side. But it was too late. Zera had trophified, and there wasn't anything that Krystal could do now to help her. All she could do was help Shadow come to his senses.

All has been quiet on that front, Krystal not receiving any messages, verbal or otherwise, from Shadow at all. The first sign of motion Shadow had made in minutes was...throw that...Chaos Spear. Trying to stay strong, Krystal got closer to Shadow, as he seemed to remain still once again. She held her staff in her hands, just in case Shadow made any sudden movements. "Shadow?" Krystal called, trying to get Shadow's attention this time. This was much easier without the noise and the shouting. But still, Krystal had her guard up. "Shadow, can you hear me? Are....are you okay?" Slowly, Krystal stepped closer, one foot in front of the other. Considering what he had just done to Zera, getting this close was incredibly risky, but at the same time....it just felt like the right thing to do. Hopefully she wouldn't regret anything she was doing...

---

Krystal

Health: 115/145

Shield: 45/45

Status: Making an incredibly risky move.

[PacAttack]

He kept up the appearance of being happy and helpful but in the back of his head he was experiencing a mix of emotions somewhere between annoyance and irritation. Still, he kept that aside and did what he could.  Shadow suddenly raising his arm again caused him to step back again in preparation of another encounter but instead watched as a beam of light left him and trailed off through the woods towards the other yellow party member.

Pac-Man's happy expression faltered as he watched a now lifeless shape take place of the lightning cat.  The sound of it clattering against the ground gave him an uneasy feeling that he had felt before.  Another disaster.  They were there.  A hazy memory of it passed through before leaving him.

There was a short pause on his end as he kept his eyes on the still trophy.  He felt his gloved hands ball into fists before turning back to Shadow.  His brows were now flipped into Vs, digging into his eyes and staring down at the hedgehog, not feeling too bad now for thinking about booting him upside the head.  An uncharacteristic scowl crossed him for a few seconds wherein he didn't really care. 

For the first time in a long, long time, he began to yell.

---

Pac-Man

HP 115/155

SH 50/50

Status: Incoherent angry pacman noises