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"Until the End of Forever"
By Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl
Chapter 12: The Battle for Freedom

   On the other side, the afterlife, Kashoku’s loved ones, including his wife, Queen Mitsukai, were well aware of the battle that was coming down.  Mikomi’s grandfather was particularly horrified by the scene, as were they all; they were as troubled as they could be, in an afterlife free of worry and tears.

   “I knew this would become a problem, but not this severe of one!” he cried.  Standing in the middle of a crowd, he added, “I warned King Kashoku of his madness, and now his shell is about to give out on him, and my own grandchildren lost in the process!  At least Amarie will make it here to us!  Mikomi will just be lost like our King!  Is he mad?”

   Mikomi’s grandmother was silent as she stood beside her husband, holding her hands over her mouth, trying to collect herself.  Their kindred were starting to lose faith in their king, watching what was happening in the world below as they listened to the Guardian’s words.

   However, Mitsukai stepped into the middle of the crowd, raised her hand and said, “That is enough; my husband is your King, like it or not, and he is not insane.  He prayed to me for guidance, and I gave it to him.”

   Mikomi’s grandfather looked at her with disbelief in his eyes.  “How could you Queen Mitsukai?  You mean to tell me after seeing and knowing all this you let Kashoku dive head on into this madness?  Are you trying to kill them all?”

   Mitsukai’s eyes flashed as she glared at him.  “Silence!” she shouted.  In the same way that Kashoku was frightening to Pyro, Mitsukai struck terror in the Guardian’s soul, causing him to fall to his knees.  A wave of gasps and murmurs came from the surrounding crowd.

   The queen knelt down beside the Guardian, and as he looked at her, she said, “Trust in me, my son.  I did not advise him to dive into death.  I told him to follow his heart, and should things go wrong, I would help him.  That is the way it always was, and ever shall be.  I am his queen, his light, and should he fall, I will save him.  If I am needed, I’ll will be there,” in a soft voice, as she stood up.

   Standing up with her, Mikomi’s grandfather, having calmed down, shook his head and asked, “But how Lady Mitsukai?  If Kashoku or Mikomi were to fall there is nothing we can do to save them.”

   All of the echidnas looked to their queen, who after looking over the entire crowd, explained, “Kashoku is my true love, and thus our souls shall overcome anything to reunite.  If this means I have to fight for his life, I will do so.  Your King shall return to you soon.”

   Again, the echidnas talked amongst themselves, in awe of Mitsukai’s words, and shocked at the idea that Kashoku’s soul might be saved from the void because of the bond they shared.  However, Mikomi’s grandfather wasn’t satisfied.

   “But Queen Mitsukai, what of Mikomi?  What will happen if he dies before he’s mortal again?” he asked.

   Mitsukai turned to him and his wife, smiling and said, “He will be alright…although, it will be the bond he shares with another…that will set him free.”

   While the echidna souls were comforted by Mitsukai’s promise, their loved ones below had no such assurance in the face of adversity.  While the battle had already begun, Knuckles and his group had yet to catch up with them.  The battle, however, was making itself known.

   Zachary and Kelsey took the lead, running side by side, at last locating the grand staircase so they could return to the first floor.  While they waited for the rest to catch up, they could hear something slam hard into a nearby wall, shaking the building to its foundations.  A calamity could be heard taking place not far from them, and they knew they had to hurry to help their friends and family in the fray.

   “This sounds bad Zac.  If they’re fighting Jackie that must mean she already has Mikomi right where she wants him,” Kelsey explained.

   Zachary nodded, looking back as the others caught up to them, Knuckles and Sonic still carrying Amarie, and Amy, Tails, Pyro, and Aries walking with them.  “I wonder what will happen now that Amarie is in labor.  We certainly can’t restore the chaos emeralds now.  I sure hope Kashoku has some kind of plan.”

   Pyro ran up to them and said, “What’s wrong?  Are we lost again?”

   “Heck no,” Kelsey said, “We were just waiting for you to catch up.”

   The hedgecat frowned, then had to laugh, and say, “That’s right, I’m sorry.”  He looked down, and then back at them as he said, “I’m just so out of sorts now, nothing makes sense anymore.”  Pausing, he added, “Let’s keep going.”

   Zachary winced as the walls shook yet again.  He said, “Remember when we were on our tour earlier?  The ballroom was very close to the grand staircase.  We’re almost there.”

   At that moment, Amy, Tails, and Aries rounded the corner, with Knuckles and Sonic carrying Amarie, who was now in a very light sleep, close behind.  Zachary looked back at them and said, “Can you feel the shaking?  The battle has started.”  He ran down the stairs, and once he got to the bottom, he pointed down the hall towards the back of the mansion and said, “Back there!  I can see them!  Kashoku and the others broke down the doors!”

   “What?” Pyro cried.  He ran down the stairs, followed by Amy, Tails, Aries and Kelsey, and lo and behold, they could see Kashoku facing Jackie as she swung her weapons at him, while Hidama and Shadow, and those not helping Kashoku, surrounded Jacob, trying to reason with him as they held him off.

   “They need us!” Aries cried.

   Once Knuckles and Sonic got to the bottom of the stairs, they glanced at each other, then Amarie, before looking back to each other with fear in their eyes.  They knew that Kashoku had asked for Amarie to be brought to him, but they were worried about bringing her so close to the vicious battle.  Knuckles, for a brief moment, considered sending Amarie with her mother back home where she would be safe, but as he looked up at the battle once more, his far-seeing eyesight spotted his son sitting with Kate against the back wall, with blood coating his forehead and cheeks.

   He knew they couldn’t run.  They all had to battle, even if it meant putting everything on the line.  He had delayed the pursuit long enough.

   Looking to Amy, he said, “You go with them Amy.  Go rescue our son.  Sonic and I are gonna have to take our time…we’re holding you back.  You all go on, and we’ll catch up and help you fight.”

   The pink hedgehog smiled bravely at her husband.  She walked up to him, gently ruffling Amarie’s bangs, before kissing him on the cheek.  “You can count on me Knuckles.”  She looked back to the others, held up her hammer, which for years had gone unused, and cried, “Let’s get a move on everyone!  They need our help!”

   With a swing of her Guardian Staff, Aries took off after Amy, followed by Zachary and Kelsey, who ran side by side.  Tails raced off after them as well; Pyro, however, lingered for a brief moment, gently rubbing Amarie’s head, almost reluctant to leave her.

   “I love you girl…,” he whispered.  He looked up at Knuckles and Sonic, and said, “Take care of her.”  Without another word, he took two steps backwards, before whipping around and running to catch up with the others.

   He caught up to everyone just as they reached the entrance to the ballroom.  They paused for a moment as they tried to take in what was happening.  While Hidama, Shadow, Delilah and Cream stood trying to break through to Jacob, while holding off his attacks at the same time, close by, Kashoku was locked in a duel with Jackie, with only Rouge and Oliver to back him up.

   Jackie seemed dead set on killing Kashoku at this point.  She swung both of her scythes at him at the same time, electricity still zapping across the surface.  If he managed to dodge the big blades, he ran the risk of running into the two smaller ones on the back of the staffs as she swung them back at him.  Often Rouge would jump in and quickly pull Kashoku to safety, while Oliver would throw brave punches at Jackie to distract her.

   Aries saw this, and unfortunately also witnessed one of Jackie’s scythes flying into Oliver’s back.  Luckily, however, it was only the top of the scythe, free of any blades, and yet it was enough to send him flying a few feet, where he didn’t get up immediately.  Horrified, Aries cried out to her husband, before throwing her Guardian Staff at Jackie like a boomerang.  Before Jackie could place the source of the cries, she was knocked to the ground by the staff, long enough for Aries to retrieve it and run to Oliver’s aid.

   She glared at Jackie and said, “Keep your filthy blades away from me and my husband.  I won’t let you hurt Oliver!”

   The fox hybrid stood up, looking to Aries and said, “Thanks girl, I needed the few seconds.”

   Before Kashoku and Rouge could get back to them, Jackie recovered, and shouted, “Well I’m happy for you wretch, because that’s the last breather you’re gonna get!”

   She swung her scythes at Oliver and Aries, and Kashoku immediately retaliated, and so the battle started again.  Pyro ran to help his sister, and yet this small, five person team, would not be enough to bring Jackie down.  Her twin scythes were impossible to dodge while successfully attacking Jackie.  They were like an impenetrable shield, and until they disabled her scythes, they would not be able to attack her.  However, the electricity not only made it impossible to touch them, but they also filled the air around her with high levels of electricity.  Anyone who got too close to her for too long would be severely rattled by this.

   The battle with Jacob wasn’t going much better.  Amy tried to run to her son, calling out to him.  Before she could reach Mikomi and Kate, Jacob came between them and her.  Amy paused, raising her hammer to him and said, “Get out of my way Jacob!  I know you don’t mean to do this, but I won’t let you keep me from my son!”

   As Tails, Zachary, and Kelsey ran to join the group, Hidama ran up to Amy and said, “Don’t hurt him Amy!  I’m still trying to reason with him!”

   Mikomi looked on and said, “It’s okay Mom!  Kate’s looking after me!”

   Amy slowly lowered her hammer, finally noticing that Kate did indeed have a secure arm around her son, and appeared ready to defend him should Jacob or Jackie come too close to harming him.  Jacob, however, was ready to fight.

   “Forget reasoning with me echidna!  I will always serve Jackie, and no pleading from you will change that!” Jacob shouted.

   With Shadow and the others to back him up, Hidama took one step closer to Jacob and said, “Please, Jacob, don’t do this.  Don’t you remember how we used to talk late at night about wanting to escape Feldmort’s prisons?  We both wanted it more than anything.  We’d much rather have died then to never be free again.  Well, we got that, only, now you’ve sunken back into imprisonment and this time you act like you don’t want to be free.  Only…we both know that’s not true.  Deep inside Jacob, you want to be free…we both know it.  Won’t you listen to me?”

   For a moment, Jacob lowered his fists, and his eyes.  The silent war for freedom that went on in his soul was growing more and more intense.  He stared at Hidama for a brief moment, cutting his eyes over at the battle with Jackie to look at Kashoku.  This silhouette of an echidna…it didn’t belong to Kashoku.  Could it possibly belong to this echidna standing before him?

   Jacob was slowly becoming more and more aware of the words around him, and could finally understand the depths of Hidama’s pleas.  He sounded…believable.  But why…why couldn’t Jacob remember any of what he was talking about?

   Still confused and corrupted by Jackie’s black magic, he cringed and growled softly, before rushing at Hidama and ramming him backwards.  This was just in time for Knuckles and Sonic to arrive with Amarie.  Horrified at the site, Knuckles cried out, “Hidama!”

   This was enough to wake up Amarie from her light sleep.  While she saw Jacob pinning her uncle to the ground, she also saw Pyro doing his best to help Kashoku hold off Jackie and her electrified scythes.  She remembered Jackie describing her favorite weapons to them for a brief moment, and she knew that even the group they had now might not be enough to hold her back,

   She looked up at Sonic and her father and said, “Please, Daddy…leave me here.  They need you.  Kashoku is too weak to battle his hardest, and those scythes of Jackie’s make it impossible for anyone to touch her.  You’re going to have to disable the electric currents before you can even think about battling her.  I don’t know how she is powering them, but the electricity in the air will stun anyone who gets too close.”

   Sonic and Knuckles glanced at each other.  Should they really leave Amarie alone?  Knuckles shook his head and said, “We won’t leave you here by yourself Amarie.  That’s too dangerous.  Jackie will use anyone she can to gain an advantage.”

  “But Dad!  If you don’t…what they’ve got now isn’t enough!  They need you and Sonic now!” she cried.

   Once again, the hedgehog and echidna exchanged glances as they slowly knelt down, setting Amarie down gently on the floor.  Sonic looked on, as Knuckles held his daughter, and said, “I can’t…Amarie.  You’re telling me to make an impossible choice.”

   “And you know your father, he’s always been too stubborn when it comes to critical choices.  I remember one time…we needed the Master Emerald to power one of Tails’ airships, and Knuckles refused at first!  I remember Amy came at him with her hammer…,” Sonic started.

   “We get the picture Sonic,” Knuckles grumbled with a growl and a glare.  Sonic’s face flushed red with embarrassment.  After telling Sonic off, Knuckles looked back at Amarie, sighed, and asked, “What do you want me to do Amarie?  If Sonic and I both go off to fight, who will protect you?  You say they need our strength, but what will that leave you with?”

   Amarie closed her eyes, focusing on her baby, as it continued to move inside her, getting ready to be born, and yet seemed unaware of what was really happening.  She opened her eyes halfway, glancing at her husband as he defended Kashoku, and realized she was asking her father to make the same choice Pyro had to make.  They could either go on and fight, or stay behind and run the risk of losing the battle.  It really was an impossible choice, and while she hated to put one like it on her father’s shoulders, it was something she couldn’t avoid anymore.

   Pulling her hand out from under the blanket, she looked at the silver chaos emerald that Aries had given to her earlier.  She handed it to her father and said, “I’m your daughter…I’m not in any position to tell you to do anything.  I can however, ask you to, and only hope that you’re willing to accept it.”

   Knuckles held the chaos emerald in his free hand, and looked at Amarie in disbelief.  Sonic, who was slowly being persuaded by her pleas, offered, “Look at it this way Knuckles.  Jackie can either come after Mikomi or Amarie.  Now that Amarie doesn’t have a chaos emerald, she’ll be more inclined to leave her alone.”

   “Or she could use Amarie to get Mikomi and the chaos emeralds like before,” Knuckles murmured.

   Sonic sighed.  He was just as reluctant as Knuckles was to leave her, but also realized that between the two of them, the echidna was going to be the last one persuaded to leave his daughter.  He placed a hand on Knuckles’ shoulder, and desperately, he tried to reason with Knuckles.  “What choice do we have Knuckles?  Your son could be killed, and this time be lost forever!  Jackie could get all of the chaos emeralds and destroy us all!  What are we supposed to do?”

   The two locked eyes, in a tense staredown, and Amarie glanced between them sadly, closed her eyes and huddled under the blanket, and whimpered, “Please, don’t stay here with me.  Please don’t fight…do something…”

   Glancing down at her, then back at each other, Sonic asked once more, “What can we do Knuckles?”

   The group that now surrounded Jacob had grown to include Zachary, Kelsey, and Tails.  They stood in a ring around him and Hidama, as he tried to reason with his friend.  Though slightly injured, he wasn’t ready to give up on Jacob.

   “You don’t want this Jacob, you can’t tell me that you do.  You want to be free again.  You want to be with your family again.  Isn’t that what you really want?  You don’t want Jackie and her malice!  She never once cared about you, don’t you see that?  She only wants to use you to further her hatred against the world!  That isn’t what you want!  Come back to me Jacob!” Hidama cried.

   At the same time, Jackie’s scythes slammed into Kashoku and Rouge, knocking them back.  She quickly pulled them forward, ramming them into Oliver and Aries, who had tried to help them, causing them to cry out as the electricity shocked them.  One more swing knocked Pyro to the ground near Kashoku.  Bringing down her adversaries for the moment, she glanced at the rather large party that now surrounded Jacob, and realized that Hidama might be able to break through to Jacob.  Still needing him for her plan, she cried out, “Jacob sweetie!  Don’t listen to them!”  Holding up the red chaos emerald, she shouted, “Time to show them how these babies are really supposed to be used!  Catch this darling!”

   She then threw the chaos emerald to Jacob, before driving both of her scythes into the ground, sending shock waves and an intense electric current throughout the room.  With a cry, Kate pulled Mikomi onto the bench, which was protected from the electricity with rubber tipped legs.  At the entrance, Knuckles and Sonic quickly picked up Amarie, while the rubber soles of their shoes blocked most of the currents and their bodies absorbed the rest without hurting Amarie.  As Jacob leapt into the air to catch the chaos emerald, he was safe from the shocks.  The brunt of the shockwaves, however, knocked everyone else to the floor, unable to brace themselves against a wall like Knuckles and Sonic did, or hang on to a bench as Kate did as she held Mikomi.  This exposed them to the electric currents, temporarily bringing them down.

    Once the electricity wore off, Knuckles opened his eyes, able to see Amy and the others brought down, and Jacob catching the red chaos emerald.  “Amy!” he cried out.

   Looking on, Sonic said, “I don’t understand it.  How is Jacob able to use the chaos emeralds if they’re so weak?”

   Glaring at Sonic again, Knuckles shouted, “You idiot!  Don’t you remember what Kashoku said?  They are stronger with Mikomi close by!  With the source of the chaos power this close, I don’t doubt if she had all seven that he could go super!”

   Amarie looked up at them and said, “Please Daddy, Sonic, don’t fight!  You’re the only two left who can defend us until the others can recover!”

   The two looked at Amarie, then back at Jacob, who had now powered up the chaos emerald.  Jackie once again approached Mikomi and Kate.  Holding the largest blade of one of her scythes under Mikomi’s neck, she said, “Don’t try to put up a fight Mikomi.  Jacob needs that chaos power to fight.  If you don’t cooperate, I’ll just have to punish you.”

   Kate tightened her grip on Mikomi as he growled at her under his breath.  However, Jackie’s cackle was interrupted as Jacob cried out.  The three looked to see Knuckles ramming his fist into Jacob, while Sonic followed up with a kick to his chest.  They both knew Hidama didn’t want to hurt him, but now, they had no choice.

   “Sorry to do this Jacob, but as long as you threaten my children, family, and friends, I have no choice,” Knuckles said.

   Jacob looked back at Knuckles, growling as he continued to draw what power he could from the chaos emerald.  Mikomi winced and whimpered as this happened, frightening Kate, who looked down at him and asked, “Mikomi, what’s wrong?”

   Opening his eyes, Mikomi replied, “I—whenever…he draws power like that…I don’t know…it just hurts.”

   Jackie heard this, but was more concerned with Knuckles and Sonic staring down Jacob.  She spotted the silver chaos emerald in Knuckles’ hand, as well as Oliver’s and Kelsey’s chaos emeralds now lying defenseless on the ground.

   Running for Oliver’s, she cried out, “Take them down Jacob while I retrieve the chaos emeralds!  Get the silver one from that echidna!”

   “No!” Sonic cried out.  He then raced Jackie to the other side of the room, both of them heading for the dark blue chaos emerald, while Jacob grabbed Kelsey’s and started to draw power from it too, causing Mikomi to writhe in pain even more.

   “Mikomi!” Kate cried.

   Knuckles saw this, but could do nothing for his son as Jacob jumped for the silver chaos emerald.  While Sonic was able to grab the dark blue chaos emerald, Jackie and Jacob now had two of the seven to their disposal.  With only Sonic and Knuckles able to fight, the battle was getting more intense.

   Meanwhile, Kashoku began to rise.  He held Pyro’s chaos emerald in his hand, remembering that he had forgotten to give it to Aries to return to him when she found him.  Glancing down at it, the echidna king looked up at Jacob wielding the red and light blue chaos emeralds to fight.  Plagued with fatigue, a revelation struck Kashoku.  He glanced at Amarie, still in labor but watching the fight alone as her father and father-in-law had no choice but to leave her, then at Kate as she held Mikomi, swamped with pain as Jacob’s chaos emeralds drained power from him.

   Things began to make sense for the echidna king.  He stared at the battle, and realized one very important thing.  Mikomi would be unable to become fully mortal as long as the Master Emerald's power remained tied to his soul.  Jackie wasn’t aware of this, and thus was ready to kill him the second she thought he was becoming mortal.  This would work in their advantage, for this meant she would spare him and focus on the fight.  However, there was something else that was made clear to his mind.

   “Kashoku you fool,” he murmured, “Amarie…she has special powers.  The reason she could speak to Mikomi…they are a sign of the peace the Master Emerald’s end brought to the world.  That is why he started to become mortal, because her spirit wanted him to belong, not because this is still his lifetime.  She’s not a wielder after all.”  His eyes widened, and he added, “It’s the power she inherited from me that made me place her as a wielder!” in a louder voice.

   Staring at the ground, he continued, “Hidama was meant to be the true Guardian.  Knuckles rose to the occasion, unaware he would father the living incarnates of my children, a symbol of peace returned to the world.  Kelsey was meant to be the only Wielder to come from them!  Of course…there were never supposed to be two Guardians.  My blood passed to them…fate only recognizes Kelsey as a child of the Guardian.  I was too quick to assume anything.  No…now I know why Jackie attacked the Northern Kingdom.  It wasn’t for help…she doesn’t need it.”

   Looking back up at the battle as Rouge and Pyro slowly began to rise, he finished, “She attacked the Northern Kingdom because of Kate.  Because Jacob can use the chaos emeralds, Kate is the true Seventh Wielder.”

   “Whoa!” Pyro cried.  After a pause, he added, “Wait a sec, does this mean we can restore the chaos emeralds after all?”

   Kashoku looked back to him and Rouge and nodded.  “However, we must first disable Jackie and Jacob long enough to do it.  Once Aranelion and Jeremy arrive and we recover Amberly’s and Kelsey’s chaos emeralds, we can restore them.”  Looking back to the fight, he said, “We must help revive the others and weaken Jackie.  Hidama is the only one who can get through to Jacob.  So let’s hurry.”

   He handed the purple chaos emerald back to Pyro, and said, “Right now, it’s important for us to continue to hold off Jackie and revive Hidama.  Once Hidama breaks through to Jacob, he’ll return the two chaos emeralds.  You and Rouge go ahead and help them while I revive your sister and Oliver.”

   Rouge nodded, then took off for the fray.  Pyro started to follow, before looking back to Kashoku and said, “Hey, you’ll be alright won’t you?  You’ve taken a lot of damage.  How long can that thing hold up?”

   Having knelt down beside Aries, Kashoku looked back, smiling weakly and said, “What happens to me is of no consequence as long as the chaos emeralds are restored, but I…I thank you for your concern Pyro.  Let that bravery shine through…now go!”

   With one more nod, Pyro took off after Rouge.  By now, Sonic had moved to fighting off Jackie, counting on his speed to help him avoid her attacks as he went on the defensive, while Knuckles was in fist to fist combat with Jacob, and it was a toss up as to who would come out the victor.  Rouge at first went to help Hidama, but when she realized Shadow was already trying to stand, she went to him first.

   Just as Shadow was sitting up, Pyro ran up to the couple and said, “Shadow, Kashoku says that Kate is the real Seventh Wielder!  We just have to hold Jackie off until Mr. Brokenstar and Jeremy get back!” in an intense whisper.

   Shadow looked to Rouge and said, “That makes sense…now that I’ve seen what Jacob is capable of.  I should have known it…simply by the fact that when Jacob held my chaos emerald as a young one it maintained its power.”  Looking to Hidama he said, “We must revive him.  Only Hidama can break through to him now.  However, I do believe Hidama’s going to have to exact some tough love on him in order to do this.  It’s going to take some work in order to break Jacob free.”

   The black and red hedgehog leapt to his feet, having recovered, and ran over to Hidama.  He took the echidna in his arms, sitting him up and said, “Come on Hidama!  Pull yourself together!  You must break Jacob free of this hold!  He already has two of the chaos emeralds!”

   Hidama opened his eyes slowly, still reeling from the electricity that was forced into him.  He saw Mikomi continuing to flinch as power was sapped from him, while Jacob used the two chaos emeralds to fight off Knuckles.  His eyes widening at the site, he looked to Shadow and said, “But…doesn’t that mean that Kate…?”

   “We know that already Hidama!  Once Aranelion and Jeremy return, the Seven Chaos Emeralds will be together again, but if you can manage to win Jacob’s soul back over to our side, we won’t have to fight him for the two he wields, and holding off Jackie long enough to restore them should be no difficult chore,” Shadow explained.

   Pyro had managed to locate Amarie, realizing that she had most likely had to plea with Knuckles and Sonic to leave her.  Seeing her alone this way tugged at his heart.  He simply had to make sure she was alright.  Everyone was rising to their feet…they could do without him for a moment.

   He stood up, looking at Hidama and said, “Please hurry!  I don’t know how long Amarie can last!  Please!”

   Before Hidama could reply, Pyro ran for Amarie, taking his chaos emerald with him.  Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Hidama leapt to his feet and ran for Knuckles and Jacob.  Rouge and Shadow looked to each other, and then went ahead to help the others recover from the shock.

   Knuckles suffered a hit from Jacob, knocking him back, just as Hidama arrived.  He threw a punch at Jacob to prevent him from further hurting Knuckles.

   Jacob was stunned.  He stared at Hidama in disbelief and said, “I thought you said I could trust you!  Now look!  You’re hurting me!”

   Hidama looked ready to weep.  He hung his head and said, “Listen to me Jacob!  I want your soul to hear my voice.”  Walking closer to Jacob he said, “All I did was defend my brother.  I’ll protect my family before I’ll offer mercy to anyone who tries to hurt them.  However, I know that it wasn’t you who struck Knuckles just now.  It’s that corruption in your soul that did it.”

   Kneeling down in front of Jacob, he continued, “I want you to remember Jacob…remember that night when Jackie first arrived.  You weren’t corrupted right away.  She said that she would help you find the ones that murdered your wife, sister, and sons, and that she had saved your niece.  She said all you needed to do was come with her and she would help you.”  He gestured to both Kate and Jackie and added, “Well, look what she’s done.  She calls your niece a traitor and threatens to kill her.  Even if you think Kate betrayed her in some way, if she is willing to kill Kate…can you deny that she is capable of killing more souls?  Open your eyes Jacob!  I want you to open the eyes of your soul!  Look at Jackie!  She now wears the pelt of your sister!  Heaven knows how she possibly mutilated your wife and sons!  Are you going to let her keep hurting you this way?”

   Jacob’s legs shook terribly.  He dropped to the floor, maintaining a weak hold on the chaos emeralds, his eyes softening a bit, though he wasn’t completely freed.  He looked at Hidama and whimpered, “My…my wife?  She’s…she’s waiting for me isn’t she?  Until…until I’m with her, I have…I have to help you.”

   Hidama nodded a bit, glancing at Knuckles, and the rest of them as everyone recovered.  Shadow had run over to help Sonic distract Jackie, while Kashoku finally helped Oliver and Aries to their feet, and Pyro made it to Amarie’s side.

   “You don’t want to be this way Jacob.  Come back to me.  Come back…to your light.  She hasn’t left you…so this isn’t time for you to give in to darkness.  Please,” Hidama pleaded.

   Slowly, the silhouette in his head slowly filled in, and Jacob could see that the echidna he was meant to help…was Hidama.

   Closing his eyes, he remembered everything that Jackie’s corruption had stolen from him, including…that ever present desire, to be free.

   “I…I want to be free…,” Jacob murmured.

   However, on the other side of the room, just in time to see this, Jackie slammed the back of her scythe into Shadow’s back, sending him flying into the wall once more.

   “Shadow!” Sonic cried out.  Distracted long enough for Jackie to perform the same move on him, sending him flying into the wall as well, she had now taken out her two primary adversaries.  She looked to see how Jacob was faring, only to see the darkness she burned into his soul, slowly fading away as he fell into Hidama’s arms, the strain on Mikomi relieved as he stopped drawing power.

   “No!  Jacob!  Don’t listen to them!”  She growled, glaring at the entire crowd, save Kashoku who ran to help Shadow, and Oliver and Aries as they ran to help Sonic.  Swinging her scythes in the air, she shouted, “I’ll destroy you all!  You worthless freaks!  I’ll make you pay just like Olivia did in her futile stand to stop me!”

   Amy’s eyes widened in terror as she cried, “Look out!  She’s going to shock the ground again!”

   Pyro, who was trying to explain to Amarie why he had come to her, heard this, and shouted in terror, “Jackie!  Stop!”

   Before anyone could move, Jackie held her scythes into the air, ready to drive electricity into the ground again.  Panic set in, and yet before she could bring them down, the loud roar of not one, but two engines, rang clear over the air.

   Suddenly, a motorcycle crashed through the line of windows on the north wall, with Jeremy and Amberly riding it and a “Woo hoo!” from Jeremy filling the air.  Immediately afterward, Amarie’s minivan, now piloted by Camillia, crashed in right near it.  Glass flew everywhere, and this spectacle of an entrance from the Brokenstar family distracted Jackie, drawing all eyes in their direction.

   Jeremy slammed the motorcycle to a stop, choking the brakes, before jumping off, holding his chaos emerald in his hands, and shouted, “Let’s get this party started!”

   Amberly ran beside him, laughed and said, “I think the party’s already going!”

   Elianaron caught up with them and shouted, “Well gee guys!  I can’t believe you started without us!”

   Aranelion ran up beside his twin, as did Camillia, and little Airelea, who was now awake.  He cried out, “Hey Hidama!  Did you leave us any scraps?”

   Jackie growled, but immediately saw that Aranelion held the final chaos emerald in his hand.  Still, she was tired of nothing going her way.  Holding her scythes in the air, she shouted, “That’s it!”  Electricity flew into the air, and as she glared at the Brokenstars, she shouted, “Hand over your chaos emeralds, all of you!  Then do me a favor and die!”

   Aranelion and Elianaron looked to each other, assumed battle positions, and then Aranelion said, “Not likely you witch…you see, Elianaron and I aren’t inclined to let evildoers like you get away with things.”

   “Yeah!  Last time we chased a guy for twelve years before we got him, and heck, we’ve certainly got enough time for you!” Elianaron added.

   Jackie glared at the twins, and in the brief silence here, Airelea looked at her mother and asked, “Mommy?  What’s happening?”

   Camillia looked down at her daughter sympathetically, before switching her gaze to her son, who now stood on the other side of the room, and replied, “It’s another great battle of our time Airelea…and I pray…that it’s the only one you’ll have to live through.”

   With a smirk on her face, Jackie looked up, raising her electrified scythes in the air and said, “If it’s a battle you want, Brokenstar Twins, it’s a battle you’ll get!”

   With Jacob unmoving in Hidama’s arms, and Shadow and Sonic knocked unconscious and unable to fight, Aranelion and Elianaron, backed up by Jeremy and Amberly, were now prepared to face off with Jackie, while the rest of them, crowded around Hidama, were unsure of what to do.

   Kashoku ran up to the group with Oliver and Aries, immediately seeing Jacob’s condition.  He panted, feeling the fatigue from earlier return.  He looked to the rest and said, “I believe Jacob has been freed, but needs time to recover.”  Looking to Jackie he said, “Some of you must run and help the Brokenstars.  We simply have to deactivate the electricity field of her two weapons.  If we don’t, we’ll be unable to bring her down long enough to restore the chaos emeralds.”

   He stepped forward, lowering his head in thought, then added, “Perhaps if we can get her to drop one, we’ll have our best chance of shutting them off.”  He looked back once more, and said, “Some of you come with me…I have a feeling we’re almost there.  All we have left to do is take down our persecutor…for good.”

   Zachary and Kelsey glanced at each other, before glancing at a weakened Mikomi as Kate held him, gazing at Jackie with fear in her eyes.  They knew what Kashoku meant when he said “persecutor.”  He wasn’t talking about Jackie, he was referring to the chaos power.  Once it was where it belonged, it would no longer be the great burden it had become to the world.

   The couple walked up to Kashoku and stood beside him.  Zachary said, “This one is for Mikomi.  I’ve only known this woman a day, and already I’m sick of her.”

   Kelsey, who not so long ago hated Kashoku with almost every inch of her being, looked to him and said, “For Mikomi.”

   With a nod, Kashoku ran ahead.  Zachary and Kelsey followed him, as did Knuckles, Rouge, Cream, and Tails, ready to back them up.  The fate of the battle, now rested in the hands of two souls.  Poor Mikomi, who was struggling to recover from having power drained from him, and Jacob Greyfox, the fallen King, who in the end, would be the one to fight the battle for justice, and win the day for all the world.

Description
"Until the End of Forever"
By Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl
Chapter 12: The Battle for Freedom

   On the other side, the afterlife, Kashoku’s loved ones, including his wife, Queen Mitsukai, were well aware of the battle that was coming down.  Mikomi’s grandfather was particularly horrified by the scene, as were they all; they were as troubled as they could be, in an afterlife free of worry and tears.

   “I knew this would become a problem, but not this severe of one!” he cried.  Standing in the middle of a crowd, he added, “I warned King Kashoku of his madness, and now his shell is about to give out on him, and my own grandchildren lost in the process!  At least Amarie will make it here to us!  Mikomi will just be lost like our King!  Is he mad?”

   Mikomi’s grandmother was silent as she stood beside her husband, holding her hands over her mouth, trying to collect herself.  Their kindred were starting to lose faith in their king, watching what was happening in the world below as they listened to the Guardian’s words.

   However, Mitsukai stepped into the middle of the crowd, raised her hand and said, “That is enough; my husband is your King, like it or not, and he is not insane.  He prayed to me for guidance, and I gave it to him.”

   Mikomi’s grandfather looked at her with disbelief in his eyes.  “How could you Queen Mitsukai?  You mean to tell me after seeing and knowing all this you let Kashoku dive head on into this madness?  Are you trying to kill them all?”

   Mitsukai’s eyes flashed as she glared at him.  “Silence!” she shouted.  In the same way that Kashoku was frightening to Pyro, Mitsukai struck terror in the Guardian’s soul, causing him to fall to his knees.  A wave of gasps and murmurs came from the surrounding crowd.

   The queen knelt down beside the Guardian, and as he looked at her, she said, “Trust in me, my son.  I did not advise him to dive into death.  I told him to follow his heart, and should things go wrong, I would help him.  That is the way it always was, and ever shall be.  I am his queen, his light, and should he fall, I will save him.  If I am needed, I’ll will be there,” in a soft voice, as she stood up.

   Standing up with her, Mikomi’s grandfather, having calmed down, shook his head and asked, “But how Lady Mitsukai?  If Kashoku or Mikomi were to fall there is nothing we can do to save them.”

   All of the echidnas looked to their queen, who after looking over the entire crowd, explained, “Kashoku is my true love, and thus our souls shall overcome anything to reunite.  If this means I have to fight for his life, I will do so.  Your King shall return to you soon.”

   Again, the echidnas talked amongst themselves, in awe of Mitsukai’s words, and shocked at the idea that Kashoku’s soul might be saved from the void because of the bond they shared.  However, Mikomi’s grandfather wasn’t satisfied.

   “But Queen Mitsukai, what of Mikomi?  What will happen if he dies before he’s mortal again?” he asked.

   Mitsukai turned to him and his wife, smiling and said, “He will be alright…although, it will be the bond he shares with another…that will set him free.”

   While the echidna souls were comforted by Mitsukai’s promise, their loved ones below had no such assurance in the face of adversity.  While the battle had already begun, Knuckles and his group had yet to catch up with them.  The battle, however, was making itself known.

   Zachary and Kelsey took the lead, running side by side, at last locating the grand staircase so they could return to the first floor.  While they waited for the rest to catch up, they could hear something slam hard into a nearby wall, shaking the building to its foundations.  A calamity could be heard taking place not far from them, and they knew they had to hurry to help their friends and family in the fray.

   “This sounds bad Zac.  If they’re fighting Jackie that must mean she already has Mikomi right where she wants him,” Kelsey explained.

   Zachary nodded, looking back as the others caught up to them, Knuckles and Sonic still carrying Amarie, and Amy, Tails, Pyro, and Aries walking with them.  “I wonder what will happen now that Amarie is in labor.  We certainly can’t restore the chaos emeralds now.  I sure hope Kashoku has some kind of plan.”

   Pyro ran up to them and said, “What’s wrong?  Are we lost again?”

   “Heck no,” Kelsey said, “We were just waiting for you to catch up.”

   The hedgecat frowned, then had to laugh, and say, “That’s right, I’m sorry.”  He looked down, and then back at them as he said, “I’m just so out of sorts now, nothing makes sense anymore.”  Pausing, he added, “Let’s keep going.”

   Zachary winced as the walls shook yet again.  He said, “Remember when we were on our tour earlier?  The ballroom was very close to the grand staircase.  We’re almost there.”

   At that moment, Amy, Tails, and Aries rounded the corner, with Knuckles and Sonic carrying Amarie, who was now in a very light sleep, close behind.  Zachary looked back at them and said, “Can you feel the shaking?  The battle has started.”  He ran down the stairs, and once he got to the bottom, he pointed down the hall towards the back of the mansion and said, “Back there!  I can see them!  Kashoku and the others broke down the doors!”

   “What?” Pyro cried.  He ran down the stairs, followed by Amy, Tails, Aries and Kelsey, and lo and behold, they could see Kashoku facing Jackie as she swung her weapons at him, while Hidama and Shadow, and those not helping Kashoku, surrounded Jacob, trying to reason with him as they held him off.

   “They need us!” Aries cried.

   Once Knuckles and Sonic got to the bottom of the stairs, they glanced at each other, then Amarie, before looking back to each other with fear in their eyes.  They knew that Kashoku had asked for Amarie to be brought to him, but they were worried about bringing her so close to the vicious battle.  Knuckles, for a brief moment, considered sending Amarie with her mother back home where she would be safe, but as he looked up at the battle once more, his far-seeing eyesight spotted his son sitting with Kate against the back wall, with blood coating his forehead and cheeks.

   He knew they couldn’t run.  They all had to battle, even if it meant putting everything on the line.  He had delayed the pursuit long enough.

   Looking to Amy, he said, “You go with them Amy.  Go rescue our son.  Sonic and I are gonna have to take our time…we’re holding you back.  You all go on, and we’ll catch up and help you fight.”

   The pink hedgehog smiled bravely at her husband.  She walked up to him, gently ruffling Amarie’s bangs, before kissing him on the cheek.  “You can count on me Knuckles.”  She looked back to the others, held up her hammer, which for years had gone unused, and cried, “Let’s get a move on everyone!  They need our help!”

   With a swing of her Guardian Staff, Aries took off after Amy, followed by Zachary and Kelsey, who ran side by side.  Tails raced off after them as well; Pyro, however, lingered for a brief moment, gently rubbing Amarie’s head, almost reluctant to leave her.

   “I love you girl…,” he whispered.  He looked up at Knuckles and Sonic, and said, “Take care of her.”  Without another word, he took two steps backwards, before whipping around and running to catch up with the others.

   He caught up to everyone just as they reached the entrance to the ballroom.  They paused for a moment as they tried to take in what was happening.  While Hidama, Shadow, Delilah and Cream stood trying to break through to Jacob, while holding off his attacks at the same time, close by, Kashoku was locked in a duel with Jackie, with only Rouge and Oliver to back him up.

   Jackie seemed dead set on killing Kashoku at this point.  She swung both of her scythes at him at the same time, electricity still zapping across the surface.  If he managed to dodge the big blades, he ran the risk of running into the two smaller ones on the back of the staffs as she swung them back at him.  Often Rouge would jump in and quickly pull Kashoku to safety, while Oliver would throw brave punches at Jackie to distract her.

   Aries saw this, and unfortunately also witnessed one of Jackie’s scythes flying into Oliver’s back.  Luckily, however, it was only the top of the scythe, free of any blades, and yet it was enough to send him flying a few feet, where he didn’t get up immediately.  Horrified, Aries cried out to her husband, before throwing her Guardian Staff at Jackie like a boomerang.  Before Jackie could place the source of the cries, she was knocked to the ground by the staff, long enough for Aries to retrieve it and run to Oliver’s aid.

   She glared at Jackie and said, “Keep your filthy blades away from me and my husband.  I won’t let you hurt Oliver!”

   The fox hybrid stood up, looking to Aries and said, “Thanks girl, I needed the few seconds.”

   Before Kashoku and Rouge could get back to them, Jackie recovered, and shouted, “Well I’m happy for you wretch, because that’s the last breather you’re gonna get!”

   She swung her scythes at Oliver and Aries, and Kashoku immediately retaliated, and so the battle started again.  Pyro ran to help his sister, and yet this small, five person team, would not be enough to bring Jackie down.  Her twin scythes were impossible to dodge while successfully attacking Jackie.  They were like an impenetrable shield, and until they disabled her scythes, they would not be able to attack her.  However, the electricity not only made it impossible to touch them, but they also filled the air around her with high levels of electricity.  Anyone who got too close to her for too long would be severely rattled by this.

   The battle with Jacob wasn’t going much better.  Amy tried to run to her son, calling out to him.  Before she could reach Mikomi and Kate, Jacob came between them and her.  Amy paused, raising her hammer to him and said, “Get out of my way Jacob!  I know you don’t mean to do this, but I won’t let you keep me from my son!”

   As Tails, Zachary, and Kelsey ran to join the group, Hidama ran up to Amy and said, “Don’t hurt him Amy!  I’m still trying to reason with him!”

   Mikomi looked on and said, “It’s okay Mom!  Kate’s looking after me!”

   Amy slowly lowered her hammer, finally noticing that Kate did indeed have a secure arm around her son, and appeared ready to defend him should Jacob or Jackie come too close to harming him.  Jacob, however, was ready to fight.

   “Forget reasoning with me echidna!  I will always serve Jackie, and no pleading from you will change that!” Jacob shouted.

   With Shadow and the others to back him up, Hidama took one step closer to Jacob and said, “Please, Jacob, don’t do this.  Don’t you remember how we used to talk late at night about wanting to escape Feldmort’s prisons?  We both wanted it more than anything.  We’d much rather have died then to never be free again.  Well, we got that, only, now you’ve sunken back into imprisonment and this time you act like you don’t want to be free.  Only…we both know that’s not true.  Deep inside Jacob, you want to be free…we both know it.  Won’t you listen to me?”

   For a moment, Jacob lowered his fists, and his eyes.  The silent war for freedom that went on in his soul was growing more and more intense.  He stared at Hidama for a brief moment, cutting his eyes over at the battle with Jackie to look at Kashoku.  This silhouette of an echidna…it didn’t belong to Kashoku.  Could it possibly belong to this echidna standing before him?

   Jacob was slowly becoming more and more aware of the words around him, and could finally understand the depths of Hidama’s pleas.  He sounded…believable.  But why…why couldn’t Jacob remember any of what he was talking about?

   Still confused and corrupted by Jackie’s black magic, he cringed and growled softly, before rushing at Hidama and ramming him backwards.  This was just in time for Knuckles and Sonic to arrive with Amarie.  Horrified at the site, Knuckles cried out, “Hidama!”

   This was enough to wake up Amarie from her light sleep.  While she saw Jacob pinning her uncle to the ground, she also saw Pyro doing his best to help Kashoku hold off Jackie and her electrified scythes.  She remembered Jackie describing her favorite weapons to them for a brief moment, and she knew that even the group they had now might not be enough to hold her back,

   She looked up at Sonic and her father and said, “Please, Daddy…leave me here.  They need you.  Kashoku is too weak to battle his hardest, and those scythes of Jackie’s make it impossible for anyone to touch her.  You’re going to have to disable the electric currents before you can even think about battling her.  I don’t know how she is powering them, but the electricity in the air will stun anyone who gets too close.”

   Sonic and Knuckles glanced at each other.  Should they really leave Amarie alone?  Knuckles shook his head and said, “We won’t leave you here by yourself Amarie.  That’s too dangerous.  Jackie will use anyone she can to gain an advantage.”

  “But Dad!  If you don’t…what they’ve got now isn’t enough!  They need you and Sonic now!” she cried.

   Once again, the hedgehog and echidna exchanged glances as they slowly knelt down, setting Amarie down gently on the floor.  Sonic looked on, as Knuckles held his daughter, and said, “I can’t…Amarie.  You’re telling me to make an impossible choice.”

   “And you know your father, he’s always been too stubborn when it comes to critical choices.  I remember one time…we needed the Master Emerald to power one of Tails’ airships, and Knuckles refused at first!  I remember Amy came at him with her hammer…,” Sonic started.

   “We get the picture Sonic,” Knuckles grumbled with a growl and a glare.  Sonic’s face flushed red with embarrassment.  After telling Sonic off, Knuckles looked back at Amarie, sighed, and asked, “What do you want me to do Amarie?  If Sonic and I both go off to fight, who will protect you?  You say they need our strength, but what will that leave you with?”

   Amarie closed her eyes, focusing on her baby, as it continued to move inside her, getting ready to be born, and yet seemed unaware of what was really happening.  She opened her eyes halfway, glancing at her husband as he defended Kashoku, and realized she was asking her father to make the same choice Pyro had to make.  They could either go on and fight, or stay behind and run the risk of losing the battle.  It really was an impossible choice, and while she hated to put one like it on her father’s shoulders, it was something she couldn’t avoid anymore.

   Pulling her hand out from under the blanket, she looked at the silver chaos emerald that Aries had given to her earlier.  She handed it to her father and said, “I’m your daughter…I’m not in any position to tell you to do anything.  I can however, ask you to, and only hope that you’re willing to accept it.”

   Knuckles held the chaos emerald in his free hand, and looked at Amarie in disbelief.  Sonic, who was slowly being persuaded by her pleas, offered, “Look at it this way Knuckles.  Jackie can either come after Mikomi or Amarie.  Now that Amarie doesn’t have a chaos emerald, she’ll be more inclined to leave her alone.”

   “Or she could use Amarie to get Mikomi and the chaos emeralds like before,” Knuckles murmured.

   Sonic sighed.  He was just as reluctant as Knuckles was to leave her, but also realized that between the two of them, the echidna was going to be the last one persuaded to leave his daughter.  He placed a hand on Knuckles’ shoulder, and desperately, he tried to reason with Knuckles.  “What choice do we have Knuckles?  Your son could be killed, and this time be lost forever!  Jackie could get all of the chaos emeralds and destroy us all!  What are we supposed to do?”

   The two locked eyes, in a tense staredown, and Amarie glanced between them sadly, closed her eyes and huddled under the blanket, and whimpered, “Please, don’t stay here with me.  Please don’t fight…do something…”

   Glancing down at her, then back at each other, Sonic asked once more, “What can we do Knuckles?”

   The group that now surrounded Jacob had grown to include Zachary, Kelsey, and Tails.  They stood in a ring around him and Hidama, as he tried to reason with his friend.  Though slightly injured, he wasn’t ready to give up on Jacob.

   “You don’t want this Jacob, you can’t tell me that you do.  You want to be free again.  You want to be with your family again.  Isn’t that what you really want?  You don’t want Jackie and her malice!  She never once cared about you, don’t you see that?  She only wants to use you to further her hatred against the world!  That isn’t what you want!  Come back to me Jacob!” Hidama cried.

   At the same time, Jackie’s scythes slammed into Kashoku and Rouge, knocking them back.  She quickly pulled them forward, ramming them into Oliver and Aries, who had tried to help them, causing them to cry out as the electricity shocked them.  One more swing knocked Pyro to the ground near Kashoku.  Bringing down her adversaries for the moment, she glanced at the rather large party that now surrounded Jacob, and realized that Hidama might be able to break through to Jacob.  Still needing him for her plan, she cried out, “Jacob sweetie!  Don’t listen to them!”  Holding up the red chaos emerald, she shouted, “Time to show them how these babies are really supposed to be used!  Catch this darling!”

   She then threw the chaos emerald to Jacob, before driving both of her scythes into the ground, sending shock waves and an intense electric current throughout the room.  With a cry, Kate pulled Mikomi onto the bench, which was protected from the electricity with rubber tipped legs.  At the entrance, Knuckles and Sonic quickly picked up Amarie, while the rubber soles of their shoes blocked most of the currents and their bodies absorbed the rest without hurting Amarie.  As Jacob leapt into the air to catch the chaos emerald, he was safe from the shocks.  The brunt of the shockwaves, however, knocked everyone else to the floor, unable to brace themselves against a wall like Knuckles and Sonic did, or hang on to a bench as Kate did as she held Mikomi.  This exposed them to the electric currents, temporarily bringing them down.

    Once the electricity wore off, Knuckles opened his eyes, able to see Amy and the others brought down, and Jacob catching the red chaos emerald.  “Amy!” he cried out.

   Looking on, Sonic said, “I don’t understand it.  How is Jacob able to use the chaos emeralds if they’re so weak?”

   Glaring at Sonic again, Knuckles shouted, “You idiot!  Don’t you remember what Kashoku said?  They are stronger with Mikomi close by!  With the source of the chaos power this close, I don’t doubt if she had all seven that he could go super!”

   Amarie looked up at them and said, “Please Daddy, Sonic, don’t fight!  You’re the only two left who can defend us until the others can recover!”

   The two looked at Amarie, then back at Jacob, who had now powered up the chaos emerald.  Jackie once again approached Mikomi and Kate.  Holding the largest blade of one of her scythes under Mikomi’s neck, she said, “Don’t try to put up a fight Mikomi.  Jacob needs that chaos power to fight.  If you don’t cooperate, I’ll just have to punish you.”

   Kate tightened her grip on Mikomi as he growled at her under his breath.  However, Jackie’s cackle was interrupted as Jacob cried out.  The three looked to see Knuckles ramming his fist into Jacob, while Sonic followed up with a kick to his chest.  They both knew Hidama didn’t want to hurt him, but now, they had no choice.

   “Sorry to do this Jacob, but as long as you threaten my children, family, and friends, I have no choice,” Knuckles said.

   Jacob looked back at Knuckles, growling as he continued to draw what power he could from the chaos emerald.  Mikomi winced and whimpered as this happened, frightening Kate, who looked down at him and asked, “Mikomi, what’s wrong?”

   Opening his eyes, Mikomi replied, “I—whenever…he draws power like that…I don’t know…it just hurts.”

   Jackie heard this, but was more concerned with Knuckles and Sonic staring down Jacob.  She spotted the silver chaos emerald in Knuckles’ hand, as well as Oliver’s and Kelsey’s chaos emeralds now lying defenseless on the ground.

   Running for Oliver’s, she cried out, “Take them down Jacob while I retrieve the chaos emeralds!  Get the silver one from that echidna!”

   “No!” Sonic cried out.  He then raced Jackie to the other side of the room, both of them heading for the dark blue chaos emerald, while Jacob grabbed Kelsey’s and started to draw power from it too, causing Mikomi to writhe in pain even more.

   “Mikomi!” Kate cried.

   Knuckles saw this, but could do nothing for his son as Jacob jumped for the silver chaos emerald.  While Sonic was able to grab the dark blue chaos emerald, Jackie and Jacob now had two of the seven to their disposal.  With only Sonic and Knuckles able to fight, the battle was getting more intense.

   Meanwhile, Kashoku began to rise.  He held Pyro’s chaos emerald in his hand, remembering that he had forgotten to give it to Aries to return to him when she found him.  Glancing down at it, the echidna king looked up at Jacob wielding the red and light blue chaos emeralds to fight.  Plagued with fatigue, a revelation struck Kashoku.  He glanced at Amarie, still in labor but watching the fight alone as her father and father-in-law had no choice but to leave her, then at Kate as she held Mikomi, swamped with pain as Jacob’s chaos emeralds drained power from him.

   Things began to make sense for the echidna king.  He stared at the battle, and realized one very important thing.  Mikomi would be unable to become fully mortal as long as the Master Emerald's power remained tied to his soul.  Jackie wasn’t aware of this, and thus was ready to kill him the second she thought he was becoming mortal.  This would work in their advantage, for this meant she would spare him and focus on the fight.  However, there was something else that was made clear to his mind.

   “Kashoku you fool,” he murmured, “Amarie…she has special powers.  The reason she could speak to Mikomi…they are a sign of the peace the Master Emerald’s end brought to the world.  That is why he started to become mortal, because her spirit wanted him to belong, not because this is still his lifetime.  She’s not a wielder after all.”  His eyes widened, and he added, “It’s the power she inherited from me that made me place her as a wielder!” in a louder voice.

   Staring at the ground, he continued, “Hidama was meant to be the true Guardian.  Knuckles rose to the occasion, unaware he would father the living incarnates of my children, a symbol of peace returned to the world.  Kelsey was meant to be the only Wielder to come from them!  Of course…there were never supposed to be two Guardians.  My blood passed to them…fate only recognizes Kelsey as a child of the Guardian.  I was too quick to assume anything.  No…now I know why Jackie attacked the Northern Kingdom.  It wasn’t for help…she doesn’t need it.”

   Looking back up at the battle as Rouge and Pyro slowly began to rise, he finished, “She attacked the Northern Kingdom because of Kate.  Because Jacob can use the chaos emeralds, Kate is the true Seventh Wielder.”

   “Whoa!” Pyro cried.  After a pause, he added, “Wait a sec, does this mean we can restore the chaos emeralds after all?”

   Kashoku looked back to him and Rouge and nodded.  “However, we must first disable Jackie and Jacob long enough to do it.  Once Aranelion and Jeremy arrive and we recover Amberly’s and Kelsey’s chaos emeralds, we can restore them.”  Looking back to the fight, he said, “We must help revive the others and weaken Jackie.  Hidama is the only one who can get through to Jacob.  So let’s hurry.”

   He handed the purple chaos emerald back to Pyro, and said, “Right now, it’s important for us to continue to hold off Jackie and revive Hidama.  Once Hidama breaks through to Jacob, he’ll return the two chaos emeralds.  You and Rouge go ahead and help them while I revive your sister and Oliver.”

   Rouge nodded, then took off for the fray.  Pyro started to follow, before looking back to Kashoku and said, “Hey, you’ll be alright won’t you?  You’ve taken a lot of damage.  How long can that thing hold up?”

   Having knelt down beside Aries, Kashoku looked back, smiling weakly and said, “What happens to me is of no consequence as long as the chaos emeralds are restored, but I…I thank you for your concern Pyro.  Let that bravery shine through…now go!”

   With one more nod, Pyro took off after Rouge.  By now, Sonic had moved to fighting off Jackie, counting on his speed to help him avoid her attacks as he went on the defensive, while Knuckles was in fist to fist combat with Jacob, and it was a toss up as to who would come out the victor.  Rouge at first went to help Hidama, but when she realized Shadow was already trying to stand, she went to him first.

   Just as Shadow was sitting up, Pyro ran up to the couple and said, “Shadow, Kashoku says that Kate is the real Seventh Wielder!  We just have to hold Jackie off until Mr. Brokenstar and Jeremy get back!” in an intense whisper.

   Shadow looked to Rouge and said, “That makes sense…now that I’ve seen what Jacob is capable of.  I should have known it…simply by the fact that when Jacob held my chaos emerald as a young one it maintained its power.”  Looking to Hidama he said, “We must revive him.  Only Hidama can break through to him now.  However, I do believe Hidama’s going to have to exact some tough love on him in order to do this.  It’s going to take some work in order to break Jacob free.”

   The black and red hedgehog leapt to his feet, having recovered, and ran over to Hidama.  He took the echidna in his arms, sitting him up and said, “Come on Hidama!  Pull yourself together!  You must break Jacob free of this hold!  He already has two of the chaos emeralds!”

   Hidama opened his eyes slowly, still reeling from the electricity that was forced into him.  He saw Mikomi continuing to flinch as power was sapped from him, while Jacob used the two chaos emeralds to fight off Knuckles.  His eyes widening at the site, he looked to Shadow and said, “But…doesn’t that mean that Kate…?”

   “We know that already Hidama!  Once Aranelion and Jeremy return, the Seven Chaos Emeralds will be together again, but if you can manage to win Jacob’s soul back over to our side, we won’t have to fight him for the two he wields, and holding off Jackie long enough to restore them should be no difficult chore,” Shadow explained.

   Pyro had managed to locate Amarie, realizing that she had most likely had to plea with Knuckles and Sonic to leave her.  Seeing her alone this way tugged at his heart.  He simply had to make sure she was alright.  Everyone was rising to their feet…they could do without him for a moment.

   He stood up, looking at Hidama and said, “Please hurry!  I don’t know how long Amarie can last!  Please!”

   Before Hidama could reply, Pyro ran for Amarie, taking his chaos emerald with him.  Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Hidama leapt to his feet and ran for Knuckles and Jacob.  Rouge and Shadow looked to each other, and then went ahead to help the others recover from the shock.

   Knuckles suffered a hit from Jacob, knocking him back, just as Hidama arrived.  He threw a punch at Jacob to prevent him from further hurting Knuckles.

   Jacob was stunned.  He stared at Hidama in disbelief and said, “I thought you said I could trust you!  Now look!  You’re hurting me!”

   Hidama looked ready to weep.  He hung his head and said, “Listen to me Jacob!  I want your soul to hear my voice.”  Walking closer to Jacob he said, “All I did was defend my brother.  I’ll protect my family before I’ll offer mercy to anyone who tries to hurt them.  However, I know that it wasn’t you who struck Knuckles just now.  It’s that corruption in your soul that did it.”

   Kneeling down in front of Jacob, he continued, “I want you to remember Jacob…remember that night when Jackie first arrived.  You weren’t corrupted right away.  She said that she would help you find the ones that murdered your wife, sister, and sons, and that she had saved your niece.  She said all you needed to do was come with her and she would help you.”  He gestured to both Kate and Jackie and added, “Well, look what she’s done.  She calls your niece a traitor and threatens to kill her.  Even if you think Kate betrayed her in some way, if she is willing to kill Kate…can you deny that she is capable of killing more souls?  Open your eyes Jacob!  I want you to open the eyes of your soul!  Look at Jackie!  She now wears the pelt of your sister!  Heaven knows how she possibly mutilated your wife and sons!  Are you going to let her keep hurting you this way?”

   Jacob’s legs shook terribly.  He dropped to the floor, maintaining a weak hold on the chaos emeralds, his eyes softening a bit, though he wasn’t completely freed.  He looked at Hidama and whimpered, “My…my wife?  She’s…she’s waiting for me isn’t she?  Until…until I’m with her, I have…I have to help you.”

   Hidama nodded a bit, glancing at Knuckles, and the rest of them as everyone recovered.  Shadow had run over to help Sonic distract Jackie, while Kashoku finally helped Oliver and Aries to their feet, and Pyro made it to Amarie’s side.

   “You don’t want to be this way Jacob.  Come back to me.  Come back…to your light.  She hasn’t left you…so this isn’t time for you to give in to darkness.  Please,” Hidama pleaded.

   Slowly, the silhouette in his head slowly filled in, and Jacob could see that the echidna he was meant to help…was Hidama.

   Closing his eyes, he remembered everything that Jackie’s corruption had stolen from him, including…that ever present desire, to be free.

   “I…I want to be free…,” Jacob murmured.

   However, on the other side of the room, just in time to see this, Jackie slammed the back of her scythe into Shadow’s back, sending him flying into the wall once more.

   “Shadow!” Sonic cried out.  Distracted long enough for Jackie to perform the same move on him, sending him flying into the wall as well, she had now taken out her two primary adversaries.  She looked to see how Jacob was faring, only to see the darkness she burned into his soul, slowly fading away as he fell into Hidama’s arms, the strain on Mikomi relieved as he stopped drawing power.

   “No!  Jacob!  Don’t listen to them!”  She growled, glaring at the entire crowd, save Kashoku who ran to help Shadow, and Oliver and Aries as they ran to help Sonic.  Swinging her scythes in the air, she shouted, “I’ll destroy you all!  You worthless freaks!  I’ll make you pay just like Olivia did in her futile stand to stop me!”

   Amy’s eyes widened in terror as she cried, “Look out!  She’s going to shock the ground again!”

   Pyro, who was trying to explain to Amarie why he had come to her, heard this, and shouted in terror, “Jackie!  Stop!”

   Before anyone could move, Jackie held her scythes into the air, ready to drive electricity into the ground again.  Panic set in, and yet before she could bring them down, the loud roar of not one, but two engines, rang clear over the air.

   Suddenly, a motorcycle crashed through the line of windows on the north wall, with Jeremy and Amberly riding it and a “Woo hoo!” from Jeremy filling the air.  Immediately afterward, Amarie’s minivan, now piloted by Camillia, crashed in right near it.  Glass flew everywhere, and this spectacle of an entrance from the Brokenstar family distracted Jackie, drawing all eyes in their direction.

   Jeremy slammed the motorcycle to a stop, choking the brakes, before jumping off, holding his chaos emerald in his hands, and shouted, “Let’s get this party started!”

   Amberly ran beside him, laughed and said, “I think the party’s already going!”

   Elianaron caught up with them and shouted, “Well gee guys!  I can’t believe you started without us!”

   Aranelion ran up beside his twin, as did Camillia, and little Airelea, who was now awake.  He cried out, “Hey Hidama!  Did you leave us any scraps?”

   Jackie growled, but immediately saw that Aranelion held the final chaos emerald in his hand.  Still, she was tired of nothing going her way.  Holding her scythes in the air, she shouted, “That’s it!”  Electricity flew into the air, and as she glared at the Brokenstars, she shouted, “Hand over your chaos emeralds, all of you!  Then do me a favor and die!”

   Aranelion and Elianaron looked to each other, assumed battle positions, and then Aranelion said, “Not likely you witch…you see, Elianaron and I aren’t inclined to let evildoers like you get away with things.”

   “Yeah!  Last time we chased a guy for twelve years before we got him, and heck, we’ve certainly got enough time for you!” Elianaron added.

   Jackie glared at the twins, and in the brief silence here, Airelea looked at her mother and asked, “Mommy?  What’s happening?”

   Camillia looked down at her daughter sympathetically, before switching her gaze to her son, who now stood on the other side of the room, and replied, “It’s another great battle of our time Airelea…and I pray…that it’s the only one you’ll have to live through.”

   With a smirk on her face, Jackie looked up, raising her electrified scythes in the air and said, “If it’s a battle you want, Brokenstar Twins, it’s a battle you’ll get!”

   With Jacob unmoving in Hidama’s arms, and Shadow and Sonic knocked unconscious and unable to fight, Aranelion and Elianaron, backed up by Jeremy and Amberly, were now prepared to face off with Jackie, while the rest of them, crowded around Hidama, were unsure of what to do.

   Kashoku ran up to the group with Oliver and Aries, immediately seeing Jacob’s condition.  He panted, feeling the fatigue from earlier return.  He looked to the rest and said, “I believe Jacob has been freed, but needs time to recover.”  Looking to Jackie he said, “Some of you must run and help the Brokenstars.  We simply have to deactivate the electricity field of her two weapons.  If we don’t, we’ll be unable to bring her down long enough to restore the chaos emeralds.”

   He stepped forward, lowering his head in thought, then added, “Perhaps if we can get her to drop one, we’ll have our best chance of shutting them off.”  He looked back once more, and said, “Some of you come with me…I have a feeling we’re almost there.  All we have left to do is take down our persecutor…for good.”

   Zachary and Kelsey glanced at each other, before glancing at a weakened Mikomi as Kate held him, gazing at Jackie with fear in her eyes.  They knew what Kashoku meant when he said “persecutor.”  He wasn’t talking about Jackie, he was referring to the chaos power.  Once it was where it belonged, it would no longer be the great burden it had become to the world.

   The couple walked up to Kashoku and stood beside him.  Zachary said, “This one is for Mikomi.  I’ve only known this woman a day, and already I’m sick of her.”

   Kelsey, who not so long ago hated Kashoku with almost every inch of her being, looked to him and said, “For Mikomi.”

   With a nod, Kashoku ran ahead.  Zachary and Kelsey followed him, as did Knuckles, Rouge, Cream, and Tails, ready to back them up.  The fate of the battle, now rested in the hands of two souls.  Poor Mikomi, who was struggling to recover from having power drained from him, and Jacob Greyfox, the fallen King, who in the end, would be the one to fight the battle for justice, and win the day for all the world.