SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES
Gemini, Corrupt © DarkspineSilver92
Tomo, Rodrigo © Kiba Sniper
Armand © SupergamerGreg79
Chapter Sixty-Six: Raising Hell, Part 1
The scene was opened at the tropical paradise of Angel Island. Using some highly advanced technology, Tails and Kumori managed to mimic the Master Emerald to allow Angel Island to float again. This was all done in preparation for the big day: Knuckles and Rouge's wedding! With Nazo gone, they thought it was time to settle down and start a new life, even if it was without the golden trio. All the heroes and their friends were invited: Team Virtex, G.U.N. Commander, Princess Elise, and even Big the Cat. Rector was making sure all the arrangements were set.
"No, not there!" Rector yelled. "There's where Knuckles and Rouge will be standing!"
"I've never seen you act this way before, Rector." Howl stated humorously.
"I consider Knuckles my greatest rival." Rector said. "I want to make sure that everything goes as planned."
"You've certainly changed." Howl said solemnly. "Ever since he died."
"I promised not to make the same mistake again, Howl." Rector muttered.
Rector sighed sadly and went back to the arrangements. Howl felt bad for his best friend; Rector would never forgive himself for letting Sonic die. Howl shook his discerningly and walked off to his seat. Rector was telling off Big for sitting on the Commander when Marine suddenly ran up next to him.
"Hey, Rector, you won't believe who's here." Marine said happily.
"Huh?" Rector asked confused. "Who is it?"
Marine pointed in one direction and Rector followed her movement. As Rector turned, he suddenly found himself embraced by a blur of purple. When the blur pushed away, he found it to be none other than Armand the Tiger. It's been a while since the two had ever come in contact with each other. Last they heard from him, Armand was lost at the North Pole, for reasons unknown.
"Armand, I can't believe you made it." Rector smiled.
"Well, I couldn't miss a big day like this." Armand grinned. "I just hope you managed to save me and my friend some spots."
"Well, we didn't think you would make it." Rector stated, looking through his clipboard. "I might be able to get Team Chaotix to arrange more seats for you and your friend. By the way, where is he?"
"Hello, Rector." A calm voice said.
Rector's eyes shot wide at the familiar sound and shot around to find his cousin, Gemini Rose. The multiplying hedgehog had been missing for several weeks, last heard from in India. Armand found him near the borders of China and decided to bring him along for the ride, but Gemini had his doubts. The hedgehog smiled nervously at his red cousin, but Rector stared at him with hateful eyes. Marine shivered; she had never seen Rector this angry before.
"What are you doing here?" Rector asked venomously.
"Armand invited me." Gemini stated. "I thought that maybe..."
"Just leave, Gemini." Rector said coldly. "You don't belong here."
"I don't get it, Rector!" Gemini exclaimed. "Amy manages to trust me! Why can't you?!"
"Because she doesn't know what you did." Rector glared, turning his back to him. "But I never will."
Rector walked away, leaving a morally depressed Gemini behind. Meanwhile, Tails and Tikal were helping Knuckles prepare for his big day. His body was branded with white painted markings and a white sash around his waist. Tails had a similar appearance, only his markings were red. Tikal wore a patterned cloak with a large headdress, symbolizing her right as a priestess. Tails was just finishing marking the marking on Knuckles back, but Knuckles wouldn't stop shaking.
"Knuckles, stop moving." Tails pleaded. "I need to finish this."
"Sorry, Tail." Knuckles apologized. "I'm just so nervous."
"It's completely understandable." Tail nodded. "But why do you need these markings."
"This is the proper attire for a wedding according to Echidna tradition." Tikal explained. "The white marks represent his noble blood as a warrior. And the white sash symbolizes his unity to his love."
"And since I'm the best man, I get these marking, too?" Tails asked.
"Exactly." Knuckles nodded. "I was planning to ask Sonic to be the best man, but..." The three remained silent upon hearing the name. "Anyway, I just hope everything goes all right. I just get this feeling that something is going to go wrong."
"Nothing will go wrong." Tikal smiled. "You have to have faith."
Knuckles was still uncertain, but nodded happily at her response. After several minutes, the time had finally come. Knuckles and Tails stood near the emerald alter with Tikal presiding over the ceremony. Everyone took turned in their seats as Rouge walked down the row with Cream at her side. Rouge wore a formal dress similar to Tikal's normal wear, but without tiara. Knuckles could not believe how beautiful she looked. He had his doubt about the marriage at first, but slowly came to realize that he had made the right choice. As Rouge stood across from Knuckles she smirked at his ogled expression.
"See something you like." Rouge grinned, pushing her chest out.
"Uh...bleh...bwa..." Knuckles stammered; blood leaking from his nose.
"My friends and comrades!" Tikal preached. "We have come together for a most joyous of days! To bring this man and women together in eternal matrimony! If there is any who disagrees with the marriage, please proclaim your reason!"
"I think I might have a few."
All of a sudden, a hoard of black arrows swooped down from the alter, aimed for the loving couple. Acting fast, Jet jumped out of his seat and swatted the arrows away with his fans. The heroes jumped out of their seat to join their friends; the non-fighters and Big ran for shelter. As they looked up to the alter, they found the remaining members of the Dark Rulers seated at the top of the alter with the Master Emerald.
"You guys again!" Knuckles roared. "You picked a really bad time to tick me off!"
"Aw, quit your whining, mole." Tomo said coolly; a vein appeared on Knuckles forehead. "We're not gonna be here for much longer."
"What are you doing here in the first place?" Blaze questioned. "And how did you get the Master Emerald."
"We made a little deal with Emerl." Erazor smirked. "He gives us the Master Emerald and he gets his mother back."
"I didn't think Mephiles would be stupid enough to keep his end of the bargain." Dark Sonic growled.
"Don't talk that way about Mephiles!" Shira yelled.
"What do you guys want from us?" Espio glared.
"Oh nothing." Nack sniggered. "Just decided to bring a little hell to this ceremony."
"In more ways than one." Mephiles laughed.
Mephiles gathered an enormous amount of black chaos into his hands and formed his own version of the Chaos Lance. The Heroes dived away to avoid the shot and jumped back into the fight. Gemini was ready to join in, but a shadowed hand emerged out of nowhere and dragged him off into the forest. Armand saw this and decided to chase after his friend. As the rest of the heroes charged up the alter, Mephiles, Erazor, and Dark Sonic sat around the Master Emerald in meditative stances.
"This technique shall take a while." Mephiles informed. "Provide us the time we need to complete it."
"You got it, boss." Nack grinned.
"And Shira...be careful." Mephiles requested softly
Shira nodded and joined at Tomo's side as the two jumped from the top of the alter. Nack pulled out his guns and stared shooting at every heroes he could hit. Being the perfect marksman that he was, Nack was able to hit most of the heroes and send them tumbling back to the ground. The exception was Howl, Omega, Blue, and Wave. Howl pulled out his new sword he received from Master Nyrox to block the bullets, but then witnesses firsthand the abilities of his new weapon. As Howl swung his sword, the blade suddenly become a whip of light and snapped at one of Nack's gun, tossing it aside.
"Now that was cool." Blue commented.
"Master Nyrox's powers are truly astounding." Howl said in awe.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Nack cackled, pulling out a rocket launcher "Let's see how you like this one!"
Nack pulls the trigger and releases on of the rockets stored inside. Omega took the front and opened one of his compartments to release another rocket. The two missiles exploded in the air, providing a thick cover of smoke for the heroes. Unfortunately, Nack brought along a pair of thermal goggles and located three of the heroes. Hold up, three?
"Where's the blue guy?" Nack questioned.
All of a sudden, Blue jumped out from the smoke and transformed his claw into a thick blade. He sliced the rocket launcher in half, giving a chance for Wave, who was behind him, to attack. Nack tried to reach for his gun, but Wave had already slammed her wrench to the side of his face, sending the rabid weasel flying into one of the columns. With Nack down, the four heroes made a run for the three meditating villains. Unfortunately, Dark Sonic saw this and released a pulse of dark energy from his body, tossing the four heroes down the step of the alter.
"I asked this before and I'll ask again." Dark Sonic said. "Why do we have that tiresome weasel with us?"
"He's good for a laugh." Erazor answered.
Back on the ground, Tomo was fending off her own problems. The traitorous ninja was faced Storm, Cream, Kumori, and Espio. Tomo ducked down as Cream threw Cheese for her head, but was momentarily unsuspecting of Storm, who was right behind her. As Storm swung his fist downward, Tomo pushed off the ground and flipped over to the side. While in midair, Tomo tossed a series of shuriken at the large albatross. Fortunately enough, Espio jumped in front of Storm and blocked the shuriken with his own enlarged shuriken.
"Thanks for the save, pal." Storm said gratefully.
"Not a problem." Espio smirked. "Now we have to deal with my sister. I should be able to defeat her with my genjustu."
"Don't think I'm gonna fall for the same trick twice, little brother." Tomo said confidently. "This time, I'll be sure to avert from looking into your eyes."
"Then this won't be a problem."
Out of nowhere, Kumori dropped and pounded her heel at the top of Tomo's head. The attack temporarily knocked out her senses, which allowed Cream and chance to dive and head-butt the chameleon. It took a lot of concentration, but Tomo managed to force herself into regaining her senses. The next thing she knew, she could see Kumori and Cream diving at her simultaneously. Acting fast, Tomo flipped over Kumori and grabbed Cream by her ears, tossing the rabbit at the Shadow prototype. When she landed, Storm jumped out of nowhere and wrapped her in a tight embrace. Thanks to her ninja training, Tomo was able to use Storm's weight against him and flip him over. When she looked back to her brother, he was performing a series of hand signs. With a confident demeanor, Tomo began performing the same hand signs.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!!" Tomo and Espio called out.
Both chameleon siblings took in a deep breathe and huffed out two massive ball of flames. Tomo's was slightly bigger than Espio's, but Tomo learned that size doesn't matter. As the two attacks pushed against one another, A sudden explosion erupted from the collision. The blast sent Espio flying into the trees and Tomo slammed into the structure of the alter.
"Damn, he's strong than last time." Tomo grinned. "Way to go, little brother."
Meanwhile, Shira was putting her skills to the test for the first time. She was faced against Rector, Marine, Raine, Tails, and Charmy. Fortunately, she had the advantage over Rector since he couldn't hit her; he was too chivalrous. Seriously, he needs to get over that!! Her only problem was Marine. Since their last battle, Marine took fighting lessons from Rector and was putting up a fair fight. Tails, Raine, and Charmy were watching the fight with popcorn and everything.
"That's it, Marine!" Rector cheered. "Just remember to keep your guard up!"
"Gotcha, mate." Marine saluted; Shira kicked her in the head. "Ow!!"
"I said keep your guard up!" Rector said irritatingly, slapping himself.
"I would suggest that you stay out of this." Shira glared.
Marine rubbed her head in pain and growled at the dark hedgehog female. The feisty raccoon jumped and threw her foot out for a flying kick. Unfortunately, Shira caught Marine by her ankle, spun around, and tossed the girl back at Rector. The Team Virtex leader caught her, but was unfortunate enough to fall for Shira's ploy. The dark female mimicked Marine's own attack and directed her foot to Rector's face. Both members were thrown back into the dense forest, unable to be seen.
"Well, that was easier than I thought." Shira chuckled.
All of a sudden, Raine flew around the dark female and tossed a black liquid in her eyes. Shira cried out in pain as the liquid began to burn her eyes and temporarily blind her. Shira tried wiping away the liquid, but shortly felt a stinging sensation at her backside. Shira jumped nearly thirty feet into the air before she came to a crash landing on the ground. She glared daggers at Charmy, who was laughing himself to tears from the spot where she once stood. Apparently, he used his stinger to stab at Shira's butt...again.
"That never gets old!" Charmy laughed.
"Charmy, stop laughing." Raine said sternly; Charmy obeyed.
"You filthy insect!" Shira roared furiously. "That's the last time you'll be doing that again."
"Oh, I don't think we have to worry about that." Tails said confidently.
Shira raised her brow to the half-demon fox until he pointed to her feet. She looked down and found herself in a field of golden rings that Tails had secretly set up. She looked back and watched as Tails pulled out the trigger for the explosives; she glared at him.
"I hate you." Shira said bluntly.
"You get used to it." Raine stated.
Tails pushed the trigger and unleashed a swarm of explosions around Shira. The dark female raised her arms in defense as the burning fires engulfed her body. Fortunately enough, the force of the blast tossed her away from the worst of it, leaving her with only minimal damage. The strong blast sent Shira to the top of the alter where she landed next to the meditative villains, unconscious.
"Shira!" Mephiles cried.
"Don't lose your focus!" Erazor yelled. "The sun is about to reach it's highest point!"
"It's time, my friends." Dark Sonic stated. "The Winter Solstice is finally upon us!"
Mephiles and Erazor nodded in agreement. Simultaneously, the trio of villains clapped their hands together and held their right hands to the Master Emerald, ejecting a might black aura into the massive gem. Suddenly, the black aura was thrusted from the top of the emerald in the form of a beam. The beam ripped through the sky and shot into the glare of the sun. Slowly, but surely, the sun was blacked out and the sky could be seen turning red from all around the world. The day of evil had arrived.
Meanwhile, Armand was still chasing after Gemini, who was still captured by the shadowed hand. After suffering through the thick forest, they soon found themselves in a clearing. Armand knew he had to save his friend soon before anything worse happened. Pressing a button on his watch, he injected a mysterious serum in his veins that made him move faster than ever. In one swift move, Armand called up his laser sword and severed the shadowed hand.
"Thanks for the save." Gemini said gratefully.
"Anytime." Armand replied. Armand helped Gemini back to his feet before they both noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere. "I'm no weather man or anything, but I'm sure the sky's not supposed to look like that."
"Something is wrong." Gemini said seriously. "I can feel great evil coming."
"But I have already arrived."
Armand and Gemini turned in the direction of the voice. Suddenly, a portal of darkness erupted from the other side of the plain and vanished with a newcomer in its place. It was Orion, the warrior of darkness and partner to Naga the Snake.
"Hey, he looks just like you." Armand stated obviously.
"Really, I never noticed." Gemini said sarcastically, looking back to Orion. "All right, who are you supposed to be?"
"My name is Orion." Orion introduced coolly. "I was hoping I would get a chance to meet you before this was all over."
"What do you want from this runt?" Armand joked; A vein appeared on Gemini's forehead.
"I need to end this pitiful battle between us for good." Orion explained. "Though my darkness is powerful, it is not enough as long as my light continues to live. At least, that's what Naga says."
"You're friends with Naga!" Gemini exclaimed.
"In a way." Orion smirked. "He is incompetent, but still very useful."
"Any friend of Naga's is an enemy of our." Armand said defensively. "Come on, Gemini. Let's show him what this tag-team can do."
"With pleasure." Gemini smirked.
"This should be interesting." Orion chuckled.
Both heroes charged at the mysterious villain with their plans already made. Armand began tinkering with his watch while Gemini took the opportunity to split him. But despite the challengers ahead, Orion maintained his cool. He tapped a ring on his belt and the battle began.
Back at the Master Emerald alter; the heroes were picking themselves up from their battles when they noticed the deathly colored skies above.
"What's that all about?" Jet asked.
"I don't know, but it can't be any good." Knuckles said seriously.
"Look, I think something's coming." Tikal pointed.
She was right in a way. As the heroes stared into the red skies, a small tear began to form. Soon, more tears began to form over the skies of Angel Island. But it wasn't just the island, but over the entire world. Just then, hundreds of figures from every shape and size began to drop from the tears. The heroes could not believe what they were witnessing. Every enemy and monster they had ever defeated was coming back from the dead. The subjects ranged from the Badnicks to the Black Arms to Shadow's prototype, the Biolizard. Even a few familiar faces dropped in front of our heroes.
"Did ya miss us?" Fenik sniggered
"Hey, did we kill him a while back?" Jet asked.
"Yeah, back before we knew Nazo." Blaze said.
"We served our creator, only to be sent to hell by you filthy abominations." Kensu glared. "But now our master has brought us salvation. We can once again wander the Earth and rid the pestilence of the light."
"Well, you picked the wrong day to do it." Rouge seethed. "You ruined my wedding."
"Aw, boohoo." Predingo taunted. "What are you going to do about it?"
That day, the villains learned one thing: never piss off Rouge the Bat. The enraged bat stretched her wings and dived at the group. Against the overwhelming odds, Rouge performed her signature Screw Kick and drilled her way through the hoard. Those who managed to dodge the attack swarmed after the bat, but were halted by a wave of fire. Blaze slipped past the flames and ignited her hand before stabbing them into the creature's chest. Unfortunately, one of her targets was made of stone and was invulnerable to fire. The stone beast grabbed her by her wrist and raised her into the air. As the beast reeled his fist back, Jet suddenly swooped in and sliced the beast's arm with his fans.
"I guess I owe you one." Blaze sighed in relief.
"Only one?" Jet emphasized.
"We'll talk about it later." Blaze deadpanned.
The two heroes ducked away before they were hit. Meanwhile, Knuckles and Vector were standing back-to-back, doing their best to defend themselves. Each time one of the enemies tried to jump them, the heroes would use their superior strength to knock them back. Realizing this, the villains conjoined together and jumped at the double powerhouses at the same time. It looked back for the two former partners, but they didn't see it that way. Knuckles bashed his namesakes together and performed his ancestor's mightiest technique: The Living Flames. Vector also created a torrent of flames from his jaws to join with Knuckles'. When the flames vanished, there was nothing but a circle of ash surrounding them.
"I think they got the hots for us." Vector joked...badly.
"Do me a favor." Knuckles pleaded. "Don't talk."
That was the best advice he had ever given. Vector grumbled, but obediently followed Knuckles' orders. As for other echidna hero, Tikal was running away from a pack of hungry-looking villain. Unlike her friends, Tikal had not learned how to fight yet and was left vulnerable. Unfortunately, she tripped on a tree root and fell to the ground with a loud thud. When she sat up, she found herself surround by the menacingly horde.
"Please...leave me alone." Tikal pleaded softly.
"Don't worry, girly." Crio said lustfully. "This won't only hurt for a second."
"Back off, freak show!"
All of a sudden, Amy zipped in the middle of the circle with her signature Piko-Piko Hammer. Amy glanced at Tikal, who instantly realized what she was doing and ducked down. Amy swung her hammer in circles, forming a pink tornado made of rose petals. The villains laughed at the flower display, which turned out to be their biggest mistake. When the rose petals touched their skin, it felt as if a thousand hammers had crashed down on them. With the villains down and out, Amy stopped spinning and place her hammer on her shoulders; a victorious expression on her face.
"Never underestimate my Tornado Hammer." Amy said.
"Thank you, Amy." Tikal sighed. "For a minute there, I thought I was a goner."
"No problem, Tikal." Amy smiled.
After several minutes, the heroes had defeated most of the villains on the island and gathered together at the base of the alter.
"Is everyone all right?" Knuckles asked.
"Everyone's fine, but we still have a problem." Wave said.
"The Dark Rulers are using the Master Emerald to bring back the dead." Howl analyzed. "As long as they supply the Master Emerald with dark chaos, the rift will remain open we will never be able to defeat our adversaries."
"Then we'll just have to stop the flow." Tails nodded. "All we need to do is get to the Master Emerald."
"That may be a problem." A new voice echoed.
The heroes searched the area for the source of the voice, but found nothing. Suddenly, the heroes were forced to the ground by a heavy force. It overpowered many of the, but Amy and the Babylon Rogues thought it felt familiar.
"It's gravity." Amy grunted. "Jet, did you activate your Ark?"
"No way." Jet strained. "Not even my Ark is this powerful."
"Then where is it coming from?" Storm asked.
"Allow us to answer that." Another voice echoed.
The heroes used whatever strength they had to move their heads and look up to the stone columns around the alter. Suddenly, two portals of darkness appeared, each transporting a different creature. One was a black hedgehog and the other was a black crow. Corrupt and Rodrigo had arrived.
"Who are you?" Kumori questioned seriously.
"I am Corrupt Darkness." Corrupt introduced. "Former leader of my personal organization, DARKNESS, and the newest member of the Dark Rulers. I must say, it's an honor to meet you all."
"Blah, blah, you talk too much." Rodrigo complained. "The name's Rodrigo and I'm also a new member to this Dark Rulers thing. But I'm sure my fellow Babylonians know more about me."
"Yeah, I heard of you." Jet glared. "I read about you in King Rakis' journal. You helped in the creation of the Arks of the Cosmos. You're also the back-stabbing, two-faced, lying pigeon that led the coup against Rakis and banished him!"
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Jet." Rodrigo sniggered.
"What are you doing here?" Blue sneered.
"We just thought we should introduce you to someone." Corrupt said coolly. "I think you might recognize him."
Corrupt and Rodrigo turned their attention towards the tear in the sky. Suddenly, a lone figure began to descend upon the land below and floated between the two dark warlords. Corrupt and Rodrigo kneeled and bowed their heads to the figure, allowing the heroes to move again. As they stood up, the heroes looked up the column to see who they were bowing to. Each and every eye opened wide in shock as their greatest fear had become reality.
"Looks like someone forgot to invite me to the party." Nazo grinned.
The darkest of days is upon us. Will the heroes be able to stop the undead army? Can they pull themselves to defeat Nazo and his newest minions? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes!
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