"What the hell are those things?" President Todd McElroy asked as he leaned against the viewing glass. "David, activate the Blackout Protocol and shore up the barriers. I don't want this fight spilling out into the crowd." One of the agents nodded and walked away, a hand to his ear as he talked to the control room.
"These barriers, they're meant to keep things in, not out, right?" Mina asked and the President nodded. "I know I'm gonna regret this but here goes nothing." With a hard kick she knocked out the window and leapt out.
"Mina! Are you out of your mind?" Sally yelled as Mina passed through the now-opaque barrier and landed on the ground next to Sonic and Eric. "She's crazy! Those things will tear them apart."
"Get the filter up and running," the President added and Agent David nodded again. The open window shimmered and the opaque barrier turned transparent again but only to them. "I want to see what Sonic and Eric can do when they're not half-assing it."
Mina stood up as she stared at the winged beasts, suppressing fear as she gazed into their eyes. "Just like old times, right Sonic?"
"We need better memories," he said with a smile.
"You two wanna tell me what we're up against here?" Eric asked, readying his bow.
"They're called chimeras and they're as bad as they come," Sonic summarized as Kaiyō Mujō returned to her sheath. He reformed his twin longswords and stared down the chimeras. "Taking down two was bad enough, I'm not sure if we can win this one."
"If you wanna forfeit the fight just say so," Eric said as he drew back an arrow. "I'll show you how to take them down in one blow."
"Dad, no!" Sonic yelled but it was too late. The blast disintegrated the closest chimera, convincing Eric to fire another shot. The chimeras didn't move when the blast hit another and dissipated harmlessly around it.
"The hell?" Eric asked as he lowered Sagittarius. The chimera shook off the blast before smirking at Eric. "Did it just-"
"Yeah, they can do that," Sonic finished for him. "Creepy as all get out too. Don't show them anything new because the moment you do we can no longer use it against them."
"How about bashing and cutting? Those still work?" Eric asked, putting Sagittarius away and reforming Mjölnir.
"Just hit 'em hard," Mina said as her muscles tensed up. "And don't let them eat each other when you take one down."
"Something tells me I really don't wanna know," Eric muttered as he charged towards the nearest chimera and slammed Mjölnir into one of its heads. The lightning did nothing to it but the force that he swung the hammer with sent ripples through its body, shattering bone and erupting internal organs. The beast shuddered and fell to the ground dead. The other chimeras ran past it, ignoring their fallen comrade as it dissolved into a puddle of skin and blood.
"Well that's just lovely," Sonic said as he blocked two attacks, slicing their paws off in response. The chimera sat back holding its front legs up as new paws grew out of the stumps. "Just freaking great. These things can regenerate now!"
"As if this couldn't get worse," Mina yelled as she twirled a glowing red ribbon around herself with two chimeras looming over her. She focused and pushed the ribbon out, slicing the beasts apart and cauterizing the wounds simultaneously. Their remains splashed down onto the ground, covering Mina in gore. "I take it back, it just got worse."
"Worry about your wardrobe later," Eric said as he whipped Mjölnir around, scoring hits on two more chimeras. They bounced across the ground but shook off the attacks like they were mosquito bites. "These damn things won't go down. The harder I hit the harder they come back." He jumped back to join Mina and Sonic who were both short of breath and covered in claw and bite marks
"We've taken down at least a dozen of them but they just keep coming," Sonic said as his blades wavered in form. "Thanks for wearing me out, old man. This probably wouldn't have been so hard if you'd just given up."
"Look who's talking," Eric taunted. "We can discuss the merits of you holding out so long when these damn things are dead." He looked up at the barrier noticing for the first time that it now resembled a giant two-way mirror, letting in light but not allowed the crowd to see what was happening. "They've blacked out the barriers meaning they don't want the crowd getting involved. It also means that we can go all-out without the Senate catching wind of our strength."
"About time," Sonic said as elemental energies wrapped around the three of them. Sonic's quills lengthened and turned dark gray and Mina lit up as the two of them stood back-to-back. As Eric's quills straightened and turned yellow he noticed Sonic and Mina's energy mingling, causing pulsing red lines to form down Sonic's limbs and quills and pulsing grey lines down Mina's arms and legs. "It's been awhile since I've used this form in a fight. If I remember right I died last time."
"How about we don't have a repeat performance?" Mina asked as the chimeras started to stalk them. "We gonna do this or not?"
"Let's do it to it," Sonic said nostalgically as he drew Kaiyō Mujō and released her katana form. He brought it up in a defensive posture as Mina formed her ember ribbons and his father raised Mjölnir.
Mina struck first, whipping the ribbons out and swinging them around. They cut through the first two and bounced off the others as they adapted again. The ribbons turned blue and sliced through the chimeras with ease once more before cooling down. Another one bit into the ribbon and the head burst into flames, turning it to ash. Sonic expected another head to grow in its place but the only thing that happened was the wings shriveled and fell off and the tail reverted back to a normal snake tail.
"Take off a head and they revert to their original form," Sonic said with a grin. "Good to know."
Eric attacked next, charging through the chimeras and swinging his hammer. While the lightning bolts did nothing at first they quickly grew in intensity, disintegrating the chimeras the bolts hit. They fired spines at him, ripping his flesh and sending him sprawling across the ground. He stood up, barely managing to stay vertical. In a moment of rage he slammed Mjölnir into the ground, sending cracks spreading out towards the beasts. They backed up slowly as the cracks went past them and began humming with power. "Hammer of the Gods!" Eric yelled. The ground erupted in a shower of lightning, instantly disintegrating several chimeras while others flew away before the blast hit them. Once the survivors landed their skin began to boil before they finally split into two chimeras. "What the hell?" Eric asked.
"That must be how more keep showing up," Mina said as her Guardian form faded, streaks of dried blood running down her face and smoke rising from her burnt hands. "These things can split in two."
"Take a look, though," Sonic pointed out. The new chimeras quickly divided but any that had already done so were unable to again. "One and done. If we can just take out all of the new ones then they're done for."
"Easier said than done," Eric replied as his Guardian form faded as well, his wounds starting to close. "Mina and I are both outta steam. There's no way you can hit all of them at once by yourself."
"Watch me," Sonic said confidently. His eyes flashed red for a brief instant as the wind around him caught fire. It formed around his body like a second skin as his eyes turned more animalistic. The new clones are still warm, he thought, grinning like a madman. Perfect. Time to have me a little fun. The flames wrapped around Kaiyō Mujō, forming a zweihänder in her place that Sonic jabbed into ground. The earth cracked as pulsing red lines raced out to the newly formed chimeras. After a moment a pillar burst from the ground and flames started to gather around it. The flames eventually formed into two arms.
Eric stared at the flaming cross among the chimeras. He had seen this before when Sonic had been resurrected. He turned to his son just as a pair of flaming wings spread from his back. A circle formed on the cross where the post met the arms and began to spin faster and faster until spines of flame reached out.
"Phoenix Cross," Sonic said, his eyes flashing red again. The circle moved to the top of the cross, spinning ever faster, and fell to the ground. Once it touched the ground it let out a piercing screech, much like the one Eric had heard at Sonic's funeral, and the ring erupted outward turning the chimeras it touched into statues of ash instantly. When it finally passed there were only a handful left, backing away from the three Guardians in fear. "That's more like it," Sonic said as he gasped for air, his Guardian form fading and his body steaming. "I'm pretty sure all those have already spawned other chimeras."
"How sure are you that we can even beat those right now?" Mina asked.
"No holds barred," Sonic replied. "We can't give them an inch of room otherwise they'll-" He didn't get a chance to finish as two spikes impaled both his shoulders. Sonic staggered back, trying to figure out what had just happened when another two slammed into his legs though only the left one pierced. The one aimed at his right legs shattered on impact but threw him onto the ground.
"Sonic!" Mina yelled as she ran to him, ignoring that whatever had fired at him was still out there. She helped Sonic sit up while trying not to disturb the spikes. They were ridged from tip to tip in order to increase the difficulty of removal and gave off an almost sweet aroma. Sonic stood up while breathing calmly like he wasn't in any pain. "Are...are you okay?" Mina asked with concern.
"It hurt like hell at first but yeah, I'm fine," Sonic answered. He looked down at the spikes and wondered for a moment why it didn't hurt. The last time he had been injured like this had been on...
He seized up as he remembered the last drug to do this to him. "This is the same thing she gave me when she took it," he realized as his hand instinctively grazed his right leg, feeling the cold metal. "But what could have done this?"
"It would seem that your memory is quite sharp. Our Lady's efforts were not in vain after all."
The three Guardians looked up as a figure walked between two of the chimeras. It stood almost eight feet tall and resembled the beasts around it only vaguely. With the face of a lion, the horns of a goat, torso of a lion, and the arms and legs of an eagle complete with talons along with the glint of scales underneath the feathers. It had a set of dragon wings tucked in as its reptilian eyes shone with unrivaled intelligence.
"I see that you are quite shocked at my appearance," it said in a gravelly voice. "I assure you that it is far more advanced than the crude appearance of my children. As for your wounds I'm sure that you can understand our Lady's caution. After all, your kind is more dangerous than it appears."
"Would someone like to tell me just what that thing is?" Eric asked, his skin crawling.
"We've...we've never seen anything like that," Mina answered. "The others, yeah but this is something new."
"New she says," the beast rumbled, a smirk across its face. "Do you truly believe that I evolved from something as grotesque as this?" It backhanded one of the chimeras, shattering a jaw as it did so. "I told you that these are my children, born from my flesh. They evolved from me."
"And what are you?" Sonic asked as he started to calm down. "If the chimeras came from you then what are you?" It smiled baring its teeth.
"Our Lady calls me and my brethren 'Chimera Brains' since we are the only ones capable of understanding more than basic animalistic thought," it explained as it paced between two chimeras. "Our Lady also believes that we are only a stepping stone to the true path of evolution. But that is all beside the point. I was sent here to retrieve the two of you so that Our Lady can continue with her research."
"When you say, 'Our Lady', who do you mean?" Sonic asked as he stood, trying to grab the spine in his shoulder. "There's only one person I can think of but it's not possible. She died on the Highwind!" The beast laughed, a sound that made Sonic's skin crawl.
"You believe that Lady Cidana would be killed so easily?" it asked with a twitch of its neck. "Do your memories hurt that much? Can you still see it when you dream? Can you still smell the burning flesh as she cuts into you, taking from you the most precious thing in your pathetic existence?" Sonic's eyes widened as his body locked up. "She is far from done with you, Subject S. You have so much more to show her."
"What's he talking about, Sonic?" Eric asked, turning to his son only to see him nearly catatonic. "Sonic? What's wrong?"
"It seems that he is recalling the time spent aboard Our Lady's vessel," the chimera said. "And who can blame him for remembering such a wonderful time? Our Lady had a great deal of fun while you were aboard." It turned to Mina next. "And what about you, Subject M? Are your scars as fresh as his? I am unsure what those primates think they can do but I assure you that I am far more inventive than even a hundred of those apes." It smirked as Mina's eyes started to quiver. "You have no idea of the things that I could show you." Mina froze as memories came flooding back, memories that she had suppressed for sanity's sake.
"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Eric asked but both of them remained silent. "If you're not going to do anything then I am." Mjölnir dissolved as he pulled Sagittarius off his back. "Sagittarius, activate Zodiac Mode!" The bow shrunk to a steel-grey shaft again as the armor formed across him. The sigil on his chest had just begun to pulse when the chimera aimed its palm at him, firing a spine like the ones in Sonic at him. The spine hit the sigil, shattering the armor and bow while throwing Eric back. When he finally landed he felt what was left of the armor sink into his skin, blood seeping out of the wounds.
"If you would kindly stay out of this, rodent," the chimera said. "This is between the three of us. I am here to retrieve them so that Our Lady can finish her research. You are unnecessary and therefore disposable." It motioned one of the larger chimeras that began walking towards Eric, drool dripping out of each of the jaws. "Now then, will you be coming along willingly or shall I have to be...creative?"
"Sonic, we have to get out of here," Mina said while trying to push the memories back into their hole. She tried pulling on the hedgehog but he was firmly planted in the ground. "Sonic!" She tried pulling again only to feel the chimera's talons around her wrist and its forked tongue slithering on her neck.
"I now see what those primates saw in you," it said softly. "You are indeed quite the specimen. I might just find out for myself what it is they felt." A hand shot up and grabbed the chimera's arm, gripping it with such force that it crushed the bones like they were paper. Annoyed, the beast looked down at Sonic to see it was his hand around him.
"You are becoming quite an annoyance," it snarled as Mina slipped from its grip. "I am sure that Our Lady would not mind if you were missing a few limbs. Well, more than you are already." Sonic was silent, sparking the curiosity of the chimera. "Now even I am curious. What has prompted this silence?"
"You...won't..." Sonic growled as his grip tightened.
"I won't what?" the chimera asked not even feeling the pain.
"You...won't...hurt...her," Sonic finished. "You...won't...hurt her. You won't...hurt her."
"I heard you the first time, rodent," the chimera said as it tried to free itself. "Our Lady said you were deluded and naïve, not crazy." Sonic raised his head, both his eyes pitch black and his irises emerald green. The chimera pulled away again but was still held back by Sonic. A downward chop removed the limb Sonic held as it jumped away, its eyes for the first time showing true fear. "This is not possible," it said as its arm regrew. "What is this feeling? Just what are you?"
"You won't hurt her," Sonic repeated and dropped the arm. The air around him pulsed as white matter exploded from each of his wounds, dissolving the spines and covering his entire body in a matter of seconds. The matter began to harden into various shapes, the most prolific being three large spikes trailing down from each of his shoulder blades followed by a long tail. When it finally reached his face it formed a dragon-like snout and a row of razor-sharp teeth. Two horns reached back from his temples until finally the last of the matter hardened. Sonic howled at the sky, the sound of his voice distorted by his hoshoku-sha's feral form. Mina ran over and grabbed Eric, pulling him to the edge of the arena.
"No way," Eric said, still bleeding from Sagittarius' shards. "There's just no way."
"What is that thing?" Mina asked as Sonic roared again. "I mean, I know it's Sonic but it looks and acts like a monster."
"A hoshoku-sha," Eric answered shortly. "The last time this happened he wiped out an entire village and he was just getting warmed up. Once he's done with that thing we're next. With the state we're in we have no way to stop him."
Sonic dropped down to all fours and sprinted forward, his shunpo enhanced by his hoshoku-sha form. The first chimera stepped up and was instantly shredded by Sonic's claws, leaving ribbons of meat across the dirt. Another charged him from behind but was impaled when the spikes on his back raised up. Sonic shook the corpse off like it was nothing and began searching for the Chimera Brain. One of the remaining chimeras latched onto his arm, teeth scratching against his iron-like skin. Sonic turned to the annoyance and gripped the top and bottom jaws before ripping the entire beast in half with ease.
The last two chimeras had seen what happened to the other three and only one chose to charge at Sonic, circling around him to try and build up enough speed and force to pierce his skin. Sonic growled and his spikes spread apart again. As the chimera lunged towards him white tendrils reached out from Sonic's back and sliced it apart like a hot knife through butter. The last chimera spread its wings rather than face down a monstrosity. Sonic's tendrils shot up towards the fleeing chimera and wrapped around each of its limbs and heads, squeezing tighter and tighter until the arena echoed with the shattering and cracking of bones. Then without hesitating the tendrils ripped the beast apart, letting the gore fall the to the arena floor. The tendrils retreated back to Sonic and the spikes on his back lowered, sealing them away.
The chimera brain fired a series of spines that shattered when they hit Sonic. He turned to his attacker, a low growl escaping his throat. The chimera then brandished its claws and came at Sonic who countered each blow. If it didn't know better it would have thought that Sonic was mirroring its attacks. As its claws bounced off Sonic's chest the hedgehog roared and bit the chimera's arm just below the shoulder. With little effort he snapped his jaws shut and tore the arm off, spraying blood and muscle across the sand. The chimera brain grimaced and jumped back. By the time it landed it had regrown the arm while the original dissolved in Sonic's mouth.
"It seems that we severely underestimated your abilities," it said as its wings spread out. "And since I have no desire to die I will return to Our Lady to report what I have experienced." It had only flapped once and Sonic was behind it gripping the base of the wings. With a twist of his wrists he tore the wings from the chimera's back and then slammed it into the ground with one taloned foot, his claws digging into its flesh. "Think about this, Sonic!" it yelled, obviously begging for its life. "My children may have been mindless beasts but I am different. I am intelligent and capable of learning from my mistakes. I will even tell you how to destroy Our Lady completely. I just don't want to die!" His pleas fell on deaf ears as Sonic opened his mouth as wide as it would go, forming a sphere of black and blue energy inside it. "No, you can't do this to me! This isn't you!" Sonic fired the blast at point blank range, disintegrating the chimera brain and sending a wall of flame all around him.
"Look out!" Mina yelled, dropping Eric and throwing up her arms just as the flames hit them. A hair's breadth from her face the flames parted around Mina and Eric, leaving them relatively unscathed. When the fire and smoke cleared they could see the feral hoshoku-sha standing in a crater panting. Mina left the shield up just in case until she heard cracks resounding through the Arena. She stared at Sonic as chips of white began falling from his body until his hoshoku-sha form fell from him like a shell, shattering and disappearing as it hit the ground. The only indication of what had just happened were the horns on his temples and the markings on his face. His fur was jet-black with the same white stripes as before but even that was fading back to normal. The horns dissolved and Sonic fell to the ground unconscious.
Mina barely had time to react as the arena barrier dropped, letting a cold wind in that felt like heaven on her wounds. Within moments several teams of medics came to cart them away in stretchers. She looked over at Eric who was either asleep or unconscious, either way glad for a moment of rest. Mina laid her head back as she tried to piece together everything that had just happened.