SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES

Damien © SlashBandicoot43

South Island Invasion Saga: 1 of 3

Chapter Eighty-Six: Visions of Destiny, Part 1

The scene opens to the capital of world trade: South Island. While tourists and residents cluttered around the shops and beach as they always did, our attention turns to the dock nestled at the end of the shore. As a ferry boat was being directed safely into the ferry slip, one of the passengers was not patient enough to wait for procedures and jumped overboard. Sonic the Hedgehog landed safely on the wooden platform, catching two of the workers by surprise – they fell into the ocean. The cobalt hero took in a deep breath of air, savoring every moment.

"Ah, there's no place like home." Sonic grinned.

"Couldn't you have waited like everyone else?!" An annoyed voice called.

The true blue hedgehog only sniggered lightly and waited for the rest of his chosen team to walk off the boat. As expected, Amy was the first to leave, running into the arms of her lover and squealing happily. Next came Tails, who was forced to carry all the pink hedgehog hog's luggage – most of it was a month's worth of clothes. But the three-tailed kitsune had some encouragement for moving fast with Cream coming close behind. Knuckles and Rector casually stepped off with Marine bouncing behind them – the ruby hedgehog glared in Sonic's direction. Finally dropping off was Jet and Wave, who were whispering fast.

"How much do you think it would sell for?" Jet mumbled.

"I don't know but it would pay for more than that gold lock." Wave replied.

"Ok, whatever you stole, hand it over." Rector commanded, holding out his hand.

"What makes you think we have anything?" Jet questioned nervously.

Rector was not fooled.

"Aw, give them a break, bro!" Sonic said nonchalantly, not even concerned with his glare. "We're on South Island, the greatest place in the world! Nothing could possibly ruin this day!"

Unfortunately, he chose those words at the most improper time. As the cobalt hedgehog took his first steps on the shore, something whizzed past and knocked against Sonic's ankle, sending the hero plummeting into the sand. While the heroes rushed to assist him, Rector picked up to the object of this humiliation: a stick.

"Sonic, the hedgehog with two left feet." A cold voice laughed.

"You've got to be kidding me." Sonic groaned.

The master of speed pushed himself to his knees, shoving Knuckles out of his view. Leaning against a crooked palm tree was Kai Robotnik, Naga's most loyal and obedient servant. Unfortunately, they didn't know this part of Kai's history. The only ones that knew of Kai's loyalties were Nyrox, Xenot, and Eggman's group. But despite the lack of information, Sonic had no problem finding a reason to hate the human.

"Kai..." Sonic murmured.

"You know this kid?" Jet asked curiously.

"He was the biggest bully on the block when I was little." Sonic explained, brushing the sand out of his fur. "He always used to pick on me whenever I snuck out of the castle to skip studying." It was probably better to leave that out; judging by Rector's disapproving expression. "Everyone was always afraid to stand up against him until I finally took him down."

"You caught me by surprise with that speed." Kai stated coolly. "But I assure you, that advantage is now lost."

"Wanna try me?" Sonic challenged.

"Another time perhaps." Kai waved, turning around the tree. "For now, enjoy the little time you have left."

"What did he mean by that?" Cream asked.

"I don't know, but I don't like it." Sonic grimaced.

"Sonic! Sonic!"

The cobalt hedgehog turned sharply at the voice, only to be knocked backward into the sand – Sonic hated the beach more than ever. But on a lighter note, he was happy to find the reason for his fall was the appearance of his younger brother, Stream the Hedgehog. Sonic pulled Stream off his chest and stood up just as his mother, Queen Aleena the Hedgehog, and Stream's guardian, Damien walked up to them. And much to Sonic's happiness, his own godfather, Lucario, was there to greet them. Before he could have a chance to speak, Aleena pulled her son into a death-grip hug that could be compared to Amy's.

"Oh, Sonic, I've missed you." Aleena said softly, releasing her eldest child. "Have you been keeping the world safe?"

"We're still alive, aren't we?" Sonic laughed. He turned to Damien. "Hey, bro, how's it hanging?"

"I've had better days." Damien smirked. "And you are usually the one who ends up ruining it."

"Hello, Stream." Amy said sweetly to the child. "Do you remember me from Hybrid's tournament?"

"Yes, Ms. Amy." Stream said cutely; Amy gushed. "Mommy says you're going to be my big sister."

"Mom!!" Sonic exclaimed embarrassingly. Rector's eye twitched while Amy squealed in joy.

"You can't deny it." Aleena gleamed deviously. "It's bound to happen someday. I mean, look at your father and I."

"Not to be rude or anything." Knuckles interjected impatiently. "Hell, I don't care if I am being rude. But why exactly did you tell us to cross over ten thousand miles of water to come here?"

"What are you talking about?" Lucario asked confused. "Weren't you the ones who called us down here?"

Before any other could analyze the confusion of the situation, a sudden roar of screams emerged down the coast. Sonic had dark feeling that someone like Nazo was behind this. The cobalt hedgehog raced down the shore, picking up a huge cloud of sand that covered his friends and family. Sonic was nervous and angry. This was his homeland and the Dark Rulers had no right to invade. But as he jogged into town, his opinion slowly altered. There were screams, but they were screams of joy and excitement – something big was happening. Sonic was practically blocked off by a wall of screaming citizens when reaching the town square, which allowed the rest of his team to catch up. After nailing the blue hedgehog in the head, Knuckles and Rector forced the people out of the way to make a clear path for them to enter.

"What going on, mate?" Marine asked excitedly. "Is there a party?"

"If there is one, there won't be in a moment." Lucario said strictly. "Public festivities must be authorized by the leading government of the area. It which case, the head of government must..."

"Oh, lighten up, Lucario." Aleena smiled. "You're boring the kids to death."

"Thank you." Tails nodded appreciatively, carrying a dozy Cream with his tails. "But what's going on anyway?"

"Ok, that's enough!" A gruff voice called from within the crowd. "Get out of here before I throw you out!!"

"Wait..." Knuckles murmured. "That voice sounds familiar."

Although reluctant, the crowd slowly dispersed, allowing free access for the heroes. And the first thing they saw was a familiar red echidna with three spikes on his fist. Knuckles stammered in shock. Wrist the Echidna the other member of his species, which wasn't hard since they were so rare. And when their eyes locked on each other, a wave of relief seemed to wash over them. The two echidnas stepped closer to one another and, without warning, jabbed each other in the chin. The Heroes gasped in surprise, but the echidnas just laughed as the elder creature touched Knuckles' shoulder.

"I see you've been working on building your power." Wrist chuckled. "Excellent form, son."

"I am glad to receive your approval, father." Knuckles smiled.

"Father? Son?" Amy repeated in confusion. "Those two are related?"

"They're both echidnas, I think that would be obvious." Wave retorted; Amy pouted.

"Yo, Wrist, what's the holdup?"

Sonic's ears perked up at the sound – he had not heard it for eight months since the dual on Prison Island. The cobalt hero turned on his heels and confronted Gale the Hedgehog, King of the Pirates. He was flanked by his team, the Seven Sea Crew, who were all just as surprised by their leader. By natural instincts, Stream ducked out of his mother's arms and scampered over to Gale, who lifted his son into the air. This seemed to break the tension as all families started coming together again.

"Yo, Dad." Sonic smirked. "Where have you been? Getting into more trouble?"

"What do you expect?" Gale chuckled. "We pirates need to stay in perfect shape. Otherwise, you won't be lasting long in this world. But you already know that."

"You never were one for subtlety." Lucario shook.

Meanwhile, Thorn was busy with his own children.

"Daddy!" Amy cried childishly, hugging her father's waist and burying her face into his chest. "Daddy, I thought you were gone!"

"It's ok, my little rose petal." Thorn said soothingly. "Everything is ok."

"Hello, dad." Rector nodded sophisticatedly.

"Hey, what's with the formality?" Thorn smirked, opening his arm. "Join your family."

Even Rector could resist the offer and embraced his sister and father. When they pulled back, they found Marine smiling animatedly between them. Thorn was a bit confused, but did not question it. Meanwhile, Wave was speaking to the former Rogues animatedly, but Jet hung back, glaring at the elder hawk.

"What are you doing, Jet?" Wave questioned irritably. "Show some respect. My father is back and the last leader of the Babylon Rogues is here. You should be happy."

"Why would I be happy?" Jet grumbled dangerously.

"What's the matter, Jet?" Mech asked calmly. "I thought you would be proud to know that your father was alive."

"He is not my father!" Jet snapped furiously. "A real father wouldn't abandon their only son for seven years!"

The emerald hawk shifted his attention to his father, who looked away shamefully. That pretty much said it all. Jet sneered at the man he once respected and walked away without a second glance. Fortunately, the scene went unnoticed by the rest of the families as they were too busy catching up for all the years they were separated. One of the more highlighted moments was the reunion between Cream and Vanilla. Besides the various letters sent between them, this was the first time either of them had seen each other since Cream joined the Sonic Heroes.

"Mama, what are you doing here?" Cream asked happily. "And what are you doing with Sonic's dad?"

"Gale and I are old friends." Vanilla said, lowering her voice to a whisper. "In fact, there was a time when Sonic almost became your big brother."

"That's funny." Cream giggled. "But mama, why didn't you tell me you were a pirate? I thought you said keeping secrets were bad."

"Well, they are." Vanilla nodded apprehensively. "But this is a different case."

"How come?" Cream asked curiously.

"You see...um...uh..." Vanilla stammered nervously, looking back to Kyira. "A little help would be greatly appreciated."

"You're on your own." Kyira smirked devilishly. "Consider this payback for the belly dancing incident in India."

Vanilla groaned inwardly, trying to think of some excuse to slither her way out of her current incident. But what could you say to a semi-innocent six-year old girl with cute puppy-dog eyes? Meanwhile, Kyira walked between the families on all fours – she had yet to master the ability of bipedalism. As she watched the parents embrace their children lovingly, she felt a twinge of pain and sorrow in her heart. And she wasn't the only one. Tails stood on the sidelines, watching his friends talk to their missing relatives. The only time he had ever met with one of his relatives was when his father saved him from being corrupted by the Kyuubi, which allowed him to form a third tail.

"They're so lucky." Tails mumbled.

"They certainly are." Kyira nodded, seating herself next to the kit. "But what about you, where is your family. Judging by your...special trait." She nodded to his tails. "You're related to a member of my clan."

"My dad did say I was a half-demon." Tails stated, brushing his tails.

"Any your father would be..." Kyira began before being interrupted.

"This certainly is a surprise!" Gale celled over the others. "I really didn't expect to see everyone together again! Sonic, you've really out done yourself this time! How did you find you even find us to deliver that letter?"

"What letter?" Sonic asked confused.

"The letter you sent us." Gale said surprisingly. "You know, the one that said we would get a surprise if we can to South Island on this particular day."

"Hey, we got the same letter." Amy commented amazingly. "It chose us specifically and requested that we bring Rector and Marine along with us. We thought it might have been Lucario or the Queen."

"If you didn't send it and we didn't send it..." Lucario spoke suspiciously. "Who did?"

All of a suddenly, the wind kicked up at an unusual time, forcing the heroes to raise their arms to shield their eyes. Kyira, whose demonic aura penetrated the wind cycle watched as two mysterious creatures formed from the very air itself. When the two became whole, she couldn't resist a gasp of shock. Finally, the wind died down and the Heroes prepared themselves for anything that might come. Nyrox and Xenot stood nonchalantly near the fountain – the elder drinking an unknown substance from a cup.

"Ugh!" Nyrox exclaimed in disgust. "Still not as good as King."

"And who are you supposed to be." Knuckles questioned.

"Dad/Nyrox!" Tails and Kyira said simultaneously; the two kitsunes stared at one another.

"You two know each other?" Damien asked, referring to the younger fox.

"That's my dad." Tails exclaimed happily. "He saved me from being taken over by my grandfather, the Nine-Tailed Fox."

"My father tried to devour you!" Kyira exclaimed furiously.

"You're..." Tails said wide-eyed.

"I was hoping you two would finally meet." Nyrox chuckled, stepping closer to the group with Xenot in tow. He took Kyira's hand into hi hand. "Kyira, you haven't aged a day since we parted. You are still as beautiful as you were twenty years ago."

"Nyrox..." Kyira said, unusually soft. "Please, I must know. Is this boy really....?"

"He is." Nyrox nodded; Kyira gasped. "This is the son we thought we once lost. This is our brave and powerful Kyuta."

"Hold on a minute!" Tails screamed nervous, obviously not believing what he was hearing. "If what you say is true, then this woman, this nine-tailed demon...is my mother?"

Nyrox nodded. All the emotions the three-tailed kitsune had kept for the previous twelve years of his life had finally broken through the dam suppressing them. All his life, he dreamed about his parents, imagining them to be important people that could actually make a difference. He had no idea how accurate his dreams were. Unable to hold back anymore, Tails allowed himself to cry, which his mother swiftly reacted to. Kyira nestled his head in her arms and wrapped all nine of her tails around his small body to act as a protective barrier from the outside world. Finally, Tails could understand what it's like to be loved by a parent.

"It's all right, Kyuta." Kyira whispered softly. "Everything is all right. I promise not to let you go."

"Mama..." Tails sobbed.

The emotion was so power that even a few of the heroes couldn't resist shedding a tear.

"It's...so beautiful." Wrist chocked, blowing his nose in Knuckles' quill.

"Eww..." Knuckles groaned.

"So, I take it you're the one who arranged everything?" Gale asked Nyrox.

"My father thought it would be best if this were to happen." Xenot answered. "We have been traveling the world for many months now, looking for the remainder of our family. And when we finally found them."

"So, what's with the suit?" Sonic asked suddenly; Aleena slapped him over the head. "What'd I do?!"

"It's quite all right." Xenot said. He waited until Tails and Kyira had finished their moment and joined the rest of the group. "A few years back, I was training with my father in the ways of swordsmanship. I was a student alongside Howl and his brother, Feral."

"Oh yeah, I think he mentioned you before." Rector nodded.

"I trained relentlessly until I was one of the best in the temple." Xenot continued. Then the elders thought it was time to see if the legendary blade, Masamune, would allow any of us to wield it. Feral had left after a few years and Howl was able to hold the blade, but he refused to take it. Then I was selected. Unfortunately, the sword considered me unworthy and transformed my body into pure darkness. I was destined to die."

"But..." Kyira murmured fearfully. "You're not...right?"

"I managed to preserve our child's essence into this suit." Nyrox explained, referring to Xenot's battle suit. "As long as the suit remains intact, the darkness cannot escape."

"Is there a way to turn him back?" Vanilla asked hopefully.

"I have been dabbling in a bit of light magic." Nyrox said stonily. "But I am not entirely sure of anything. But when I find the cure, I intend to cure my child."

"And we'll help." Sonic grinned, giving his signature thumbs-up. "Don't you worry about a thing. Nothing is going to happen to my buddy's big brother."

"I'm a girl." Xenot said dully.

"NO WAY!!" Everyone screamed in shock.

After a short while, the heroes decided to continue their conversation back at the South Island Castle. While Gale recounted all his adventures to his wife, Sonic decided to give his girlfriend a tour of his childhood home. Damien was assisting Stream in escaping his tutor and Rector ended up getting lost after chasing Sonic and his sister. Knuckles and Wrist ended up in a playful rumbled and were thrown out of the castle two minutes later. Thorn, learning that Marine was the sorceress he was looking for, decided to make her his personal apprentice. That was until he learned Sonic was dating Amy and got lost with his son. Wave and Mech were getting along well, but Jet and Accel were not talking. But while Tails and Xenot began catching up twelve years of history, one question popped in their mind.

"Where are mom and dad?" Tails asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Kyira chuckled.

"Tails shivered.

Meanwhile, Nyrox and Kyira stood on the outer wall, staring out into the sky. The sun was shining brilliantly over the island, but the moon was slowly over the great ball of fire. Nyrox narrowed his eyes with anxiety.

"What is the real reason you called us here?" Kyira questioned sternly. "If you really were just looking for me and Kyuta, you wouldn't have called for everyone else to join us." She turned to her lover. "Something is about to happen isn't it?"

"Do you know what today is, Kyira?" Nyrox replied.

"The day of the Solar Eclipse." Kyira answered darkly. "The point where darkness is at its greatest."

"And I fear someone is planning to take advantage of it." Nyrox stated.

The scene alternates to the thick forest just outside the border of the town. Covered by a thick brush of plant life was a circle of masked channelers, all chanting in an unknown language. The one thing all of them had in common was they wore a necklace with a black heart crossed by red thorns – the symbol of the Heartless. The same symbol was also formed on the ground between them, overlooked the master of venoms: Naga the Snake.

"Yes..." Naga hissed, staring at the imminent eclipse. "Only a few more moments until eternal night approaches."

"We may have a problem, sir." Kai said, jumping from the trees. "Sonic the Hedgehog and his annoying friends have returned to South Island. And that's not the worst of it. Gale and Nyrox have also appeared on the island."

"Hmm...." Naga hummed pleasingly. "Nyrox, you crafty old fool. You expected to gather an army to stop me. But where you see this as a chance to stop me, I see this as an opportunity."

"What shall we do, my lord?" Kai asked.

"We continue as planned." Naga proclaimed. "On this day, I shall take back what was destined to be mine and we will resurrect the most powerful Heartless created by the purest darkness."

"Armageddon...."

A happy reunion erodes to a duel of life and death. How did Nyrox learn of Naga's intentions? Will the master of darkness succeed in his plans? And will 'Armageddon' prove to be the downfall of the world? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes!

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