The Mystery of Skull Cross

This is the renewed roleplay from 2010. Episode 60: The Mystery of Skull Cross is the grand finale to the Skull Cross arc in Smash and Co.'s Series.

This is an Invite Only roleplay. Seeing as this is such an important part of our story, only the people who have already been involved up to this point are allowed in. For the most part, this will mainly be between me and Cymbeline, however I'm more than willing to allow the following to jump in should they want to get reinvolved.

• Kapus
  
• Medley
  
• Alestar
  
• Estrella Marina
  

With that said, let's begin.


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"Tag, you're it!"
The laughter and chatter of children filled the air of Fox Forest on that beautiful, late-spring day. It was late in the afternoon, and school was out for the day. Fox Forest was one of the main popular hang-out spots for all the local kids in Greenflower City. Some came with their parents, who were either watching over them as they played, or even had a picnic with their children. A young adult stood out from the small crowd, long peach hair flowing with the wind. Cymbeline watched the children play as she enjoyed a refreshing walk through the forest. She had wanted to get out and explore the Greenflower region some more, now that she was officially going to be living there. Lately her mind was filled with thoughts about how she was going to get along living in the city. While Splice offered to let her live with him and she did accept, it didn't feel right to impose on him, though it wasn't likely that she could get a house of her own anytime soon.
Cy drifted away from those thoughts as she caught sight of a familiar figure off in the distance. Sitting up on a tree branch was an orange cat with white stripes. Amber the Cat gave a friendly wave and smile, to which Cy responded with a similar greeting. Before she could take another step forward, something landed near her foot. A small red Frisbee had flown out of reach of the owners after a high toss. Cymbeline knelt down and picked it up. Smiling at the kids, she flung the disc back their way, sending them running off to catch it.

[ I was up to my neck with work and midterms at school x_x. Blaaaarrrgh! Winter Break CANNOT come any sooner! I apologize for my delayed reply. Here goes!]

"Here, Catch!" Cymbeline called out before tossing the frisbee their way and she giggled seeing their bright smiles as they chased after their toy. Cymbeline's bright smile softened to a warm one as she kept on looking at them then tilted her head over to look at Amber. "Hey girl, how's it going?" she asked her feline companion as she walked over to be within a talking distance from her.
"Hello, Cymbeline," The cat greeted with a cheery smile. She seemed different from her usual quiet and reserved self. "Your friends threw a surprise party for me, recently. They built me a new treehouse while I was away!"
"No way? That's pretty awesome" Cymbeline couldn't hold in the giggles from how happy she felt. As they both went silent to look over at the peaceful scenery before them, Cymbeline began thinking over the past few months that she had lived on the planet. She recalled her emotions on the first day: scared and alone. From many years of living under the strict rule of her home realm, it wasn't easy to shake off the muscle memory of always being on guard with anything that her parents didn't approve, specially her mother. "This is....exactly how I always wanted to live my life.." she spoke loud enough for Amber to hear her. "You know...free, peaceful.. this is the kind of life any living being should be born into." Cymbeline's smile slowly went away as she began recalling her childhood filled with strict rules under her mother. She always seemed to dislike the world outside her immediate family circle. "Why would anyone not want to be free...?" Cymbeline asked herself before her hand moved over her chest where her Evenstar rested underneath her shirt. All of the sudden, Cymbeline recalled a strange memory of her running through a dark corridor with the sound of alarms going off. Her eyes widened and she backed away a few steps. "....?!..." Cymbeline touched her forehead with the same hand from where the Evenstar was.
Amber's ear twitched, picking up the sudden movement from Cymbeline's direction. She looked down from her tree branch, immediately noticing her spooked reaction. "Cymbeline?" She asked in worry.
"Huh? oh no it's nothing Amber, Sorry I worried-" Cymbeline's ears twitched at the sound of wind blow over head. The way it sounded, it was similar to that one she used to hear when Jamos flew over her head. At the same time, Cymbeline's recalled the same memory of the corridor which made her feel even more uneasy. "I-I'm fine...r-really!" She preemptively stammered at Amber before the cat could ask anything, and slowly backed away. Amber jumped down from the tree, landing a couple feet in front of her. "What's wrong?" She asked again, growing increasingly concerned.
"I'm sorry I-I have to go..!" Cymbeline's quickly turned away from her friend and sprung into the air to fly away. "...What is going on..?" she thought to herself, her breathing getting heavier and her heart was racing.  The angel had never felt such a strange sensation before. It was as if something within her was awakening. "..Splice..!" she said, immediately trying to keep her mind focused on the only person that always brought peace to her entire person. Cymbeline quickly changed her flying path and began to make her way to his house to find him. Only seeing him would probably shake what she was feeling.

"...STOP RIGHT THERE!" A familiar voice shouted from a distance, startling the young hedgehog to a halt in midair.

"Who was-?!" Cymbeline whirled around and before she could react, a light blinded her. "Kyah-!!" She screamed from the pain to her eyes and before she knew, something struck her from behind, sending Cymbeline flying down towards the forest underneath her. Cymbeline crashed through a few branches and landed flat on the ground.

Spoiler:

"..ngh..!" Cymbeline groaned as she struggled to move her arms to push herself up. She flinched at the pain of her bruised wing. "...."

"Get up right now!" the voice yelled out.

"...?!..." Cymbeline's eyes widened as she recognized the voice and as she lifted her head to look over at the person who stood before her. Her heart sunk and fear took over her entire body. "...is that...?!..."

Before her stood...Cymbeline. Another Cymbeline had emerged. The only difference between the two was her darker appearance in her fur as well as her eyes.  "..Heh, surprised?" a smirk took over the dark clone's face 

Spoiler:

Cymbeline pushed herself up onto her knee, "Who...Who are you...!?" She demanded.
"Isn't it obvious?" The darkened doppleganger replied with a touch of smarm, "I am Cymbeline." A malicious, toothy smirk spread across her face as she looked down at her counterpart. "And I'm here for you."
Cymbeline stared with a mixture of horror and disbelief. "Wh-...no! No, that can't be--I'm Cymbeline!" She yelled in protest. "Who are you!?" The more she looked at her, the more she recalled the strange memories. It was beginning to make her head hurt; just what was happening?
"Does it really matter? You'll soon have a more important question to ponder." Cymbeline slowly stood up, looking confused. The mysterious woman gave her a sinister glare, "...'Who are you?'"
"What..?" Cymbeline stepped back in surprise. "Wait, what do you...?" Before she could finish her question, the Dark Cymbeline put a hand to her chest, as a shadowy aura formed around her necklace. "Th-That's...!"
"Now, it is time to release the seal on you: With this, the Angel's Project shall be complete!" Her voice slightly distorted as a bright flash briefly enveloped her, causing Cy to shield her eyes. When she could see again, the Dark Cymbeline was holding a large scythe, seemingly dripping with dark power. Demonic wings had spread from her back, flapping hard enough to take her off the ground. Cymbeline gasped, seeing the dark Evenstar morph, and quickly equipped herself with her Evenstar sword to defend herself.

"Whooaaa! Cool!" The commotion started to attract the attention of the kids in the forest, as they began to gather around and watch what looked like a battle between a super heroine and her arch nemesis.
"No, stay back!" Cymbeline cried out, "You could get hurt!" The moment she took her eyes off her evil counterpart, the Dark Cymbeline charged forward.
"Now fall!" She shouted. Cymbeline only had a moment to block her advance, just barely deflecting the blade away from her. She jumped back to clear some distance between the two before her enemy's next charge.



Amber had simply watched in shock and bewilderment. She knew even less of what was going on than Cymbeline did. After gathering her nerves, she rushed onto the scene and ushered the children away from the battle. It didn't take long for the parents and guardians to come and fetch them. Once she was sure they were out of harms way, she looked back at the two Cymbelines clashing. "I've got to do something..." She spoke softly to herself. She nervously watched the battle heat up, with the evil twin taking the offensive. She soon took off, making a break for the forest's exit.