The Nightmare
An AAA Interlude
By Alicia Ashby 

     It was a confrontation that, needless to say, had been a long time coming.
     Dark Sonic had been nothing short of a plague ever since he'd entered the Author Avatar
Association as Kefkain's manager.  Like most managers, his aspirations were much bigger than
just making sure his fighter won; unlike most managers, he had wanted nothing short of
conquering the roving pocket dimension that comprised the AAA.  To that effect, Sonic had
gone about creating a Horde of fighters either too evil or too self-centered to care about the
damage they caused, and used them like a bludgeon to begin beating the other Avatars into
submission.  Of course, if his schemes had never gotten bigger than that, he wouldn't have been
such a serious threat.  It was only when Dark Sonic managed to accidentally kill one the Powers
That Be that he had finally realized what it would take to bring the dimension under control.    
     Alicia 'Lynxara' Ashby had been the unfortunate victim.  She had some inkling of what
Sonic was capable of, and had set aside her godlike powers in an attempt to keep tabs on Sonic
without disturbing the course of the tournament.  That plan of action went very wrong, very fast,
the end result being her reality-warped by Tuxedo Chris Caldwell into a lynx-morph cat-girl. 
Being furry had totally cut off her powers... before, she had simply not been using them.  This
resulted in her being quite tragically picked off by Sonic's instant death spell, the Endless Night,
when she heroically (or foolishly, either would apply) dived in front of the blast to save Wolf, an
Avatar who had assisted her more than once.  The loss of one of its Powers had radically
unstabilized the dimension, leaving the brunt of keeping it all coherent on her partner, Tim
'Shinji' McLees.  Since the dimension was far too much for any one mind to handle for long, he
had needed a new partner. He chose the most experienced, successful promoter he knew of:
Vince McMahon.  However, Vince turned out to be yet another evil party with designs on
possessing the federation, which had resulted in a complex double-cross during the ending of the
Virtual Net Championship match at King of the Net.  Vince had more or less sided with Dark
Sonic, for reasons known only to himself and the Dark One.  And it was a chain of events set
into motion by that double-cross that had resulted in the confrontation that was occurring now. 
     Dark Sonic had begun to focus his power into his true ultimate attack, the Black Ultima. 
The spell was the ludicrously powerful Ultima spell of the Final Fantasy series made even more
powerful, and intensely evil.  The most destructive force in the known multiverse, it would
easily level the Knothole Dome, and kill virtually anything that attempted to stand in its path.  
     The Powers That Be, finally reunited after Lynxara had been resurrected by a plot
contrivance nearly as bad as the one that killed her, were quite aware of what Sonic was
attempting to do.  They were attempting to counter Sonic's power with their own ultimate
tandem attack, the Ego Crusher.  It was designed to be the AAA's last line of defense should it
ever be invaded by an overly-powerful character, and this seemed to be the time for it.  
     The announcing team and the various Avatars of the AAA who had been involved in the
final battle stood transfixed as they stared at the godlike battle of wills that was about to take
place.  Sonic's orb of dark energy had grown until its size had eclipsed his own, and it hovered
ominously above his head.  The Powers had synchronized, their bodies shimmering with the
same energy that was forming into green and gold runes of divine light underneath Sonic.  
     "BLACK ULTIMA!!"
     "EGO CRUSHER!!"
     The black orb of death exploded like an atomic bomb, only to be briefly contained by a
cylinder of light that arose from the runes to engulf Sonic.  The two attacks met with a deafening
crack and a blinding flash of light...
     ... a light that was utterly consumed by darkness as the Black Ultima broke through the
Ego Crusher.  The divine runes were consumed by the flames of the pentagram that had formed
under Sonic, and the cylinder of light they created shattered like thin glass.  The Powers barely
had time to throw energy shields around themselves as the wall of black energy advanced on
them, obliterating everything else in it's path.  The ring, the walls and floors of the stadium, even
the ground underneath it... all was destroyed.  One by one, Lynxara felt psychic stabs of pain,
each one signaling an ended life, as the black wall of death advanced.  First the announcers, then
Kronos, then Brisby and the rest of Foxfire.  On it went, as the Ultima proceeded to atomize
everyone and everything that had been within five miles of its beginning explosion.  The only
things that resisted its power were the two human figures, shielded in orbs of power, that
hovered closely together at the blast's heart.  
     Alicia's thoughts were entirely consumed by survival, as she struggled to keep her energy
shield up against the waves of negative energy that tore against it.  So she was helpless when she
noticed, from the corner of her eye, that the emerald light by her side was... wavering.  There
was a dull ripping sound as Tim's exhausted mind simply could not maintain the energy field
any more, and the Ultima finally broke through it.  
     Her partner's psychic death scream flooded her mind completely.  While it was his body
that was slowly atomized in the hellish final energy waves of the Ultima, she felt the pain along
with him.  It was how she imagined being burned to death must feel, every nerve ending
exploding with horrible agony before it was consumed.  But even more than the pain, she felt a
piece of herself pass away with him, leaving a hole that could never be filled.  It was only a
furious survival instinct that kept her energy shield up during the ordeal.  Fortunately, the final
wave of the Black Ultima passed over her before the loss became too much to endure.  So, when
her own light finally expired, she could collapse in the ash-strewn crater that existed where the
Knothole Dome had been only sixty seconds before.  
     She did the only thing she could think of to do at such a time: she cried.  Agonized sobs
wracked her weak body as the enormity of what had just happened crushed her underneath its
unforgiving weight. There was really no other way to express so much emotion.  She didn't even
try to get up, or check for survivors... she knew there weren't any.  She was the only one left. 
     Except for one other.                           
     The voice, arrogant and mocking, grated on her worn mind the way it had ever since the
first time she had confronted him.  "Poor thing.  You came back, just as everyone else was
leaving."  
     Alicia's grief and pain transformed into heated anger as she turned to face Dark Sonic. 
Predictably, the hedgehog was utterly unscathed.  He didn't even seem weakened by the terrible
attack he had just unleashed, and was grinning broadly at her.  "But it's just as well," Sonic
continued gleefully.  "I *so* hate it when my toys get broken before I have a chance to play with
them..."
     Alicia didn't dignify him with a response.  Her expression had twisted to express a level
of hatred that she wouldn't have thought herself capable of before the Black Ultima.  She
emitted a strangled scream of rage as she went to unload the most powerful energy blast she
could summon at the dark tyrant... and absolutely nothing happened.  
     Sonic openly laughed at her, the most frustrating, maddening sound she'd ever heard.  It
rang in her ears with unnatural sharpness and volume, just as she began to notice that she felt
unnaturally warm.  Like something was blocking out the chill wind that had blown through the
area just a few moments before.  Almost like... a coat of fur... 
     Alicia looked down to see that she once more had only four fingers on her furred, clawed
hand.  She put them up to her face, and numb horror set in as she felt a snout and a layer of soft,
velvety fur covering it as well.  Not again... not *again*... 
     "You... you can't do this to me!!" She shrieked at him.  She ran in a blind, agonized fury
to attack him with the abilities she *did* have.  Sonic smirked, and casually gestured at her.  A
livid red energy field engulfed her as the energy-draining spell neatly felled her.  She struggled
to get up, but she simply couldn't get her limbs to respond to her frantic commands.  Panic set in
as she realized just how helpless she was.  This body was completely unable to defend itself. 
She was vulnerable, *again*.  She was a victim, *again*.  She began to cry once more, quiet
tears of frustration that left dark trails on her furred face.  She didn't even have the energy to
sob...   
     Her mind was too numb to panic once more as Dark Sonic walked over to her, and seized
a clawful of her long dark hair.  He wrapped his hand in it several times, to make it easier for
him to painfully drag her up.  She could feel his breath on the tips of her cat-ears, the same way
she could hear his satisfied, arrogant chuckling with painful clarity.  Tim was dead... everyone
was dead... she *wished* she was dead... the crushing emotion closed like a vise around her
heart.  It was too much... too much to bear... 
     
     It was a pain so real that, if she hadn't jerked awake then, it might have actually killed
her.  

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LEGAL STUFF: The usual AAA disclaimers and copyright notices apply.