Crisis of Ivory
Chapter 7: Return of a Rose
When Sonic and Amy landed they moved into fighting positions and looked at the cloud of dust that had rose. But there was nothing they could see through to it, and there were no signs of anything conscious inside. When the smoke cleared a figure was trying to pull himself out of the ground, blood spilling from him and into the crater he created.
Amy could only see the back of Gemini Rose as he stood to full height and ignored them, looking back to the cliff side. Sounds of fighting could be heard inside as the rosy hedgehog stood to his full height, not saying a word to any of the heroes. Tails and Cream walked behind them and moved into fighting positions as well, knowing they were in for something big.
"Gemini...what's happening?" Amy asked, unable to decide what to say. "I missed you."
"I missed you too, Amy," Gemini said, giving her a warm glance from his radiant amber eyes before facing forward.
The ground ruptured and drifted as Terra skated across it, leaving behind a fissure in her wake. A large bloody gash went across her stomach and tore through her robe, but she was still determined and hell bent on killing her former comrade. She raised both of her hands to send two fissures out before her right at the other heroes. Sonic and Tails dodged with ease, but Cream and Amy were frozen in their tracks, both taken by surprise.
In a flash both were moved out of the way by Gemini's other body, who placed them both down before hopping forward for Terra. Amy and Cream were both taken by shock at his actions, but Sonic could notice th slow moving figure behind Terra, both of his drooped down almost limply at his sides. The blue blur zipped for him at godly speeds, a fist at the ready. Before he could even launch it the other figure leaned to the side, spinning around and launching a back breaking kick. Sonic jumped over it and released a point blank Sonic Wind. In a flash the Ragnarok agent's gun was in his hand, and he fired off two shots of pure chaos energy that destroyed the gale like attack before it could push him away any farther.
"You're pretty fast too," Sonic said, "Care to give me a name before I finish this?"
"The name is Nightmare Nexus, and I suggest that my stay out of my way. No one has to be hurt expect for Gemini," Nightmare suggested. "I do not want to harm anyone else. In a way, I could be considered like you."
"A hero, you mean?" Sonic asked, shooting for Nightmare once more. "Never! Not after what your friends did in Empire City!"
"It seems that the hero mantle is simply a name and a facade," Nightmare sighed. Despite the fact that Sonic had much power behind his Sonic Tornado, unleashing a massive cyclone of blue winds, the anthro was somehow able to instantly be displaced, rippling into view just out of range. "I used to want to be a 'hero', too. I wish that you, such a famous one, would be able to understand."
"Obviously you know nothing about being one!" Sonic called out angrily, cutting through the tall whirlwind with a spin dash.
He was about to barrel into Nightmare, and he could swear that the Ragnarok agent had nowhere to go, but right before the moment of contact he just seemed to blur, displacing exactly next to where he once stood as Sonic shot by, skidding across the ground as to not fall into the waterfall's basin. He zipped in a zig zag across the ground, before incorporating his speed into is blows, creating a rapid flurry of punches. But Nightmare saw them all coming and weaved through each one with unparalleled reaction time. When Sonic stopped Nightmare leaped over him and sung around, and so did Sonic.
"It is true what they say about you," Nightmare admitted as Sonic caught his powerful fist, rattling his body. "You are the fourth person I've ever fought who could even keep up with me!"
"So you're a big hotshot, aren't you?" Sonic smirked, trying to concentrate his energy into his other hand in the form of immensely concentrated blue winds. "But you'd be surprised at what I have up my sleeve."
"Did you think I wouldn't see your little trick?" Nightmare asked.
By the time Sonic saw what was coming Nightmare slid his hand around Sonic's and tossed him around and other him and then into the ground. The hedgehog spit up a little as the force from his strength and Sonic's weight all worked against him during the powerful impact, making him lose concentration on his secret attack. The Ragnarok agent stared down at Sonic with his unusual eyes before attempting to shoot him at point blank range. But in the split second it take him to quickly draw his weapon Sonic kicked it out of his hand. He grabbed it, but by that point Sonic slid off the ground and kicked him in the face twice before flipping away.
"How you like that buddy!" Sonic said, skidding across the ground with a grin on his face.
"A cheap little trick," Nightmare commented before pulling out both of his weapons. Numerous large blasts of energy came out from them despite their small size, ripping away everything around them as they shot towards Sonic. "Begone!"
The blue hedgehog gulped at the size of the blasts of chaos energy. He managed to zip his way in between them however, leaving only afterimages behind. He then skidded across the ground once again, but as he did he looked back and found Nightmare there, the agent's gun pointed at his back. A dome of green chaos energy shot Sonic straight into the ground like a meteor, Nightmare's foot planted into his back.
"This fight is over, hedgehog," Nightmare stated, pointing his gun at the back of Sonic's head. "I do not want to do this, but you have left me with little choice."
"Don't get cocky, now!" Sonic called out from afar, the afterimage he was holding dissipating in a wind of blue.
By the time Nightmare turned around to see the waves of afterimages followed by Sonic hitting him it was too late. A brilliant azure orb raged in Sonic's palm, blue winds whirling around inside like a hurricane and blades of wind surrounding the entire construct. The blue hero looked at Nightmare's fear stricken face before smashing the attack into his back.
"Sonic Storm!" the azure anthro bellowed.
The impact was shattering. All of the fighting ceased as the air ruptured and pounded on Nightmare before the whole attack burst in a dome of blue winds that tore up the ground in spirals with him being ripped to shreds in the epicenter. Brilliant light came off of it before it finally burst, exploding and leaving behind a cloud of dust. In the center of the destruction was Nightmare, blood pouring through holes in his tattered cloak.
"Good move. If I didn't think fast enough I would've been dead," Nightmare said before pointing behind him. The real unharmed Nightmare stood there, his arms crossed as the Nightmare lying in the center of the destruction faded away in ripples of vermilion and ebony. "You had a very powerful attack there but I can tell it was the first time you used it. It was reckless but all the same had much hesitation. It was a deadly move. You're just lucky I was on the offensive and not prepared enough to strike back."
"This doesn't make sense!" Sonic shouted in frustration. "How can I tactically hurt you if I hit you maybe once or twice throughout the whole battle? You can disappear and get around almost as fast as I can. And the last time I hit you nothing happened! You looked hurt and then there was another one of you, completely fine!"
"Only a fool would tell his opponent his main strategy," Nightmare stated, "But I'm done fighting. Here is a new game for you."
The Ragnarok agent waved his hand through the air, summoning a multitude of black and white vortexes. From them arrived a small squad of Ragnarok Beasts. A group of black and white soldiers in elegant white armor faced Sonic, holding blades with white auras around them. Behind them were beasts like them, but they were much slimmer and had less armor, but they had massive wings. Behind them were one of the Guardians from before, but they had black axes with a white aura around the bladed end.
"Let's see how yo do against these," Nightmare said, leaping back onto the side of the cliff and waiting patiently.
Sonic breathed in and out, trying to calm himself against the wave of enemies, but he found himself joined by Tails. With his trusted comrade by him the hero sped into battle, blue winds surrounding him in a shell of azure.
Meanwhile Gemini found himself neck to neck with Terra. The two launched at each other once more, a shock wave rippling off of each of their blows before they backed off. Gemini used his Dark Cannon again and fired off a volley of black energy projectiles. The ferret merely raised up a wall of rock to block the attacks before raising up another wall right under Gemini. The rosy hedgehog was knocked off balance, causing him to rise up with it.
To his surprise, Terra then sent the Fissure Attacks not only through the walls but up them too. By the time he figured it out the wealthy anthro was dancing his way through the different fissures, trying not to get hit by the jagged rocks that formed in their wake. Finally he managed to leap off of the rock and shoot through the holes left behind, delivering a hook to Terra's face that would leave a normal person in the hospital for weeks. Except Terra wasn't exactly normal. Though she tumbled back and smashed into the side of the ruins she picked herself up again and wiped the blood coming from her mouth while grimacing.
"How many times do I have to knock you around to get you to back off?" Gemini asked comically. "Jesus, sluts are so persistent these days. I will not engage in intercourse with you!"
"You've always had a dirty mind, haven't you?" Terra said angrily. "But it doesn't matter. I won't need much to deal with you. This will be the last technique you will ever see."
The ferret punched her fists together and gathered a heavy amount of energy which swirled in the ground and air around her. Gemini knew that with the injuries he had he would not survive this next technique. The ferret suddenly stopped her technique, flying up into the air. The rosy hedgehog could see his younger sister below, pink winds surrounding her other hand as she used the hammer for support for her next attack.
"Storming Hearts!" Amy called out.
A powerful gust of pink hearts and wind shot up towards Terra and surrounded her in a blanket of powerful wind. The entire thing exploded in a burst of giant hearts, the ferret falling to the ground with exhaustion. Even Alice looked impressed by the attack, holding a short chaos charged blade hidden in her bracelet in case she was attacked again. Terra tried to pick herself up, but she found herself to be very weak.
I can't take all of them at once like this. I have almost no energy left and fighting so long has taken its toll, Terra though before snapping her fingers. A black and white vortex opened behind her, and before Gemini could stop the portal with the remaining telepathic connection he had to the Ragnarok portals she was already gone.
Tails and Sonic were still holding their own, now joined by Cream. The trio had been using their powers in tandem, taking out most of the beasts. Sonic ducked under the blow of another one of the foot soldiers, known as the Nerux, and unleashed a chop to the neck before curling into a spin dash and knocking the last of them into the air. Cream leaped up into the air and swung out with her ears, wrapping them around the Nerux farthest away from her before pulling herself towards it and using the momentum to kick them all into puffs of white and black. At the same time her three chao took out more of the flying soldiers, known as the Aerux. Tails finished off the Aerux with a volley of small orange lasers which shot through vital points in each of them.
The three were then faced with the Guardian, holding his axe menacingly in one hand. He narrowed his eyes at the deaths of his comrades and let out a primal roar before walking slowly towards them.
"You guys ready for a Combo Attack?" Sonic questioned, smirking.
"Yes, Mr. Sonic!" Cream cheered while Tails nodded.
Cream sent out her chao which hit the Guardian multiple times around his body. Sonic then shot forward slightly and unleashed a speedy Sonic Wind which spun around the unharmed chao and lifted the Guardian into the air. Tails then stuffed a few Sphere Bombs inside his Energy Cannon and shot them out at the ground below where the Guardian was flying. He landed right on the bombs as they exploded beneath him, enveloping the impact in a white and black cloud of the remnants of the beast. When it cleared nothing was left and Nightmare was gone; the heroes were safe for now.
"Those Ragnarok guys my be tougher than what we usually get, but we're still too good for them!" Sonic exclaimed.
"Yeah, there's nothing that can stop us!" Tails added.
"Gemini!" Cream squealed, rushing to him and leaping into his arms. Apparently he knew her as well, though Sonic did expect this. If Amy and Cream were friends for so long then why wouldn't they both know Amy's long lost sibling?
"You have grown a lot," Gemini said, putting her down. "You have three chao now? You must be an excellent caretaker."
"My mom taught me how to use more than one," Cream stated. "It was hard, but she's one of the best chao caretakers in the world."
"Vanilla was always quite amazing with that. She used to make me go to all of her chao shows," Gemini chuckled. He felt someone behind her, and mistakenly assumed it was Amy. He was right, but that wasn't a good thing at the moment. He was suddenly flattened into the ground by her large Piko-Piko Hammer, and before he could get up she began shaking him back and forth with worry.
"Do you how long I've been missing you?" Amy asked, Gemini merely shook his head at the fourth person to beat him up that day. "You had me so worried when you disappeared like that, and then there was your letter, and those people...I thought you died!"
"It's okay, Amy," Gemini said warmly. "I know you're mad at me, but I was just as worried about you. I have to thank your friends for keeping you safe all this time."
"Just don't ever leave me again," Amy whispered, hugging him tightly.
"I promise..." Gemini wheezed through short breaths during the tight hug.
"My name's Sonic the Hedgehog," Sonic introduced, shaking Gemini's hand. "I hope you'll be able to show some more kick butt action against these Ragnarok people."
"I would prefer not to do that," Gemini said, Sonic looked at him in shock. "I'm not going to be the hero, and I want nothing more to do with them. The only reason I'll ever fight them again is for my personal reasons.
"It did seem like you knew these people," Tails realized. "Are you trying to say that...?"
"Yes," Gemini nodded, bowing his head slightly. "I was an agent of Ragnarok."
All of the heroes stared at him open mouthed, unable to comprehend the unspeakable thing he had done. Time seemed to slow as Gemini looked back up, surveying Amy, Alice, and Cream's reactions and ignoring the others'.
The moment was broken when the door to the workshop was knocked down by Knuckles and Team Chaotix, looking over the new faces and battered area with surprise. Everyone looked at them and sighed save for Gemini and Alice; obviously they did not know what they were dealing with.
"What happened, huh huh huh?" Charmy questioned excitedly. Espio and Vector yawned loudly and Knuckles rubbed his eyes.
"We were asleep. Did we miss something?" Knuckles asked. At that moment all of the heroes planted their palms in their faces.
"What am I dealing with here?" Gemini groaned, and fell unconscious in that instant.
To Be Continued...
A/N: It's too bad that I had writer's block when dealing with this part, because it is one of the biggest parts. Nightmare and Gemini become much bigger players later on and this was their main introduction, but I'll write better with them in the future. Next chapter we'll be exploring Gemini and Alice a bit more with lots of plot development and then moving into the next arc of the epic story. So hang tight for that, I promise to update sooner than I did. And Jesus people, review for every chapter. I crave the feedback, and I wouldn't be able to write without it. Until next time!
