A/N: So for those of you continuing where you left off I'd like to let you know the series has gone through a pretty massive change. I've removed all the direct BLEACH references and plot points while retaining some of the names. I'm not going to list every change here but I will give you the highlights: 'Hollows' are now 'Hoshoku-sha (Predator)', 'Zanpakuō' are now 'Tamashīken (Spirit Sword)', 'Reiryoku' is 'Katsuryuko (Spirit Vitality)', and (Spoiler!) Sylvanix no longer exists after sacrificing himself to bring Sonic back. If you want to see these changes in the story the simplest way would be to reread everything. The quicker solution is to reread Chapters 1-3 and 13 of this arc to get the biggest changes. I know, pain in the neck but otherwise it means trying to figure things out on the fly.
Anyway, I'm going to be uploading the end of this arc over the next few days so I can focus on the other fics I have on here. In the meantime, enjoy and happy reading!
Sally returned to Sonic's house with a weary sigh. As much as she didn't like living with her ex-fiancé he at least managed to keep things interesting. She would never admit it but she missed having him and Mina around. Fiona made it a point to stop in occasionally and talk with her even dragging Kiarra with her a couple times. She'd even gone to visit Eric and Alura a few times. But at the end of the day it was just her in the house. The intense heat of the Xenodonian summers didn't make things any easier.
On this particular night in mid-June she had just finished going over the paperwork for her morning meeting before catching the evening news and one of the television shows she'd become addicted to. As she fixed another cup of tea her ears twitched at the sound of the door being unlocked. Acting on instinct she grabbed the cricket bat she kept close and swung at the intruders. The purple-haired mongoose ducked as the bat smacked the blue hedgehog square in the face resulting in a string of expletives.
"Sonic? Mina?" she asked as Sonic held his bleeding nose. "By the Maker, Sonic! I'm so sorry."
"Tell that to my damb nose," he replied as he pinched it shut. He went upstairs to the bathroom to take care of it leaving Mina to stifle her laughter.
"A month and a half of training and the only time I hit him is when he let me," she explained when Sally asked her what was so funny. "Then we come back and you get him a weird-looking bat. Nice."
"So I've taken up cricket. Big deal," Sally retorted as she returned the bat to its rightful place. "How did the training go?"
"I honestly don't know where to begin," the mongoose admitted as she sat down and Sally went to fix her a cup of tea. "I know I got a little better but with Sonic it's a different ball game. Judging by the way he and Masamune were going at it then I think Gilgamesh will be a walk in the park this time."
"That's putting it lightly," Sonic interrupted as he walked back downstairs, tissue paper stuffed up his nostrils. "Not only did we figure out where Excalibur is I also found a way to beat that red-caped bastard once and for all." He pulled the tissue out and, satisfied that the bleeding had stopped, tossed it into the trash before sitting down. "I'm gonna need your help on this, Sal. I need to get to Dragon's Nest and I'm hoping you're still in touch with Dulcy."
"I am but I'm not too sure how happy the other dragons will be to see her," Sally admitted as she sipped at her tea. "I'll put in the call in tomorrow. After that we just have to hope things work out in our favor for once."
True to her word Sally put in the call to Antoine but from what Sonic overheard Dulcy had her hands full already. Sally promised to keep trying until they got a solid answer on when/if she would be coming back. Sonic agreed to wait until the absolute last minute for her and in the meantime began putting other affairs in order. The first thing he did was submit his report on what had happened with the Index, making certain to leave out the locations for each of the Scrolls and the Index itself. He could tell that the President knew he was omitting information but McElroy didn't push the matter.
With that done Sonic offered to take Violet out for the day to give his parents some much-needed alone time. His sister, naturally a little suspicious, decided to take him on a tour of the city.
"Can I ask you a question?" Violet asked him as Sonic returned with the ice cream cones he'd promised her. He sat down next to her and nodded as he handed her the orange cone. "How come you don't live with us anymore?"
"I'm used to living on my own and taking care of myself," he explained. "Living with mom and dad...it's not something I had when I was your age so doing it now just feels weird."
"Even if mom wants you to move back in?"
Sonic chuckled as he enjoyed his cotton candy cone. "I'm sure having both of her kids under one roof would be nice," he admitted, "but dad and I would be at each other's throats the whole time. Besides, I see enough of him at work. We just need some time to sort out our other issues before I could think about moving back."
"Like the fact that they left you behind when they came here?" Violet asked quietly, earning a curious stare from her elder brother.
"Sounds like someone's been eavesdropping," he replied and the younger hedgehog blushed. "You're not wrong, kiddo. That's probably the worst of it. But dad and I just have different ways of doing things and we butt heads because we both want our way. The simple version: We're both too stubborn for our own good."
Violet giggled as she nodded and continued on her ice cream. After a few moments she froze as she looked in the distance. She squealed with delight, handed her brother her cone, and ran off as Mina came to the park. Violet clung to her arm as the mongoose was quickly surrounded by other fans.
"Clever," Sally commented as she sat down in Violet's spot. "What do you think your little sister would say if she knew you asked Mina to come here today?"
"Probably wouldn't care," Sonic said as a smile crept onto his face. "She's been wanting to meet Mina for a while now so I figured this would be a good way to cap off the day." Sonic looked over at his ex-fiancé in her work clothes. "I take it today was productive."
"Oh please, it's government," Sally replied and the two of them laughed. "On a more relevant note Antoine finally told me the real reason why we haven't heard from Dulcy." Her face had worry written all over it which Sonic didn't find comforting. "She left a couple weeks ago after having some kind of seizure. The tracker in her communicator is down too."
"So either she has it turned off or..." Sonic let the words hang in the air if for no other reason than not wanting to finish the thought.
"Which is why Antoine wants to come here to look for her," Sally continued. "The last time he was here was for the Festival so this will be his first official visit as Regent. Which reminds me." She pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it to Sonic.
Sonic ran his fingers over the raised letters and he couldn't help but smile. "So they finally settled on a date," he said as he flipped the wedding invitation through his fingers. "They're not gonna try and arrest me to finish my trial, are they?"
Sally shook her head and replied, "The Mobian Council looked over the evidence again and decided on a full pardon. It'll be the first thing he signs off on as King."
Their conversation was interrupted by Violet dragging Mina over to them by the hand and excitedly chattering away, going so far as to 'introduce' her brother to the singer. The three of them played along until Sonic reminded them of the time, telling Violet it was time to head home. Mina offered to walk with them while Sally headed back to the Senate for her last meeting.
Antoine arrived a few days later with his normal entourage of Bunnie, Amy and Tails. Along for the ride was also Hershey Cat with Geoffrey and Ian St. John. As Sonic directed them from the shuttle to the Ambassador's Lodgings he noticed Ian looking around cautiously. "Unlike you I remember fighting in the Great War with these humans," he explained when Sonic asked what was wrong. "Walking among them now with my guard down is beyond foolish. How you and your father can live here is beyond me."
With their luggage handled the Mobians accompanied Sonic to the Vanguard barracks so that Hershey and the St. Johns could start looking for Dulcy. While Antoine and company waited in Eric's office Sonic took the Secret Service agents to the Ops Room. He handed them each a pair of the interactive gloves and showed how to use the satellite mapping/tracking system. Convinced they wouldn't break it he left them to search in peace and rejoined the others just after his father arrived.
"So Gilgamesh is looking for Excalibur and you think that the Dragons have something to do with it?" Eric asked after both Antoine and Sonic had finished. "This would be a big move for Gilgamesh, way bigger than anything else he's pulled. How sure are you that he's headed to Dragon's Nest?"
"Hundred percent," Sonic answered. "The Dragons are the key to finding where the sword is kept. If I had to guess then Gilgamesh has been targeting them to get the same information. He knows he has until the solstice until the sword is sealed back up for Maker knows how long."
"Add to that fact that the Dragon's won't let you shift into their Nest," Eric added much to the surprise of the others there. "Back during the Great War I went to Dragon's Nest without an invitation and they nearly burnt me to a crisp."
"But we have been there before," Antoine pointed out.
"You went to a Dragon's Nest, not the main one," the Commander corrected him. "Besides, if I remember the story right you were with Dulcy. That counts as an invitation." Eric was about to continue when a report came in over his ear bud. He opened his computer screen and confirmed the report. "Well I have good news. Seems Dulcy is coming to us."
"Sir! We found her!" Geoffrey exclaimed as he threw the door open. "Dulcy is-"
"We just heard," Antoine finished for him. The skunk's expression fell to a scowl. "Is her communicator back on?" Geoffrey nodded and Antoine excused himself as he brought his wrist communicator up. "Dulcy? Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear!" the dragon yelled against the rushing wind. "I'm almost to where you guys are but there're a bunch of angry-looking humans pointing weapons at me."
"On it," Sonic said as he contacted the security detail. "Meet us on the roof, Dulce. I need to ask a big favor."
"One step ahead of you, Sonic." The dragon's comment earned Sonic a curious stare from everyone else. They piled out of the office and headed to the roof where they could see the green-skinned dragon coming in hot. Dulcy planted her feet in the rooftop and tore up nearly twenty feet of stone by the time she finally stopped.
"Sorry about running off on you guys," she apologized as she tapped her feet on the roof, freeing some stones lodged in her toes. Sonic noticed for the first time that Dulcy's gold nose ring had been replaced with a black one but he would have to ask about it later. "I had to check on something for the Dragons. After that I came here to pick up Sonic."
"Talk about dumb luck," Sonic muttered. "Here I was going to ask you for a lift to Dragon's Nest."
Dulcy asked for a couple hours to recharge after her flight and the lot of them agreed. Sonic went home and changed, grabbing a small overnight bag with other essentials. He could hear Sally packing as well and made a mental note to try and convince Dulcy to let the former Princess come along. She'd been trying to find a way to get the Dragons to join New Mobotropolis like they had under her father but so far she'd had no luck even with Dulcy's help. Once she was packed he offered her a lift back to the Vanguard barracks and she gladly accepted. One burst of wind later and they were ready to leave...if it weren't for the fact that Dulcy was still sound asleep.
Sonic rifled through several different reports on his desk as he tried to kill time until Dulcy woke up. He did his best to actually accomplish something resembling work but his mind kept wandering back to his training over the last month.
"The purpose of training is to get stronger."
Sonic looked up at Masamune and brushed the blood out of his eye. Kaiyō Mujō's edge was chipped and marred from their constant fighting and Sonic wasn't in any better condition. Each time after their training he had just enough time to rest and heal before heading right back into it. "You keep telling me that but I don't know what I'm supposed to be going for," he replied as he flipped his sword around in his hand.
Masamune's expression didn't change as he dropped into an attack stance and charged, barely giving the hedgehog time to block and parry. Masamune went for the leg sweep but Sonic was already in the air, flipping around to land on his free hand then using it as a pivot for a spin kick. Masamune jumped back but thrust forward again immediately. Sonic was back on his feet and locked blades with his teacher, pushing back against his ever-increasing strength. He then dropped to one knee and threw his master over him. Before the human even landed Sonic already had energy wrapping around him.
"Ryūkai tsume!" he shouted, swinging Kaiyō Mujō in a wide arc. Masamune jumped over the wave with ease but Sonic fired off several more while the human was in the air. His teacher batted them away like they were nothing before using shunpo to rocket himself at Sonic. The hedgehog dodged, barely blocking the next three strikes that Masamune let out.
"You're still too weak!" Masamune yelled as he jumped back, his own sword glowing with searing white light. "If this is all you are capable of then you don't deserve to learn how to tap into Kaiyō Mujō's true strength."
"Do not listen to him, Sonic," Kaiyō Mujō said from beside Sonic. He felt her power join his as her hands wrapped around the tsuka. "I will not allow this old man to beat us so easily."
"Damn straight, girl," Sonic agreed as he grinned. The white light came at him like a wall but Sonic/Kaiyō Mujō drew back the sword. "Ryūkai kiba!" they shouted together, thrusting the blade forward. A deep blue arrow shot out from the blade and tore a hole in Masamune's attack, striking the human square in his chest and throwing him into one of the storage sheds. Kaiyō Mujō's physical form faded from view as Sonic fell to his knees exhausted and using his sword to stay vertical.
"Color me impressed," Masamune commented as he walked towards his student. "I thought we'd be at it all night but it seems you're already gotten her to manifest. Once you're fully recovered we can begin the next step." The human waited for a response from Sonic but none came. As he walked closer he could distinctly hear snoring and he chuckled.
"Sonic? Hello? Anybody in there?"
Sonic blinked and shook his head as Sally came into his office. "At least that much hasn't changed about you," the chipmunk told him as Sonic slung his bag over his shoulder. "Still daydreaming when you should be getting working. By the way, I meant to ask you..."
"No need to," Sonic interrupted her as they headed for the rooftop. "I'm not the one you need to convince, though. Dulcy invited me only. Whether she can extend that to you or not I haven't the foggiest."
"Only one way to find out I suppose," Sally said and Sonic nodded. Their eyes locked for a moment longer than comfortable before opening to the door to the top level where Dulcy was waiting for him.