The Grand Elder raised his head, suddenly awakened from his slumber. He could see that one of the mountains in the distance had sustained some damage and there was a quickly-dissipating storm cloud over the same area.
I have to give the boy credit, he said to himself with a smirk. It seems the fight went just as he promised it would. I should have expected no less of Kazama's Chosen. The massive pressures he could feel were rapidly decreasing. One dropped to almost nothing and the other returned to about what it had been before the fight started. The grand dragon stood up and stretched his muscles before taking to the sky. He could easily see what was left of the clearing after Sonic and Gilgamesh's fight and, aside from the two large scars in the forest and a large chunk of the mountain missing, it was mostly just wet. Sonic was sitting on a nearby rock catching his breath while Gilgamesh was propped up against the mountain wall. Aside from a large bruise on his left arm Sonic was no worse for wear. Gilgamesh, on the other hand, was battered and bloody. The golden armor of Excalibur's fuzen was peeling off like burning paper while the sword had gone back to its sealed state. The wings of Yawarakai-Te had already disintegrated and the sword was lodged into the rock next to Gilgamesh. As near as the Grand Elder could tell the human was still alive but only barely.
"Since when did you become a taxi service?" Sonic asked the dragon as he landed, shaking the entire island with the weight of his impact.
I expected you to be in a similar condition as him, the Grand Elder admitted, but I'm pleased to see that I was mistaken. What do you plan to do with him?
"Leave him." The dragon stared at Sonic with a curious expression. "He's not so hurt that he can't get off the island before sunset. And if he does get stuck here, well, he won't be bothering anyone anytime soon."
And Excalibur?
Sonic chuckled as he glanced at the claymore. "He drew it from the stone so the sword is his," he explained. "I'm guessing that was part of the deal with the dragons protecting this place: You were to guard it until someone worthy was able to draw the sword from its pedestal." The Grand Elder growled but nodded all the same. "Besides, having the sword might do him some good. He was able to learn its fuzen in a matter of minutes. Took me months to learn Kai's and I'm still learning things about her."
If you think that's best then we will abide it, the dragon said as he spread his wings. Shall we head back to the Cradle? Sonic nodded and waited for the dragon to pick him up in his claws again. Not this time. You have earned the right to ride upon my back, Dragonkin. Sonic thanked him as he climbed up his scales and sat just forward of his wings. With one kick the Grand Elder was off the ground and high above Isle Avalon.
The force of his takeoff woke Gilgamesh. He tried to move but everything he did caused searing pain to wrack his body. "Even with Excalibur I wasn't able to defeat him," he said as he coughed up a small amount of blood. Fighting through the pain he grabbed Yawarakai-Te and removed it from the stone to slip it into his robes. Using Excalibur as a crutch he stood up and began heading back to the boat he'd arrived in. He closed his eyes as he tried to remember what direction to head in only to feel a whirlwind form around him. When he opened them he was surrounded by complete darkness.
"You look as if you've seen better days." The feminine voice came from all around him and the human cursed under his breath. "Did you even try to defeat him?"
"Of course I did," Gilgamesh spat back. "Even using two legendary swords together the best I was able to do is hurt his arm a little. How could he have beaten me so easily with one tiny little blade?"
"I see." A glowing tigress in pale green armor appeared in front of him, her brow furrowed in contemplation. "You lost because you underestimated him. He and Kaiyō Mujō fight as one unlike you. So long as you think like that he will defeat you again and again." She looked him over and with a word glowing light began to shine from his wounds. Within a few seconds he was completely healed.
"I've done what you asked me to," the swordsman told her as he looked himself over. "What about your end of the deal? You promised to help me get back home."
The tigress sighed as she looked behind her. Gilgamesh could feel a massive presence but, that he could see or hear, there was nothing there. "We can attempt to open the portal from our world but there is no guarantee it will work or that you will survive," she explained. "There is one last thing we would ask of you, Gilgamesh." The human's eyes narrowed as the tigress raised her hands. "No more fights, I promise. We need you to take us to Mobotropolis. We will handle everything else from there." Gilgamesh sighed but nodded all the same before looking out the window, gazing at Mobius from the very outer edge of the atmosphere.
In Dragon's Cradle Sally was just finishing up her run when Dulcy came to fetch her. They went to the balcony where Sonic and the Grand Elder had taken off from where, just like that morning, many of the dragons were gathered in anticipation. There was a shape moving towards them in the distance so Sally squinted her eyes hoping to get a better look. As it got closer she could distinctly see wings flapping and the afternoon sun glinting off obsidian scales. She found herself wishing she could feel Sonic's presence like his father could just so she would know if he was okay. When the Grand Elder landed she had her answer.
Sonic was in perfect shape except for the bruise on his arm. The dragons stared at him in shock as he hopped down from the Grand Elder's back before the massive dragon returned to his chambers. Sally ran at Sonic full-speed and tackled him with a hug. "You're okay," she said as he struggled to breathe. She helped him up before looking him over for other injuries. "Did your regeneration already heal you?"
"Does it look like I've been hurt?" he asked holding his arms up and turning in a full circle. "I was more injured when you smacked me with that weird-looking bat the other day." He planted his fist into his palm with an excited grin on his face. "It's about damn time I got a win that didn't involve me dying afterwards." Sally stared at her ex-fiancé with a look of surprise. The last time she had seen him like this was after he had beaten Daryl.
"I guess that means we should be heading back," she said as they both looked to Dulcy.
"I'm...I kinda wanna stay here, guys," the dragon admitted scratching her head sheepishly. "The Elders are thinking about overturning my exile and I haven't seen my mom in ages and-"
"It's alright, Dulce," Sonic said with a laugh before turning to Almacca. "Any objections if we just shift outta here then?" The white dragon shook her head. "There you have it." Sonic and Sally both hugged Dulcy tightly before picking up their gear. Sonic gave Dulcy a quick salute before the two of them vanished.
Eric was silent as he listened to the report over his headset, clenching his fists so tightly he almost drew blood. "How many?" he asked. When the answer came he slammed his fist into the desk. "God dammit. Get back to base and whatever you do don't engage." He took the headset off and sat down at his desk as Antoine and Ian stared at him. "One of our outposts just spotted Arias leaving a Mobian village," he explained. "They said there was a bright flash of light and then he just left. They're searching for survivors now but..." He let his sentence trail off as the obvious sank in. "I've gone up against him before just for sport and he wiped the floor with me."
"What about your son?" Ian asked. "He's the one who defeated Kinos after all."
Eric shook his head. "Even with that Sonic simply isn't strong enough to take on someone like Arias, not by himself or with all the backup in the world."
"At least wait until I'm in the room if you're going to talk about me." The three of them looked outside the office to see Sonic and Sally standing in the doorway with the Vanguard staff trying to comprehend how their XO had simply materialized. Eric waved them in and quickly explained what had just happened. "Venusia had said it was getting worse but this is too much," Sonic said, his earlier mirth faded. Eric angrily asked what his second-in-command meant. "Venusia asked me to look into a couple things before I went to finish my training," he explained. "She said that something's different about him. One minute he's a friend to all and the next he's like Uvenka." Eric and Sally both swore under their breath while the other two just stared at each other with confused expressions.
"Is there any way to stop him before he attacks another village?" Antoine asked.
"We can try and head him off," Eric suggested as he pulled up a map with Arias' warpath highlighted. "Based on the direction he left in it looks like Mercia is next on his list."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Sonic said as he dropped his bag, prepping to shift to Mercia.
Eric grabbed his son's shirt collar and pulled him until he was only a few inches from his face. "There's no way you're strong enough to take him on, not when he's like this," he growled. "Arias will turn you into a stain on the ground and that's if you're lucky."
"Stop treating me like a damn kid," Sonic snarled back as he pushed his father away.
"I will when you stop acting like one!"
"ENOUGH!" Antoine yelled as he stood up. "Sonic, listen to what your father is saying. He is asking you as a father worried for his child, not as a soldier. He does not want you to throw your life away in a battle you cannot hope to win."
"Maybe so," Sonic admitted as he glared at his friend, "but I'll be damned if I'm just going to sit here and let Arias kill innocent civilians. At the very least I can buy the villagers some time. That's the duty I was charged with when I agreed to become a Guardian." He looked at his father, his glare unchanging. "And you damn well know that. So either come with me and hold this bastard back or let all those people-"
The four of them stared in surprise as Sonic vanished midsentence. "I swear to God I'm gonna kill that boy the next time I see him," Eric growled as the sigil on his hand began to glow through his glove.
"Was it not a bit odd that he vanished in the middle of his sentence?" Antoine asked.
"It wasn't odd enough that he disappeared in the first place?" Ian replied as Eric sighed.
"Ian, just shut up," he said as he started to unwind. "Antoine's right. It takes a lot of focus to shift and Sonic wasn't exactly in the right mind for that. So that would mean..." He closed his eyes as he tried to think of something plausible.
"Maybe someone took him or summoned him," Sally suggested.
Eric was about to ask her to elaborate when there was a knock on his office door. Samantha stuck her head in before opening it all the way. "Sir, we just heard from Lookout Post 9," she reported. "Apparently they had Arias in their sights when he just disappeared." When Eric asked for details the human woman hung her head. "Well, we're not too sure. One second he's there and the next he's gone. We've already ruled out the use of a teleporter."
"Did they see the Lieutenant Commander?" Samantha shook her head. "One last thing: What time did they see Arias disappear?"
"1306, sir." Eric dismissed her, checking his watch as she closed the door behind her.
"Why does the time matter?" Antoine asked as Ian checked his watch as well.
"It matters because Sonic and Arias disappeared at the same exact time," Ian pointed out and Eric nodded. "Then the princess is correct. Something took him."
"And whatever the thing that did this took Arias as well," Eric continued. He let out a heavy sigh. "Next thing you know the freaking sky is going to fall."
There was another knock on his door and for a brief moment Eric debated not answering. When he finally did Samantha entered again with a look of complete disbelief on her face. Eric asked what was wrong but she insisted that he come see for himself. The four Mobians followed her down to the Ops Room where a number of radar technicians were scrambling to gather information. They gave the Commander a brief salute before showing him what Samantha had hinted at.
"That's...that's not possible," Sally said as she stared at the image, her jaw slack with awe. "How big is it?"
"At least twelve miles across," Samantha answered. "We're still plotting its estimated trajectory and how long it will take to get there. What we're more concerned about is how to stop it."
"We could fire every missile and bomb on the planet and it wouldn't even scratch that thing," Eric realized. "How did that thing even make it past the early detection system?"
"It's...almost as if it just appeared out of nowhere." Another beep caught the technician's eyes as she brought up the information. "We've also picked up on Sonic again." She checked over the information before scratching her head. "Huh. His locator beacon puts him in the Northern Territories but the altimeter has him in the upper atmosphere." The tech double-checked the information but confirmed it was accurate.
"Just what the hell is going on?" Eric asked.
Sonic groaned as he tried to clear his head. Even in complete darkness he could feel everything around him spinning. It had felt like something had taken hold of him and pulled. If he remembered right it had been like his first time shifting. After a few moments he started to get his bearings and stood up. There was light from what he guessed was a window so he made his way towards it.
"What the hell?" he said as he stared into the space around Planet Mobius. "I've woken up in some strange places but this one takes the cake." He turned from the window to look back into the darkness. Walking towards him was a figure with a gentle glow. As it came closer he could make it out to be a tigress in pale green armor, two tails visible just behind her leg. "Are you the one who brought me here?" he asked.
"I do not have that power," she replied, "but our Master does. He's been watching you for some time, Sonic Hedgehog." Sonic backed up from her until his back was pressed against the glass. "A Mobian who could use the Breath of Apocalypse is something to behold, even forcing a pseudo-Dragoon transformation in the process. If that wasn't enough then your friend was willing to give what little he had left to have the Phoenix bring you back. Your mastery of your tamashīken and hoshoku-sha abilities are just a bonus. The Grand Elder of the dragons called you many things, Sonic. Surely our Master's name was among them."
It took Sonic a moment to recall. "The 'Chosen of Kazama' was the only one I didn't recognize," he replied and a massive eye opened behind the tigress. Its gray iris spun like a hurricane as the reptilian eye bored into his. "You have got to be kidding me."