SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES
Rodrigo © Kiba Sniper
Corrupt © DarkspineSilver92
Chapter Eighty: Sun and Moon
The scene opens to the dark and dreary dimension that served as a base for the Dark Rulers. In the heart of the white-walled castle, Nazo peered calculative over the board displayed in front of him with the four emeralds floating above. Ever since he had regained his memories, the God of Darkness had grown more obsessed with obtaining all the objects of power. He was working tirelessly to obtain the remaining Chaos Emeralds, despite the heroes already possessing one. He had ordered Erazor, Tomo, and Nack to collect the Seven World Rings from the Arabian Knights while Dark, Mephiles, and Shira hunted the missing Sol Emeralds. Nazo was intrigued by the sword-like objects, but did nothing to capture them. As he glowered at the scattered pieces of the board, he only raised his head when Rodrigo and Corrupt appeared before him.
"You two finally made it." Nazo said coldly.
"You call...my lord?" Corrupt questioned; Nazo noticed his fist tightening.
"I am very disappointed in you two." Nazo said coolly, leaning back into his throne. "During your stay with the Dark Rulers, you have both been given a total of three missions. One from Project: Hellzone and two from your separate assignments."
"Yeah?" Rodrigo nodded. "But why are you telling us something we already know?"
"What you don't seem to recall is how they ended." Nazo glared; Rodrigo shivered. "During Project: Hellzone, you were both defeated by mere apparitions of the past." He turned his head to Rodrigo. "I assigned you to collect the remaining Chaos Emeralds. Not only did you get lost, but you failed to kill the half-demon whelp. And now he possesses his third tail through your influence."
"Yeah...not my best career move." Rodrigo admitted sheepishly.
"And you." Nazo glared to Corrupt. "I sent you to capture the Chaos Emerald from Team Virtex and return immediately. But you went against my orders and attempted to kill them without my permission. And to make matters worse, you were defeated by six weak mortals. I guess your reputation in Hell means nothing to the living world." He watched Corrupt's clenched fist draw blood. "You both have failed in your own way and that simply will not do."
"Then what do you want us to do about it?" Corrupt asked while attempting to swallow his rage.
"I have learned that the last two emeralds have been located in the same region." Nazo explained, pointing to the place on the board. "Unfortunately, the Heroes have already made there way and are retrieving it now. I need you two to take care of them and retrieve the Chaos Emeralds."
"We will leave at once...my lord." Corrupt hisses silently.
"And remember..." Nazo forewarned. "Your fates are in my hands. Any attempt to withdraw from your obligations will end in...disciplinary punishment." He was looking particularly to Corrupt during the statement. "Even darkness has boundaries."
Corrupt nodded curtly, but Rodrigo scratched his head in confusion. The dark hedgehog sighed and grabbed his partner's arm before fading into darkness.
The scene alternates to the great outback of northern Australia. The creatures of Australian wilderness hopped or trotted across the landscape, keeping their eyes and ears sharp for predators that may wish to feast. But whether prey or predator, the Babylon Rogues were not concerned. Jet and Storm were busy digging into the ground with a pair of shovels – they were sweating from the intense heat – while Wave sat underneath the shade of a tree. While hiding behind the face of a technological guide book, Wave was more attracted to the sweaty hawk in the hole.
"Explain to me again why we're doing this?" Storm asked dimly, not realizing he was tossing dirt into Jet's face. "I thought we were looking for the Chaos Emeralds."
"We are, idiot!" Wave snapped, angry to have an excuse to look away from Jet. "I used the portable radar to locate the missing two Chaos Emeralds to this exact location. And according to my calculations, the impact upon landing and the chances of continuous stampedes may have buried the emeralds deep in the Earth's crust."
"But why aren't you working?" Storm complained.
"Get back to work, Storm." Jet commanded, removing his sweat with a towel – Wave shuddered. "The sooner we find those emeralds, the sooner we can get back home and catch the game between Central City and Windy Valley."
"Central City's totally going to dominate." Storm proclaimed, scraping the dirt.
"No way!" Jet exclaimed. "Windy Valley's fourth in the league!"
The purple swallow rolled her eyes as her teammates once again got into an argument over sports – she won't admit that she is a fan herself. While they continued to drive further into the ground, Wave set aside her guide and suddenly became interested in her necklace. She could distinctly remember the day when her father passed down the sacred treasure to her and became the first to discover technological advances of the piece. She pressed a hidden button of the gem to bring up a holographic screen. She was reading the journal entry of Kanoose, the fourth leader of the Babylon Rogues, which she retrieved from the computer of Babylon Garden. As she was reading his entry on creatures called Unbirths, a sudden clank brought her back to reality.
"I think I found something!" Storm shouted.
"I'm right here, you know!" Jet snapped irritably.
"Well, it was nice while it lasted." Wave murmured.
The Babylonian swallow closed her jewel and jumped back to her feet, approaching the wide hole. While she was disappointed that Jet had found a way to cool himself down, they at least found what they were sent for. The Rogue leader stepped out of the hole with Storm's help while carrying the white and blue Chaos Emerald in each hand. Storm dragged himself back to the surface, panting heavily.
"Yeah, thanks for the help." Storm said sarcastically.
"It's about time." Wave grumbled impatiently. "I can't wait to get out of this godforsaken wasteland."
"Aw, where's your sense of adventure, Wave." Jet sniggered playfully, nudging the swallow's sides. "At least Storm and I have a reason to go home. You're always stuck up with some gizmo like Lunar Trash."
Wave didn't take that well and whacked him upside the head with her wrench.
"Don't you ever call me a Lunar!!" Wave roared furiously
"What's the problem with being a Lunar?"
The Babylon Rogues jumped from the shock of the unexpected sound and turned on their heels in the direction. But in the next moment, Jet and Storm were tossed backwards by a stream of black smoke colliding with their chests. She watched her teammates tumble back, which she learned to regret instantly when she felt her felt lift off the ground. Wave snapped her head in multiple directions to see what was keeping her suspended – she didn't even notice the Chaos Emeralds floating out of her hands. When the thought finally came to her attention, she was suddenly propelled across the air and landed softly on top of the rest of the Rogues – Jet was regretfully on the bottom.
"Ugh...what happened?" Storm groaned.
"I'll give ya three guesses." Jet gasped.
After unscrambling themselves, the Babylon Rogues stood firm across from their attackers. Corrupt stood motionlessly with his glowing gloves held forward, attempting to ignore the silent laughter of his partner. Rodrigo was nonchalantly juggling the Chaos Emeralds in the air like and avian clown – Corrupt had the same thought running through his mind. He captured the glistening emeralds in the air, watching the sun through their flawless forms.
"My, I haven't seen such a beauty in centuries." Rodrigo said coyly. "Pity Rakis never considered stealing these from the echidnas at the time."
"That's because Rakis wasn't a two-faced Lunar!" Jet yelled.
"Hey, I remember you." Rodrigo laughed pointedly to the hawk. "I saw you at the floating island when Rakis and the rest of those Rogues showed." He scratched his beak in thought – the Chaos Emerald remained suspend. "Uh...what was your name again? I know it begins with a C."
"Jet?" The hawk asked dully.
"Nah, that's not it." Rodrigo waved; the Rogues facefaulted.
"Might I suggest we depart." Corrupt suggested irritably. "Lord Nazo specifically stated that we were to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds and return."
"And they say my tribe has no sense of adventure!" Rodrigo cackled, clapping the hedgehog's shoulder. "Come on, Corrupt! You've really got to loosen up!" He moved in close with a malevolent smirk on his expression. "Lord Nazo said to return with the Chaos Emeralds, but he never said when."
"Hmm...." Corrupt hummed thoughtfully. "You have a point. All right, I'll play your little game."
"Gravity Dive!!"
A blur of emerald zipped between the twin evils, pushing each towards opposite ends. Corrupt skidded backwards on his feet, but the Babylonian crow toppled on his back, unintentionally releasing the Chaos Emeralds. Wave ran forward, stepping on Rodrigo's beak, and grabbed the mystical gem out of the air. The Lunar leader reached to grab the swallow by her ankle, but Storm jumped out of nowhere and belly flopped over the dark traitor. Under the pressure of the um...large albatross, what could be seen of Rodrigo twitched continuously. But in the meantime, Rodrigo watched cautiously as the emerald blur curved around the trees and cut a straight path in his direction. But just as the dark hedgehog thrusted out a wave of lightning, the green blur jumped into the air – Jet came into view. The Babylon Prince twisted in midair to bring down his heel over the demon's head. Unfortunately, Corrupt raised his forearm to push the bird away.
"Hmph! You've got spunk, I'll give you that." Corrupt complimented, much to his distaste. "However, I greatly despise spunk almost as much as happiness." He moved into a fighters' stance. "You're just one giant hindrance."
"Well, aren't you a happy little mole?" Jet said tauntingly.
"I'm a hedgehog." Corrupt stated bluntly.
"Really?" Jet stared surprisingly. "Wow, the years haven't been good to you."
The Babylon leader was, surprisingly, capable off pissing Corrupt off. The eternal shadow clenched his hands and pressed them ahead to summon twin dragons of spectral energy. Quick as a flash, Jet whipped out his feathered fans and slashed through the ghostly entities. Unfortunately, the shadow twins were found to be immune to physical attacks, stabbing their teeth through the hawk's arm. Jet struggled fruitlessly against their grip as he was roughly dragged back against the savannah ground. However, Jet was suddenly forced free once the spectral dragons had vanished without a trace. Looking down, he quickly discovered the ghost form had disappeared the moment they reached the shade of the tree hanging overhead.
"So, you do have a weakness." Jet grinned. "You have the powers of darkness, but they can be eaten by other darkness – shadows."
"You lie." Corrupt growled. "I have no weaknesses."
But Jet did not seem to believe him. Irritated by the hawk's expression of superiority, the eternal shadows opened his palms into the avian's direction, summoning a storm of black lightning. Jet unconsciously rubbed his ring, ready to vanish immediately if his plan didn't succeed. However, the emerald hawk's proclamations proved to be true the moment crossed through the shadow border – they vanished instantly.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Corrupt screamed furiously. He tried attacking again with his shadow powers, but proved to be as unsuccessful as before. "This is impossible! I have never been restricted by such a weakness! Who could have...?" He stopped ranting when his mind fell to one person. "Nazo."
"Looks like the big guy doesn't trust you much." Jet sniggered tauntingly.
"It does not matter." Corrupt hissed. "Even without the shadows, I am still superior to up."
"You think so huh?" Jet challenged, raising his ring into view. "Then why don't we test that theory. Time Break!!"
When happened next, Corrupt could never recall. Meanwhile, Rodrigo had finally managed to push Storm off – he thanked the god of Babylon for letting him live. But when he wasn't looking, Storm charged ahead and tackled the traitorous crow in the back. The powerful albatross pushed the Lunar leader towards one of the uprooted boulders in the savannah, but Rodrigo escaped at the last minute. The vile traitor grasped Storm by his shoulders, flipped overhead, and kicked him face forward into the rock surface. Rodrigo hovered over the ground nonchalantly while watching the poor bird slump to the ground.
"I always knew Rakis had a soft spot for weaklings." Rodrigo cackled. Next thing he knew, he was crumpled on the ground with a welt the size of a goofball on his head. "Yow! What the hell?!"
"I hope you enjoyed it." He turned and spotted Wave holding up her wrench – the Chaos Emeralds were tied to her waist. "Because I'm about to give you a one-way trip back!"
The contemptuous swallow raised her tool and brought it swiftly down over the crow's skull. Unfortunately, the unlikely weapon was halted in midair just several inches from Rodrigo's head. Wave's arm shook from the increased weight of her wrench until she was forced to let go – the wrench smashed through two feet of Earth. Without her weapon, she was defenseless against Rodrigo, which the crow happily noticed. The Babylon traitor pushed himself off the ground by his hands and slammed his heel into Wave's cheek. The swallow was tossed higher into the air than she was supposed to be – Rodrigo must have affected the gravity again. Once kicking back to his feet, the Lunar Rogue raised his hand towards the incapacitated hero and increased the gravity field around her. Wave was now ten times heavier than normal and began freefalling for the ground at an alarming rate. She closed her eyes to await the imminent impact, but was surprised when Rodrigo's hand shot out and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.
"Now, what was that about a trip to hell?" Rodrigo sniggered.
"Let me down from here and I'll show you!" Wave screeched, punching the crow in the beak.
"Hey!" Rodrigo exclaimed, holding his aching beak. "Oh, that just about does it, girl! I was hoping to kill the prince of traitors first, but I guess I'll have to..." He stopped himself in mid-sentence – his mouth gaping in alarm. "Where did you get that?"
The confused swallow raised her brow and followed the crow's line of vision. She noticed that his gaze was deadlocked on the glittering necklace resting over her heart – his eyes gained a hungry look to them.
"What? My necklace?" Wave questioned
"You mean mine!" Rodrigo snarled. "Where did you get it?!"
"My father gave it to me." Wave answered with a glare. "He stole it from South Island a long time ago."
"You mean they stole it from me!" Rodrigo roared.
"What are you talking about?" Wave questioned.
"You have no idea what that artifact truly is." Rodrigo stated. "I created that gem over a thousand centuries ago during the time of King Rakis and the voyage of Babylon Garden. I used it as a storage system to keep secret information away from those who might try to steal my glory. Unfortunately, after Babylon Garden was split between two tribes, my own daughter betrayed me. She took the Red Opal from my possession and gave all my secrets to the Solar Rouges."
"Even your own daughter saw you as a low-life traitor." Wave taunted.
"But I am curious." Rodrigo said interestingly, tracing the gem with his forefinger. "The Red Opal is supposed to be only accessible to those of my blood. Yet, I can tell that these files have been recently used." He smiled malevolently. "That would mean one thing..."
"What?" Wave whispered fearfully.
"You are not the Solar that you proclaim to be." Rodrigo stated coldly. "You are the descendent of my traitorous daughter – you are the heir to the Lunar Rogues."
In that one instant, Wave thought she could feel her heart stop cold. After years of learning to hate the Lunar Rogues, it was a disaster to learn that she was actually the princess of the tribe. Taking advantage of Wave's stunned performance, Rodrigo ripped the Red Opal from the swallow's neck and threw her to the ground – he did not try to get the emeralds.
"Hey, Corrupt, it's time to go!" Rodrigo called.
"I refuse to leave!" Corrupt snarled. He kicked his foot at Jet's throat, only to have it pushed aside. "This pigeon will die slow and painfully!"
"I sympathize with your thoughts." Rodrigo nodded seriously. "But if you won't come by choice, then I guess I'll have to persuade you another way."
Corrupt attempted to gather darkness in his fist, but Jet had fallen back to hiding in the shadows when he knew. The dark hedgehog growled furiously – Jet had been using the same tactic throughout the battle. The eternal shadow dispelled the darkness from his hand and charged ahead for contact when he and the hawk were suddenly pushed to opposite ends. While floating in midair, Rodrigo captured his partner by the air and both disappeared into a cloud of darkness. The emerald hawk scrambled backwards, scratching his head in confusion at the unusually spectacle.
"Uh...what just happened?" Jet muttered questionably.
"Boss!" Storm cried after finally awakening. "I think something wrong with Wave!"
The feeling of concern drove the Dark Rulers out of his mind. He walked over to Storm, who was watching the purple swallow sadly on the ground. Wave had not moved from her place – the thoughts of being a Lunar were too stressful for her. Would Storm still consider her a member of the team? And more importantly, would Jet still love her? Solar Tribe members were born with the gene to hate Lunars unconditionally. Jet tried to find a way of asking Wave what was wrong, but something in his remedial mind pushed him to striking a different conversation.
"Hey, at least we still have the Chaos Emeralds." Jet said feebly, referring to the emeralds around Wave's waist. "Leave it to Lunar Trash to screw up something."
"Like me." Wave murmured.
"What?" Storm asked confused.
"Rodrigo told me everything." Wave said mournfully. "I'm not a member of the Solar Rogues. My ancestors were originally descendants of Rodrigo, meaning I am a Lunar Rogue." Jet and Storm hissed out of instinct – Wave could not stop the tears from escaping her eyes. "So that's it. I am Lunar and don't belong with the Babylon Rogues. I would understand if you both hate me now."
Wave waited in silence for their answer. But when neither of them response, the sense of foreboding grew deep in her heart. Then without warning, she was lifted into the air and crushed by a pair of powerful arms. At first, she suspected that they were trying to kill her until she recognized the feeling of Storm trying to hug her – he could easily be compared to Amy. When the large albatross finally set her down, she stood before Jet, who was smiling with a devious grin.
"Aw, we still like you, Wave." Storm said happily. "Even if you are Lunar Trash."
"You know, the Lunars might not be so bad." Jet said pleasant, taking Wave's hand into his own. "Especially if they can produce something as beautiful as this."
"You...you guys aren't mad at me?" Wave questioned, ignoring the redness of her face.
"Hey, you don't think we're gonna get rid of you like that." Jet chuckled appreciatively. "Besides, you still owe us for this cheap adventure."
Wave rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. She may have been a Lunar by blood, but she was a Solar by heart.
Meanwhile, the scene alternates to a thick forest halfway around the world from Australia. In the heart of the trees, a cloud of darkness emerged to deposit Corrupt and Rodrigo from its depths. The Babylonian crow landed softly on the ground while tossing his partner into the grass. Corrupt hissed and summoned the powers of darkness into his hands before realizing the forest was made from endless shadows. He dispelled the black magic, glaring spitefully at his partner.
"What is the meaning of this?" Corrupt hissed. "How dare you drag me to this hellhole."
"Just shut up for once and listen." Rodrigo commanded forcefully. "We're going to leave Nazo and the Dark Rulers." He noticed the hedgehog's shocked expression. "Don't act so surprised. Everyone knew you were planning to betray Nazo from the beginning, even Nazo himself."
"But why would we leave." Corrupt questioned. "We aren't powerful enough to defeat him."
"Not yet." Rodrigo grinned wickedly, bringing the Red Opal into view. "But with this, everything will change."
"A piece of jewelry?" Corrupt said unimpressed.
"This isn't just any piece of jewelry." Rodrigo stated encouragingly. "This gem contains all the knowledge I collected from Babylon, including the shadows that destroyed our home world. If we figure out how to control them, our powers would be limitless!"
"You're a bit late."
Corrupt and Rodrigo jumped slightly and whipped around to confront the origin. They spotted an unknown figure leaning against the tress with an impression of superiority – Corrupt could easily see his expansive aura of darkness. The newcomer was a black hedgehog jagged brown markings roaming across his body. He wore regular white gloves, grey boots with red outlines, and three different colored belts with a different ring attached.
"Who are you?" Corrupt questioned suspiciously.
"My name is Orion." Orion answered. "And it is my unfortunate business to inform you that the shadows, now known as the Heartless, serve under a new master. You chances of regaining them are slim to none."
"Damn it!" Rodrigo snapped.
"Why are you telling us this?" Corrupt glared.
"Funny you should ask." Orion grinned menacingly. "I have been sent to look for you by my master, Lord Naga. I believe he has an offer that you would be foolish to refuse."
"What offer?" Rodrigo asked curiously.
"Do either of your know the powers of the Solar Eclipse." Orion chuckled silently
The bonds between friendship are too powerful to be severed. What will become of Wave after learning her heritage? What does Naga have planned for Rodrigo and Corrupt? And what is Nazo's next course of action? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes!
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