Chapter 4: A Scourge From Beyond

The Scourge punched Warp away at a quixk rate of speed. Warp flipped on the ground and charged back at The Scourge, fists flying. The Scourge just coutered each and every punch with his own punch, before delivering a counter-kick that slammed Warp in the stomach and made him fly into the air. The Scourge jumped into the air, about to land a devastating punch on Warp. Warp spun out of the way, then charged directly at The Scourge, landed a successive amount of punches before being thrown back to the ground. Warp, about to slam forcefully into the floor, clicked his shoes together, and they released a magnetic pulse that propeled him directly to the ground even faster. The magnetic pulse was so strong, The Scourge was blown back a bit. As The Scourge was distracted with this, Warp shut his eyes and began to focus his energy.

"CHAOS BLITZER!" Warp screamed, now charging at near mach-speeds. The Scourge just laughed.

"Hey, dumbass! I'm up here!" The Scourge taunted. Warp just grinned.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" Warp then screamed. Warp immdiately disappeared, right before he was about to hit the ground. The Scourge heard this, and, before he could blink, Warp reappeared behind The Scourge, still charging at full speed thanks to the Chaos Blitzer and the magnetic pulse. Warp slammed directly into the back of The Scourge, and a loud snap was heard. The Scourge shouted out in pain, as he was launched directly into the ground. Warp fell to the ground, dazed, but not injured. The Scourge was another story; he had blood coming from his mouth, and there was a large depression in his back.

"...C...Chaos...Regenration..." The Scourge barely managed to hiss. Warp heard this, and was suprised.

"WHAT!" Warp screamed. Immdiately, The Scourge's wounds were all patched up, and his breathing was reverted back to normal. The Scourge looked at Warp with a dark malice.

"I see we both have managed to improve our fighting skills substancially, you pathetic android," The Scourge insulted. Warp then growled.

"I'm no android!" Warp screamed, charging at The Scourge again. Instinctively, Warp pressed a button on his right cuff that made his hand turn into an energy sword. Warp sliced at The Scourge, but the Scourge managed to grab the energy blade and hold it back. Despite the blade lightly cutting The Scourge's hand, he was relatviely unharmed.

"Ignorant bastard. Just accept your death," The Scourge commanded.

"What was the point of killing my family long ago! What have I ever done to you!" Warp screamed back. The Scourge just chuckled.

"Maybe in the future, I'll spill the beans. Too bad you'll never be around to hear that," The Scourge growled, as Warp finally noted his charged-up energy. Before Warp could retaliate, The Scourge launched Warp into the air, and The Scourge followed at high speeds. Before Warp could react, The Scourge swiftly kneed him in the stomach, then stuck out a hand at Warp as he was doubled-over in pain.

"...CHAOS MAGMA!" The Scourge screamed. Out of The Scourge's hand shot a cone of searing-hot magma that engulfed Warp quickly. Warp screamed out in pain as he was flung to the ground painfully from the blast. The magma quickly hardened into rock, and Warp saw that his legs, his left thigh, and his upper torso were covered with hardened lava that he couldn't break free from. The rest of his body was badly burned. Warp was finding it difficult to even keep his squinting eyes open from the burns. The Scourge landed next to Warp, and then he grabbed him by his neck, lifting him up into the air.

"I never expected you to get Chaos powers, android," The Scourge spat. "But I guess your time as E-1,006 Omega really did some things to you. Now, to end this."

The Scourge tightened his grip on Warp's neck, and Warp just floated there limply, watching as his entire life was being slowly sucked away from himself. Warp then fell unconscious as The Scourge's grip and Warp's own pain knocked Warp out. Before Warp could be truly killed, however, a gunshot ring was heard, and The Scourge let go of Warp. Warp fell to the ground, falling over to the floor. The Scourge looked to his side and saw a bullet had embedded itself in his side. Some blood trickled down from where it had hit. Looking up, The Scourge saw Scott holding a handgun, staring straight at him.

"I leave for the city and stay for a longer-than-expected time, and when I return, I find you," Scott gruffly spat. The Scourge just grabbed his side and pulled out the bullet, wincing in pain but not uttering a sound.

"And so arrives the other child," The Scourge growls. Scott just huffed.

"Yeah, the 'other child' that beat your ass in last time we met," Scott retorted. The Scourge just charged directly at him.

"SILENCE!" The Scourge screamed. The Scourge then was hit directly in the face by Scott's muscular tail, which he spun around to smack The Scourge during his fit of rage. Aiming the handgun at The Scourge, Scott fired many more bullets in his direction. Several bullets did make the impact, but The Scourge retaliated by getting a large yellow energy blast in his hand.

"CHAOS SPEAR!" The Scourge yelled, firing a Chaos Spear directly at Scott. Scott jumped out of the way, causing a large crater in the ground where the Chaos Spear impacted.

Meanwhile, in the basement of Warp and Scott's home, the Chaos Spear's explosion shook the foundation of the house. Nebula, being in the basement, heard the blast and screamed, falling to the floor and covering her head instincitvely.

"What was that! Warp! Warp?" Nebula cried. E-1,000 Theta floated down the stairs.

"GREETINGS, NEBULA. WARP IS CURRENTLY UNDERTAKING A MISSION OF DIRE IMPORTANCE. HE HAS INFORMED ME TO EXPLICITLY GUARD YOU FROM HARM," E-1,000 Theta pointed out. Nebula got on her knees, stumbling to stand up.

"Harm? What's going on?" Nebula asked.

"DATA UNKNOWN," E-1,000 Theta explained.

"What do you mean? You don't have any idea?" Nebula wondered. Outside, another blast, presumably from another Chaos Spear attack, shook the house. Nebula fell backward and landed next to a large basket. Nebula's hand then landed on something inside the basket. Getting up again, Nebula looked in the basket and saw various childish toys, along with some kiddie books and a blank-faced notebook. Nebula picked up the journal, but then she saw the title of one of the kiddie books, typically titled, "I Can Spell!" Nebula tilted her head at the sight of the English language.

"What's this mean?" Nebula wondered, picking up the kiddie book. E-1,000 Theta lightly floated over to her.

"HAVE YOU NOT COME ACROSS THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BEFORE?" E-1,000 Theta asked. Nebula looked at him in confusion.

"What's that? Can you teach me?" Nebula asked. E-1,000 Theta then grabbed the kiddie book and began scanning it.

"I WILL DO ALL IN MY ABILITY TO HELP. IN THE MEANTIME, STAY DOWN HERE," E-1,000 Theta informed. Nebula nodded her head, sitting down on the floor as she did so.

The Scourge and Scott were in a firefight of punches and kicks outside, with none of them giving up either lead. Eventually, Scott broke through and managed to land several hard punches on The Scourge's jaw before being blown back by a powerful kick. Scott skidded on the ground, before whipping his tails around again to hit The Scourge, who was charging at him again. The Scourge expected this, and he stopped, jumped, spun, and kicked Scott right in the head. The Scourge then did a backflip, thinking Scott was too dizzy to react quickly. The Scourge was half-right. Scott was able to react quickly enough to punch The Scourge back, but he did it too late, as The Scourge regained balance, ridding Scott of the perfect counterattack opportunity. The Scourge punched Scott away, and then he smiled.

"I'm tired of your insolence. CHAOS SPEAR!" The Scourge yelled. Scott dodged the arrow of energy just barely, and the Chaos Spear flew right past Scott. The Chaos Spear then crashed directly into a stone wall, making the entire stone wall crumble. A large fissure was left where the Chaos Spear impacted, and, inside the fissure, a large stone tower stood erect. The Scourge and Scott didn't notice nor care, as they continued their chaotic war instantly after Scott dodged the Chaos Spear. Scott then got into a mid-air punchout with The Scourge. The difference this time was that The Scourge won this bout. The Scourge slammed Scott into the ground at an angel where he bounced back up while being blown away, and The Scourge took the opportunity to pummel Scott into the ground like a tennis ball being bounced on a concrete floor. The Scourge then punched Scott directly into the stone tower, and, without warning, threw another Chaos Spear at Scott. Scott, wide-eyed, barely dodged the Chaos Spear, and the resulting explosion of the Chaos Spear hitting the stone tower propelled Scott back to where the charred Warp lie. Warp was slowly regaining consciousness, but he was having a hard time moving because of the petrification. The Scourge turned his back on the stone tower and laughed.

"FOOLS! Nothing can stop me!" The Scourge yelled, sticking his two hands out to his sides. Immdiately, in both his hands, two large energy spheres began to form. Scott grew wide-eyed and confused by this.

"What the-!" Scott shouted.

"What is going on out there?" Nebula asked out loud, now scared at the constant explosions and rumbling.

"PRESUMABLY A FIGHT OF SOME SORT," E-1,000 Theta responded.

"A fight?" Nebula asked.

"YES. A FIGHT IS SOMETHING LIKE A QUARREL BETWEEN TWO OR MORE OPPOSING FORCES. IN THIS CASE, IT WOULD MOST LIKELY BE WARP FACING OFF AGAINST THE SCOURGE," E-1,000 Theta explained. Nebula then dropped her book, her face paler than ever before.

"Did you say...The Scourge?" Nebula squeaked.

"AFFIRMATIVE. IS THERE A PROBLEM?" E-1,000 Theta inquired. Nebula just screamed.

"NO! Warp could be dead!" Nebula shrieked as she ran past Theta and up the wooden steps. Nebula threw open the door, and E-1,000 Theta followed quickly.

"PLEASE DECEASE YOUR OPTION OF GOING TO ASSISST WARP. HE HAS GIVEN ME ORDERS TO-!" E-1,000 Theta began. Nebula turned back, eyes beginning to tear up.

"NO WAY! Warp said you saved his life when he was an android! Save his life now!" Nebula ordered, before turning around and throwing open the front door before E-1,000 Theta could utter anything else.

Scott stared on at The Scourge in terror as The Scourge continued charging up energy. While Scott stood, petrified with fear, Warp's hoarse voice arose above the loud energy charge.

"Scott...get...out of here..." Warp pleaded.

"No way man!" Scott replied, regaining his ability to move. "We've got to stop him!"

"Scott, listen...(cough)...we...had no idea The Scourge could do this...all we've...ever seen him do is just...kill people with typical weapons..." Warp painfully uttered. "...he's in another league..."

"SCOTT!" Nebula screamed. Scott looked up and saw Nebula running towards him and Warp at full speed, with E-1,000 Theta trailing behind.

"Nebula? What are you doing out here?" Scott asked, confused. Nebula just shook her head.

"Never mind that now! Where's Warp!" Nebula pleaded. Scott just looked down at the charred Warp. Nebula looked down too, and she screamed a loud scream that got The Scourge's attention.

"Hmm? Who's the girl?" The Scourge mumbled to himself. "Heh. Probably one of Scott's sex toys of the week. I'll put the whore out of her misery too!"

"WARRRP! WHAT HAPPENED!" Nebula cried, while on her knees and overlooking Warp's charred-and-petrified body. Warp's eyes just shifted to her.

"Nebula...I can't...let you die...go...quickly..." Warp ordered. "''Please..." ''Warp internally pleaded.

"...I can't leave you! You helped me live! Now it's my turn!" Nebula explained. "Theta, is there any way you can-?"

"NEGATIVE. WARP'S DAMAGE IS BEYOND MY POWER TO RECONSTRUCT. HIS CONDITION IS GRAVE," E-1,000 Theta informed. Nebula just looked down at Warp, scared out of her mind.

"The Scourge's almost finished charging his attack! I can't just run up and hit him; he may blast me! What do I do!" Scott screamed. Nebula's eyes just shifted from Scott, to The Scourge, then down at Warp. Nebula clutched her head, as she felt her head getting strangely heavy.

"No...NO! NO MORE DEATHS! No more deaths..." Nebula cried. Immdiately, Nebula flew something in her hand. Lifting her head up and away from her hands, she saw a vine dangling from one of her pink rosebuds on the sides of her head. The vine's tip then sprouted into a mere green apple, as it then fell off the vine and landed in Nebula's hand. And, just as strangely as the vine appeared, the vine then retracted into Nebula's rosebud. Nebula stared at the apple confused, before she put it to Warp's mouth.

"It's an apple, Warp! Eat it!" Nebula ordered.

"How...do you know...what an apple is?" Warp asked, suprised.

"EAT THE APPLE, WARP! IT MAY BE HELPFUL OR SOMETHING!" Nebula cried. Nebula then ripped off a piece of the apple to make it bite-sized, and she put it to Warp's mouth. Warp painfully chewed and swallowed the apple. Immdiately, Warp's burns disappeared, returning Warp to his original state...except for the hardened lava.

"What the! I'm healed? Nebula, your fruits are some sort of healing magic!" Warp excitedly pointed out. Warp then turned his one hand into a sword, and he carefully but quickly sliced off the hardened lava. It was to Nebula's releif to see that Warp had been fully healed.

"ACCEPT YOUR DEATH, YOU ANDROID!" The Scourge screamed. The Scourge then put both his hands together, creating a large ball of energy.

"CHAOS...SPEAR!" The Scourge exclaimed, firing a super-powered Chaos Spear down at the four friends. Warp reacted quickly, firing his own Chaos Spear at the powered-up Chaos Spear. Both energy blasts collided in mid-air and exploded in a flash of light. After the fireworks display ended, The Scourge looked down and saw the four allies still alive.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" The Scourge screamed. The Scourge then got ready to charge down at them, whenever various energy blasts burst out of the rock wall The Scourge had broken earlier. The Scourge was expertly hit with one of these blasts, sending him spiraling directly into the ground near the four allies. The other energy blasts then came to attack the four friends, but each one of them dodged the energy bullets by swiftly jumping out of their range.

"What the hell was that?" Scott spat out. The Scourge got up, looking at the rock wall. Whenever he did look up, he saw two shadows admist some dark smoke. One of the shadows flew out, revealing itself to be a demonic imp-like creature with demon wings, black skin, a dark grey skull belt, and what appeared to be a mass of skin shaped like a female's ponytail. (In all hindsight, imagine Bokkun from Sonic X. Now imagine him as a girl with a ponytail that same color as his skin. That's pretty much what the ponytail is.)

"...(yawn)...well, its seems we're back sooner than expected, Master!" the female imp smiled, laughing happily. She looked down at the five people, who were now all confused.

"Who are you?" Warp asked.

"Hey! You guys freed us? Well, I don't mean to be a downer, but you're all about to get screwed!" the girl laughed. E-1,000 Theta did nothing, The Scourge and Warp got on the defensive, Nebula tilted her head in confusion, and Scott began laughing happily.

"WOO-HOO! After all this fighting, I need something to release my tension!" Scott laughed happily. This sucessfully made everyone look at him in either confusion, disgust, or both. The girl just 'tsk-tsk-tsk'd' Scott.

"Not what I meant," the girl explained. The other shadow then flew up into the air out of the dark smoke. Everyone took a look at the horrendous creature that was floating near their location. The creature was made entirely of gleaming white bones. The creature's feet had two clawed toes and one clawed heel in the back for traction. The monster's ribcage was showing, but inside the normally hollow ribcage was a seemingly-solid dark substance that was most likely the creature's dark aura. The creature's head was shaped like a wolve's head, with a long snout and sharp, demonic teeth. The skeleton's head had two dark eye sockets with red, dilated pupils inside them. There were two black horns on the skeleton's head, where the ears should've been. The shoulderblades of the skeleton had two sharp bone-shaped nails embedded into the middle of the shoulderblade, which seemed to be holding a black cloak that was being fluttered around gently by the wind behind the skeleton. The skeleton's arms (from the shoulder to the elbow) had large, bony additions that looked like two large shields. From the elbow, down the forearm, and to the pointed claws of the skeleton, was a black-as-night gauntlet, with four purple jewels adorning the edge of the gauntlet; the edge facing the elbow, of course. The skeleton's eyes narrowed down at the five mortals on the plains below. The demonic imp fluttered back up the skeleton gracefully, and she sat down on his right shoulder.

"Master Scaith, these are the kind beings that freed you! Should we offer them merciful death?" the imp asked. Warp's eyes widened. The skeleton just cricked out his head.

"No," was all Master Scaith would utter, before disappearing without a trace. Scaith disappeared so fast, the imp sitting on his shoulder was still sitting on thin air where his shoulder once was. (She also comically fell a few inches before flapping her wings again.) Scaith then reappeared right behind everyone, and he stuck up one of his bony claws. Before anyone could realize where Scaith went, Scaith fired five energy beams out of his hand. Each energy beam hit its mark perfectly; its mark being at least everyone once. Warp was the first to react, flipping around and staring at Scaith intently, a sizzling burn mark on his back from where the beam hit.

"So...you seem to have strength past what I'd expect for a mortal..." Scaith uttered. Warp looked down at Nebula and saw she was trying to get up. She was visibly crying from where the beam had hit her, but she wasn't wailing. Warp growled and charged at Scaith, turning his hand into an energy sword.

"YOU UNDEAD BASTARD!" Warp shouted, swinging his energy sword directly at where Scaith's neck was at. Scaith then deflected the energy sword using one of his shoulderblade shields, and he launched five more quick-fire energy beams at Warp from his free hand. Warp anticipated this and countered by turning his other hand into a smaller version of the shield Scaith had. The five beams were deflected, and they all hit into the earth next to them. Warp and Scaith both jumped back, and Scaith stared at Warp curiously.

"Interesting. You can copy other people's techniques and weapons," Scaith thought out loud. Scaith then disappeared and reappeared behind Warp. Before Warp could react, however, a large energy blast hit Scaith in the back and send him into the air. Scaith stopped and turned out, seeing some smoke coming out of E-1,000 Theta's right-arm wrist-mounted laser cannon.

"CEASE AND DESIST," E-1,000 Theta ordered. Scaith started out chuckled, before he burst out into all-out laughter.

"Do you know who I am? I am the dark shadow of the night! I am the melody you hear as you fade into darkness! I am the darkest part of your dreams! No...the darkest part of your NIGHTMARES," Scaith growled, his voice now distorted. Even The Scourge was freaked out. Nebula herself was suffering from a near-mental breakdown as she trembled over and fell back onto the ground out of pure fear.

"I am one of the 12 Gods of Legend and Lore. I roamed this planet-Aleannas-before you were even born! I am the ethereal soul connected to the Shadow Sigil. I am the God of Liberation. My name is Scaith, mortals. And my quest to liberate this planet can now be continued, thanks to you fools freeing me from my cursed prison within the stone tower," Scaith dramatically explained. The demonic imp flew back to Scaith's side, laughing evilly.

"He was the best in the past! None of you can beat him!" the girl laughed. The Scourge just laughed an equally-demonic laugh.

"Right. Then if he's so great, why was he trapped within the stone tower?" The Scourge mocked. Scaith looked down at him angrily.

"Mere mortal! You think can withstand my strength? Prepare to die!" Scaith bellowed, his left arm turning into a large, bony scythe. The Scourge just charged up some energy in his right hand.

"When I'm finished with you, they're next," The Scourge growled, charging up at Scaith. Scaith charged down at The Scourge, both of them about to clash head-to-head.