limiterrings | (no subject)

[It's call the element of surprise, cause he's certain this jackal isn't aware of what they've brought to the surface from this child. Using that to his advantage to catch his prey. Hiding? From what he's seen so far from this rat. They don't deserve his full might. Their words only driving him further to prove his point. Their pitiful shield barely holds against his strength, breaking through to crush them.

Until his hand was suddenly forced back by an unforeseen strike. No, he felt their arrival. For them to go after him though, was unexpected. The hand disappears back into the void, Shadow left confused by their actions. He nearly had that jackal, they were about to be free of this prison of illusions. Was their hate for the Black Arms so much as to ignore the real target?

He makes an irritated sound as he traverses through the void. Another portal forms where he had left his spear. What exits isn't that large creature that hand belonged to. An armored hand comes through to grab hold of the spear. The rest of the hedgehog follows through, clad in armor that was bestowed onto him as Black Doom's commander of his army. His helmet obscures his eyes, but he's glaring down onto his other. There's no hesitance or uncertainty of his intentions like before.] Why did you stop me? [Is there a reason he couldn't finish the job? Was what the jackal said before about what happens if he dies true? Or is it really "because Black Arms".]

Hmph.

[ the younger may speak to him, but shadow ignores him in favor of turning his attention to the jackal. this is pathetic, it should have been obvious, but those who matter very little to him rarely find themselves on his mind. the slack doll in infinite's hands glitches away into particles, and the jackal grins. well, who knew he'd gain the attention of two hedgehogs.

a green sparks appear in one hand, his chaos spear manifesting as he points it at the jackal. ]

I will finish the job.

[ but it's not like his intentions are solely for infinite, even as shadow glares at him, he turns back towards his other, and points the weapon at him too. ]

Both of you.

[ two against one.

is it intimidating to hear that he's willing to fight them both? no, on the contrary, infinite chuckles with some sort of amusement again. is that the plan here. after all that shadow has went through, the damages, the mental trauma, he thinks that he could handle both of them? infinite is sure if the younger hedgehog attacks at him that shadow will block it because that hedgehog wants to kill infinite himself. it's like having a guard dog that acts on its own biting any hand, even the owner, but he's fully aware that he's unable to control him unless.

infinite stands there, head only shifting to look at the two every so often. however, he can't show favoritism or sides at this moment. because the moment he's about to speak, that chaos spear is thrown towards his double, the only difference is that a quick dodge won't do. it's actually following after him as though locked on, and so is another, and another, and another that he throws out. a quick turn on his heel, he dashes towards infinite with a fist raised back, and the jackal jumps back to avoid the first strike. when shadow punches the ground, he leaves an indent on impact before jumping forward with his focus on infinite for now. ]

[...Foolish. He traced his other's capabilities when they were connected, observed what they can do enough times already. They can't possibly be a match against him as he is. But perhaps that arrogance comes from being the Ultimate Lifeform. He doesn't flinch when the chaos spears starts raining down on him, striking his armor as he knocks a few away. This is energy he can utilize. Which leaves him to ponder the other's decision to strike him in this manner. Hm.

Doesn't matter now, and he's probably imagining it. He catches one of the spears, raising it up to gather all the chaos energy around him. To replenish himself, and to utilize it back against them. The collection of energy turns into an orb, sparking in his hand. Looking for his targets, he flicks it in their direction, hoping to land it inbetween them. Upon reaching it's target, planting itself like a seed, it'll burst into a bloom of chaos energy. Vein-like streams of light grows from it's center, spreading and striking into whatever it gets caught in it's path, causing the land to split where it digs into the ground.

While that keeps them occupied, Shadow takes the opportunity to reappear beside the jackal, thrusting his spear forward with the intent to skewer them.]

[ don't piss him off, this individual has nothing to do with him, he's sure that the younger hedgehog doesn't even know his name. the spread of chaos energy expands, tendrils outstretching to hook and grab at the same source — chaos energy. who else has that energy that can feed it, the hedgehog who wants to fight two against one. he disappears before reappearing a short distance forward to dodge the tips of the vines, and it's over that hurdle that shadow's quick to send a swift kick at his other's waist, knocking him away from the jackal before he can skewer him.

infinite understands that this is in his favor, but the ground underneath him crumbling is a problem as well as the tendrils reach out digging into whatever it can touch. one does manage to stab through his right leg, but the phantom ruby pulsates, sending a flash of light from the jewel to cut at the energy so that infinite can jump away.

blood drips onto the ground. ]

Back. Off.

[ he snarls, his frustration towards his copy. ]

[His head turn ever so slightly, as if he anticipated his other would try something. Even if he chooses to ignore them, he doesn't expect the same from his other. A slight move with his free hand and he grabs hold of his other by the ankle as they came in. Using their momentum against them, he redirects them straight towards the ground.

He missed his chance to get the killing blow though, so their little distraction was effective enough. Continuing to ignore his other, his attention returns to rat as he blips in right before them. Round two in attempting to skewer them as his spear is raised.]

[ that's the issue here, the fact that while infinite moves around away from shadow, he has to close the distance to make sure that his enemy doesn't die. infinite hasn't been embarrassed by the younger one, it only wants to kill him in order to "go home" or something like that. lofty dreams for an idiot.

that's why infinite laughs at the attempt, and why the phantom ruby glows to bring up a shield that'll deflect the attack. all he has to do is buy time, and...

yeah, shadow will appear again, dirt in his quills and irritation visible on his face as one hand grabs at the spear tightly. ]

[He doesn't want to go home, he just wants it all to end. Open a path for his other to get home after this rat and himself are dead. The only thing he doesn't understand, is why his other is so persistent on stopping him. Makes it all the whole "send them home" counterproductive to his plans. It's irritating.

He grits his teeth as they grab hold of his spear. His other hand swipes at them. Sparks fly and a dark aura forms over that hand, extending into claws as he strikes at them.]

[ normally, this is something shadow could dodge with ease, but when sparks fly and claws strike down at his shoulder, he allows for it to happen. it burns through as blood flies, and some drip onto the ground as the other leaves a gash behind. shadow feels numb at the contact, but that doesn't stop him from using his good hand to pull at the spear.

infinite is taking another step back as he watches the two, that's fine, it works, but the older one needs to avoid getting hit. how else will infinite prolong his life to prepare his own attacks if shadow fails halfway through?

the phantom ruby glows again, the world around them glitching, and it's the fuzziness nearby that shadow's eyes widen, and he pushes the other back with the spear still in hand. the other seems unwilling to let it go, so it's fine, he'll continue to hold while pushing the younger back. ]

[There is no sign of remorse from his action, only annoyance that they're still holding on. What does it take, to get his other off of him?! He readies to strike them again, until they start to roughly push him backwards. Unaware of the reasoning, not paying attention to the world shifting. Focused on wanting his other out of his sight. He can pay attention afterwards.

He grips the spear with both hands now, as black vein-like wings start protuding from his back. He turns, trying to force his other to swap positions with him. He then takes aim towards the ground, intending to smash his other into the floor.]

[ this is his enemy, they both are, and if anyone is going to kill the one masked one then it'll be him. even if his body shivers from the wound, the smell of blood wafting in the air, and thst familiar black substance trying to pull the chunks of flesh together, but failing.

shadow doesn't care as their positions change, the wings obscure hod sight so he's unable to see where infinite is. shadow growls once more, his annoyance growing more as his own hands remain locked around the spear.

infinite doesn't miss this chance though, a spear glitches behind his copy that shadow can see above the wings. it's a petty attack from what he can see, but rather than suffer being slammed against the floor, shadow with the tip of the spear in hand steels himself and pushes the spear through his abdomen. how far it goes depends on the force from the other, but he's sliding against the length of it, pushing his copy back so that the glitchy blade that hangs above like damocles' blade drops and digs right into older hedgehog.

his shoulder has already suffered enough damage, what's more as he can feel the weapon shifting under his skin, and his memories violated with his reason for being here vanishing with as long as it's wedged in him. shaking his head, shadow glares at the other before taking one hand to pull out the blade that fades in and out in reality, breaking down then fixing itself every other moments, and it's this strike right to the boy's helmet, using the weapons unique trait of breaking reality to see if he can get past the eye cover and stab one of his eyes since they're close enough.

he's only testing what he's able to utilize, he's not expecting much at the moment. ]

[Their actions continue to confuse and frustrate him. The spear remains stabbed into his other, but he neither pulls it out, or pushes further in. They're already doing the job of hurting themselves without him doing anything besides hold the spear steady. The eyes on his weapon looking toward them. Pathetic.] How do you intend to defeat me like this?

[Stop it. Why are you doing this to yourself? A small voice among the storm of self loathing and hate. He blocks it from his mind, just as his other pushes him to take another hit meant for him. His helmet hiding the moment of surprise in his eyes. Do they not think he can handle this? Is he being insulted? He growls as he pulls his spear back, just as they strike with the jackal's own weapon. There's a clink as it breaks through his helmet's armor and into his right eye. The spear is fully removed from his other as he staggers backwards from the strike, his other hand pressed against his face. The pain is nothing, but what he sees when that attack struck gives him pause. A jumble of memories mixed together, home, here, theirs. Pulling. Tearing. What is even real?

Growling between gritted teeth, he manages to remove the piece of the spear, tossing it aside as it disappates. The last image that flashes before him, being on the moon....with another hedgehog.

Who was that? A different one? Himself?]

...Pointless. [There are yellow sparks around his injured eye. Flesh and organs mending on their own beneath the spilled blood. A healed crimson eye, glaring down at his other in the next moment.] Back off. [He takes flight, intending to return to the hunt and leaving his othere where he lays. They will live, he can deal with their wounds later.]

[ he cannot use his own chaos energy because the other will feed, amplify and use them back. it's pointless when he's limited to his own body and taking advantage of what infinite has. he's able to warp reality to some extent, and if that can be used to fight against the younger hedgehog then so be it. as long as he can be damaged, that's fine, all shadow has to do is keep going.

shadow doesn't even respond to the words said to him, he finds himself focused on the issue at hand. keeping his prey alive, handling the issue, then killing his prey — it's a linear path, but when he moves, his body aches and pain courses through. wounds won't heal possibly because of who damaged him, but the other that came from infinite slowly tries to close itself albeit slowly.

he jumps up, air shoes activating to follow after the other, it's not as fast but enough to keep him afloat. there's nothing he has that can damage him, so he curls, using his own body as a weapon to dash right into the other while he's flying in order to knock him off course into one of the nearby walls. as long as the other hunts down infinite, shadow will be close behind. it's that unwavering determination that won't let him give up no matter the challenge, he won't allow himself to fall because of a couple of wounds that'll heal soon enough (or not at all). blood stains black fur, it sticks together and gives it a more thicker, matted appearance.

infinite takes this as his advantage, limping until using the phantom ruby to float away from the impact of the two shadows. it's quite amusing really, watching them fight head to head, and knowing that one isn't even using their full power to keep up with a monster such as the younger one.

"ha ha ha! shadow, is this all you're capable of!?"

is it to mock him or encourage him? he sounds almost amused and disappointed at the sight of the older one. there's a small part of him impressed that the younger one is unable to get rid of the other one. it might be because shadow has always been persistent in a way that it's rare to see him give up, so the other one must be the same.

that's why he makes another glitched sword, throwing it in the direction of both shadow's hoping to strike two birds with one stone. ]

[When one is more reluctant to fight against the other, you get this result. He has only struck back when his other made any attempts to stop him. With their persistence though, it's getting harder to keep to that.

And it looks like he'll need to deal with them again. He doesn't understand how, he doesn't know why, he just knew the other would never quit. Fighting until their last breath. So he can never keep his guard down as long as he can sense their presence. He turns, swinging his spear into the incoming spindash to knock him away, either that or stop their forward momentum. His other hand opens towards sword that was coming at them. A dark portal opens, swallowing it.

He blips out of existence, leaving his other to strike at nothing. He reappears above Inifinite staring down at him, a chaos spear formed in his hand.] Disappear. [Like a master preparing to exact punishment on their underling, a portal opens in front of Infinite, firing the sword back at them. His chaos spear being sent down at the same time.]

[ that sword could have been useful, something shadow regrets not aiming for as his reflected spindash sends him into a wall nearby. he pulls himself together, shaking his body as he looks over to where that version of him has fled to now. the phantom ruby pulsates, their surroundings starting to glitch due to overuse, and shadow takes this as a quick way to close the distance. the wall near him fades in and out, he's quick to slip inside thinking it'll take him right to where the weapons are being targeted towards infinite.

however, it doesn't. it leads shadow to appearing behind his other, and knowing that he cannot use chaos energy against him makes this angle useless.

or does it?

he seems pretty focused on infinite so shadow curls in for another spindash, this time aiming right at the center of the younger version's back, right between the wings to push him forward right into the direction of infinite and the aimed weapons. if lucky, he hopes to skewer his double with either the glitched sword or his own spear in the impact. ]

...I told you it's pointless! [He is the perfect soldier. He's always at the ready for anything. He has to be. Failure was never an option. He has to learn and adjust on the fly, avoid making the same mistakes. It all has to come naturally to him. And as long as the Black Arm's blood flows inside his other, he will always have knowledge of their presence.

Sparks fly in his free hand as he turns to meet them head-on, punching right into their spindash with incredible force behind it.]

[ the punch connects, shadow's thrown back into the walls behind leaving a huge impact as debris falls onto him. it's his interruption that's given infinite time to hide behind the various glitches nearby, shifting from one place to another but remains hidden. infinite knows that this isn't good with shadow down and the other out and about, but he remembers what the other hedgehog used that did affect the other.

hm.

in this world, the younger hedgehog will see the random glitches in the sky, along the walls and the ground. infinite is somewhere behind them, but he doesn't seem willing to come out just yet.

his voice echoes from above to throw off his whereabouts so that the younger hedgehog cannot find him.

"are you ready? to go home?"

by those words, is that saying that shadow might be dead? ]

[...It's faint, but he feels them, still holding on. Something aches in his heart, but he ignores it. A window of opportunity has been presented to him and he can't waste it. He's lost sight of his prey, but he'll find them again. Nothing escapes once they've been marked.

His ear flicks at their voice, the eyes on his weapon glancing upwards.

He has no home. Those words mean nothing to him.

He looks at all the buildings and obstacles obscuring his vision. His other's presence still feels far from here, he can unleash more of his power. Raising his free hand, a small ball of chaos energy forms in his palm, darkness at it's core. He sends it at a cluster of random buildings. A controlled black hole expands from it, sucking everything around into it. He fires another, then another. Destroy it all. It's what he's good at. Sooner or later, the rat will either be consumed by the empty darkness, or be flushed out of hiding.]

[ the debris doesn't move, rock and concrete covering the hedgehog completely as their surroundings are swallowed by the black holes. the intake of wind that whistling in infinite's ears know that it's too close, and with each reconstruction of their surroundings to rebuild a building that was taken by the younger hedgehog's attacks to promptly hide behind.

again, a voice follows after once another building falls.

"you hunger for me, is that it? the way you search when you don't know what i'll do to you."

the younger one isn't meant to have a future, he's supposed to kill him before that fated moment comes. yet, there's some difficulties— as another building crumbles and is swallowed whole, a few large pieces do fall towards the ground, causing dirt to kick up making it hard to see on the field. however, some do fall around where the older hedgehog is, more pieces crushing down on top of already broken down debris.

"if you kill me, you'll be trapped! remember?"

he hasn't came out of hiding spot until he appears right on top of the rubble that shadow is buried underneath. ]

[What the jackal can do to him is of little concern. He isn't afraid, he is an undying soldier. These little head games are just annoying distractions. He has to focus on finding a means to get in the strike to end this.

So far, this rat has played keep away, only showing their hand when an opportunity presents itself to them. The jewel on their chest, the source of their power of illusions. Approaching them proved minor success, even if most of them were interrupted by his other. If he can just disable it somehow...ah. He has a way.

The jackal shows himself, his hand aimed at sending another black hole in their direction. But he pauses, sensing his other beneath them. Tch. Of course they would. Not waiting a moment longer, the orb of energy is crushed in his hand as he proceeds through a dark portal behind him. Did that moment of pause cause a shift in his plans? Doesn't matter, he can only push forward.

Silence. Waiting. Letting his prey get antsy by the lack of knowing where he is, where he will appear again. What he will do. He has all the time.]

[ infinite stands right on the rubble, eyes glancing around unsure of where the younger hedgehog could have disappeared to. that's the problem about this place, someone that has nothing is difficult to control.

that hesitance doesn't go ignored, actually it's welcomed when that gives infinite more time to think about what it is he needs to do. his eyes glance around the area searching for where the other may appear. infinite moves one foot, the rubble underneath him shifts —

...

there's a small pool of blood that spreads out from one of the broken pieces of concrete.

ah.

is that it? infinite smiles, could it be? that dying thing underneath.

"he's weaker, you're stronger. i understand now." ]

[Their attention is elswhere. A mistake on their part. Portals will suddenly appear all around the jackal, black tentacle-like appendages coming out of every one, all trying to grab hold of them and eventually pull the rat into one of the portals, into his dimension. A place where no one will bother them, his powers at his strongest.

It's dark, a sense of forboding and something oppressive about this domain. Light flashes from a constant storm brewing in this dimension, revealing fragments of various objects and landmarks. Some familliar, some alien. The world twisting ones sense as broken pieces of streets and buildings combine together with a lack of coherency, making paths that go above and below. Strange vehicles that looked to be weapons, and corpses, human, animal and alien sprawled out across the landscape. The domain full of death seems to go on endlessly, with no visible exits.

Eyes, the sense of someone, or something watching the jackal all around them.]

[ this doesn't scare him.

no, rather he's amused by what he's seeing. an entire new world where his phantom ruby is unable to change because nothing makes sense, like all horrors, anything can happen here and illusions probably don't break through what changes and loses all meaning on its own.

infinite takes a step back, something squishy underfoot that feels like he could fall through if he isn't careful.

his tail sways, he is not afraid but he has to keep himself composed or he'll regret.

"what happened to wanting to go home, young one?" he has a feeling that this individual feels that knowing the truth means he has no place. "i told you i could fix everything, are you afraid of that?" ]

[Lies. The ground shakes as spears of chaos energy burst beneath them. He targets the wounds that were inflicted on them before. Keep them in one spot.] Perish [An unsettling voice speaks out within the void that seem to be coming from all direction. Above them, something comes lunging towards them with a familiar spear, larger to suit it's current holder.

A dark creature slightly larger than a human descends. It had two sets of wings, built to be an agile fighter by it's slim build and elongated limbs that end in long crimson claws. It's feet lacked proper digits, pointed at the end as if built to glide over surfaces. Gold rings, at it's wrist and ankle reveal who this creature actually is. The center indents glowing pitch black. Dark tentacles protrude down from the waist, giving it the impression of a tailcoat. Hiding beneath, a long deadly tail that ended like a jagged end of a spear.

Red eyes, two sets of them sit on the sides of their head, with a fifth distinct yellowish orange eye glaring at it's center. It had crimson horns where ears would normally be for the dark hedgehog. Their "quills" seemingly able to move on their own like appendages as they flow with the current movement.

On his body, beneath a white crest and where one would expect to find a stomach, was a gaping hole. Pitch black, an endless void in of itself. It's own black hole built into this creature of the Black Arms.

Tl;dr Here's my embarrasingly quick sketch that I will never finish and I suck a descriptors.]

[ infinite steps back, he steps back again, his body isn't frozen in shock, no... it's the need to move away, to make distance, to survive. his eyes widen behind the mask, the sight of something so distant from what should be the truth catches his breath in his throat. whether he's awed or afraid, it's hard to say. what can be said with even his words caught in his throat —

...

infinite has lost control a long time ago.

spears shoot from the ground, impaling his legs in place so that he's unable to move. he screams from the depths of his inside, the body weeping from the pain as the energy surges through him cause unimaginable pain. it hurts, ithurtsithurtsithurts. tears pool underneath, they stain the inside of the masks' visor with wet drips, and his eyes have turned bloodshot.

he places a hand over the ruby to force its power, but nothing happens, it's usage dull and unwilling to work in this environment. no matter how many times it pulsates to try, he can feel the energy from it leaving quickly and quickly, until the overwhelming energy of their surroundings squeezes the jewel.

a bright light, a small crack wedges inside, and then with a loud shatter is where the phantom ruby falls. rather than hitting the unfamiliar ground in this void of nothingness and creation of a horrific beast. the phantom ruby disappears. still a gem of unspeakable power, it's as though it fled realizing its power cannot be properly utilized.

or maybe it's because infinite has shown fear.

where, where did it go? his hands raise to his chest in search, the holder empty. no, this can't happen to him, he's the prophet.

...

underneath the rubble, shadow can hear nothing, as though the battle above has left somewhere else. he notices broken shards fall between the cracks within the darkness, some lit, others dull. they barely glow, shadow hardly wants to move, but he's familiar with the power that emanates from them. he clicks his tongue, the taste of blood in his mouth and rather than ignore the offering he picks up one shard.

he swallows it.

another piece, he swallows that too.

another, and another, and another — they drag against his tongue, cut against his throat. the pieces of the phantom ruby is an entirely different power from what he's usually working with, but between this and a chaos emerald that's barely holding onto anything.

he has to.

blood spurts from his body when he moves, he devours as though he has an endless hunger. ]

[That's right. All will eventually learn fear and obey in the presence of the commander. The spear, finally hits it's mark. Like an angel of death, Shadow looms over the dying mortal form of the jackal, blood staining his hand. You've avoided death for far too long. The chaos spears disappates around them. Slowly, he lifts his spear up along with their skewered body. Letting them feel the pain, struggle, suffer. They have no one to blame but themselves, for unleashing the monster before them.

He notes a certain ruby was missing on them. Perhaps finally spent. They were leveled to the swirling void of his stomach. For a moment, one would assume that is how they would meet their end, but no. Shadow grabs them in one hand, pulling them off his spear. It wasn't gentle, but slow and painful. He brings them further other up, eyes meeting. He can see the fear in them. What would normally upset the child, now brings satisfaction to the monster. Let it be the last thing they see and know, what happens when they've messed with something that one should have left well alone.] Thank you for providing me nourishment. You did help in the end.

[His head slowly lifts, revealing the maws of the beast. Like a serpent it opens wide, nearly his whole head was a mouth. Tendrils coming out to help restrain the jackal and accept the meal whole. Bones crunch and crack, Shadow unrelenting, as he devours the jackal. All the while, he felt a strange disturbance from his other outside his domain. It's been bothering him in the back of his mind, but choosing not to concern himself until the task was completed in here.]