SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES
Tomo © Kiba Sniper
Note: This is the last chapter before the Final Season
Chapter Eighty-Two: Shadow of the Rulers, Part 2
The scene opens to the Sonic Heroes base, which was currently in panic. After their defeat at the hands of the Dark Rulers during the previous day, they torment was increased with the theft of Hybrid and their leaders. At the moment, the Heroes and Team Virtex were present in the workshop as Tail was working with the Vortex Disruptor.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Howl asked skeptically.
"Well, I've only used the Vortex Disruptor as a viewing portal." Tails answered nervously while tinkering with the machine. "I based the project off of Hybrid's plans during the Nocturnus invasion and designed the bodywork from Shade's Warp Belt. In theory, the relative mass of the transported substance should interact with the space/time...."
"Can we get to the point?" Blaze snapped impatiently; she had become rather irritable after Silver's capture.
"It will work...hopefully." Tails added softly. "I just need to reroute the coordinates."
"So, what's the plan, Knuckles?" Vector asked.
Since the previous absence of their leaders, Knuckles was always assigned to take over in case all three leaders were no longer available to provide.
"Once Tails gets the portal open," Knuckles announced. "Five of us should sneak in and get Sonic and the others out. Once they find them, they'll need to capture at least two of the emeralds and get out."
"Why only five?" Blue interrogated. "If all of us go in, we'd have a better chance of beating the Dark Rulers."
"But that's exactly what Nazo will be expecting." Knuckles said sagely. "Like Tails said, this portal is a one way tunnel. Once all of us are on the other side, Nazo and the Dark Rulers will take the Chaos Emerald and return to this dimension. That will leave us trapped in their dimension and leave the world open for Nazo to conquer."
"With five on one side," Omega screeched. "The rest will be able monitor the situation if such a plot is possible."
"We aren't looking for a fight." Knuckles stated. "We just need to get in and out. I've already decided that Amy, Kumori, Jet, Blue, and Shade will take over the mission." He turned to the emerald hawk. "Jet, you're in charge of the mission."
"You got it!" Jet saluted.
"I'm afraid that Shade won't be joining you." Rector proclaimed, ignoring Shade's moaning. " She, unfortunately, has homework to do and is required to complete it is she wants to have a job." He moved his hand in front of his mouth to whisper into the echidna's ear. "But mostly, I'm worried about my sister."
The twins of red turned their heads to the pink hedgehog, who sitting in the corner, staring at the ground. Ever since her failure to access the Super Form, Amy had forced herself into a state of self-depression. Tikal explained that miscalculating the powers of the Chaos Emeralds generally affected a person's emotions in a negative manner. Knuckles nodded at the same moment Tails activated the Vortex Disruptor, which revealed a hole of darkness.
"I set the coordinates to the lowest region of their domain." Tails explained. "Once you go through, there will be no way of getting back without the Chaos Emeralds. So make sure you have everything."
"Ready to go, team?" Jet asked.
"Ready." Rector nodded.
"All set and raring to go." Blue said eagerly, punching his fists together.
"I think we're prepared." Kumori huffed, lifting Amy onto her back. "Geez, did she gain wait or something?"
"Did you just call me fat?!" Amy screeched.
It seemed those particular string of words was enough to break the rosy hedgehog out of her stupor. Amy jumped of her rival's back and summoned the Piko-Piko Hammer before swinging it around at every direction. The rest of the team had already vanished through the portal before the calamity broke loose. The Shadow prototype managed to trick Amy to the Vortex Disruptor and trip her rival through the portal before jumping in herself.
The scene alternates to the dreary and hopeless dimension of the Dark Ruler's castle. Within the white walls of the medieval domain, a portal of the Vortex Disruptor opens at the stairway in the lowest region of the castle. Jet, Blue, and Rector landed safely on their feet upon entering, but were unfortunately knocked down when Amy and Kumori tumbled in. Because of the unexpected event, the group was piled on top of one another and rolled down the stairway. They were only stopped when smacking into black door with a large red gem.
So much for a stealth entrance." Blue's muffled voice complained.
They untangled themselves and stood up.
"Ok, Tails gave me the layout of the castle." Rector informed. He held out a small metal sphere, which displayed the miniature hologram of the Dark Castle. "There are twelve levels in the castle. We are on the first level and Nazo's last position was record on the eighth level. That means we have seven levels of stairs to travel."
"Uh...you guys go on ahead." Jet said animatedly while staring at the door.
"What?" Kumori questioned strangely. "Knuckles made you the leader of this mission."
"Yeah, and I'm ordering you to go on ahead." Jet order, finally giving them his attention. "Don't worry, I'll be up in a minute."
"Just don't take too long." Amy sighed.
The emerald hawk nodded and waited until his team was out of sight before looking back to the door. He couldn't explain why, but there was something behind the door that seemed to attract him – to call out to him. There was no handle, but when was the last time Jet ever walked in quietly. The Babylon prince held out his left arm – pushing out the green Ark – and summoned the forces of gravity to slam the door off its hinges. Crossing the threshold, he found himself to be in a room that was empty with the exception of the two white marble thrones.
"That's weird." Jet noted strangely. "My instincts usually never fail me." He turned to leave when he noticed something glimmering out of the corner of his eyes. "Now, what do we have here."
The Babylon Rogue crossed the room towards the glimmering object and stopped in front of the opposite throne. Judging by his expression, Jet had just stumbled upon a valuable treasure. He hastily stuffed the object into his feathers when he heard something just within reach of his hearing – a trail of footsteps. Quick as a flash, Jet whipped out his feathered fans, which collided with a familiar razor-blade.
"It's been a while, Jet the Hawk." Erazor smirked.
"Erazor..." Jet hissed. "Somehow, this doesn't really surprise me."
"You are a very foolish pigeon to cross into my domain." Erazor sniggered.
"How many times do I have to say it!!" Jet screeched furiously. "I – AM – A – HAWK!!"
But the dark djinn seemed to turn a deaf ear to his yells, which is a miracle in on itself. Jet pushed back the razor-blade and swung his foot around to kick, which was blocked by Erazor's knee. Of course, this turned out to be a mistake on Erazor's part as the kick was stronger than normal and nearly fractured his kneecap. When the dark djinn forced to his knees, Jet jumped into the air with his fathered fans crossed for the end blow. Unfortunately, Erazor seemed to catch a second wind and jumped to his feet faster than the eye could see – he swiped his blade to push back the hawk. Jet smacked against the white throne, groaning loudly – his feathered fans dropped on either side.
"Ooh, that's gonna hurt in the morning." Jet moaned.
"Filthy winged rodent." Erazor sneered, stabbing his blade close to his enemy's head. "If I wasn't under orders, I would have you slain on the spot. Be grateful that Lord Nazo wants you back alive."
"Well, you're gonna have a hard time taking me!" Jet exclaimed. He reached into his feather and pulled out Babylon's greatest treasure: the Crystal Box. But instead of radiating its usual light, the box dimmed darkly. "What the? What's wrong with the treasure of Babylon?"
"That's right, I forgot to mention that." Erazor chuckled humorously. "In this dimension, light is useless and darkness is all-powerful. Rotten luck for you."
The last thing Jet saw was Erazor's fist flying forward before blacking out.
Meanwhile, the scene alternates to the fifth level of the castle, three floors below their designated target. With Jet temporarily defected, Blue took it upon himself to become leader until the emerald hawk returned. The rest of the group could understand why Knuckles had assigned him to the team – Blue could use his skills to scout ahead for signs of danger. Every time they would reach another floor, Blue would detach a fragment of himself in the form of a small insect and see through their eyes. But the lack of defenses had them on the edge.
"Ok, this is getting ridiculous." Kumori complained. "In a castle this big, you would think they would have something guarding the place."
"Count your blessings." Rector said dully.
"She has a point, you know." Amy noted. "Eggman might slip up occasionally, but real villains like Metal and Nazo wouldn't leave their territory unguarded. The Dark Rulers must have something up their sleeve."
"And I haven't seen Jet lately." Blue added cautiously. "Maybe we should double back and – something just took out my scout!"
They didn't need to ask who it was before a hail of gunfire forced them closer to the edge of the corridor. Nack was firing with excellent accuracy and managed to hit Blue, who wasn't bothering to take cover. The mercenary was forced to remember from previous experience that bullets had no effect on the Chaos clone. Blue stretched his claw to reach for Nack's throat, forcing the pistols out of the weasel's hands. Unfortunately, it was mere moments before he was splattered along the wall after discovering a bomb in his chest – he was powerless to reform. Looking to the other end of the corridor, the Heroes spotted Shira holding a bomb in her hand why Tomo retrieved the contents of Blue.
"What did you do to him?!" Amy screeched horrifically.
"Vibration bomb." Shira answered superiorly. "Can render any matter useless at the touch of a button. But don't worry, your friend isn't dead."
"At least not until Lord Nazo is finish with him." Tomo smirked.
"Well, you were complaining that there wasn't enough mayhem." Rector said to Kumori. "Now is your chance. You two take care of the girl while I get rid of the rat with the overbite."
"It a genetic defect!!" Nack screamed.
"Not a chance of that happening, red-hot." Shira said seductively, snaking her arm around Rector's chest. "It's about time the girls get to play with their favorite toy."
"I – um – ugh..." Rector stammered stupidly.
"Get your hands off my brother!!" Amy roared.
The pink hedgehog summoned the Piko-Piko Hammer to her hand, but consequently felt it slip through her fingers. Looking back, she spotted Dark Sonic snapping her weapon in two while Kumori was fighting Mephiles in the background.
"Time to play." Dark Sonic chuckled.
The battles could not have been more one-sided. Being as chivalrous as he was, Rector followed the code of not being able to hit females, which to be a disadvantage. After seducing Rector to a defenseless state, the path was left open for Tomo to strike with a particularly aggressive fireball. Rector managed snap out of his state at the last minute and thrusted his fist at the flaming sphere to dissolve it – burn mark were left on his arm. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a decoy as Shira emerged from the cinder with a metallic disk in her hand. She latched the disk to the hedgehog's chest and stepped back as a powerful surge of electricity flowed through his body, rendering him unconscious
"I don't care what anyone says." Tomo said victoriously to Shira. "You're much smarter than that multi-tailed runt."
"I do my best." Shira said with a mocking laugh.
"Rector!" Amy cried.
"I think you should be more concerned for your own pretty head." Dark Sonic taunted.
He may have appeared like Sonic in body, but he held not of the warmth and kindness she met from experience. This pushed away any emotional disadvantages. Unfortunately, Dark Sonic was still as strong as any Super Form and effortlessly knocked away Amy hammers with a flick of his wrist. The pink hedgehog kept tossing a number of hammers, each more useless than the last. Dark SOnic was only five feet away – Amy was shaking in fear.
"K-Kumori..." Amy quivered. "I c-could use s-s-some help."
"I've got my own problems!" Kumori shouted, attempting a jab for Mephiles' head. "Just trying to stay out of his way and..."
The second half of her advise remained unknown. During her momentary distraction, Mephiles had released a Chaos Spear to her navel and thrusted the prototype to the wall – the midriff of her shirt was shredded. Kumori was barely able to release a sudden gasp before the temporal demon grasped her head and slammed it to his knee, effectively knocking her out.
"Kumori?" Amy murmured fearfully.
"I think the rescue squad is in need of a rescue now." Dark Sonic joked; the villains laughed.
Knowing she couldn't possibly win, Amy strung up all her courage and raised her hammer to the vile copy. Unfortunately, Dark Sonic pushed her hand away and slammed his fist into Amy's gut. She could just make out the blurred outline of the hedgehog before fading into the realm of darkness.
"I can't understand why we can't kill them now?" An agitated voice questioned.
"Be patient, Tomo." A calm voice replied.
"You're asking for a miracle, boss." A snippy voice laughed; a smack followed. "Ow! What did I do?!"
"Shut it, you fools." A cold voice commanded. "The last of them is coming to."
As the voices stop, Amy slowly opened her eyes to the scene before her. Her vision was blurred for a short while due to the time she was unconscious, but slowly began to distinguish the shape and colors. She was tired up against the wall by a band of pure darkness that was connected with the rest of her team, who must have woken up sooner than her. The Dark Rulers were gathered in what she suspected to be a throne room as Nazo was sitting upon a white marble chair in the heart of the room. Behind them, the captured hedgehogs from the previous day were hung from the ceiling. All four heroes looked ragged and bruised from endless torture.
"Welcome to the realm of the living, my dear." Nazo said smugly.
"Nazo, don't you dare hurt them." Sonic growled.
"Who said we were going to waste our time on them?" Mephiles sneered.
"But you promised..." Erazor sputtered.
"You will have your chance, Erazor." Nazo said coolly, raising his hand to stop him. "But first, I would prefer an audience for the final punishment. Torturing the prisoners is no longer interesting."
"Speak for yourself." Shira mumbled to Mephiles.
"You can't do this, Nazo." Blue proclaimed. "Not after all you and Sonic went through together. I saw what happened during the time the planet broke apart. You cannot just kill him after going through all that."
"Actually, he can." Sonic said nervously.
"Not helping!!" The Heroes yelled simultaneously
"He's right – I can." Nazo chuckled lowly, stepping down from his throne. "I only needed Sonic's assistance so that I could regain the power of Chaos Emeralds and restore my original power. Of course..." He transformed his left hand to ice. "It had its other benefits."
"Please, don't hurt my Sonic." Amy pleaded. "Please, just let him go."
"Aw, young love." Nazo said emotionally. He raised his hand to the ceiling, calling down the seven Chaos Emeralds to his place. "I also felt the sting of losing someone I once loved. It pained me to watch helplessly as the one I once called my friend kill her right before my eyes." He turned to Amy. "Prove to me how much you love him."
"Please..." Amy sobbed, falling forward in a pathetic position. "Please...don't hurt Sonic."
"So, you really do love him." Nazo said coldly. "In that case....the answer is no."
Without warning, the God of Darkness stabbed his palm into Sonic's chest, releasing a current of energy. The blue hedgehog tried to hold in his pain, but the pressure was too much and forced a wail of desperation from his throat. During all this, Amy continually pleaded for the Dar k Ruler to stop. But instead of listening, he just increased the power added to his hand. She didn't know what she could do against the master of evil, but she knew she couldn't just stand around and allow this to continue. Without even realizing what she had done, the pink hedgehog suddenly snapped free from her bonds and dashed across the room. The Dark Rulers were stunned and did nothing to stop her. The last thing Nazo could remember was the rosy rascal coming up and slamming her fist into his cheek – he was shot through the wall. The preempted strike seemed to have released the Heroes from their hold – Sonic grabbed Amy as she fell to the side.
"Amy, are you ok?" Sonic asked worried.
"I'm fine." Amy answered tiredly. "I'm just glad your safe."
"That was a pretty crazy thing you did, Ames." Silver smiled.
"That's the thing drives me crazy." Sonic smirked devilishly.
"My Lord, are you all right?" Mephiles asked concerned.
"Out of my way!" Nazo growled, pushing his servants to one side. One the Heroes were in sight, he held out a hand to Amy. "I've been foolish to let you live this long. I will admit that it was my greatest flaw. But now I will correct it. Die, Sonic Heroes!!"
Exerting all his powers into his hands, Nazo expelled a lethal blast for the Heroes. Both groups quickly ducked for cover with the exception of Sonic, who covered Amy with his own body. The rest of the group yelled for him to move, but it was already too late – the blast exploded and filled a majority of the room in smoke. Nazo grinned victoriously while the rest of his team laughed and cheered. But his smile faltered, which was soon discovered by the rest of the Dark Rulers. As the smoke vanished, they learned that the Chaos Emeralds had dropped from sight and a new spectacle emerged over the throne. Sonic had activated his Super Form, but he was not alone. Amy's fur had transformed into a metallic gold with her quills floating freely in midair. She had done what was thought to be impossible – she unlocked the Super Form.
"Amy..." Rector murmured softly.
"Hey, guys." Amy waved cheerfully. "How's it going?"
"But that's impossible!" Shadow exclaimed. "You can't access the Super form! You can't perform Chaos Control!"
"Aw, stop being logical, Shadow." Kumori whined, slapping her boyfriend's shoulder.
"Hey, we could use some help." Sonic smirked, holding out his hands with Amy. "Why don't we improvise?"
The golden duo began distributing their chaotic energy between the heroes, but very few could take it in. Shadow and Silver awakened their Super Forms of their free will and Hybrid once again possessed the powers of the Hyper Form. However, Rector and Kumori were a different case. Though they both appeared in pain, this only lasted until bright flashes of light escaped them. Kumori's fur was a lemon-yellow with her quills floating freely and Rector fur was a silver-gold. Jet and Blue stared in awe at the seven heroes before them.
"Impossible..." Nazo whispered softly. "The servers of the seven Chaos."
"My lord, what do we do?!" Shira asked frantically; Nazo failed to respond. "My Lord?!"
"If he won't do anything, I will!" Erazor roared.
The dark djinn whipped out his razor-blade and lunged forward to the seven glowing life-forms. Rector turned just in time as Erazor brought down his blade. The glowing warriors grabbed the blade in his hand – his grip resisted the djinn's tug – and snapped the sword in two. Before Erazor could realize his position, Shadow came forward and jabbed his fist into the djinn's stomach. Erazor held himself in the navel before falling forward.
"Anyone else?" Shadow challenged.
"We can't let them take over!" Tomo screeched.
"You can do whatever you want, sister!" Nack screamed shrilly. "But I'm getting the hell out of here?!"
"Coward!" Tomo yelled at Nack's fleeting backside.
Only three capable fighters were left for the Dark Rulers – the tables had turned. Tomo performed a series of hand signs and thrusted her hands forward to unleash a hail of black lightning. Fortunately, Silver conjured a sphere of physic energy around the lightning to contain it before crushing it to oblivion. Hybrid decided to have a little fun of his own and return with an electricity storm. Tomo was caught instantaneously in the shock and fell backward – her body was crispy and black. Mephiles snarled as he dived forward with his own wave of attacks. But at the moment, Kumori managed to zip towards the temporal demon and grab both of his wrists.
"Bring back old memories, doesn't it?" Kumori smirked.
"I swear, I will kill you." Mephiles proclaimed.
"Yeah, yeah." Kumori said nonchalantly.
The golden prototype flipped backwards and struck the dark demon in the chin. She rebounded off the floor as Mephiles stumbled backwards and twisted her foot to nail him in the forehead – he was splattered across the wall. All that was left was Dark Sonic. The evil counterpart was originally seeking to battle his good half before thinking better of it to fight his love.
"I could cause Sonic endless physical pain." Dark Sonic stated. "But emotional pain will be much sweeter."
"It's time you pay for your crimes." Amy scowled.
She did not have her hammer, Dark Sonic noted, which left her at his mercy. The dark entity zipped forward and thrusted his fist forward to make contact. However, much to Dark Sonic's surprise, it had made contact with Amy's open palm. With a smile present on her face, Amy spun around and tossed the dark copy over her shoulder. Dark Sonic crashed through the wall, but Amy was far from finished. The golden female curled herself into a ball and chased after the evil monster, landing numerous blows as the wandered through the castle. Even from the outside, one could hear the castle structure slowly weakening as Amy crushed the dark hedgehog against the wall. It was only when they returned to the throne room and Sonic stopped her did the damage come to an end.
"Ok, Amy, I think you got him." Sonic said nervously.
"Sorry." Amy apologized sheepishly. "Kinda lost my temper."
"And you!" Sonic snapped to Nazo. "You've just about lost your army. You might as well give up – even you can defeat seven Super Forms."
Looking around, Nazo couldn't have agreed anymore. Even if he used the Perfect Form, his body would collapse upon itself without the Chaos Emeralds at his side. With a heavy sigh, the God of Darkness waved his hand to the wall and summoned a portal of pure darkness. The Heroes nodded and – grabbing Jet and Blue – disappeared beyond the barrier.
"A toast!" Super Shadow announced. "To another successful victory!"
The rest of the heroes raised their glasses. It was nighttime when Amy and the others returned to their dimension, so the Heroes decided to host an starlight victory celebration. The golden warriors decided to remain in the Super Forms for a short while longer to allow the newcomers to enjoy their temporary power. Rector was trying to impress Shade and his team by lifting heavy oak trees and Kumori was trying to learn a new form of dancing with Tikal and Blaze.
"You know, I could get used to this." Hyper Hybrid nodded happily.
"Enjoy it while it lasts." Silver smirked. "Once this night is over, the Chaos Emeralds will be scattered and the Super Forms will be gone for a long time."
"Speaking of the Super Form." Rector said sadly; Knuckles lifted more trees than him. "Have you seen Amy or Sonic anywhere."
"Oh, I'm sure they're around somewhere." Silver said playfully.
In the starry sky above, two shining lights crossed the velvety night sky. Sonic and Amy floated happily across the clouds, watching the events from below. Watching from a planes was one thing, but seeing the world with your own eyes was a different case – it was magical. Sonic was willing to share this moment for her only. It was then Amy knew that nothing could change his heart and feelings for her. Like the sun and the moon, they were meant for one another.
The scene alternate to the destroyed castle of the Dark Rulers. Nazo resumed his seat in the throne room amongst the debris left from Amy's onslaught. The God of Darkness held his hands wrapped over one another and stared intently at the board before him. Nothing had changed. The cycle was to repeat itself again.
"My Lord." Mephiles addressed upon entering. "The damage to the castle is extensive. Shall we continue forward with the repairs?"
"There is no point." Nazo answered in a hallowed voice. "The castle has served its purpose. We no longer have a need for it."
"Then what do we do know?" Mephiles asked.
"We prepare for the final stages." Nazo replied as he stood from his throne. "Mephiles, I want everyone stationed at their posts. We once have one chance at this." The dark demon nodded and vanished in a sphere of darkness. "But even so, the possibility that those females can access the Super Form without Chaos Control disturbs me. That only leaves one question."
"What is Zeenint planning?"
The Pathways of Light and Darkness cross together. What difference will these new Super Forms make in the Dark War? What is Nazo's final plan? And what does Zeenint have to do with this? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes!!
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The Series is coming close to an end, but there are s few ties to end. Which will it be?
A) Kadaj
B) Eggman Nega
C) Orion
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