SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES
Part 1 of 3 Finale Arc
All Characters © Respective Owners
Chapter One Hundred: Heaven and Earth, Part 1
There were many things that made this day memorable to Sonic the Hedgehog. This was the day his parent met on that fateful day over twenty years before. Four years ago, Sonic and Eggman battled for the first time and became archenemies for life. It was also the day that Shadow the Hedgehog was created through the combination of Black Doom and Prof. Gerald. But the greatest memory to Sonic was that, exactly one year ago, the Sonic Heroes had formed to battle Eggman and the Dark Rulers. So many things had happened over the past 365 day, but all stories must eventually come to a close.
The scene opens to the evergreen island just off the coast of the former Mystic Ruins. Shortly following Zeenint's defeat, the Master Emerald's power was seated at the top of the shrine with its seven servants resting on the pinnacles around it. In addition, the Sol Emeralds were placed by Blaze around the Master Emerald to commemorate the occasion. After such long planning, the day had finally come.
"They're finally getting married, eh?" Shadow smirked as the guests arrived on the island. "It took them long enough. I never really pegged Knuckles to be the patient type."
"And no one really thought you were the hero type." Silver smirked.
Yes, Knuckles and Rouge were finally getting married....again. After their disastrous first attempt, the Heroes had hoped to have a successful ceremony while Nazo was still weak from the battle against Zeenint. They went all-out and invited everyone they knew: Team Virtex, The Commander, Princess Elise, Shahra and Erazor, The Seven Seas Crew, Aleena and Stream, The Tournament Champions, the Bat Trio, and even Kadaj. Needless to say, they had their work cut out for them.
"Quite little island you have here." King complimented the hedgehogs; White had already taken his seat. "I never thought I would live to see the legendary Angel Island. It's the last piece of treasure from ancient times."
"Why are old men always stuck in the past?" Spade scoffed as he approached them. "Personally, I like the excitement and danger of the city over this green dumpster. It's too nice and flowery."
"No one asked you to be here, Daniels." Shadow hissed angrily. "Why don't you do us all a favor and leave?"
"Ok, let's not get too hasty here." Silver chuckled nervously. "This is supposed to Rouge's big day, Shadow. She would never forgive you if you started a fight on her special day."
The dark hedgehog glared at his younger friend out of the corner of his eye. Though Spade had proven that he was not evil and helped save the world against Ix's invasion, the bond of hatred shared between them had not been severed. Instead, the Ultimate Life-Form stepped aside and allowed the wolf and snake to walk by. Meanwhile, Rector, Shade, and Howl were sitting beneath the shade of the tress, talking animatedly with Kyira Kitsune and Princess Elise.
"I must say, it's an honor to meet you, Princess." Shade bowed respectfully. "I am Shade the Echidna, daughter to Pachacamac and sister to Tikal, former Procurator of the Nocturnus Army."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Shade." Elise giggled absentmindedly. "But there is no reason to be formal. We're all friends here, so you can just call me Elise."
"Uh...right." Shade said embarrassingly.
"It's been a while, Kyira." Rector said kindly to the demon fox. "I hear you've been handling yourself well after dealing with Naga and fending off the remaining Nobodies on the island. I only regret that we weren't able to save your husband."
"Alaster Nyrox was a valiant warrior and a brave fool." Kyira smiled mournfully. "At the very least, he was able to see his family as a whole again before he died – He was happy." Her attention drifted to the wolf swordsman on her right. "I believe you were a student of his, correct?"
"I was." Howl nodded. "I don't think there will ever be another like Master Nyrox."
"I'm not so sure." Kyira grinned proudly. "If given twenty-four years of training, Kyuta might be able to reach the same level as his father or even surpass it. My daughter is much closer than her younger brother – she already has six tails in such a short period of time. I think the only one that has ever truly rivaled her was you, Howl the Wolf."
"Do I know your daughter?" Howl asked.
"You might..." A feminine voice chuckled.
Howl craned his head over his shoulder with his eyes nearly popping out of his skull. Aura Kitsune had drastically changed in terms of appearance since she had been invited to stay with the Sonic Heroes. Her fiery-orange fur was smoother than silk, her eyes were like glowing rubies, and her six tails twisted together to resemble one large tail. She wore a tight, sleeveless black shirt – showing off her...assets. – A pair of midnight-green pants, black open-toed shoes, and pair of fingerless white gloves. She also wrapped her wrists in white gauze and carried two separate swords on her back. She giggled as Howl continued to stare at her with a stupefied expression.
"What? Never seen a lady before?" Aura smirked.
"Who...are you?" Howl stammered.
"Oh, that's right; you've never seen my real face." Aura smiled joyfully. "The name's Aura Nyrox Kitsune, daughter to Alaster Nyrox and heir to the Kitsune Tribe." She grinned deviously. "But you may remember me as Xenot."
"Great Gaia of the heavens!!" Howl exclaimed shockingly. "You're Xenot?!?!"
"I thought you'd be surprised." Aura laughed. "Anyway, gotta go. Cream wants some advice about my brother."
The young half-demon slipped close to Howl's side and gave him a quick peck to the cheek before running off. The normally calm and collected warrior was now reduced to a stammering, unnerved puddle. Rector rubbed his hands with a greedy expression – this was perfect blackmail. At the same time, Kadaj, Rogue, and Gale were sitting close to the pool surrounding the Master Emerald shrine, exchanging tales of their adventures.
"At that's when the natives of Isle de Oro made me their chief." Gale finished dramatically. "That was until I took some valuable treasure or whatever and they kicked me out."
"Man, that totally sucked!" Kadaj complained loudly. "That's nothing compared to the stuff I've been through. I've fought against a guy with spiky hair using a humongous sword, nearly turned into roadkill, possessed by an evil spirit, absorbed into the Life Stream, and thrown back here. You cannot say your adventures are better than mine."
"Actually, I can." Gale said smugly. As he became absorbed in the argument, he noticed that the young bat had not said a word during the entire conversation. "Hey, kid, what's the matter? You've been awfully quiet."
"I was just thinking about Rouge." Rogue said sadly. "This is the last time she'll be living as a single woman."
"Oh, I get it." Kadaj grinned devilishly, budging the bat. "You're still upset that you're not the guy she's marrying. Though I will admit that it would make more sense. I can't really believe that a bat and an echidna are planning to reproduce."
"I know I said I was happy for Rogue." Rogue sighed heavily. "But the pain still doesn't stop."
"Maybe you should move on to another girl." Gale suggested. "I think that lady friend you were traveling with might be interested."
"Siren?" Rouge asked surprisingly, fiddling with his fingers. "Well, I...never really thought about that. I mean...she and I have been good friends for a while now, but...I don't know. It might be...a little awkward."
Gale and Kadaj only shook their heads, chuckling at the bat's expense. After several long moments of speaking with old friends, the awaited time had finally come. Tikal, who was garbed in scarlet patterned robe with a large headdress, announced that the ceremony was about to begin shortly. Everyone quickly took their seats and formed a row to the shrine, where Knuckles and Sonic were waiting patiently with the priestess. Both noble heroes were cloaked with tribal white marks as per tradition to the Knuckle Tribe ceremonies.
"How ya holding up, buddy?" Sonic grinned, patting his friends shoulder. "Ya nervous?"
"I am a proud warrior of the Knuckle Tribe." Knuckles said sternly. "We aren't afraid of such things as marriage."
"Then why are you legs shaking?" Sonic asked jokingly.
The echidna tried to maintain control over his limbs. And by the time Knuckles was able to stabilize himself, Rouge was already making her way down the row with Siren at her side. The vampire bat had altered her attire to a plain white shirt and a tribal-marked dress with sapphire-blue ring bracelets – she looked a lot like Tikal. Siren has discarded her armor for the occasion and actually fitted herself into a silky, ocean-blue gown – Phantom was wonder why his leader was staring at her. Rouge stood from her husband-to-be, smiling joyfully for the first time in a while.
"Looks like it finally time, huh?" Rouge said.
"I've been waiting a long time for this moment." Knuckles stated as he took his fiancé's hand.
"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!"
"Why do I get the strange sense of déjà vu?" Sonic commented randomly.
"Aw, is it that obvious?"
Though the interruption was sudden, the Heroes were much more prepared than last time. A large ball of flames appeared directly overhead with its searing heat directed towards the soon-to-be-married couple. Aqua, who had been sitting in the front row, threw out her hands and expelled a jet of water from her palms. Steam rose upon contact with the flames, extinguishing them fireball in an instant. Having planned ahead of time, the Heroes jumped to the front of the shrine while their non-fighting friends took their places in the forest behind them.
"Why does this not surprise me?" Wrist grunted angrily.
"You've got some nerve coming here, Nazo!" Knuckles roared. "Especially after you ruined our last ceremony."
"Sorry, but I never been one for happy endings." Nazo called from within the steam cloud.
A shadow was spotted through the thick fog of steam – its arm was raised to one side. And in one swift motion, it was swept away by a short gust of wind, revealing the remaining members of the Dark Rulers. Nazo stood in the shadow of the Master Emerald with Mephiles sitting on top of the gem, Tomo standing sideways on one of the pinnacles, and Nack crouching on the stairs. The leader of the shadow organization chuckled malevolently while leaning against the giant gem.
"So, are we having fun yet?" Nazo said jokingly.
"What do you want this time?" Wave glared as she looked between them. "And aren't there supposed to be five of you losers left?"
"Shira has been feeling rather ill lately." Mephiles said defensively. "She will not be joining us today. And as for why we are here....well, what do you think the purpose of the Dark Rulers was for?"
"To rule the world obviously." Blue stated.
"See, I told you they wouldn't figure it out!" Nack shouted, pointing to Tomo. "You owe me twenty bucks!"
"What are you talking about?" Aura questioned.
"The plan for world domination was only a front for our true goal, which can be broken down to three steps." Nazo explained, holding three fingers to emphasize his point. "The first step was to recover my memories. Back when I attempted to recruit Metal into the Dark Rulers, he unintentionally stole a very important piece of my mind. Our priority from that point was to recover it. Fortunately, I was able to use Emerl and his lover as bargaining chips."
"Then came the second step." Mephiles continued. "Once Lord Nazo had recovered his memories, we would use them to free Zeenint from his prison."
"What?!" Sonic exclaimed shockingly. "You intentionally allowed him to break free?!"
"Zeenint was absorbing our Chaos; I just decided to give him a push." Nazo smirked. "I had no doubt in my mind that you would find some way to eliminate that old tyrant. And once he was out of the way, the Master Emerald would have no conscious mind to control it, leaving only an empty vessel. And with that, we move on to step three."
"What's step three?" Cream asked fearfully.
"To complete Zeenint's ambition!" Nazo exclaimed sadistically. "To become the Highest One and reshape the universe! And once I make the Master Emerald's power my own, I will travel across the cosmos and kill the one called Mythril!"
"But I thought you didn't care about domination." Hybrid said pointedly.
"I don't." Nazo stated certainly. "It was Mythril that created Zeenint, who formed the devastation that corrupted my world. The death of my brother, best friend, and lover all trace back to the Highest One. It's all because of him that any of it happened. The only thing I seek is revenge against the Highest One for allowing them to die."
"Well, you won't succeed!" Silver shouted defiantly. "The Highest One overpowered Zeenint and we'll stop you, too!"
"That's what differs me from that ancient fool." Nazo smirked. "The Highest One may be all-powerful, but he is forced to follow his own rules of creation. Mythril can only interfere with beings that he created directly. The universe was partially created by his brother, meaning he only controls half of the galaxies powers. The Highest One was able to manipulate Zeenint because he was created by the ancient god directly. But since I am not restricted to such limits..."
"The Highest One has no sway over you." King finished.
"Precisely." Nazo said, turning back to the Master Emerald. "Now you will just sit back as we take fate into our own hands."
"Yeah, you and what army?" Amelia glared.
The Dark Ruler chuckled at the question and stared down at them over his shoulder. Everyone could see Nazo devilish smirk stretched across his face as he raised his hand and snapped his fingers. All of a sudden, the sky was devoured by a swarm of miniature black vortexes, each dispersing a separate creature. The unknown beasts invaded Angel Island and surrounded the Master Emerald shrine along with the Sonic Heroes. As Sonic's eyes wandered over the savage army, he soon realized that he didn't recognize any of them. It was clear that Nazo had been creating these beasts for some time now. All the while, Mathias glared at his sister.
"You just had to ask, didn't ya?" Mathias hissed.
"Attack." Nazo said coolly.
The army of beasts jumped upon command and the heroes went to action. The Seven Seas Crew, who had nearly twenty years of experience fighting monsters, handle themselves fairly well. Kyira strangled nine separated beasts with her lengthy tails while grabbing two other monsters by the head and slamming them against one another. Vanilla was a decent fighter, though her skills have become a little rusted with age. The elderly rabbit slammed her heel into a beast that closely a lobster before flipping backwards and tossing a scythe-wielding demon. Accel and Mech were a formidable duo as they swerved back and forth between the rows of enemies with excellent precision. By the time they had breached the other side of blockade, nearly a fraction of Nazo's army had been decimated.
"Well, this is getting any easier." Vanilla panted.
"Maybe it's from all those heavy cloths." Accel grinned pervertedly. "Maybe you should slip out of that pesky little..." Mach thrashed his leader over the head before he could finish. "Damn it! What the hell was that for?!"
"This is no time to be making a move, Accel!" Mach snapped.
"You're just jealous because I get all the ladies!" Accel shouted.
"I'm surrounded by idiots." Kyira muttered.
Meanwhile, the remaining trio of the Seven Seas Crew was giving everything they had just to keep the demons at bay. Thorn was a tactical fighter, which meant he had very little physical skills. The middle-aged sorcerer had fallen back to using water magic, expelling large quantities from his mouth. The monsters stopped why their noticed they were ankle-deep in water, which proved to be disastrous once Thorn provided lightning magic. And for all the monsters that had managed to get past the sorcerer's magic, Gale and Wrist were able to provide close range support. Wrist stampeded through the dark army with his fists pressed ahead, plowing directly through the swarm. And for some of those smart enough to sidestep the assault, Gale delivered a powerful kick to their necks for each beast that approached them.
"This brings back old memories, doesn't it?" Gale said playfully as he jumped to Thorn's side.
"And by old memories, do you mean twenty years ago or three weeks?" Thorn asked rhetorically.
"Eh, whatever works?" Gale shrugged, looking out to the horde. "Hey, hothead, leave some for me!"
Thorn only sighed as his leader jumped headfirst into the crowd. Meanwhile, a group of six flying beasts were chasing Phantom across the sky. The emerald bat might not have been the brightest of the group, but he was a skilled warrior at best. The former Elite allowed the demons to chase him in the direction of the nearby mountains and phased through the structure – the demons stood no chance. Siren released a powerful screech, sending a wide selection of the demon army flying through the trees. However, the sapphire bat's throat was growing scratchy from the number of times she was forced to rely on her special powers. Sensing her weakness, a beast with a serrated blade growing out of its wrist jumped ahead and attempted to slash her throat. Siren shut her eyes shut with fear and awaited the strike – it didn't come. She cracked her eyes open slowly, finding her savior holding back the blade with his forearm.
"Rogue..." Siren said hoarsely.
"Siren, just stay down for a moment." Rogue said seriously. "I'll take care of these freaks."
"You think so, huh?" The sword beast growled. "Let's see those impressive moves of yours."
Quick as a flash, the demon drew a second blade from his wrist and slashed Rogue's chest. But the former elite effortlessly flipped over it and brought his heel down directly between the monster's eyes. Siren gazed in awe as the monster fell swiftly afterwards and Rogue stood ready to defend her – her cheeks gained a red tint. Meanwhile, Shahra was furiously repelling the demons with her magic, but it wasn't as effective as it would be in the Arabian Nights. After spotting an opening in her defenses, a tiger beats lashed forward with his claws toward the genie's chest. Fortunately enough, Erazor unleashed his old razor blade and decapitated the monster within seconds.
"Look what we have here, boys." A fire beast snarled. "The king of traitors has returned to the battlefield. You got some nerve showing your face around here, magic freak."
"And you have some nerve calling me a traitor." Erazor said; his eyes narrowed. "If you seek to advance any further, you must go through me."
"Not a problem, eh, boys!" The flame beast yelled.
The demon horde screeched in agreement – Erazor stabbed his blade into the leader's chest only seconds later. At the same time, Amelia was skipping through the tree tops with a number of chameleon-like creatures following her. A pair of orange lizards crawled up the trucks of their nearest trees and expelled twin jets of burning flames in the wolf's path. The skilled marksman caught this and quickly knocked a sapphire arrow in her bow and released it into the flames. The fire was surprisingly frozen upon contact, freezing the originators in blocks of solid ice in the process. Amelia curled herself as she shattered through the frozen blockade and the lizard demons continued their chase.
"Whew, that was a close one." Amelia commented. But at the moment she wasn't looking, she collided with a thick tree trunk. "That's gonna hurt in the morning."
King the Snake sat on the ground, drinking cup of green tea, and remaining oblivious to the events surrounding him. A pack of canine demons stopped when they noticed the blue-haired serpent drinking nonchalantly on the ground. King only continued to absorb his handmade tea when he noticed a flock of shadows surrounding him. The serpent merely sighed while gazing around at the approaching beasts.
"Look at this pathetic sap." A bull-dog demon grunted. "He's just sitting here, begging us to mug him." He snapped his fingers in the serpent's face. "Yo, buddy; you want us to massacre ya?
"Impatience and a closed mind will only lead to a path of self-destruction." King said sagely.
The demon dogs had no idea what the aged mystic was talking about, which only made them madder. Without thinking things through, the collective canine opened their jaws and snapped ahead to devour the serpent. But King counteracted this by summoning a vortex of flames to surround him, incinerating the demons in seconds. Meanwhile, Mercury staggered left and right while avoid strikes from various creatures around him. A few of the monsters were able to get a few lucky strikes by attacking the Black Arms cat with their weapons. But when a disfigured demon using a pair of enlarged scissors attack, Mercury flipped overhead with himself falling in the center of the group.
"Hmm...You guys have me surrounded." Mercury said calculative. "And you all carry metallic weapons used for close-range combat. This certainly creates a disadvantage."
"So are to ready to give up?" The scissors-wield beast asked.
"You have mistaken me." Mercury smirked. "When I was speaking of a disadvantage, I was talking about you." While the demons were stupefied by his proclamation, the Black Arms feline threw out his hands. And like a living magnet, Mercury called their metallic weapon to his side – they floated around his body as a shield. "Now, where were we again?"
At the same time Spade Daniels was forced into a corner after he had attempted to make a run for it. The selfish canine was only halfway from the shoreline when a flock of winged monsters dropped from the sky to block his path. Spade tried to run backwards, only to be cut off once again.
"Man, I knew this was going to be troublesome." Spade sighed irritably. "I should have just stayed in bed this morning."
"You're a pathetic coward." An eagle demon said. "Your friends are fighting for their lives while you run with your tail between your legs."
"They aren't my friend." Spade shrugged. "And frankly, I don't care what happens to the world as long as it doesn't involve me."
"You selfish, conceited bastard." The eagle said disdainfully.
The eagle demon jumped ahead with the intention of slaughtering the coward before the world went black. Hardly anyone recognized what happened until they found they connected the dead eagle on the ground to the gun in Spade's hand. Meanwhile, Cannon the Falcon curved around a fox beasts and slashed his fans across it neck before raising them overhead to block a blow from above. Unfortunately, he was too distracted by the creature attacking him from the sky that he failed to notice the miniscule mouse until it swiped his fans. The leader of the Lunar Rogues stared bug-eyed at his empty hands and slowly began to notice the small crowd circling him.
"Uh...can we talk about this?" Cannon requested nervously. The demon ignored the question and immediately dog-piled the falcon, punching at whatever they could reach. "Whoa! Guess not!"
But even while the demons were pulverizing the creature below them, not a single one noticed that Cannon had escaped and was watching the show only a few feet away. Meanwhile, another battle was taking place closer to the Shore of Angel Island. Aqua had forced her way through the forest and gliding under the water with a few annoyances following her. The aquatic hedgehog curved to the left; carefully avoid the pair of shark demons that struck from behind. As the undersea monster flipped backwards for a second strike, Aqua threw out her hands and formed a bubble around her. The sharks rebounded off the round surface, momentarily dazed.
"I thought there would be a lot more than this." Aqua pouted. "What? Am I not good enough to chase?"
While the ocean-blue hedgehog sulked in her bubble, another battle was taking place in the forest above them. Aikara was poking absentmindedly at the frozen lizard sculpture hidden in the trees, finding some enjoyment in the activity. Without her realizing it, a gorilla-like demon was hanging overhead by a thick branch. Once certain that the monkey wasn't going to move, the gorilla dropped down with his fists pressed together.
"Take this, you filthy primate!" The gorilla growled, throwing down his fists. But just as he was about to make contact, Aikara vanished almost instantly. "What the?!"
"Cowabunga!"
The Gorilla snapped his attention over his shoulder, only to be met with a powerful kick to the face. Aikara expert strike forced the beast, which was three times her size, off the branch and sent him crashing into the ground with an audible thud. Aikara landed safely on the branch, back flipping with excitement.
"Oh yeah!" Aikara cheered excitedly. "That's what you get for messing with Aikara the – ooh, bananas!"
"It's nearly time." Nazo murmured.
While watching at the carnage taking place below the shrine, Nazo sat in the shadow of the Master Emerald, chanting silently. Mephiles, Tomo, and Nack stood protectively around their leader as he slowly absorbed the vast majority of the Master Emerald's energy. The Dark Ruler had already ascended to the Perfect Form, which was believed to be the farthest he could reach. But even while distracted by the carnivorous beasts around him, Shadow could feel Nazo's power steadily rising beyond its limits.
"This isn't good." Shadow commented, flipping a spider overhead. "Nazo's power just keeps on growing. It will only be a matter of moments before he's equal to Zeenint. Perhaps he might even be stronger than Zeenint."
"We need to stop him before he reaches his full power!" Sonic shouted.
"Just leave that to me!"
A swift blur of black and silver passed between them, signaling the approach of Kadaj. The swordsman rider withdrew his sword, Souba, from its cover as he carved a path up the stairway. But despite the Dark Ruler's defending their leader, none of the trio tried to stop him as the silver-haired rider jumped overhead. Kadaj found it a bit unusual that he was able to pass them so easily, but shrugged it off the moment he landed in front of Nazo. The leader of the shadow organization gazed amusingly at the human, who had raised his double-bladed sword to Nazo's neck.
"Looks like it's game over." Kadaj said smugly.
"Ah, but is the game truly over?" Nazo said mystically; Kadaj stared questionably. "Even if by some miracle that you do defeat me, a empty void will be left in the fabric of reality. I am the embodiment of darkness. And if you kill me, a more terrifying evil will take my place and destroy the light. The light will grow stronger as well." He showed a malevolent grin to the swordsman. "Don't you get it? We are trapped in an endless cycle."
"Tell it to someone who cares." Kadaj said.
The silver-haired swordsman pressed the handle of Souba and stabbed forward, intending to pierce the Dark Ruler's neck. But by that time, the Master Emerald had lost its brilliant gleam – it was too late. Without warning, a pulse of green energy exploded from the God of Darkness, throwing Kadaj off the shrine. Fortunately enough, Storm stopped directly under the silver-haired rider and caught him before touching the ground. The other heroes surrounded him with concerned looks.
"What happened?" Tikal asked worriedly.
"I...couldn't stop...him." Kadaj hissed painfully; a small burn was steaming below his sleeve. "The Master Emerald...he took it all. There was nothing...I could...do."
"There is nothing any of you can do."
The heroes stiffened fearfully. Even though they haven't seen the God of Darkness, they could feel the power radiating from his presence – it was more sinister than even Zeenint's. Though were apprehensive, Sonic and his comrade turned back to the Master Emerald shrine, where Nazo stood beside his allies. The God of Darkness looked similar to his Perfect Form, but his fur was a deep shade of emerald-green and a number of unknown symbols stretched across his body. The Dark Ruler's eyes had disappeared from the overwhelming energy and the kanji of Hell was marked on his forehead. The Heroes had face Naga, Alucard, Armageddon, and Zeenint, but nothing would have prepared them for this.
"For the remainder of your life..." Nazo said slowly. "You may refer to me as..."
"Master Nazo!"
Nazo has ascended to the level of a true God. Can the Sonic Heroes form together to defeat this unstoppable menace? Is there a way to recover the Master Emerald's power? Or is this checkmate for the universe and the Highest One? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes!
Please, read and review.