SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES
Tomo © Kiba Sniper
Gemini © DarkspineSilver79
Chapter Fifty-Six: The Envious Life-Form
The scene opens up on the breezy beach near Soleanna. Sonic and Shadow were out on the beach, upon Shadow's orders, to begin training with the Fusion Dance. It took them three tries to perfect the stances. The first time, Sonic took too many steps, and the two ended up as a fat, sleepy rat. The second time, Shadow forgot to point, and they turned into a hedgehog as fit as an old man who hadn't eaten in weeks. But the third time, they perfected the technique and Shadic was reborn. Shadic spent the last half-hour performing new techniques until their time ran up.
"Well, that wasn't so bad." Sonic grinned.
"It would be a whole lot better without those ridiculous dance moves." Shadow said embarrassingly.
"Aw, come on, Shad." Sonic happily jokingly. "You really need to lighten up, ya know."
"Telling Shadow to lighten up is like is like telling Rouge not to steal."
Shadow and Sonic nearly jumped out of their fur when they realized that it was just Amy and Kumori, they unofficial girlfriends. Now, Sonic had no problem with Amy being around; he would most likely stick with her permanently if it wasn't for her overprotective big brother, Rector. But Shadow was a different case. Though he promised to be there for Kumori whenever she needed him, he regularly found her presence irritating.
"How'd you find us?" Sonic asked.
"With the tracker I planted on Shadow." Kumori replied.
"She planted a tracker on you?" Sonic questioned, looking through Shadow's fur. "Where is it?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Shadow grumbled.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Amy said happily, gazing out to the ocean. "The sky is so clear and the water looks so perfect. This would be a great opportunity to go for a swim."
"Uh, I just remembered." Sonic said fearfully. "I have to talk to...uh, Blaze! Yeah, I wanted to ask Blaze something!"
But Amy wasn't buying it. Sonic tried to make a run for it, but the pink hedgehog whacked his over the head, knocking him unconscious. As Amy was dragging Sonic to the water, Kumori took her sweet time clinging to Shadow's arm.
"Hey, Shadow." Kumori said pleasingly. "What do you say we join them? Like, maybe as a date?
"Not a chance." Shadow said coldly.
"But, Shadow, I..."
"Listen!" Shadow said rudely. "I promised I would protect you, but I never said anything about loving you. You need to wake up to the reality: I don't love you and I never will."
At once, Shadow pulled his arm away from her grip and took off, leaving a trail of dust behind. Kumori was devastated and fell to her knees, crying. Amy, who was watching the scene, walked up to her rival and kneeled next to her.
"Are you ok?" Amy asked softly.
"I don't get it." Kumori sobbed. "I love him. Why doesn't he feel the same way?"
"Because that's just how Shadow is." Amy said sadly. Suddenly, her face brightened with inspiration. "Hey, I've got an idea."
As Amy whispered her plans to Kumori, neither female was aware that Sonic was drowning.
The scene alters to the dimension of the Dark Rulers Castle. Nazo was sitting at his throne while Shira Darkcrest (I finally gave her a last name) was finishing up on his fully regrown arm. At that moment, Erazor Djinn, Tomo the Chameleon, and Mephiles the Dark warped in front of their leader, using their own methods. Nack the Weasel ran in, panting, before fainting.
"Why is he here again?" Tomo groaned irritantly.
"He provides entertainment value." Erazor stated.
"What do you have to report?" Nazo growled, cringing slightly from Shira's medicine.
"Even since the incident at Station Square, we have had no luck tracing Black Doom." Mephiles said solemnly.
"Then perhaps I was sending the wrong people to do the job." Nazo glared; the villains shivered slightly. "This job needs someone who is more qualified."
The God of Darkness snapped his fingers, transforming the walls into shelves of canisters. Nazo held out both his hands, calling down two canisters together. One contained a dog skeleton and the other contained a shining crystal. Nazo levitated the two canisters together as he summoned a black flame in his hand.
"Black Chaos: Dark Merge!" Nazo yelled.
The dark flames engulfed the canisters and faded away to reveal Nazo's newest creation. The beast resembled that of a Doberman, but with a light blue fur and wore baggy white pants. He had shining white eyes, Savage elongated claws, and several crystals protruding from his back, hands, and feet. At the sight of his creator, he kneeled.
"Present yourself." Nazo commanded.
"I am Drig." Drig announced. "I live only to serve Lord Nazo."
"Perfect." Nazo said pleasingly. "I have one simple assignment for you: hunt down Black Doom and kill him."
The scene alters to the Sonic Heroes base the next day. Shadow was sitting in the living room, attempting to meditate, but was constantly interrupted by the cheers of Emerl and the Babylon Rogues. They were watching Sunday football and they each placed bets. Jet and Emerl said Emerald Town would win, but Wave and Storm agued that Green Hill would be the victors. So far, Emerald Town was winning, but Green Hill was starting to catch up.
"Come on! Come on!" Jet yelled.
"Take it all the way!" Storm cheered.
Just then, to Shadow's relief, the doorbell rang. When did they get a door bell?
"At least it'll put some distance between them and I." Shadow said, opening the base doors. "And who, may I ask, are you?"
It was unusual to have any visitors at the base, since it's supposed to be secret, and this character defiantly fit that category. He was a light brown hedgehog with raggedy black marks going up his limbs and quills. He wore black gloves, and black boots with a green outline and a yellow line going down the center.
"Hey, buddy." The hedgehog said deviously. "The name's Gemini. I'm Amy's cousin."
"It's about time you showed up." Amy said impatiently, shoving Shadow aside. "We've been waiting an hour for you."
"Sorry, I was a little preoccupied." Gemini said sheepishly.
"With gambling?" Amy questioned.
"Yep!" Gemini said happily. "So where is this lady you wanted me to meet?"
At the word 'lady', Shadow was more interested at this hedgehog's intentions. He followed the two cousins while trying to think of who he was talking about. All the females in the base their own love lives: Sonic and Amy, Tails and Cream, Knuckles and Rouge. So who was he talking about? He had unfortunately found out the hard way when the walked into the room that Kumori and Amy shared. Kumori was sitting patiently on the bed, reading a book, until the trio of hedgehogs walked in.
"Hello?" Kumori said uncertainly.
"Gemini, this is Kumori." Amy introduced. "Kumori, this is my cousin, Gemini."
"A pleasure to meet you." Gemini said, taking Kumori's hand courteously; Shadow didn't like it.
"Why exactly are you here." Shadow glared at Gemini.
"He's here to take me on a date." Kumori smiled.
"A what?!" Shadow exclaimed.
"I got tired of waiting for you, Shadow." Kumori said seriously. "You always run away without giving me a chance. Amy suggested I move on and went ahead called Gemini. I hear that, besides his gambling problem, he's a real gentleman."
"Tough luck, man." Gemini said.
Even though it only happened a minute ago, everyone in the base now knew of Kumori's date. Shadow was in the living room, Emerl and the Rogues included, sulking. After taking a few minutes to get to know each other, Kumori and Gemini were exiting the base.
"Later, guys!" Gemini called to them. "We're headed to Station Square for lunch!"
"Be back soon!" Kumori called before leaving.
"You know, I didn't think you would let her go that easily." Emerl said.
"What do I care?" Shadow said angrily. "She can do whatever she wants. It's not like I have any control of what she does in her life. You know, I don't know why I bother with her. She can date that sideshow freak, see that I care."
"You're going to follow her, aren't ya?" Wave asked, smirking.
"Like hell I am!" Shadow yelled, running out of the base.
"This should be good." Jet sniggered, following the speeding hedgehog.
The scene alters to the heart of Station Square. And, as usual, Team Virtex was out on a mission somewhere. They are so unreliable. Gemini kept his word and decided to take Kumori out to lunch. But what she expected was just a simple café, not a five-star extravagant restaurant. It must be fun to be a millionaire. Gemini reserved a whole area for themselves outside in the back of the restaurant. This was good news for Shadow, who was spying with Emerl and the Rogues from a building above them.
"Aw man, this place has the best food in town." Storm moaned, gazing longingly at the food below.
"Forget the food, this guy is loaded!" Jet said excitedly. "If I could just find out where he keeps his fortune."
"But wouldn't that be stealing?" Emerl asked innocently.
"Yeah." Wave answered.
"Ok, just asking." Emerl said nonchalantly.
Shadow groaned, wondering what God hated him so much to bring these idiots along. He tried his best to ignore the squabbling next to him and focused through the binoculars he brought. Kumori looked like she was having a nice time with Gemini, which only served to make Shadow even more angry. Gemini must have said something kind to Kumori, because she kissed him on the cheek a moment later. Shadow was pissed beyond belief.
"Who the hell does that guy think he is, making a move on my girl?" Shadow thought, catching himself in mid-thought. "Wait a minute, she's not my girl. I don't care about her." He watched the two hedgehogs. "But that guy, I just don't like him"
As Shadow continued to focus on the two below, despite the constant yelling next to him. Suddenly, the railing they were standing on collapsed. To make matters worse, all five of them dropped ten feet down, right between Kumori and Gemini.
"Shadow!" Kumori screamed.
"Hiya." Emerl waved sheepishly.
"All of you!?" Kumori yelled. "You were spying on me?!"
"Hey, it was all Shadow's idea." Wave stated.
"Thanks for the back up." Shadow said sarcastically. "Listen, I only came here to look out for you. I don't trust this Gemini guy."
"If that a fact?" Kumori growled. "I'll have you know that Gemini has been the perfect gentleman, unlike someone."
"Easy there, Kumori." Gemini interrupted. "Sounds to me like someone's a little jealous."
"I am not jealous!" Shadow shouted.
While Gemini and Shadow initiated a verbal showdown, Emerl and the Rogues were examining the broken railings. The exception was Storm, who was eating the restaurant out of business. The metal bars were bent and cut at awkward angles. It wasn't until Jet found a sharpened crystal shaped like a dagger did they make any progress.
"What's this?" Jet asked.
"It seems to be an ionic crystal." Emerl examined. "This one seems to have been made by natural causes."
"But crystals don't normally form that way, do they?" Wave asked.
"No, they don't" Emerl answered.
"So where did it come from?" Jet asked.
At that moment, something dived out of the sky and crashed near the groups. This directed Shadow and Gemini's attention away from each other and brought Storm out of the kitchen. When the dust clear, Drig was seen on all fours, taking a deep breath at the air. Drig had two ways to see: his eyes and nose. He had been tracking the scent of Black Doom all day, but his nose led him to the closest thing: his son, Shadow.
"Who's that guy?" Storm mumbled, face still stuffed.
"My name is Drig." Drig announced. "I am here under Lord Nazo's orders to hunt down Black Doom."
"Where is here?" Shadow growled, looked left and right.
"You cannot fool me, Black Doom!" Drig shouted, pointing to Shadow. "I can smell your blood a mile away."
"Excuse me, but I'm kinda on a date here." Gemini said bored. "Can just leave already."
"I'm not going anywhere without Black Doom!" Drig yelled.
Drig transformed his hand into a crystallized sword and jumped at Gemini. Kumori looked worried, Shadow looked pleased, but Gemini looked confident. Just when he thought he had Gemini, Drig found his crystallized hand in the ground. Drig doesn't know what happened next, but he suddenly found two fists in his face and fell back. When Drig jumped back to his feet, he found not one, but two Gemini's.
"There are two of him?" Storm asked in awe.
"Why do you think they call me Gemini?" Gemini said proudly.
Unknown to the heroes, Emerl secretly copied Gemini's separation technique; he thought it would be useful in the future. Back in the battle, Drig crystallized both his hands and made a dive for both Gemini's. As Drig flailed his hands around, the two Gemini's were dodging circles around the hound. When Drig missed one, the other would have a free shot, but when he attacked both, they ended up kicking him in the face. Gemini seemed confident in his abilities, even had time for a snack he stole from Storm. Drig swung his sword at one of the Gemini's, missed, and gave the other a chance to attack from behind. But just as he was about to nail the beast, the sun reflected off his crystals and flared him in the eyes.
"Damn!" Gemini yelled. "I can't see!"
"Me neither!" The other Gemini yelled.
"So, you both share the same sight." Drig smirked. "I wonder if you feel the same pain."
Drig formed a mace made of crystal and flung it at the Gemini in from of him. Being blinded, Gemini couldn't see the mace and was knocked towards his double. The two Gemini's collided with each other, merged, and tumbled backwards on the ground. Gemini was still blinded and completely unaware of the beast looming over him.
"We have to help him." Kumori said.
"Why should we?" Shadow growled.
"Shadow, you can be so selfish sometimes." Kumori glared, running to Gemini's aid.
"So, what do we do?" Storm asked.
"Save the day?" Jet suggested.
"Fine with me." Wave nodded.
"Babylon Rogues, attack!" Jet ordered.
On commanded, the trio of avians, charged at the crystal hound; Emerl had mysteriously vanished. Drig was just a few feet from Gemini and raised his crystal mace to finish the job. Just then, Kumori jumped out of nowhere and kicked the mace out of his hand. Drig growled and tried to create more crystal weapons, but was unable to do so when Storm grabbed his arms. Seeing the opportunity, Kumori rebounded off the ground and aimed her foot for the crystal hound. Acting fast, Drig pushed all his weight into his arms and tossed the large albatross over his shoulders, crushing Kumori beneath him.
"Geez, you need to lay off the food, fatty." Drig said.
There are three things you should never do: 1) Mess with Amy around Rector. 2) Touch Shadow's car. 3) Call Storm fat.
"I'M NOT FAT, I'M BIG BONED!!" Storm roared.
"Dude, run." Jet advised.
Drig ignored the advise and planted his feet firmly into the ground. As Storm came charging in like a mad bull, Drig thrust out his hands and stopped the massive albatross in his tracks. With a simple twist if his wrists, Drig redirected Storm in the direction of the restaurant wall. Drig pulled his feet out of the ground, unaware of the looming hawk above. Jet jumped into the air with his fans held out and swung them around to form a tornado to catch the hound. As an added bonus, Wave reached into her bag and tossed a pack of exploding rings she stole from Tails. The rings exploded inside the tornado, just as Jet landed.
"Can't handle the best?" Jet smirked.
"Better stick with the rest." Wave taunted.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Drig questioned.
As the dust clear around the spot, they found a ball of crystal where Drig once stood. It didn't take long for them to realize that Drig was the crystal ball. Suddenly, Drig's started spinning in motion and shot out from its pit. Jet pushed Wave out of the way, sending the emerald bird flying through the wall. Wave tried to exact revenge for him, but bombs weren't working on his ball form. So, Wave by her old stand by: her wrench. Drig's crystal ball came rolling like thunder and Wave swung her wrench with all her might. Unfortunately, her wrench rebounded and Drig nailed the Swallow in the head, knocking her unconscious.
"Is that truly the best you have?" Drig sneered.
"CHAOS LANCE!"
Drig looked up as Shadow flew overhead with one of his most powerful attacks. Just as Shadow shot the large arrow downward, Drig curled back into his crystal ball form, reflecting the attack away. Shadow was getting more irritated with this mutt every second. Suddenly, Drig shot upwards and nailed Shadow in the chin. Drig uncurled and growled while Shadow fell backwards on the floor. As Drig stamped forward, Kumori jumped out of nowhere and side kicked the dog in the face.
"Don't you ever stay down?" Drig growled.
"Not with the smell waking me up." Kumori taunted.
"You little..."
Drig dived at Kumori, but the female hedgehog flipped over and kicked the hound in the back of the head. Shadow was headed to join the fight when Gemini, finally able to see, pulled him inside the restaurant.
"What the hell are you doing?" Shadow hissed. "We've got to help her kill that mutt."
"No matter what we do, we can't get him." Gemini said seriously. "If I try to attack, he could use his crystals to blind me. And if you use you attacks, he'll just use his ball form and reflect them back."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Shadow questioned.
"I know you don't like me, but we have to work together." Gemini said. "It's the only way we can take this guy down."
Shadow didn't look too pleased with the idea and was all for rejecting it. Suddenly, they could hear Kumori screaming and ran out to check on her. Kumori was lying on the ground, her leg cut, as Drig trudged closer with his crystallized sword.
"Kumori?!" Shadow exclaimed.
"We've got to work together!" Gemini stated.
With Kumori in danger, Shadow had no other choice. He agreed. Kumori was on the ground, clutching her leg, as Drig overshadowed her. The crystal hound raised his sword to strike, but found his weapon discarded when Gemini kicked it away. As he turned towards one Gemini, the other came from behind and kicked him in the back of the head. Both Gemini's stood beside each other as Drig pulled himself back up. Remembering the last bout, Drig elongated his crystals for the sun to reflect off of. He was in luck; the sun reflected of his largest crystal and blinded both Gemini's in a single attempt.
"Can't put up much of a fight being blind." Drig sniggered.
"We're not the ones you have to worry about." One Gemini smirked.
"He is." The other Gemini said.
Drig stared with a confused expression at the doppelgangers until he felt something wrap around his waist. He looked back in horror as Shadow grabbed him from behind. The black hedgehog was now red with an evil expression that traces back to Black Doom.
"Let me go!" Drig cried fearfully.
"You wanted Doom, now you got it!" Shadow cackled wildly. "Welcome to my Hell! CHAOS BLAST!!"
Shadow released all of his compressed energy, forming it into a red nuclear blast. Shadow used enough willpower to compress the blast to a minimal and away from his friends. Somehow, Shadow's attack gave off enough energy to restore Gemini's sight and allowed him to return to his singular shape. When the red blast faded, Drig was reduced to ashes and Shadow collapsed to his knees. Shadow began to fall forward, but Gemini caught him before he could reach the ground.
"Thanks." Shadow groaned.
Shadow quickly regained the strength to stand as Kumori and the Rouge ran up to them; Emerl was still missing. Unknown to the heroes, Emerl had copied all their techniques and went back to base to report to his father.
"Are you ok?" Storm asked.
"No, I'm not ok." Shadow said sadly. He regained whatever composer he had and turned to Kumori, who was still angry. "Kumori, it was wrong for me to spy on you, no matter what the reason may be."
"That's right." Kumori huffed.
"But I couldn't help myself." Shadow sighed. "When I heard that you were going on a date, I was worried. Worried that you had lost interest in me. I always say that I don't love you, but I can't imagine my life without you chasing me. But it's your decision. If you want to be with Gemini, then I will not interfere."
"Looks like the plan worked like a charm." Gemini said brightly.
"Plan?" Jet repeated. "What plan?"
"It was Amy's idea." Kumori giggled. "She was planning to use it against Sonic, but decided to let me use. See, I go out with a guy and Shadow will get jealous. Amy suggest Gemini and I had Shadow hook, line, and sinker."
"Devious." Wave praised.
"So, your not interested in him?" Shadow asked hopefully.
"You think I would be interested in the spoiled, stubborn, gambling-addicted idiot?" Kumori said.
"Hey, I'm not spoiled." Gemini retorted.
"That was a dirty trick." Shadow grimaced.
"Hey, chill, Shadow." Gemini said, slinging his arm over the hedgehog's shoulder. "It's all water under the bridge now, right."
"That's not the only thing on the bridge." Shadow growled. "CHAOS CONTROL!"
A moment later, Gemini found himself hanging upside-down from the top of the Golden Gate Bridge in California.
"This is so not cool!" Gemini screamed.
The scene alters to the Dark Rulers castle. Nazo was watching the fight through one of his viewing portals and was enraged by Drig's failure. He pounded his fists in anger, only to feel a stabbing pain from his arm. Sensing his master's anger, Mephiles teleported into the throne room with on of his time orbs.
"What displeases you, my lord?" Mephiles bowed.
"Those rats keep getting in the way." Nazo sneered. "Sonic, Shadow, Silver, they always meddle into my affairs."
"You do realize there is a way to get rid of them, don't you?" Mephiles questioned.
"I do know." Nazo sighed. "And I'm afraid we must resort to that plan if we are to win this war."
"Then we should begin right away, my lord." Mephiles suggested.
"Not yet." Nazo said pleasingly. "Let us wait a while before we start. Soon, we can begin Project: Hellzone."
Your actions show how much you care. What will affairs shall happen between Shadow and Kumori? What is Poject: Hellzone? Will someone save Gemini? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes!
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