Shining Hope: Heaven and Hell
Project Gaia Part 3
Asui looked up to the sky, breathing heavily as she could only stare in shock as she saw a pillar of gold and black energy shooting up towards the blue sky. Then her body visibly stiffened, as she could feel a godlike power surge through the air around her, and she knew exactly who it belonged it to, except that it was now joined by another of equal power. It was so strong, that is broke the icy cat into a cold sweat, bearing down on her.
"Such a magnificient sight..." Asui snapped her head back to Cyrus, who was observing the now fading pillar of energy with great interest. "Such an event can only mean one thing. You can feel it in the air. The immense power bearing down on us. The Gaia Twins have awakened. With such power at my command, nothing can stop my New World Order from being established."
"I won't let you do that!" Asui proclaimed defiantly. "I won't let them fall into the wrong hands!"
"And I suppose GUN are the right hands for such power?" Cyrus asked monontously.
"No." Asui replied firmly; Cyrus was genuinely suprirsed by her reaction.
"I thought your orders were to bring the Twins to GUN." Cyrus stated curiously. "You have always been one of their most loyal agents. You never disobeyed them, never even thought of such a notion."
"That's true." Asui admitted. "I am loyal to GUN without fault. It was my original intention to bring those two back to HQ. But then...I witnessed the power the possessed. And as I was held up by the throat by Havoc, beaten, battered, and defeated, witnessing his ferocious power, I...I was terrified."
"Terrified?" Cyrus asked interested. "You were never one for fear, Asui. You've been so cold and unflinching, you were given the nickname 'The Ice Queen.'"
"I know..." Asui replied, suddenly firing several shots at Cyrus; the fox switfly dodged them. "But after seeing the power Havoc held within him, I didn't know it for sure then, but I was afraid. Ever since then, I began to have doubts. It was just so ungodly, I didn't know what should be done with it. Could GUN really harness it for the better? Such conflicting thoughts concerned me, hiding behind my cold exterior I always had. Until now. Feeling the power of those two Twins, how it's bearing down on me, making me sweat, shiver...no one can possibly be able control that power. Not me, not Eggman, not GUN..."
Asui suddenly thrust out her palm, several ice spikes shooting out from in front of them. Cyrus ducked the incoming projectiles, but the GUN Captain suddenly rushed foward and went for a diving kick at the grey fox, but Cyrus easily caught the foot with his hand. Suddenly, Asui used her free foot and kicked him right in the face, staggering him back. She then holstered her Desert Eagle, and then pulled out her bo staff and swung it down on Cyrus. But the grey fox brought his forearm up to block the bo staff, and as he kept it at bay, Asui looked at him with a cold, hard expression.
"...and certainly not you, Cyrus." Asui affirmed coldly.
"You underestimate me, Asui." Cyrus replied monotonously. "I am the most intellectual being on this planet. I have no doubts that with such superior intellect, I can easily..."
"Damn it, Cyrus, it doesn't matter how smart you are!" Asui roared, the air around them dropping a few degrees. "We're not ready for that kind of power! We may never be! Seeing that power in action, what it can do, it's just absolutely frightening..."
"Then let me witness its power firsthand if that's so true." Cyrus offered.
"Hell no!" Asui refused adamantly. "You're too sick and twisted to understand such a thing! I may not be bringing the Twins back to GUN, but I will still be following these orders: protecting the Gaia Twins at all costs! Keep them from the wrong hands, especially yours!"
"How naive..." Cyrus stated coldly.
Sparks suddenly danced around his gauntlets until electricity shot out of them and struck Asui in the chest. She was sent flying back from the grey fox, but was able to land on her feet, ignoring the pain going throughout her body. Cyrus swiftly formed a sphere of electricity and threw it at the GUN Captain. Asui swiftly rolled away to avoid the attack, but as she rolled back to her feet, the GUN Colonel quickly got in front of her, stabbing his claw at her. Asui managed to move her head in time, just barely getting nicked in the cheek. Suddenly, he fired off an arc of electricity from his other hand, which sent Asui flying down to her back.
"My hands are the right hands." Cyrus stated highly. "Only I can hope to harness such a power, and once I do, nothing can stop me from turning this world into my vision. When you, and your foolish allies are dealt with, then nothing will stop that."
"You really are full of yourself, you know that?" Asui grunted as she pulled herself up to her feet. "Whether that's true or not, that's debatable between you and me. But I know one thing, I'm standing in your way, and I'm not going to go down without a fight. And I can put up a pretty mean fight! So bring it on, Cyrus!"
"If that is what you wish, Captain Asui. Cyrus complied, electricity sparking around his gauntlets.
Everyone could only stay in their place as they watched in awe, wonder, shock, fear, or a combination of all four as the now transformed Gaia Twins beared their eyes on them from the top of the Master Emerald Shrine, their immense power being felt by all in the area. Tikal, who was with the Twins on the Shrine, stared in horror in what the two at become, and the power they possessed. Everyone anxiously waited for them to come attack them out of nowhere, but they did not move an inch since transforming, putting everyone on edge.
"Why the hell are they not attacking?" Hope questioned.
"They're waiting for us to make a move." Knuckles explained. "This happened when Shine transformed on me and Chaos. He did not move until I did, and then he beat the crap out of us. I don't know why, maybe that's just how they are, but the moment any of us make a move, that's when hell will break loose."
"Wow, Knuckles, you actually paid attention." Sonic joked.
"I swear, if we survive this, I'm kicking your ass!" Knuckles growled angrily.
"This cannot be happening." Metal muttered to himself. "I was so close, and now this!"
"Their power..." Oliver spoke in awe. "So...superior."
"Ha, so these are the true Gaia Twins." Eggman chuckled evilly. "They are even greater than I imagined! Their mere presence is even awe-inspiring. With their power, it wil be a simple matter ruling the world!"
"Eggman, wait!" Tails warned. "Don't..."
"Don't tell me what to do, fox!" Eggman shouted, moving the Egg Phoenix foward. "My intellect is perfect for controlling these..."
The right wing of the Egg Phoenix was suddenly sliced off by a dark wave of energy, causing everyone to look on in shock, especially Eggman. Havoc Gaia growled, his broadsword having been swung down to send the wave of dark energy. With the Egg Phoenix now unbalanced , Eggman sent a powerful torrent of flames from his remaining wing at the Twins. Shine Gaia calmly brought his hand up, and a shield of light emerged from it, deflecting the flames with ease. One of the plantinum blades then pointed towards the Egg Phoenix, and a beam of light shot out from the tip, and cleanly sliced off the remaining wing. Eggman could only watch in shock, and before his once proud machine could even begin to fall, Havoc swung his second broadsword across the air, creating a rift that poured out hundreds of blades and weapons, each one striking dead-on into the Egg Phoenix. The once deadly machine exploded in a giant ball flames, raining broken parts all over the field as the Eggmobile, which jettisoned at the very last second, landed on the groud, cracks adorning every inch with tear all over it, a stunned and fearful Eggman still in it.
"Holy crap!" Sonic shouted in shock; he then turned to notice that the Twins had turned their attention to them. "Double crap!"
Havoc immediately pounced, jumping off the Shrine and dashed towards Sonic, swinging his broadsword down onto him. Sonic swiftly jumpbed away in time, the weapon shattering the ground as it landed. But as he landed on his feet, Shine was suddenly behind him, grabbing his halberd and swinging it for his head. The blue hedgehog ducked in time, and then attempted a fast roundhouse kick to the god-like being, but Shine easily caught it with one hand. Before he could do anything, though, a beam of light suddenly struck him in the face. Hope took advantage of the opportunity he created by jumping into the air and coming down onto the Shine with his sword. The golden hegehog, however, was not fazed by the suprise attack and had his plantinum blade block Hope's strike. Sonic tried to used his other foot to kick Shine, but was punched by the animalisitc Havoc, so hard that he was sent rocketing into a nearby boulder, shattering it.
"Sonic!" Hope shouted frantically.
He pushed himself away from the blade and dashed towards Shine and once again swung for him, but one of Shine's weapons moved and blocked the strike. Hope unleashed a flurry of strikes, but Shine easily blocked each one with his levitating weapons. After another unsuccessful strike, Hope went for a stab, but the axe sword flew to block the very tip. With Hope stopped for the moment, Shine threw his hand forward, creating a blast of light which sent Hope flying away. But as he was about to land on his feet, a rift suddenly opened beneath as he was in mid-air, and Havoc came out, grabbing Hope's throat and slamming him down to the ground. Hope gasped for breath as Havoc tightened his grip on his throat, until the god-like being was suddenly punched in the face by Knuckles. The blow managed to send Havoc back beside Shine, but it did not seem to do any damage.
"Thanks..." Hope said hoarsely.
"No problem." Knuckles replied. "I don't know you, but you seem to be a friend of Sonic, and you're helping us out right now, so that's reason enough to help you."
"For once, you're using your head." Chaos stated as he rushed past the two.
He ran towards the Gaia Twins, throwing his hands forward and firing off a pair of Chaos Spears at them. The yellow arrows of energy struck both Gaia Twins in the face. Chaos then shot both of his arms at them, the watery limbs stretching and striking both of them in the chest, sending them down to the ground.
"Knuckles, now!" Chaos called over his shoulder.
The echidna immediately bashed his fist together, igniting flames between them and then shot them in a huge flurry at the Twins, engulfing both of them. Deciding to follow suit, Hope, his powers now restored to him, fired a powerful beam of light from his sword, which struck the flames, resulting in a huge explosion. The three grouped back together as they watched the sight.
"Stay on your guard!" Chaos advised, his claws raised. "Something similar to this happened to Shine when he transformed the first time, and he wasn't affected at all! We have to stay on them or..."
Two beams of energy, both dark and light, sudenly pierced him in the shoulder and side, ripping away his aquatic body. He screamed in absolute pain as he fell back onto the ground. Both Knuckles and Hope were shocked at what happened, and turned to see Shine and Havoc, both unscathed, dashing towards them. Havoc and Shine swung down their blades at the two, but Knuckles and Hope managed to jump away in time. Suddenly, Havoc opened his mouth, and a powerful blast of dark energy shot out from it at high speeds, and Hope was struck dead-on, engulfed by the blast. Knuckles eyes went wide when he saw this, but a split second later, Shine appeared in front of him, his eleven weapons flying around them in a threatening manner.
"Crap!" Knuckles cursed.
But just as the blades swung to slice the echidna from all sides, Tails came flying in and grabbed Knuckles by his hands and took him away just in the nick of time from the weapons.
"Tails!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"Looks like I was in the nick of time!" Tails responded. "We've got to do something about those two!"
"No use in running, so all we can do is hit them head-on!" Knuckles proclaimed.
"Do we have a plan of any kind?" Tails asked.
"No, and it's not like we can come up with one either right now!" Knuckles told him. "The best we can do is hit them head-on!"
Tails nodded in understanding, and then with a mighty throw, sent Knuckles towards the Twins. Pulling back his fists, he coated them with immense flames and then threw struck both Shine and Havoc in the face, creating dual explosions. Tails flew in between the two, and then proceeded to kick both of them in the side of the head. They both staggered to the side, and Tails and Knuckles were about to continue their assualt, until the Gaia Twins suddenly shot their eyes open. Havoc ripped open a rift where a tornado of blades shot out and struck Knuckles, cutting him everywhere and sending him over to the other side of the field. Shine threw his hand out towards Tails, and from each finger he fired a powerful beam of light, which all struck Tails dead-on in the chest, sending him crashing into a rock. The two stood frozen at the spot until...
"Hey, not cool!"
The Twins turned their heads just in time to avoid a blue blur as it passed them. Sonic the Hedgehog skidded to a halt, and turned on his heels to face the Gaia Twins. He had several cuts and bruises about him from the earlier attack, and he had his eyes narrowed at the god-like hedgehogs.
"When you hurt my two best friends, you've crossed the line!" Sonic proclaimed. "I don't care if you are gods, I'm taking you down!"
The Gaia Twins simply looked at the the blue hedgehog, their faces showing nothing to Sonic. Suddenly, blue electrical bolts suddenly struck the two in the back, coursing it through their bodies. As they were momentarily paralyzed, Metal suddenly came up between, jumped into the air, and kicked them both in the heads, and charged his hands with more electricity before bashing them in the hedgehog's heads, sending them flying in opposite directions.
"Metal!" Sonic exclaimde suprised. "Not that I'm not grateful for the help, but why are you...?"
"I didn't help you out because I wanted to." Metal explained bluntly as he landed on his feet. "I helped you out because I need you. I know what one of these hedgehogs can do on their own, and with two of them together, I don't even stand a chance alone. Which is why, reluctantly, I require your help."
"Heh, the big, bad Metal needs some help." Sonic joked.
"Once we subdue these two, I'm going to kill you." Metal replied.
The metallic doppleganger then jumped away just as the Twins made a stab at him with their blades, landing right beside Sonic. The two glanced each other and gave a knowing nod towards one another before dashing at the Twins at high speeds. Before the god-like hedeghogs could react, they were kicked right in the face by their opponents. When the two landed back on their feet, Metal grabbed Sonic's arm and threw him hard at the Gaia Twins. Curling up into ball form, Sonic hit a Homing Attack on Havoc, then uncurled and gave a sharp roundhouse kick to the jaw of Shine, sending them both down to the ground. Metal and Sonic then began to circle the two at sonic speeds, creating a blue tornado around the Twins, which lifted the two up into the air. The tornado then dissipitated, leaving the Twins hanging in mid-air as the organic and metallic dopplegangers floated above them. Sonic formed a cyan orb of chaos energy in his hand, while Metal's hand became coated in cackling blue electricity.
"Sonic Wind!" Sonic exclaimed.
"Metal Surge!" Metal shouted.
The two then shot down towards the mid-air Twins, thrusting their signature attacks at them. But as they were about to strike, the Twins suddenly caught the attacks with the bare hands. Metal and Sonic stared in absolute shock as the god-like hedgehogs slightly squeezed their hands and crushed the signature attacks. The Blue Blur and metallic doppleganger had only a second to register what had happened before Shine and Havoc suddenly sliced them with their axe-sword and broadsword, respectively, sending them flying in opposite directions with both crashing sickengly to the ground, creating craters in their wake.
"Oh..." Sonic moaned as he rubbed his head in pain.
Sonic looked up and saw the two standing back-to-back facing both him and Metal, glowing with powerful auras around them, their weapons gleaming dangerously in the sunlight.
"Ah crap."
Smash swerved around the trees as bullets flew right by him with the Gun Op right on him. The Op bounced off the tree and fired off more rounds from his Assault Rifle, but quickly ran behind a tree and let the bullets strike it. The Op followed Smash to behind the tree, only to be greeted by Rena's staff striking his gut. Smash then gave a powerful roundhouse kick that knocked the Op away. The two took a bit of a breather until they suddenly felt someone behind them, they turned their heads around in time to see another Op coming in swinging his katana at them. The two managed to jump away in time.
"Man, these guys are such pains." Smash groaned. "They just keep coming."
"Yeah, they are pretty stubborn." Rena commented.
They heard gunfire to their left, and turned their heads to see Quimica running away from another Op as said Op fired off his Assault Rifle at her. She pulled out several silver pellets and manipulated them into a shield that deflected the bullets. The Op, seeing the shield, ceased firing and kicked the shield at Quimica. The lynx ducked in time to avoid the shield, but the Op then kicked her in the jaw sending her to the ground. The Op was about to capitalize when a vine suddenly struck him in the face and sent him into a tree. Mina ran up to Quimica and checked on her.
"Are you okay?" Mina asked.
"Look out!" Quimica shouted.
Mina instinctvely turned, just in time to roll away from a slash from the fourth Op's katana. The Op pulled out his pistol and fired a couple of rounds, but Mina threw her hand out, glowing with green chaos energy as a wooden shield sprouted from the ground to take the bullets, and then thrust her hand out, the wooden shield being shot out of the ground and striking the Op in the face, smashing him against a tree. Mina barely had time to breathe, as the third Op came up behind her and sweeped her legs. She fell to the ground and the Op pointed his rifle at her head, but before he could pull the trigger, Smash kneed him in the side of the head. His helmet slightly cracked as he staggered back, and was suddenly struck in the chest by a lightning bolt, courtesy of Rena.
"You okay, Mina?" Rena asked as she and the others gathered to Mina.
"Yeah." Mina groaned as she sat up. "But damn, I've never seen more stubborn guys. No matter what we hit them with, they just keep coming."
"Then we'll just have to keep them down for good." Smash stated. "We hit them with our best shots, and take them out."
"Uh oh." Quimica murmurred; everyone looked up to see the Ops regrouping. "Here they come."
The four heroes prepared to fight back agains the GUN Ops when suddenly, the ground rumbled followed by the sound of an explosion. Everyone was taken back and they all turned to towards the direction of the Shrine, wondering just what was going on over there.
"Oh my God..." Tikal whispered.
The echidna priestess could only stare in shock at the destruction that has been caused. The entire field had been ravaged, smoke coming from all over the ground, several craters visible across the fields, debris littering all across it. Sonic laid on his front across the ground, cuts and wounds across his body as he struggled to get up, Metal's body was down on the ground and severely damaged, sparks emitting from many broken circuits inside him with all the cuts and dents, Hope was implanted in a nearby boulder, blood seeping over his eye from a wound on his head, Knuckles had deep cuts all over his body as blood poured from all of his wounds, Tails was curled up on the ground, burns all over his body from the light beams, Chaos was nearly a puddle of water on the ground, his body desperately trying to reform itself, and Eggman still sat in his broken Eggmobile, staring in utter disbelief and shock at what transpired, with the Gaia Twins standing tall in the middle of all the destruction, surveying their damage.
"I can't believe it..." Tikal muttered as she placed her hand over mouth. "It's like they've become gods...the power they are emitting and have displayed is just unreal...I have never seen anything like it...and they are forced to become completely different in the process...how can such a thing be possible?" Tikal then realized something and looked around the field. "Wait a minute...where did that Oliver character go?"
As if though on cue, Oliver suddenly appeared in between the Gaia Twins from behind out of nowhere. The Gaia Twins immediately snapped their attention towards the human, but before they could do anything, Oliver swiftly grabbed both of their arms, an devil-like grin on his face.
"I knew hiding out from all of this carnage would pay off..." Oliver chuckled darkly. "Now it's time to claim what is mine."
The Gaia Twins were about to destroy the human when suddenly they felt a shock through their bodies. Oliver cackled insanely as he felt their powers being drained from them. The Gaia Twins began to scream in horrible pain as they slowly reverted back to their original forms, and soon enough, they were back to old Shine and Havoc, limp and motionless. Oliver suddenly felt a powerful shock of power burst through him as he let go of the Twins and began floating up into the air.
"My god..." Oliver gasped. "What power...IT'S ALL MINE!"
An explosion of darkness and light burst from Oliver as everyone still conscious was temporarily blinded, and once it died down, they could only stare in absolute shock at what they saw. Oliver's hair had grown down all the way to her feet, now a mixturing color of white and black, his right eye now a bright gold, his left eye a dark purple, his skin now took on a grey pigment. His clothes were torn all over, as his muscles suddenly grew to a big size, his hands now sharp claws, and he now had an angel wing and a bat wing on his back, keeping him afloat, and the final touch were demonic-like sharp teeth that he showed with a wicked grin. Yellow and black sparks shot all around him as he cackled darkly at those below him.
"Behold the god that now stands before you!" Oliver proclaimed proudly. "Behold the new superior being of this world, Oliver White!"
Oliver White has become the one who achieves his goal as he attains the level of a god. Can the heroes put an end to Oliver before he destroys all? Will Asui be able to defeat the greatest mind in Cyrus the Fox? And will the powers of Gaia be able to contained once and for all? Find out in the next Shining Hope: Heaven and Hell.
My good friend, Emily Blue Paw, has an amazing story right now called Playing Games. She's in a bit of a rut so to speak as not many people are reading her story, so as a good friend should, I am asking all my readers and fans to go and read and review her story. Please do so, or the Gaia Twins shall blast you all to hell!