Sonic © SEGA/Sonic Team

Sailor Moon © Naoko Takeuchi & Viz Media

Chapter 7: Battle Inferno

Chun-Nan, Mobius…

BGM: Sonic Unleashed Ost- "Dark Gaia's Spawn"

Hovering in the air, the fiery phoenix lets out a screech and launches its flaming feathers at our heroes, who quickly jump out of the way and causes the feathers to hit the ground, exploding upon impact.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Phew, close one…" Sonic sighed in relief. Suddenly, he, Chip, and the Inner Senshi suddenly caught the scent of something burning. Turning around, they saw that their behinds were caught on fire!

"HOOOOTTT! OWOWOWOWOW!" cried Sonic, Chip, and the Sailor Senshi as they began running and trying to put out the flames on their behinds. After putting out the fire, Sailor Moon rubs her butt.

"Owww…my bun buns…!" she groaned. From the corner of her eye, Sailor Mars gasps when she sees the Dark Gaia Phoenix swooping down towards them.

"DUCK!" She shouted out to everyone, prompting them to duck as the phoenix flew right over them. Getting up, Sailor Mars prepares to counter attack.

"You asked for it bird brain! MARS FLAME—!"

"NO!" Everyone shouted as they tackled Sailor Mars to the ground.

"Oof!" Sailor Mars grunted before getting up to glare at the others in annoyance. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You can't use any fire attacks! This creature is pyrokinetic, meaning that not only is it immune to fire, but fire attacks will make it stronger!" Sailor Mercury explained.

Sailor Mars goes pale at this. How could she have forgotten that?

"Well, looks like we have to do this minus one member," said Jupiter as she watched the fiery phoenix circling above them.

"Wait! I can still do this! I'll use my spirit seals!"

"You think that'll be enough?" asked Venus.

"We'll just have to wait and see." replied Sailor Mars. As the phoenix launches more of its fiery feathers, everyone jumped out of the way and landed on new pedestals. Venus and Mercury both prepared to counter attack.

"SHINE-AQUA ILLUSION~!"

"VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN~!"

The ice attack from Sailor Mercury hits the phoenix in the face, blinding it and Venus's light chain hooked around its neck. Frustrated, the phoenix shakes its head and starts spinning it around, sending Venus whirling around through the air.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!" She screamed as she held onto her dear life. The Phoenix kept spinning its head faster and faster until Venus lost her grip and was sent reeling into Jupiter.

"Oof!" Jupiter grunted as she was knocked off the pedestal and skidded across the ground. Hovering in the air, the phoenix opens its mouth and breathes a stream of white-hot flames.

"DUCK!" shouted Sonic as he, along with the others, jump off the pedestals to avoid being charred to a crisp. As the phoenix circles above them like an eagle, Sonic looked up and said.

"We need to bring this thing down."

"But how? We threw everything we had at it and it only made it angrier," Jupiter pointed out.

"That may not be true," Mercury spoke up, making the others turn and look at her. "When I hit it with my Shine Aqua Illusion attack I noticed that it was in pain."

"So?" asked Sonic.

"So, since it's ability is to manipulate fire, then my attacks should make it weaker." The Mercurian soldier clarified.

Sonic slams his fists together. "Now I get it!"

The phoenix dive bombs and slams its feet into the ground, creating a shockwave of flames, which the team jumps up and dodges it.

"Now Sailor Mercury!" Sailor Mars called out to her.

"MERCURY AQUA RASPHODY~!" Mercury summons her water harp and shoots projectiles of freezing water at the phoenix, putting out its flames and making it cry out in pain. "Sonic-kun! You're up!"

"On it!" Wasting no time, he lunges at the phoenix, cocks his fist back and POW! Punches the phoenix with full force. But he didn't stop there. He grabs its beak and WHAM! Delivers a brutal kick to its chin.

Sailor Mars jumps up and starts doing her chants. "Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen! EVIL SPIRIT, DISPERSE!" she threw her seals at the phoenix's forehead and immobilizes it. Seeing an opening, Sailor Moon jumps up and yelled out.

"SILVER MOON CRYSTAL POWER KISS!" As her attack struck the phoenix, it collapsed it the ground. Everyone eyed the fallen creature in tense silence.

"D-Did we get it?" asked Chip hopefully. But much to everyone's dismay, it recovered. The Phoenix bursts into flames and lets out a powerful, earth trembling screech before taking off into the sky and circles above them.

"Man, this thing's tough!" commented Sonic. The Phoenix turns around and shoots more of its blazing feathers at the team.

"CRESCENT BEAM SHOWER~!" Sailor Venus bellowed as she shot several beams of light at the flaming feathers, blowing them up.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Phoenix didn't stop there. It tucked in its wings and dived down at our heroes in attempt to skewer them with its razor sharp beak, which of course they dodge. As it flies back up in the air, Jupiter and Mercury get ready to attack.

"SPARKLING WIDE..."

"SHINE AQUA..."

"...PRESSURE~!"

"...ILLUSION~!"Several volts of electricity and a stream of water hurls towards the fiery phoenix, the latter screeching in pain once the two attacks struck it. While Mercury's attack didn't put out its flames as easily as last time, Jupiter's attack did seem to weaken it. The Phoenix flies downwards and lands on one of the pedestals to rest and regain its strength.

"Look like your attacks have weakened it," Sonic said before turning to Sailor Mercury. "Ami, hit him again!"

Mercury nods. "Right! MERCURY AQUA RASPHODY~!"

The Mercurian soldier hits it with her water attack once more, this time dousing out its flames. While it's vulnerable, Sonic lunges at the Phoenix and POW! Punches it in the face Then, he grabs hold of its beak and kicks it underneath its chin. But the Werehog didn't let up. He jumps up and KA-POW! Delivers a brutal uppercut underneath its jaw and, while in midair, he cups his hands together and WHAM! Slams both of his fists on top of the Phoenix's skull.

"My turn!" Jupiter does a somersault in the air and charges up her attack. "SUPREME THUNDER~!"

She shoots a bolt of lightning at the phoenix, causing it to scream in pain as several volts of electricity surged through its body. The phoenix lies on the ground for a minute before it bursts into flames and takes off into the starry night sky.

"This thing just doesn't know when to quit!" Jupiter said with narrowed eyes.

"I'll say!" Sonic agreed. Just then, everyone noticed the Phoenix stopped soaring and hovered over them as it opened its mouth.

"Huh? What's it doing?" pondered Sailor Moon. A fireball begins to appear from the phoenix's mouth, which seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. A look of dread and realization had quickly came over our heroes

"EVERYONE, MAKE A RUN FOR IT!" shouted Sailor Venus.

"But where?! That attack looks like it could wipe out the whole area!" yelled Sailor Mars.

"WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING YOU GUYS!" Sonic shouted.

All of a sudden, they heard Sailor Moon crying. But was caught them off guard was the Silver Moon Crystal glowing and with a sad, pained look on her face she said.

"The guardian...is still there...he says he doesn't want to do this. He's suffering..." Sailor Moon whispered, droplets of tears dripping from her face. "He's corrupted by some dark power...it's not his fault...!"

Sonic looks up at the Dark Gaia phoenix and back to Sailor Moon before saying. "It's okay Sailor Moon, once we subdue it you can use you attack to purify it."

"EVERY ONE GET DOWN! IT'S FINISHED CHARGING!" Jupiter yelled out. The Dark Phoenix releases his attack and everyone clenched their eyes shut, bracing themselves for the impact.

Chip clenched his fists and flies in front of the fireball. Then all of a sudden, his body begins to glow a bright green color.

Sailor Moon watched in awe. "What's happening to Chip?!"

"I can feel powerful light energy, it's so pure...!" Sailor Mars said in awe.

"Such innocence..." said Sailor Mercury.

"The Silver Crystal is is connecting to it I feel so much warm love and hope." said Sailor Moon as she clutched the Silver Crystal on her chest.

Chip releases a bright green barrier that protected everyone from the fireball. The attack diminishes and after that, Chip fell down, feeling extremely exhausted until Sailor Moon caught him in her arms.

"Chip, are you okay?" She asked in concern.

Chip weakly lifts his head up and nods weakly. "Y-Yeah...I'm okay..."

Sailor Venus looks down at Chip with stars in her eyes. "THAT WAS SO AMAZING! HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!"

"T-To be fair...I don't even know how I did it..." Chip replied.

Feeling rather drained from releasing that attack, the Dark Phoenix lands on one of the pedestals to replenish its strength.

"Looks like it runs out of breath eventually, now's our chance!" said Sonic,

The girls prepare their attack and the Werehog lunges at the Phoenix POW! Punches it in the face.

"CRESCENT BEAM SHOWER~!" Venus howled as a shower of light beams hits the Phoenix.

"JUPITER COCONUT CYCLONE~!" Jupiter hurls a huge ball of lightning at the Phoenix, sending it flying and it screeched in pain.

"MERCURY AQUA RASPHODY~!" Mercury shouts as she shoots projectiles of icy cold water at the Dark Phoenix, dousing out its flames. Wasting no time, Sonic jumps over the Phoenix and grabs its head. Then, using up all of his strength, he grunts as he flips it over his head and WHAM! Slams it into the ground.

"STARLIGHT HONEY MOON THERAPY KISS~!" Sailor Moon fires rays of pink light at the Phoenix and dispels the dark energy from his body. Finally, the Phoenix slips into unconsciousness.

BGM End

"ARRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!" Sonic lets out a victory howl.

Excitement floods Sailor Moon's body as she picks up Sailor Mars and spins her around.

'Yay! We did it! We did it! We did it!"

"WHOA! U-Usagi-chan! Put me down!" exclaimed Sailor Mars, blushing out of embarrassment. Mercury kneels down to the elder, who's slowly regaining consciousness.

"Sir, are you alright?"

"Y-Yes...thank you..." The elder replied. Something catches Chip's eye. It was a shiny green orb with an emblem of a golden eastern dragon wrapped around it. Curious, he walks over to the orb and picks it up. However, once he did, the orb starts to glow and the entrance to the Temple of Gaia starts opening.

Inside the Gaia Temple...

Once everyone made it inside of the Gaia Temple, Chip flies over to the center and uses his powers to activate the altar. He looks over to Sonic, who nods and stretched his arm to place the lifeless Chaos Emerald in the center of the altar. As soon as he did that, the chaos emerald sparked and rises into the air, spinning as its energy and color begins to be restored. Once it was fully restored, it glowed a bright red color. Outside of the temple, Chun-Nan's continent moved back into place on the planet's mantle and connected with a bright blue glow.

Meanwhile, the team was running out of the temple's exit. The girls jumped to the other side while Sonic stretched his arm and propelled himself over there, but bumped into Chip during the process. Annoyed, the werehog flicked Chip off of his face and what he saw not only shocked him, but the girls as well.

BGM: Sonic Unleashed Ost- "Chun-Nan Hub Night"

Standing in front of them was the Phoenix who had seemed to recover from their previous battle. Everyone began to panic until Sailor Mars noticed something.

"Hang on a second, I don't sense any evil aura from him anymore."

"That's right, the moment the temple lit up the beast woke up. It appears he's come back to his senses." The elder explained.

Sailor Moon lets out a sigh of relief. "That's good."

"I see, I'll bet your job is to-URGH!" Sonic was briefly cut off by Chip who flew across his head, much to his annoyance. "To guard the Chaos Emerald Temple. You must've gone berserk when the emeralds lost their power."

"That makes sense, when the emeralds lost their power the whole world fell out of balance. But now they're being restored, so is the world. And if we restore the chaos emeralds we can prevent dark Gaia from fully awakening." Sailor Mercury explained.

Sailor Moon walks up to the Phoenix and gently hugs his beak.

"I'm glad that you're okay now..."

The phoenix crooned softly and gently licks Sailor Moon's face, causing her to giggle.

"Hey, that tickles!"

Chip flies up to the Phoenix and says. "Well, I'm glad you're back! Wants some chocolate?" he hands the Phoenix a chocolate bar which the girls giggle to and Sonic smiled. In response, the Phoenix gently takes the chocolate bar from Chip and took off into the starry night sky.

"So long!" said Sonic and Chip.

"Try not to go berserk again!" waved Sailor Venus.

"Take it easy now!" said Mercury and Jupiter.

'If you ever need help we'll always be there!" said Sailor Mars.

All of a sudden, the Silver Crystal on Sailor Moon's chest begins to glow along with the phoenix. Then, what happened next took everyone by surprise.

"Thank you..."

Sailor Moon gasped softly, her eyes widening. She looked up at the majestic creature, who had landed on the temple's roof, and smiled warmly.

"You're welcome..."

BGM End

Eggman's lair...

Meanwhile, at Eggman's lair, Eggman was sitting in front of his monitor, keeping track of the stats of Dark Gaia's awakening process. Orbot then emerges from his control panel, followed by a huge 6 foot hoagie with extra meat, mayo, cheese, tomatoes, onions, and pickles.

"Your dinner, doctor!"

"Thank you," said Eggman as he gets up and takes the sandwich. "What's the progress on the Dark Gaia-powered Eggmanland construction system?" he asked as he takes a bite out of his sandwich.

"Current status is...27% complete. Progress is significantly behind projected time table. Presumed cause of delay...is Dark Gaia's dispersion across the globe."

Feeling rather displeased by the status update, Eggman finishes the rest of his sandwich and lets out a frustrated grunt.

"Oh, of all the lazy...here I go to the trouble of waking that Dark Gaia thing up! And it causes me nothing but delays!"

"Dark Gaia has yet to reach maturity within the planet's core. Ergo, it was still incomplete at the time of its awakening. Ergo, it was unable to sustain its own weight upon its release. Ergo, its scattered around the world."

"BAH! I don't want to hear about its weight issues!" Eggman barked. "So what if I gave it a bit of a sudden awakening?! This is unacceptable!"

"Ergo is a repercussion of your hasty actions."

"What was that?!" The mad doctor glared at Orbot before growling in frustration. "I'm having a bad enough day as it it! First those lowly harlots from earth come and interfere with my plans, then that professor runs off with the Gaia manuscripts, and now the planet is coming back together!"

"That doctor, is the power of the Chaos Emeralds, which you've discarded along with Sonic. Ergo, another repercussion of your hasty actions."

"OH, QUIET YOU JUNK HEAP!" Eggman yelled in anger. "THAT WAS ALL PART OF MY PLAN! PART OF THE BIG PICTURE! WHERE'S THE FUN IN HAVING MY PLAN SUCEED WITHOUT ANY CHALLENGE?!"

Orbot just looks at him, knowing full well that his master doesn't like owning up to his own mistakes. Calming down a bit, Eggman clears his throat.

"Anyway, what's the status of the remaining temples of Gaia?"

"Eggman forces have currently secured all locations. Defensive preparations are nearly complete."

"That'll take care of Sonic and those lowly harlots for now," Eggman heads back to his seat. "Which leads the problem of Dark Gaia. It'd be difficult to collect every piece scattered around the world."

"Searching conventional wisdom banks for topical advice. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Slow and steady wins the race. Nobody likes a whiner."

"Hmmm, isn't there a more efficient way?" questioned Eggman. "Some way to...I don't know...gather them all up at once?"

Then, his mind snaps when he finds a solution.

"Wait, that's it! Of course!" Eggman heads over to his working computer on his chair. "Hehehehe, with this all of my plans will be realized!"

"But doctor what about the blond with the pigtails known as Sailor Moon? She can communicate with the chaos emeralds which means she could pose as a major threat with your plans."

Eggman just smiles evilly. "When I'm done with this, not even that moon harlot will be able to stop me...HEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA!"

Chun-Nan...

BGM: Sonic Unleashed Ost- "Chun-Nan Hub Night"

Back at the small village of Chun-Nan, two children were sitting in front of a small pond. One was a little girl no older than eight or nine years old, the other was a boy who looked roughly the same age and was a bit chubby. The girl looked rather depressed as she plays with the lily pads with the stick while the boy's snacking on a dumpling, a gloomy expression on his round face. Suddenly, a kind elderly voice brought them out of their melancholic thoughts.

"Yilin? Chun?"

The two children, known as Yilin and Chun, turn to see Lin approaching them.

"Oh...Ni Hao miss Lin..." Yilin greeted rather sadly. The elderly woman crouched down and sat next to them.

"What are you two doing out here so late at night?"

Yilin stared at her for a minute before she sighed and hugged her knees closely to her chest. "I...I just miss grandpa Zonshen..."

"Ever since he left to go find the sacred treasure, he's been gone for a long time..." Chun spoke up before taking a bite out of his dumpling. "Sometimes...I get worried...worried that he might never come back..."

"Miss Lin..." Yilin lifts her head to look at Lin. "Do you think that grandpa Zonshen will ever come back?"

Lin looks at the two children with sympathy before sighing as she gently reaches out to pet their heads, smiling at them softly.

"I understand you two...I'm worried about your grandfather too. But don't you worry, I have faith that he'll come back..." Lin said reassuringly.

"R-Really?" Yilin asked, earning a nod from the elderly woman.

"I do, in fact, some new comers came here and promised that they'll bring him back."

Both of them were taken aback by the news.

"T-They did?!" questioned Chun, his eyes now sparked with hope.

"That's right. Even though I just met them, I could already tell that they're not the kind of people who go back on their word." Lin smiles warmly. "So don't give up on your grandfather just yet, he'll be back soon."

The moment she said that, she heard collective gasps come from the villagers.

"No way!"

"I-I don't believe it!"

"Elder Zonshen has returned!"

Lin's eyes go wide upon hearing this. When she turned around, she gasped when she saw Sonic, Chip, and the Inner Senshi entering the village with the elder known as Zonshen.

'E...E-Elder Zonshen...!'

"GRANDPA ZONSHEN!" Yilin and Chun both shoot up and bolted towards their grandfather. The elderly man smiles as he gets down onto one knee and envelops his beloved grandchildren into a warm, loving embrace. As Sonic, Chip, and the girls watched the two kids reunite with their grandfather, Sailor Mars looked on with sympathy. Seeing the kids interacting with their grandfather reminded her of her relationship with her own grandfather. Sure, he could be a stooge and a bit of a pervert, but he was always there for her when she needed him. Sonic and Sailor Moon noticed this and said.

"Hey Rey, you okay?" The Werehog asked. Sailor Mars smile as a singe tear fell down and says.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just...I'm starting to see a bit of my grandfather in Zonshen."

Sailor Moon smiles and puts a comforting hand on the Martian Soldier's shoulder.

"We'll see him again. Once we stop Eggman and fix Sonic-kun's home planet, we'll figure out a way to get back home." She said reassuringly. Smiling, the raven-haired beauty hugs her best friend.

"Thank you...Usagi-chan..."

Sailor Moon smiles and hugs her back. "You're welcome..."

Earth, Tokyo...

Back on earth in Tokyo, Naru and her mother are closing up the jewelry store. Suddenly, they heard a news report on the radio,

"Police are looking for five teenage girls that have suddenly gone missing: Usagi Tsukino, Rei hino, Ami Mizuno, Makoto Kino, and Minako Aino have gone missing and authorities at this point have no idea of their whereabouts."

Naru listened to the radio and looked rather worried. Usagi was her best friend and now she's suddenly gone missing. Naru's mother, Mayumi, is just as worried, since Usagi was a good friend to her daughter since they were kids. In attempt to comfort her daughter, Mayumi walks over to her and places a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay dear, I'm sure that Usagi's alright." Mayumi said reassuringly.

Naru hugs her mother, tears running down her face.

"I...I-I hope so mom...!"

"Usagi-chan, wherever you are...please come home safe...!" Naru thought as she hugged her mom, crying.

To be continued...

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