chapter 26: Tag battle, Emerald and Ruby vs the twin sensei's

A/N: What is up my dedicated fans and welcome to another one of the closing chapters for this story which isn't as good as I'd have wanted it to be, but hey if you like it then that's great news, I've had some confirmation on when this story will be ending, I won't be going past chapter 30, 31 at the absolute most, Also if you don't read my other stories which I doubt since I did garbage with the plot on this one with it being all over the place, You have to know that I've started expanding my writing horizons beyond One piece, Sonic and HOTD, one of my stories which will be published very soon is a Fairy Tail fic, details are still undecided. But you can now let me know what stories you want me to write and If I'm familiar with it or think it will be something interesting to write, I only accept a certain template so I can read it easily without getting lost, I'll leave an example in the review section for you to follow if you have something to submit, the example template is prefered but not nessecary as long as I don't get lost reading it. Anywho let's get on with the chapter.

It has been a few days since Egg-man's last attack and Ruby has allowed Emerald to keep her sword no matter how much he insisted that she take it back, in the end Emerald was gratefull for the gift, she decided that she had gotten so comfortable with her new sword that she would just use that and today was a very special day, Today is the day Emerald gets rewarded for all the hard work he put into finding Ruby (Even if it didn't seem like much), today he and Ruby return to their home village with the news that she is safe, the rest of the gang was coming as well since the holidays have started and since Tails didn't know where they were going they decided to catch a train.

"You ready guys?" Emerald questioned as they all nodded "Then let's go"

-2 hours later-

The train pulled in and Emerald realised that most of them fell asleep "ALRIGHT, WE'RE HERE" Emerald cheered as everyone was startled awake they got of at the station and got off the platform as Emerald inhaled deeply "Home sweet home" he sighed as the group walked around to see how much has changed in the little forrest village, first stop was the forge where Emerald's adoptive father was at work.

"This place doesn't look like much" Shadow muttered

"Hasn't changed a bit" Mephiles said with a smile as they approached the forge, almost as if sensing their precence he was the first to speak.

"How can I help you gentelmen?" he said in a gruff voice without turning around from his work.

"You can start by turning around and looking at who you're talking too" Emerald said with a smirk as the figure's head jolted up at the sound of the voice, it was familiar but he couldn't quite place it he slowly turned around and once he did he froze and a single tear slid from his eye "Hey...Dad"

"EMERALD" the forge master called as he reached over the bench to wrap his adoptive son in a tight embrace for just over a minute before he released.

"Dad I want you to meet my friends and family, this is Amy, Sonic, Blaze, Silver, Knuckles, Tikal, Sapphire, Shadow, Rouge, Tails, Cream, and my biological father Mephiles" Emerald introduced as he pointed to each one "And before you say anything, my father only abandoned me because Egg-man threatened My brother Silver and I" he quickly clarified.

"I have nothing against him, he hasn't attacked our town, so I have no beef with him" the humble forge master chuckled. They all engaged in conversation for a good half an hour or so until 2 hedgehogs approached the forge, onw was black with white highlights, the other was the opposite White with black as soon as Emerald's foster carer saw them his mood suddenly darkened.

"Your swords are worthless" the black one said as he threw two broken blades on the counter with the other following suite.

"Two sword style huh" Emerald murmured

"We either want a refund or..." the eyes of the white one fell onto Emerald and Ruby's blades "Those four blades" he said pointing too Emerald and Ruby.

"I'm sorry I must be going deaf, did you just say you want my blades?" Emerald questioned.

"Is that a problem" the black haired hedgehog questioned "We are the leaders of the dojo around these parts we need good blades to teach our pupils" Emerald growled at that statement.

"So you beat the old man huh?" Emerald questioned causing the two to laugh.

"We didn't just beat him, he insisted on taking both of us on alone, even after he lost he refused to hand over the dojo, so we killed the old man as a warning to all who oppose us" the White one explained "We are the equinox twins and that's all you're getting out of us unless you beat us" Ruby grabbed her blade and walked forward until Emerald stuck his hand out.

"So you think that just because you run a dojo you're in charge around here?" Ruby snapped causing the two to look her up and down with filthy grins on their faces.

"We could take the girl as compensation" the black one said licking his lips. this time it was Emeralds turn to react, he swung a powerful right hook to the jaw of the black hedgehog.

"Over my bloody, beaten, bruised, battered and dead body" Emerald said releasing an animalistic growl just as the victim get's up shakily

"We'll take the top four blades you have in stock" the white hedgehog spoke to the forge master without taking his eyes off Emerald who was alternating glares between himself (White hedgehog) and his brother (The black hedgehog) "You green one, what is your name"

"It's Emerald, and you'd do well to remember that" the green hedgehog growled.

"Well then Emerald..." he started putting emphasis on the name "You just made a big mistake, you can choose one partner for a tag battle to the death, then at exactly 12:00pm tomorrow we will have our duel" he finished collecting the blades before the brothers stormed off, Ruby was still trying to get over the fact that Emerald had defended her.

"What a bunch of dicks" Emerald spat with the rest of the group nodding in agreement "Ruby" he spoke snapping the red haired girl out of her trance "We're going to start our training Immediately after all, who else would I trust to enter a sword fight" Emerald said with a smirk.

"Yeah" Ruby said getting her head out of the clouds "Let's do this" she said with a determined expression as the two walked off missing some important details from the forge master who asked for someone to carry on to Emerald next time they met.

-Next day 11:55 AM-

The two sides were standing opposite each other in the middle of the town "EMERALD" Sonic called from the side lines. "DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THESE GUYS THEY'RE REALLY STRONG, APPEARANTLY THEY WON'T FEEL IT IF YOU CUT THEM" he warned causing Emerald to smile.

"Thank's for the heads up" Emerald said looking towards Ruby as the clock reached 11:56. "Hey Ruby?"

"Yes?"

"If somehow we loose there's something that can't go unsaid" Emerald started un aware that they wanted to get a move on "I hated the fact that I couldn't beat you growing up, but there were many qualities I loved, I loved the fact that you made me work, you made me push for something, you supported me when I needed it, I could list a quality I loved and count a star for each one, but I'd run out of stars, what I'm trying to say is I-ARGH" Emerald started before he felt a sharp pain in the side of his abdomen, he looked to see the white hedgehog plunging his blade into the side of Emerald whilst Ruby was barely able to block her attacker.

"EMERALD" she cried as he fell to the ground Life ebbing away ever so slowly.

'Damnit, I let my guard down' he thought to himself as he watched his opponents,he then saw what Sonic was talking about, they were strong because the two were in perfect sync, they both knew what the other was thinking and combined their techniques to over power their opponents

"EMERALD I COULD USE SOME HELP HERE" Ruby begged as he slowly but surely got up, struggling all the way.

"you should know by now that women could never make good swordsmen especially against opponents like us" the black hedgehog taunted as his blades struck left and right barely being blocked.

"And you're father was beating that knowledge into you since you were little wasn't he?" the white one added.

"SJUT UP, YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME" Ruby screamed trying and failing to create an opening, while accidentally creating one for the black hedgehog to get through.

"YOU'RE DEAD BITCH"

"180 POUND PHEONIX" a voice called as the black hedgehog was hit throwing him off target which resulted in everyone looking in the direction of the voice to see Emerald using one of his blades for support, bleeding profusely.

'This is going to kill me' he thought to himself as he slowly found his centre of balance "You know who else sucks? those who don't pay attention to their surroundings, that is a fatal error when it comes to battle" Emerald said as he threw a yellow piece of paper towards the audience, the adjudicator picked it up and read the name "I'm sorry I dragged you into this Ruby, now it's 2 on one"

-Flashback-

"Ok those participating have you're names on a yellow piece of paper, if one of them get's thrown out, the person with that name leaves the fight" the ref called "You also get one call back to the fight, but that can only happen if the person who sends you to the sidelines calls for it"

"Sound's fair to me" Emerald stated firmly as the other 3 agreed.

-End flashback-

"Ruby" the judge called causing Ruby to turn to Emerald.

"The last thing I want is for you to get hurt, if you want to fight them after this should I lose, then that's fine by me" Emerald stated.

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY YOU'RE MORE INJURED THAN I AM" the red-haired female replied in rage.

"My decision is final, I will be the one to end this" Emerald argued as he stared down his opponents. As much as she hated it those were the rules of battle, so she reluctantly stormed off the field in Fumes of anger.

"That was a very poor decision greeny" the white hedgehog stated as he finaly drew his second blade "One you won't live to regret"

"Threats are nothing unless you can back them up" Emerald sneered as he slid into battle stance.

"Brother, don't underestimate this one, he's strong, I actually felt that attack" the black twin warned as he slowly got up

"Clearly... how else would I become the world's greatest swordsman like I promised 10 years ago" Emerald taunted.

"You don't know when to shut up do you, besides if you were to become the world's greatest, you would have to beat us first, and that's not going to happen" the twins said in unision before a bunch of loud clashes sounded and Emerald was on the defensive this lasted roughly half an hour before Emerald smirked as a signal to Ruby to get ready.

"I'M CALLING RUBY BACK IN" Emerald yelled as the woman in question entered with blinding speed and cut along the twins backs before they could react which turned the attention of the white twin to her.

"That is some impressive speed let's see you put it to use" the white hedgehog grinned as the two engaged in battle.

-With Emerald's battle-

"Just you and me now greeny" the black hedgehog teased as the two were locked in furious swordplay.

"Don't call me that" Emerald growled as he created an opening and made a diagonal cut across his opponent's chest doing well to hide the fact that the stab wound he recieved earlier was really interfering with his skills, unfortunately it was picked up by the enemy.

"That wound looks pretty bad, you're going to loose but at least you have a good excuse, unless you give up and leave the village to never return with all those friends of yours, agree to that and we'll call off the fight" the black hedgehog offered.

"NO, if I was to lose with wounds as small as these..." Emerald started as he blocked an incoming attack. "THEN I HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL MYSELF A SWORDSMAN" Emerald yelled shocking the black hedgehog causing enough time to bounce him back "Three sword style secret fusion technique..." Emerald started while he held his swords in front of him as they were enveloped in a white light before it faded to reveal a flaming demon blade (I don't know how to describe this so Imagine the most demonic blade you can, amplify it to 8 feet in length, made from incredibly strong lightweight material with a black and red colour pallete and enveloped in flames) "DEMON KINGS FLAME BLADE" Emerald yelled as the fusion completed and the temperature of the village rose from 30 degrees to 45 degrees.

'"W-W-WHAT'S GOING ON?" the black hedgehog screamed in terror which caused Emerald to laugh.

"What? so when you have the upper hand it's all fun and games, but when I finally decide to get serious you're too scared to finish the fight?" Emerald teased "I know the feeling, even if I don't show it"

"Wait...you mean?"

"Without the help of the chaos emeralds this is my strongest attainable form, I have many combos, each one more deadly than the last, though I must ask, what happened, you were so cocky just a minute ago" Emerald answered with a smirk "It's game over, COMMANDMENT OF THE FLAME DEMON KING'S BLADE, HELLFIRE METEOR STRIKE" Emerald yelled as he charged his body surrounded by purply black flames the blade hit it's mark causing a shriek of agony from the black hedgehog before he collapsed lifeless. Emerald's fusion wore off at the same time causing him to collapse to his knees in the middle of a small but deep crater that the attack created "Done" Emerald panted out "I'm just gonna take a quick powernap to recharge" he concluded as he fell on his back breathing steadying to a stable pace of sleep, meanwhile not far off Ruby was finishing off her fight.

-With Ruby-

The remaining 2 hedgehogs were locked in furious combat neither giving up an inch when they heard the cry of pain the white hedgehog froze while Ruby smirked "Looks like you're brother has been defeated" Ruby smirked as she took the opportunity to break through her enemies defences 'Remember, just like I was taught' she thought to her self as she kicked the white hedgehog in the gut causing him to stumble back a few feet before positioning her sword in front of her, "One sword style..." she said as she once again charged with blinding speed, the call was close as the white hedgehog managed to barely attempt a block, and she was now behind him "Death lion song" she finished as she resheathed her blade just a split second before his swords split in two with a clean cut and another clean cut appeared down his torso with blood gushing out in torrents before the white hedgehog fell back defeated.

"THE CHALLENGERS WIN" the official called as the crowd erupted into cheers.

"You should be proud whoever you are, besides Emerald you and you're brother would have to have been some of the strongest swordsmen I have met" Ruby condemmed as she heard a grunt.

"You've earned it, my name is Diamond, I was the strongest swordsman in my village until my brother Onyx (not named after the pokemon but an incredibly rare black gemstone, don't ask me why, these names just popped into my head) decided he wanted to become a swordsman as well, where he then quickly became parralleled with my strength, that's when we decided to work together, where we earned the name Equinox twins, named purely for the colour of our quills and the fact that we were always in perfect balance or sync in battle" the white hedgehog explained through ragged breathes "We were undefeated when it came to swordplay, and I guess we got so used to the feeling of winning that we went mad with power" he continued before coughing up blood.

Ruby looked thoughtful for a minute "Would you like me to finish you off and end your suffering, or vice versa? You're going to die anyway" Ruby questioned

"Just end it, I'd do it myself to maintain my pride as a warrior but I haven't the slightest bit of strength left" Daimond requested as she re-drew her sword, the town had already disspersed so there's no insult to injury.

"You should at least know that despite you're attitude you were an honourable swordsman, just wish I could say the same for you're brother" she commended once more causind Diamond to chuckle a bit.

"Yeah, I appologise on his behalf, he always has been a bit of a pervert, if I had known that the green one you called Emerald was your boyfriend I would have stopped him" this statement caused Ruby to blush lightly.

"It's nothing like that, he's just been there for me when I needed him most as I have been there for him, ever since we were 7-8 years old, he's a really good friend" Ruby explained.

"Well, I may not know much about you or your friends, But I know that he's caught between worlds, he like's you" Diamond stated his voice getting fainter "But he also likes someone else" however most of that went unheared by Ruby, and she knew he was close to passing so she got closer to him.

"What do you mean caught between worlds?" Ruby questioned as Diamond coughed a bit more.

"You'll know what I mean when the time comes, just keep your promise and finish me off before it's to late" Diamond said.

"Very well then" Ruby said as she raised her sword to a downward stabbing position and plunged it into his heart causing him to fade away "What did he mean caught between worlds?" she questioned

-To be continued-

A/N: WHAT'S GOING ON EVERYBODY I AM BACK WITH ANOTHER CHAPTER FOR THIS SEEMINGLY SHITTY AND UNPOPULAR STORY if you do like it then be sure to let me know in the review section, like, follow and all that good stuff. Anyway I'm now trying to update once every 2 weeks at least. Be sure to leave ideas in the review section for stories you have in mind, I'm actually not going to do a template in the review section, instead it will probably be in my Bio if i get around to doing that. If you do submit a story Idea then please follow it so you can let me know if it's how you saw it playing out and if there's areas that could use improvements and make sure I can read it, I won't have time to do every request submitted but I'll do as many as I can, that's all for this chapter, this is Emerald signing out.