Eric and Mina tried to regain their balance after feeling the city heave beneath them. While they could no longer see Sonic or Arias they could still see the explosions and smoke from their fight. Mina had been worried about the falling building but Eric assured her that Sonic had survived worse. That was before the two most recent blasts and now even he was worried.
"I hate not being able to sense Sonic," the mongoose stated as she sat on the rooftop. "It's like there's a gap in my senses. You think this is how normal people feel?"
"They do," Eric replied as he thought of his wife. "Alura worries about me constantly if I have to go out in the field and doubly so if Sonic is out there too." He was going to continue when he felt a small twinge of energy off in the distance. Mina stood up, her gaze following Eric's. "It would seem we're not the only ones here."
"You mean aside from the animals in that building back there?" she asked motioning over her shoulder and Eric smirked. "Shouldn't we warn them or something?"
"I'm willing to bet that it's Antoine and his entourage. If he's anything like his father then he won't abandon the city even if the world's falling apart." He narrowed his eyes as he spotted several figures in the distance. "I'm more worried about these newcomers. If I didn't know better I would say that they're Guardians." He motioned for Mina to get on his back and she complied just in time for Eric to lean down and rocket forward. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop with ease as they rapidly closed on the intruders. By the time they arrived though they were already long gone. "They must've picked up on us. But why all the secrecy?"
"The air has that tingle like when you shift," Mina said smacking her lips. "Definitely Guardians. But why couldn't we sense them until just now?"
"They may have been running distraction." The mongoose turned to the Commander who nodded towards the wind barrier. There at the edge stood Arias in golden armor with matching wings. "And if they were trying to distract him then Sonic must've survived that last big blast."
Mina did her best to ignore Arias' new look or the fact that he was looking right at them. She looked around him until she noticed the rain. A smile crept its way onto her lips as Arias' gaze focused on her. "I'm guessing that Sonic found a way to beat that Fortress Mode you were so worried about," she said as Arias floated off.
"Maybe. Now I'm thinking he poked the wrong bear one too many times," Eric replied as a chill went down his spine. "That look in Arias' eyes isn't the kind you have during a friendly fight. He's out for blood."
"He'll have a helluva time getting it from Sonic then." Eric noticed her smile and couldn't help but smirk himself. Whatever it was that she knew it was enough to convince her that Sonic could beat just about anyone. He kept forgetting that Sonic's forte was getting out of impossible situations.
"Then here's to hoping Sonic beats the hell out of that arrogant bastard," he said.
Sonic covered his mouth as he sneezed, trying not to give his location away or aggravate his chest wound any more than necessary. Someone was talking about him, he just knew it. He hoped it was good but wouldn't be surprised if it was Libra trash-talking him. The building where he was hiding would keep him safe for a few minutes but he knew that Libra knew he'd survived that last attack.
His hardened katsuryoku had acted as a shield for the worst of the blast but the heat and force of it had still done significant damage to his already-battered body. It had thankfully seared his shoulder shut but the burn on his chest was now edge-to-edge. He'd give his still flesh-and-blood leg for his regenerative abilities back right now.
A familiar heat burned from his left shoulder blade as a clawed hand reached out and touched his chest wound. The worst of the burns and breaks began to stitch themselves shut as Sonic stared in shock at the cloaked creature in front of him. "It's you," he said as he remembered his resurrection. "What are you doing here?"
"Keeping up my end of the bargain with Sylvanix," Phoenix said as the light faded from Sonic's wounds. "The worst of the damage is healed now. However I don't believe that your body can yet handle the full power of your zenki. And without the kind of power that it can provide..."
"You're basically trying to tell me I can't beat him." The creature nodded. "I've heard that line before. I didn't believe it before and I won't believe it this time. I've still got an ace up my sleeve."
"The hunger of the hoshoku-sha," Phoenix said and Sonic nodded. "Then I wish you luck. Something tells me you're going to need it."
"Hang on a sec," Sonic asked as the creature began to fade. "When you brought me back you said it was for entertainment. What exactly did you mean by that?"
"What else do you think it means?" Phoenix replied. "The only way that I can interact with your world is through an agent like yourself. The dead can only provide so much entertainment but your world..." The creature chuckled. "You people are a source of infinite pleasure. And since I don't want to leave yet I need you alive. You should remember that this isn't the first time that I've interfered in one of your fights."
Before Sonic could respond the wall exploded inward as Libra landed on the floor. Phoenix was gone so Sonic stood alone against the human once again. Libra looked him over noticing that his wounds had healed for the most part. "I was beginning to think that perhaps you had lost your Guardian power," he said, "but seeing you healed has me wondering why you haven't used them against me yet. Not that it really matters seeing how my Chaos Buster should now be a kill-shot with or without your powers."
"So that's what that was," Sonic muttered as he recalled the crimson blast. "Guess it really is my lucky day." He vanished only to have Libra block his strike from behind. In the space of a breath he was above the human only to be blocked with ease once more. Libra grabbed his ankle and whipped Sonic through the opposite wall and back outside.
"You're getting predictable," Libra informed him as he stood on the edge of the hole. He looked around for Sonic but the hedgehog was already long gone. "And now he's playing hide-and-seek again. Just what does he think he's really getting at?" The wings on his helm started to glow as several orange screens floated in front of him. He caught a glimpse of Sonic before his eyes started throbbing and the screens vanished. "Damn it. With all the damage I've sustained I can't maintain my Omniscience for very long." He looked around again. He was sure he had seen that Sonic had stayed close.
"Ryūkai kiba!" Libra looked up only to have a turquoise dragon's head rip him from the ledge and drag him towards the ground. As he plummeted he noticed that Sonic fell with him before his foot touched the side of the building and he vanished again.
So he can't use that other stepping technique as long as he's using his zenki, the human thought with a sneer. With renewed confidence he grabbed the dragon's jaws and started prying them apart. The head gave a final glow before erupting, rocketing Libra down into the ground. After a moment the human stood up in waist-deep water and glared skyward. Sonic was gone again and this time he knew he wouldn't come back so quickly.
He brushed where the right wing had been on his helm and swore under his breath. The bastard waited to see how I found him before and then he disabled it. I was going to kill him quickly and finish what I started but I think it's only appropriate I make this rodent suffer first. He turned his attention to the water around him. He wasn't wet but he could feel it slowing his movements down all the same.
"Still can't figure it out, eh?" Sonic asked. He was crouched on a ledge not too far from Libra with a smile on his face. "I wouldn't feel too bad. It's likely one of those things you need to see in person before getting." As the words left his mouth the rain finally let up. Libra had assumed before it was just a trick but now understood as the water began to glow. It started to disappear as a glowing mass formed on Sonic's legs, eventually solidifying into a pair of turquoise boots that stopped just above his knees.
"For some reason your body can't handle the full power of your zenki," Libra realized. "So you pushed all of it out to begin with. Once the rain reaches a certain point you can then reform it." Sonic started with a slow clap as a torrential downpour started.
"I'm about at fifty percent right now," Sonic told him. "What do you say we give these boots a test run?"
Libra didn't have time to respond as a series of sonic booms rocked the air around him and Sonic buried the pommel of his halberd into his ribcage. The hedgehog then rained down a series of kicks and punches so fast that all the Libra could make out was a blue-and-turquoise blur. Sonic was significantly stronger and faster but Libra knew that he could easily handle it...if Sonic would just stop hitting him.
"Ryūkai tsume!" Sonic said making a cross-shaped slash. The two waves slammed into Libra, pushing him back into a wall before erupting. He made a small sidestep as a beam of golden energy shot out. He smiled as he heard the explosion behind him. "You're getting predictable," he told Libra using the human's own words on him. With a roar Libra flew up out of the rubble and into the sky. Once there a second pair of wings materialized behind him and he started coughing up blood.
"Damn you, hedgehog," he growled as he looked down at the city. "To think that a mongrel like you forced me use this. Killing you has become a chore rather than sport." The wings stretched open as his entire body began to pulse with light. The feathers detached and began homing in on Sonic and the area around him.
Sonic's eyes widened as he realized what the human was doing. He bolted just before the first feather touched down, the explosion ripping apart the city around it. Each feather hit with the power of a missile and Sonic managed to stay just a few steps ahead of each one. He's pulling out all the stops just to kill me, Sonic thought as he jumped from wall to wall. I have to put an end to this now but I'm still not strong enough to use either of those.
Speak for yourself, Kuroc said as a vision of his manifested hoshoku-sha formed in his head. Seriously, are you just gonna let him kick your ass over and over? Let's show this prick what real power is...partner.
"No choice I guess. If he's willingly offering his power then I must be in serious trouble," Sonic muttered. His eyes flashed emerald green as his fur started to change.
Libra panted as the feathers in his wings started to grow back. Beneath him the city was riddled with craters from his Heavenly Rain. "There's no way all of those missed," he said, "but since the bastard destroyed my visor I have no way to know until...!"
He felt a wave of pressure slam into him and his eyes widened as Sonic slammed his knee into his gut. It was just like Gilgamesh had told him from their encounter in Serenity. The horns reached back from Sonic's temples but now joined with the crown on his head and it extended to the back of his head almost like a helmet. Sonic's black and green eyes bored into him as the halberd began to glow. "Ryūkai kiba!" Sonic growled. A turquoise Nihon dragon with glowing red eyes latched onto Libra and dragged him towards the ground.
Sonic focused on forming the energy around the arm that held Ryūmi Nyotei as he began to fall. Whether he couldn't use shunpo while in zenki or he just had to train harder he didn't know but it meant he had to charge this up before he hit the ground. A golden dragon's tail began to wrap around his arm and a dragon's head formed at the head of the halberd. One shot, he thought as he put Libra in his sights. "Tenryū kiba (Heavenly Dragon Fang)!" He threw his arm forward and the energy extended out, forming into a full dragon as it charged towards Libra.
The dragon let out a roar before slamming into Libra and the force of the explosion blasted Sonic back through a building. He grabbed onto a pipe as he waited for everything to stop shaking. Tenryū kiba was his second-strongest technique but it was a pain to prep and did serious collateral damage. He crawled up to the window he'd been thrown through and stared at the crater he'd made. Still, it was impossible to argue with the results.
"That had better have finished him off," he muttered as the hoshoku-sha energy began to fade. He was hit with a sudden wave of fatigue so he grabbed onto the window frame for support. The gauntlets and boots were starting to dissolve as well but at a much slower rate. "I knew it was a risk but I wasn't left with much of a choice. Either let him use that technique somewhere else or put him down." He closed his eyes, asking Ryūmi Nyotei for just a little more time. When he opened his eyes movement caught his attention and he bolted in that direction.
Libra pushed the rubble off him with his right arm seeing as how his left was shot to hell. The armor and wings on his left side had been obliterated by Sonic's last attack and he was in nothing short of agony. "If that miserable rodent had hit me dead center..." the human started but shook his head. A noise off to his side confirmed that Sonic had arrived.
"What the hell?" Sonic asked as he dropped into a fighting stance. "What is it going to take to take you down, Libra?"
"More than you've got, rodent," Libra spat as he stood up. He gave Sonic a quick once-over and smiled inwardly. "Looks like neither of us is in any shape to keep fighting like this." He held his right hand out as golden energy spiraled in his palm. His remaining wings spread out and began glowing as they drew in energy from the surrounding area. "I don't know where you got this power but I do know that you won't ever use it again!"
"You're insane!" Sonic yelled as the air began to quake. "A blast like that will kill you too!" Libra chuckled as a twisted grin crossed his lips. Sonic narrowed his eyes at the human before gripping the halberd tightly. "C'mon, Ryūmi Nyotei," he asked quietly. "One more time and then you can take it easy." The halberd gave a gentle glow in response and Sonic felt power welling up inside him. The water pooling around them began flashing before rising into the air and forming around Sonic.
"Good luck getting close enough to use it on me!" Libra laughed as the spiraling energy began to fade and the sphere in his hand began to compress. The water around Sonic coalesced into a large serpent and in a brief moment armor formed around Sonic's head and chest only to start breaking apart in large pieces.
"Tsunami Suto (Tsunami Strike)!" Sonic yelled as he charged the human.
Libra aimed the sphere right at Sonic and prepared to fire it. Sparks flew from his hand as the attack began to fluctuate and the human's eyes widened. "No you don't!" he said, focusing on containing the energy. The sphere continued to twist and contort in his hand despite all his efforts. "Not now. I can't lose when I'm so close!"
Not this time, a voice said in Libra's head. The human froze and the sphere of energy dissipated completely. It's over, Libra. This time you die with me! Libra roared in fury as Sonic's halberd hit him dead center.