REVIEWS!
ENDDRAGON369: I mean, makes sense on some level. But I'll be waiting till the next update comes to actually learn more about The End… That is, if they reveal anything further.
Dis0rd3r: Yea, Sonic has some bad names. The Servants are going to have some serious question about their naming sense.
Sadly even with La Pucelle, Jeanne can't defeat the Hyper-Go-On powered Holy Grail Jeanne Alter, but she defiantly hurt her fake. But now Jeanne Alter is realizing somethings up, even having defeated her 'fake', she doesn't feel any joy.
I do have plans for the Rings that have been stolen, along with more Colour Powers appearing. But considering Gilles is… Gilles, Goetia is more using France as a testing ground.
Clownreaper96: Questionable Questing, mainly started using it because I can post images in it.
D. : Your right, it is odd that Gilles cracked the code to using two Colour Powers at once. But the how will be explained in this chapter actually, and if you remember back a few chapters, you may realize where the Black Crystal came from.
Nearsighted: Yep! Angry speedsters are terrifying. Lostbelt 6 is going to be horrifying for everyone involved.
Gwynx: Indeed.
xmodaliyong12: I've already said before I don't use grammar stuff for personal reasons (To keep improving my work by myself, its a pride thing). Other sight is Questionable Questing, although I'm thinking of also posting on some more sites like Ao3.
shadowfox219: Thats not exactly right, but its not exactly wrong ether. The whole Sonic Alter situation will be explained further once Orleans is over, and I hope people like how it works.
Lancelot got wrecked, no other way to put it. Jeanne's death was sad, but I wanted to make it clear early that Sonic's presence is MASSIVELY changing things. Her actions helped inspire Sonic to fight harder to solve this mess.
Yea, Jalter isn't really thinking of the consequences which is… Bad. Giving Fafnir's Frenzy power? Not a good idea.
That does sound like a good idea, thanks!
zain0068: Yes, I used Mash by accident twice, but her official name is still Mashu. And I prefer the Japanese names most of the time, so I will keep using them.
And please stop telling me what to do, this is MY story, not yours. If you want it perfect, go read actual literature. If your trying to offer advice, word it different because this feels like your just trying to tell me how to write my story.
Frontiers9: I'm waiting for more information on the Blue-Eyed Super Sonic to be revealed to decide anything, it may be something unique to the Starfall Islands that allows the form, so it may not be possible to use elsewhere.
When Sonic arrived to the rest of his group, he found them surrounded by wyvern corpses and now completely united. A few glanced to him, frowns coming to their faces as they realized someone was missing.
"Senpai! Thank god your okay… But where's Jeanne?". A concerned Mashu asked as she looked about, trying to find the saint. Sonic looked down, pulling out the familiar flag of the Ruler. Mashu let out a horrified gasp, falling to her knees as tears began to escape her eyes.
"She was outmatched and she knew it… But she still insisted I go help Gareth. Heh, she really was deserving of that saint title". Sonic let out a bitter chuckle, he should've dragged Jeanne with him.
"Don't blame, cugh! Yourself master". A struggling to stand Gareth spoke, being helped up by Marie. "If anything, its my fault for not being able to reason with Sir Lancelot-".
"You couldn't have, he was using the powers of the Frenzy Wisp. It enhances your strength while driving you berserk, and with him already being a Berserker, it must've completely destroyed any sanity he had". Sonic countered, he recognized that look in Gareth's eyes. She blamed herself for what happened.
"Oui! We can't get all sad now can we? Especially with such an adorable leader!". Marie smiled, attempting to hug Sonic only for the speedster to easily avoid it. "Ooh! Come on, just one hug please?".
"S-senpai! Thats Queen Marie Antoinette, a French queen. The Caster is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart". Mashu quickly explained, only for Sonic to give her a stare. "O-oh yes, you wouldn't… Recognize their history".
"Eh, not the first time I've meet royalty. Do you have any idea how many I've met? I've gotten my butt kicked by a princess of another dimension once". Sonic spoke casually, causing everyone to give him confused glances. But while his Servants were used to his weirdness, their new allies most certainly weren't.
"I believe we deserve a bit of an explanation, its been one strange thing after another in this summoning". Amadeus requested, and everyone turned to Mashu, who nodded and dragged the queen and musician away to explain what was going on.
With them gone, the group went silent. They all had questions, and they were waiting for who'd speak first.
"So… Just the fake Jeanne and Lancelot to deal with huh?". Sonic spoke, his usual devil may care attitude faded away.
"We'll likely have to deal with a version of Gilles de Rais as well, Jeanne's most loyal supporter who fell to becoming a child murderer after her death. If there's anyone she'd summon as a Servant, its him". Artoria growled, she wasn't sure why but she felt a burst of hate in her heart for Gilles.
"Speaking of bad things… What the heck happened with you earlier? You were acting more like the tyrant over there". Cu asked Sonic, who frowned and shrugged.
"If we had more time, we could perform some tests to try figuring it out. But for now lets go with a bleed over because their both King Arthur, which means you also need to be careful of bleed over from Lily as well". Tamamo frowned, cursing the lack of time and knowledge.
They could pause to figure this all out, but that'd give Jeanne Alter more time to restore her energy and regather her forces. With the Holy Grail, she could summon more Servants.
"So just make sure not to think angering thoughts, yea. I can do that". Sonic was still frowning, but quickly had to hold out his hands when Cu tossed something to him. "This is…!".
"The Berserker I fought, Vlad the Third had it on him. Bastard somehow resisted the witch's control enough to rely purely on his own abilities, it was damn impressive if annoying he wasn't going all out. I guess you know what it does?". Cu asked, with Sonic nodding. The familiar feeling of Hyper-Go-On energy in his hands reigniting something within the hedgehog.
"Yea, the Pink Spikes Colour Power. They may seem useless at first, but theres a lot you can do with them with a little thinking". Sonic tossed the capsule up and down, before storing it in his quills. A grin spread across his face.
Yea they weren't in a good position, but they weren't down yet! As Mashu returned with a very confused looking Amadeus and Marie, the blue blur quickly cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention.
"Alright guys! We're in the end game now. We took out Jeanne Alter's Servants, so she's lost a massive piece of her fighting force, we need to take advantage of that and hit her while she's weak. Because once she's recovered? She won't hold anything back to destroy us". Sonic spoke, his familiar charisma surging around him and a grin on his face. "I'll admit, its a tragedy we lost Jeanne. But would she want us to sit around frowning?".
Mashu, Gareth and Lily perked up. Artoria, Sasaki, and Cu nodded, Marie's eyes were near sparkling with stars, Tamamo gave a smile, while Amadeus had a pleasantly surprised look on his face.
"Of course not! She sacrificed herself because she believed we could deal with this! Now, I have no intention of disappointing her. So lets go end this Singularity!".
Cheers echoed around, the groups spirits revitalized by the inspiring speech.
Jeanne looked into the mirror, her face stared back. Silver hair, yellow eyes, pale skin… It wasn't her original appearance, she knew she had blond hair before, amethyst eyes, and a healthy skin tone, exactly as the imposter had looked.
"I'm the real one, my appearance is just a side effect of the power Gilles gave me… That's right, I'm not a fake, I'm Jeanne d'Arc". She spoke to her self, hating how weak she looked in the mirror, how her words felt like lies to even her.
"I-if… I'm not the real one, what… What am I?". She clenched her fists, feeling the metal of her gauntlets begin to bend. If she was a fake, then why did she exist? She had to be the real one, she had to be!
"I'M NOT THE FAKE!". She shattered the mirror with a punch, flames roaring to life around her. "I beat her! I'm stronger! She was the fake! I'm not… I'm not a fake…".
"I will accept your evil, your sins, and your darkness".
Jeanne Alter's eyes widened as she remembered those words from her counterpart, why, why had she been so…
"Why was she so kind to me? I should've been a fake in her eyes, why did she…". She couldn't know, Jeanne couldn't figure it out. Why would anyone treat their doppelganger with such kindness.
"Jeanne, your faker is way more annoying then mine".
"He… He said he had a faker, maybe… Maybe he'll know…". Jeanne Alter resolved herself, burning France could wait. She needed to know, she had to know…
Unknown to her, the black crystal Gilles had given her began to glow.
Sonic ducked under the claws of a wyvern and delivered a spin dash to slam the beast away for Artoria to cut it in half. Tamamo tossed one of her ofuda's to paralyse a wyvern for Gareth to pierce through its head.
"Tsk! Why the why are there so many wyverns?". Cu avoided a wave of fire as Sasaki cut down another hoard of wyverns. Lily blocked a wyvern attempting to bite Marie, letting Mozart hit it with a blast of magic.
"We're getting close to the source of these wyverns". Artoria grabbed one of their foes and snapped its neck, wincing as her back was hit with flames. Thankfully her own endurance was more then enough for her to endure her way through it.
"Great! The mechanical one of these things was bad enough, the army is just a bit to much!". Sonic grinned and in a blue blur cleared away the hoard of wyvern trying to encircle the group.
They'd been fighting their way through the wyvern army for a while, their target in sight, the castle Jeanne Alter had taken as her base and if Sonic's senses were right? Was practically drenched in Hyper-Go-On energy.
"Just a bit further and we can end this nightma-". Sonic was cut off as the ground back to shake. "Woah! Whats going on?".
"ROOOOOOAAAAAAAARRR!". The sky was blackened out by wing flaps, Sonic and his Servants staring up at the sky as the dozens, thousands of wyverns flew about. But it was the seven massive forms glowing with purple colour power that truly grabbed their attention.
"...I'm not the only one seeing that right?". Sonic asked to make sure he wasn't seeing things, had their enemy gone crazy?!
"I wish you were… Seven Fafnirs, each enhanced by that Purple Frenzy power. This is going to be a tough one". Cu readied his spear, at least it seemed with the presence of their leaders the wyverns were backing off.
"Ten of us, seven of them and hundreds of wyverns… I'll be honest, I can't see a way for us to win fairly". Artoria clenched her blade tightly, even if she unleashed multiple Excalibur blasts to the point her Spirit Origin cracked, she couldn't hope to defeat such a force.
"S-senpai! What do we do!?". A panicking Mashu asked, and she wasn't the only one. Marie was trembling slightly, Lily's eyes were looking about frantically, and Gareth was unsteady on her feet.
"I….". Sonic looked over his team, if he left them here he could easily race to Jeanne's location, but that option was unacceptable. "I'm…".
"Servants are spirits, we're already dead. You and Mashu are the only ones actually living here, we can just be resummoned". Artoria Alter spoke what many were thinking but unwilling to say. "It'd be both the strategic and safest option to simply run ahead and-".
"No". Sonic clenched his fists, he'd been forced to abandon Jeanne. The idea of abandoning his friends again caused a sick feeling to well in his gut. "I know thats probably the wise choice to make here, but its not one I can do".
"So we've got to defeat seven powered up Fafnir's, an army of wyverns, and then whatever the witch is preparing?". Tamamo frowned, this wasn't going to be easy, but if her master made that choice, she'd follow him.
"Alright, we'll split into teams where we can and-". Sonic was cut off, a familiar feeling of a certain type of Hyper-Go-On energy. "That can't be…".
Scrrrrrrr…
The sound of metal against stone echoed out as a sword was raised into the air.
"The evil dragon shall fall… And the world shall reach its sunset. I will bring you down". Black Hyper-Go-On energy and green electricity sparked around the Servant. He raised his blade, and swung, sending a massive surge of energy towards one of the Fafnir.
"BALMUNG!".
The Fafnir hit roared in agony as it fell from the sky, explosions occurring across its body from Black Bomb infused Noble Phantasm. It slammed into the ground, the other Fafnir's flying about in clear panic at their destined foe's arrival.
"Siegfried!". Sonic cried, joyful and disbelieving to see the supposedly dead Saber alive after self destructing.
"B-But how!? Senpai and Jeanne said you use the Black Bomb power and exploded!". Mashu asked confused, the Saber gave a gentle smile as the group finally got a proper look at him.
He was alive, but it was clear the damage from the Black Bomb Colour Power had devastated him. His armour was destroyed, revealing all of his muscular chest and his modesty was only kept by black pants and steel boots. Dried blood covered his hands and one of his eyes was surronded in blood, but he was alive.
"It… Was close…". Siegfried gasped out as Marie quickly rushed to his side to begin healing the dragon slayer, the surrounding Fafnir's staying back after a single attack had killed one of their kin. "I awakened to find myself under rubble, drifting between the realm of the dead and living… The witch must have thought me dead and not bothered double checking".
"Well I'm glad to finally have ya on the winning side!". Sonic grinned and clapped the Saber on the back, wincing as Siegfried let out a groan of pain. "Hah… Sorry".
"As much as I appreciate the help, any chance you have another in ya?". Cu asked as the Fafnir's got over their fear and began glaring at the group. They only had seconds to plan anything now.
"Go… I shall, handle Fafnir. It matters not how many there are… I shall bring them all down to apologize for the sins I have committed". Siegfried forced himself up despite the agony that went through his body, the witch had forced him to harm those he had tried to protect… It was only fair he go out making up for his mistakes.
"None of that self sacralise hero act! You're basically the perfect counter to these things right?". Sonic asked and when Siegfried nodded, the hedgehog grinned. "Alright! We're splitting the team into four! I'll take care of Jeanne Alter. Mashu, Cu, Sasaki, Marie, Lily, and Mozart will stay to support Siegfried. Artoria I want you to handle Lancelot. Gareth you'll come with me, but if we run into that Gilles guy can you handle it?".
"I-if you think I can, I'll try my best master!". Gareth was unsure, after failing so miserably against Sir Lancelot, could she really deal with another Servant by herself?
"An acceptable plan, I shall put down the beast Lancelot has become". Artoria Alter was… Tense regarding Lancelot. On one side he was one of her most loyal knights, on the other much of the kingdom's fall could be blamed on his shoulders. Her original counterpart would forgive and move on… But she would not.
"Sheesh, at this point I may as well dragon slaying to my list of feats". Cu grinned as he twirled his spear, at his side Sasaki smiled.
"A most worthy feast of opponents".
"S-senpai… Are you sure I can't come with you?". Mashu asked, she didn't want to leave her Senpai. She'd not helped him much at all in this Singularity, was she really so weak…?
"Mashu, do you know why I'm not having you come with me?". The hedgehog suddenly asked and the Shielder frowned, dozens of ideas forming in her head. "Because theres nobody I trust more to keep everyone else safe".
"Nobody… Else?". Mashu smiled, yes, Senpai believed in her. She may not get to fight alongside her beloved Senpai, but she'd not fail him. "Understood Senpai! I won't fail!".
"Oui Oui! Oh this is so exciting Amadeus! Come on!". Marie had already began to run off, a frantic Mozart chasing after her. The group began to split, each of them having their own goals.
Artoria had quickly split off from Gareth and Sonic once they arrived at Jeanne's castle, sensing an oh so familiar presence. The Berserker waited for her in a large room, and she prepared herself for the duel that was about to begin.
No words were spoken, such a thing wasn't needed here. Blinded by madness as he was, Lancelot had done this so many times it had become instinct. Neither moved, waiting for some hidden signal to begin.
Drip, drop, drip.
Rain began to fall outside, and the two corrupted knight's moved. Arondight clashed with Excalibur as golden eyes met red visor, stepping back they clashed again and again. Artoria avoided a thrust and slashed at Lancelot's left foot, which glowed with purple light that quickly spread to the rest of the Berserker.
Lancelot attacked with a series of deadly fast slashes, his speed enhanced by the two Colour Powers coursing through his body. Artoria could block many thanks to being familiar with his fighting style and her own enhancements from Chaos Energy, but many got through and began putting dents and cracks into her armour.
She avoided another blow and landed a punch to Lancelot sending him stumbling back, only for ribbons to emerge from her magical energy and drag him towards her for a slash of Excalibur. The knight of the lake grunted as violet energy began radiating off his sword, Artoria's eyes widened.
Sonic had explained the various Colour Powers in case they encountered them, and Violet Void was one he had especially warned of. A power that could make one into a false black hole was devastating, and as she was pulled flying towards Arondight she gathered mana into Excalibur and stuck it into the ground, causing red lines to spread across the ground and let out an explosive burst of mana that allowed her to quickly mana burst towards a disoriented Lancelot, who ducked under her attempt to behead him and slammed her away with a punch.
"Cugh!". Artoria coughed out blood, a frown covering her face. This wasn't good, Lancelot was usually her equal and she had underestimated his skill. Even maddened, the knight of the lake was an unparalleled warrior. Add on two Colour Powers and he was an opponent she had little chance of defeating normally.
She focused on the taint within her, red electricity-like mana began to crackle around her as Chaos Energy swirled around Excalibur.
"Come Lancelot, your execution awaits". Artoria's words were greeted by a roar of 'Arthur!' from her knight, the two running towards each other and clashing blades. Arondight and Excalibur clashed again and again, both releasing waves of energy from each clash.
Lancelot was an opponent who was unequal in skill, and her raw power advantage had been removed. There was only one way for her to defeat the maddened knight… By coping her master.
"Your skills have truly rusted Lancelot, did you waste all your time fucking my wife?!". Artoria demanded and Lancelot flinched back, leaving him unprepared for a slash against his chest. "Camelot, my Camelot, fell because of your lusts you barbaric pig!".
Lancelot flinched back against, seeming to almost be physically pained by the words. Through the fogs of madness, a voice completely agree. The perfect kingdom fell because of him, because he had fallen for a forbidden love.
He tried blocking a sword slash from Excalibur, but his shaky movements were easily parried and his leg was stabbed by the sacred sword. Howling in agony he fell to his knees, Arondight falling to his side, the idea of using the Colour Powers not even crossing his mind.
"My original self may have forgiven you, but I have not. You're punishment is finally at hands, Lancelot du Lac". Artoria Alter raised Excalibur Morgan, energy beginning to emerge from it. "Sink into the mountain of corpses…
EXCALIBUR MORGAN!".
The knight of the lake did not try moving, did not resist as he was hit point-blank by the Sword of Promised Victory. It was only fair, his punishment had finally come. The Noble Phantasm consumed him and kept flying through the roof on the castle, destroying everything in its way.
"Guh…". Artoria Alter fell to her knees, breathing heavily. Her energy was low, she'd used far to much fighting Lancelot and with how much she'd used fighting the Fafnir's alone earlier, she was dangerously close to empty. "Curses… I'll have to leave the rest to you, Sonic".
The King of Knights leaned against one of the few standing walls, focusing on recovering her mana and Chaos Energy.
As Sonic and Gareth travelled through the halls of the castle, they smelt it before they arrived. A sickly metallic smell that both of them recognized.
"Master…". She raised her shield and spear, while Sonic glared at the large door before them.
"Its probably that Gilles guy… Lets deal with him-". Sonic stopped when a hand appeared in his path, his gaze going to Gareth.
"Master… Let me deal with this madman, you need to deal with Jeanne Alter. Leave me to vanquish this monster". She begged, she needed to do this. She had failed and caused her master to enter a berserker-like rage, she… Didn't want to see one of her idols fall to their darker urges again, and she was certain whatever was behind this door would do that.
"...Are you sure?". Sonic asked, he didn't want to leave Gareth to deal with Gilles alone, but they were racing against time before Jeanne could summon more Servants.
"...No, but I have to be". Gareth took a step towards the door, but stopped when Sonic offered her something. "Thats...! Are you sure Master? What if you need it to defeat Jeanne?".
"I may not be a king, but I AM a version of Artoria. What kind of leader would I be if I left my friend to fight alone?". Sonic smiled, and Gareth returned it as she gratefully took the small capsule.
She heard his footsteps as he ran down the halls, and gathered herself. She raised her spear and slammed it against the door, breaking it open to reveal the workshop of Gilles de Rais.
It was sickening, blood splattered across the floor, symbols that gave her a headache and glowed with an unearthly energy, and disturbingly small skeletons littered about. Her target was standing besides a large ritual circle, chanting in an unknown language.
"Gilles de Rais! In the name of the King of Britain, I will put an end to your evil today!". Gareth announced into the room, and Gilles turned around and oh holy god what was wrong with his eyes!?
"Ah, I see one of you has arrived! You shall be the first to be-". The mad Caster was cut off as the Lancer rushed forward, easily piercing through his body and… Huh? Where was the blood. "-The first of your comrades to perish!".
Gareth's eyes widened as Gilles glowed a greenish colour. Jade Ghost, a Colour Power that made its user like a ghost, including an ability to phase through attacks. Hearing squelching sounds, she flinched as strange starfish monsters began to be summoned around the room.
"Hahahaha! Kill her! Defile her for daring to deny the holy maiden!". The mad laughter of Gilles echoed out as the hoard began approaching Gareth, who began attacking them with spear swipes and slamming them away with her shield.
The mutated starfish weren't strong, but there were many. Gareth glanced to Caster, who kept glowing with jade light, as long as he had that active, she couldn't touch him. She considering using the gift her master had given her, but it was best saved for later.
She pierced, bashed and stomped over the starfish, yet Gilles kept summoning more while cackling the entire time. But despite having her mother like the rest of her siblings, Gareth was still a daughter of Morgan le Fay, she was familiar with how magic worked and Gilles was a failure in her eyes.
He relied completely on his spellbook to perform any spell, and as she kept her eyes on the spellbook, she understood Gilles weakness. She killed more starfish, watching as the jade aura around Gilles travelled to his book, she'd only have a few seconds to do this, she quickly tossed something into her mouth and waited.
Finally the aura of jade completely vanished as the mad Caster prepared to summon more starfish, and Gareth acted. She crushed the capsule between her teeth, wincing as her Chaos Energy was temporally replaced by Hyper-Go-On.
SPIKES! BURST!
"What?! You dare steal the power I had gifted the holy mai-". She ignored Gilles and charged forth, the tip of her spear glowing with pink light.
"Ira Lupus: Spike Strike!". She stabbed her spear forward as pink light in the shape of the spear extended forward, Caster only had enough time for his eyes to widen before the Noble Phantasm enhanced by Hyper-Go-On pierced through his chest.
Gurgling on his own blood, Gilles de Rais fell over and began to fade away into golden sparks. His mutated starfish also fading away.
"Guh!". Gareth fell to her knees as she coughed out pink slime, eww! Letting out a sigh of relief as the Hyper-Go-On faded away and was replaced by the far more comforting Chaos Energy of Sonic. She tried forcing herself to stand, but just fell over again. "Guuuh…".
She eventually managed to force herself to stand and left the workshop of Gilles, and not a moment to soon as a beam of familiar black and red mana utterly destroyed it mere seconds after Gareth left.
"...That was to close my king…". The wide-eyed knight muttered, before falling to the floor. She, really needed to rest…
Note to self, don't mix Chaos Energy and Hyper-Go-On. Gareth breathed softly as she focused on recovering her energy.
Sonic slowed down as he arrived at a new hall, noticing various scorch marks across the stone walls and banners of dragons. Looks like he'd found his target, and as he walked into the throne room, he suppressed the surge of rage at the sight of Jeanne Alter smirking on her throne.
"Well look who came back, the little rat who ran away". She taunted, yet something about it felt… Emptier then before. There was still cruelty there, but it was weaker? "Come to get beaten again?".
"I've come to put an end to your rampage, you've hurt far to many innocent people for me to let you go". Sonic spoke, regret filling him as much as wrath did. Jeanne, the various Servants she'd forced under her control, dozens of villages…
"Put an end to me? Your arrogance is as great as your stupidity!". Jeanne Alter stood up, her sword appearing in one end and flag in the other. "I'll even burn you to ashes like that bimbo saint!".
"…". Sonic didn't speak, but the dark blue energy that surged around him spoke enough. A Chaos Energy sword formed in his hands, it was time to end this.
Jeanne was the first to move, summoning three spears of fire and launching them at the speedster who easily avoided them and appeared in front of the blackened saint. Eyes wide she was unable to avoid a sword slash that caused a spurt of blood to fly into the air, but Sonic head to leap back to avoid a burst of flames around the now infuriated Alter.
She attempted to slash Sonic, but the speedster parried and was about to deliver a thrust when it was deflected by her battleflag. Cursed flames surged around them and attempted to close in on Sonic, who leapt into the air and homing attacked the blackened saint who managed to dodge.
The two glared at each other, but unnoticed by Sonic purple energy was beginning to fall off him and drift towards Jeanne Alter. An Avenger was one who absorbed curses, hatred and wrath, and right now Sonic was certainly feeling the third. Swords clashed against each other, but the saint was unprepared when a second blade formed in the speedster's free hand and slashed across her left thigh.
The two disengaged and began circling around each other, black flames formed under Sonic who avoided them with a side roll and curled into a ball, spin-dashing towards the Avenger who formed a barrier of flames, only for the blue blur to travel through it and hit her in the stomach.
"Guh! You… Bastard!". Spitting out blood, she tossed away her flag and allowed her free hand to be covered in flames, punching the hedgehog and burning the blur.
Fighting his way through the pain, Sonic kicked away Jeanne's sword and delivered a second kick to her face, sending her flying through a wall. Chasing after her, the two found themselves in an area of the castle open to the castle.
Sonic aimed for a kick to the ribs, only for the alter to block with one of her arms and send a surge of fire forward with the other. Leaping backward, the blue blur kicked sending Chaos Energy infused wind blades forward, cancelling out the black flames of the Avenger.
"All evil shall gather here…". Jeanne Alter's sword was summoned to her hands, Sonic's eyes widening as he realized what was about to happen. "This is the howl of a soul filled with hatred!".
"Le Grondement Du Haine!".
Black flames gathered, hatred gathered. Flames gathered around Sonic, from every direction. The speedy blur barely avoided as stakes made of curses emerged from the ground, but was unprepared for the burst of magical energy that exploded from it, sending the hedgehog flying off the castle, his eyes widened.
"CRAAAAAAAA-". The hedgehog fell, unable to find anything to grip onto and glanced to the very far off ground, this was going to be painful. "Huh?".
A green light lit up from under Sonic's glove, as mystical energy covered the hedgehog in an orb of power. His vision rapidly turning black.
"Ughhh….". Sonic groaned, forcing his eyes open as he… Where was he? Standing up, he found himself in a beautiful field with flowers all about, a picnic was set up as well and was attended by…
"Jeanne…?".
The blond haired saint smiled at him, she wasn't wearing her usual battle armour and instead it was a white dress.
"Hello Sonic, would you like some food as well?". The saint offered a plate filled with chili dogs to the hedgehog, who frowned.
"...This is a dream ain't it?". Sonic looked around sadly, noticing things about the world that were off. The smell of the chili dogs while delicious was slightly off, the flowers were just a bit to perfect, and the sun wasn't something he could stare at normally.
"Yes, but does that take away its value? You've been dealing with a lot of stress lately, a moment to relax could help you". Despite his disagreement, Sonic found himself walking over and sitting on the picnic blanket. "Aren't you going to eat anything? They may not fill your stomach, but the food is delicious".
"I need to wake up, I was falling and-". Sonic was cut off as a chili dog was shoved into his mouth, which he quickly began chewing. It was good, but it was also just off in ways he couldn't describe.
"This is a dream, we can take as long as we want here and not a second will pass in the real world". Jeanne, or rather the entity pretending to be Jeanne spoke. "So we can spend as long as we want here".
"I…". Sonic stared at his own hands, his gaze quickly travelling to the now darkened blue quills across his body. "I'm not sure how to deal with this, Eggman wants to conquer the world but he isn't a killer. I won't lie and say nobody dies, but its never on this scale…".
"Our worlds are rather different after all, one filled with darkness and the other light. Or perhaps thats the wrong term for it? Yin Yang? A world of darkness with spots of light, and a world of light filled with stains of darkness". Jeanne smiled as she offered Sonic a cup of… Soda? He took it gratefully and began drinking. "But why would you have to accept it?".
"I'm great but not that great, I can't save everyone…". Sonic looked down, his ears flattening against his head. "I don't have Excalibur, I don't have any of my friends to help, the powers I'm used to being on my side are being used against me".
"Its true you lack your own Excalibur, and the allies you have while your friends, aren't those you've had months and years of experiencing working with. And of course, we can't forget that fact your enemy has stolen the power of the Wisps". The false Jeanne smiled, before pointing to Sonic's glove. "Yet your not alone, your never alone even if you seem to be fighting alone".
Sonic raised an eyebrow and removed his glove, a familiar necklace turned bracelet shining, the green jewel reflecting his eyes.
"Chip…". He muttered the name of his friend, the light half of Mobius, Light Gaia. Memories surged through his head, even when he'd been in a monstrous form he'd still been him, so why was he being so depressed now?
"This world doesn't need another grim saviour, or the last master of humanity. Instead it has someone else, a blue blur who loves going fast". Jeanne smiled as Sonic put his glove back on, a warm smile on his own face. "Now, I think its time you finally returned, Sonic the Hedgehog".
Blackness surrounded Sonic's vision, but this time the comforting scent of flowers reassured him.
Jeanne Alter stared at her sword, she'd won, even if the hedgehog survived the fall, he was out of the fight and easy prey for any wyvern, without their master the other Servants would quickly begin fading away.
She could return to burning France, she'd won… But she still felt empty, her connection to every single one of her Servants had faded, even Gilles. Only her dragons remained, and many were dead from the assault of Chaldea's Servants.
She glared out, she could see her Fafnir's fighting the Servants in the distances and prepared to go deal with them herself-
Swoooosh!
The wind blew, and she quickly turned around and swung her sword, only for someone to step on top of it and kick down, slamming the blade into the ground as they leapt back.
"Awww! Ya looked like ya missed me Jeanne!". Sonic the Hedgehog grinned cockily, h-how!?
"H-how the hell!? I saw you fall! There's no way you could recover that quickly!". She demanded as she also noticed something else. This entire time she'd been getting strength from the hedgehog's negative emotions, yet now… There were none, he'd somehow completely rid himself of any hate he felt for her.
"Well, ya see when your friends with a light god sometimes these things tend to happen! And look at me, I'm to handsome to die to a fall of all things!". Sonic easily dodged a spear of fire, appearing by her side and kicking the sword she'd just managed to free off the roof of the castle. She tried stabbing him with her flag, but he avoided with ease and friendly taunts.
"So close! Maybe spread your legs a little more? Add some more force!".
"Gah! That tickled, that flag is really fluffy! Guess you are just a big softy on the inside".
"You know, you'd get along great with Shadow! I bet you'd even eat raw coffee beans like he does!".
"STAY STILL AND BURN YOU IDIOTIC RAT!". Jeanne Alter screamed to the sky, causing Sonic to pause.
"Sure!". The hedgehog grinned while she stared at him incredulously, why the hell was he acting so… Joyful!?
"How… How are you being so happy! That blond bitch died! I killed her! You should hate me! Despise me! Yet… Yet…!". How? How could he be so happy? Jeanne had been surrounded by hate since she could remember, the kindness her counterpart had shown didn't make sense, and this hedgehog… Why was he giving her such caring eyes?!
When he took a step forward, she flinched back, another step and another flinch, this time she fell onto her ass.
"S-stay away from me!". She cried, uncaring how pathetic she looked. Stop, stop looking at her with care! She was the dragon witch! Someone to be feared, not someone to pity. "I don't need your fucking pity!".
"You know, when we first met I disliked you. You hurt people, you killed innocents, and you killed one of my friends…". When Sonic took another step forward she inched further back, paling when she realized she'd reached the end of the castle fence, if she went any further. "But now… Did you even realize what you were doing?".
"O-of course I know what I was doing! I was taking my revenge! France betrayed me, they left me to die-". She cut herself off, paling as she realized the truth. If she was the fake, she'd never been burned, she'd never been betrayed…
If her hatred was fake, if the core of the existence of the Avenger Servant Jeanne d'Arc was fake…
"I-i'm… I'm the fake…". She dropped her weapons as her eyesight become foggy, she couldn't deny the truth any more. What use was a fake? One who couldn't even complete her original mission?
"Hey…". She looked up, the sight of a gently smiling Sonic. "I've encountered a lot of 'fakes', and just because they were fakers, didn't mean they weren't their own people. Fake or not, you have a right to choose what you want to do, good or evil".
A hand was held out, Jeanne Alter stared at it. He wasn't being serious.
"Y-you're serious, your… You're offering ME of all people a… A second chance?". She didn't understand, how could anyone be like this. She was a murderer, someone who tried committing genocides, someone who was unforgivable…
"Everyone deserves another chance, to live freely without being forced into something they don't want to be". Sonic smiled, her heart started to feel… Strange.
Why was her heart beating so fast? And her cheeks felt warm. Slowly her hand raised towards the hedgehog's own, and just as they were about to meet-
"ARGGGGHHHH!". Agony flared across her body, Sonic's eyes widening in worry before he was blown away by a burst of corrupted mana and Hyper-Go-On energy.
Jeanne hugged herself, blood leaking from her mouth as the black crystal that had been kept in her pocket had stabbed into her flesh. Her eyes widened in horror as slowly her body started to transform into the same black crystal, an agonized scream leaving her throat mixed with a roar. Her fingers were split open by purple crystalline claws, blood covering them.
She rolled about, a wing bursting from her back in a burst of agony. Purple crystal horns emerged from her skull in a bloody show. Her body began expanding, some of the crystals turning into pure black scales.
"H-hurts… H-help…". Was the last word that left her mouth before it fully became a dragonic maw, her mind filled with pure agony and feral fury.
A second wing emerged and her wings spread out, a tail forming behind her as well. Gone with the human looking witch, replaced by a black dragon with purple crystalline features.
"ROOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRR!". The dragon that had once been Jeanne d'Arc Alter roared, the wyverns in the sky letting out cries of agony as they were turned into purple spheres of energy that she consumed.
Sonic stared in horror at what had once been a hopeful friend, now turned into a feral beast that was rampaging about the castle. How, why!? He clenched his fists and let out a breath, no, this wasn't the end.
He glanced in the distance, while the wyverns had all been absorbed, the Fafnir's were still there at fighting, although it seemed only three remained. He glanced towards Jeanne, maybe if he could weaken her, he could reverse this!
(Play "Open your Heart" for this boss fight).
Black Dragon.
{Artificial Dragon Wisp}
The Black Dragon roared, unleashing three fireballs towards Sonic who rushed forward, weaving and ducking his way through them as the dragon took to the skies and began flying away. The speedster began running after her, avoiding the fireballs she kept firing backwards.
A wave of purple crystals emerged from the ground towards Sonic, who leapt over them, and using one as a leaping point, homing attacked towards the dragon's tail, using it as a point to run up her spine and arriving at her head.
"Alright Jeanne, this is going to hurt a bit!". Sonic began doing repeated homing attacks to each of the Black Dragon's crystal horns, causing her to let out a roar of agony and glide lower to the ground. "Woooah! Woooohooo!".
Sonic was launched into the air when the transformed witch flexed her body and began falling down, eyes widened when dozens of fireballs were launched into the air by the Black Dragon. With a grin Sonic leaned away to avoid a fireball, and curled into a ball to fall faster (How he had no idea, he just knew it worked).
Falling fast like a meteor, he slammed into Jeanne Alter's back and caused her to slam into the earth, letting out an angry roar as she tried swiping him with one of her claws, only for the blue blur to duck under it and homing attack her snout.
"ROOOOAAAAAARRR!". Angered the Black Dragon raised her wings and crystals began raining down from them towards Sonic, smirking he leaped into the air and began homing attack each crystal to eventually reach her face and deliver another homing attack to her right horn.
"Come on Jeanne! Snap out of this, your not some berserker!". Sonic tried reasoning with the transformed witch and for a few seconds she actually did stop, before growling and trying to bite the hedgehog. "Bad Jeanne! Hedgehog's aren't on the menu!".
Eyes narrowed, one horn was covered in cracks and the other had half shattered maybe if he broke them both completely…
Racing around the Black Dragon, Sonic waited till she tried striking him with a claw, using the opportunity to race up her arm and back, quickly arriving at the head and delivering a kick to the red horn that was already half shattered, destroying the rest of it.
"ROOOAAAARRRR!". The dragon roared in agony, her body beginning to release purple sparks of Hyper-Go-On energy. The Black Dragon released a wave of fire towards Sonic, who began running away as the dragon began chasing him.
"Come on Jeanne! Come get the tasty little hedgehog!". The blue blur taunted, the transformed witch roaring in anger as she chased after the hedgehog. He dodged fireballs, leapt over crystal walls, and ran faster to avoid claw swipes. A grin on his face the entire time.
Sonic waited till a crystal wall formed that was high enough, and once one did, began running up it quickly. His eyes widened as the crystal was grabbed quickly and he had to leap off it to avoid being shoved into the Black Dragon's mouth, before homing attacking her remaining horn.
Craaaaaack!
"RROOOOOAAAAAARRR!". The Black Dragon roared in agony, energy rapidly fading off her form as she slumped over. Sonic's eyes widened as the scaly arm he had landed on faded away, and noticed a near naked silver-haired girl.
"Jeanne!". Rushing over to her, Sonic noticed golden sparks coming off her. No…
"Don't you… Dare fucking… Pity me…". Jeanne Alter glared at him, powered only by spite as she forced herself to sit up. "Fucking… Bastard…".
"Sorry, I… I know you guys are spirits, but seeing you fade away isn't a pleasant thing". Sonic replied, only for Jeanne to laugh bitterly.
"I'm not… Even a proper Heroic Spirit… I'm going to disappear here…". She laughed bitterly even as tears formed in her eyes. "I don't have any thing…. To become a Heroic Spirit for…".
"No". Jeanne froze when she felt a hand on her own. "You lived your own life, and becoming a dragon? No way your not on the Throne of Heroes, and I'll be summoning you to Chaldea as soon as possible".
"E-even now… Why are you so kind to me…?". She needed to know, if she did disappear here. She needed to know why. "You were angry earlier, but now your…".
"I… Guess I got a little lost". Sonic smiled, her legs had fully faded away by now as had pieces of her chest and other arm. "You didn't have a choice in how you were created, you deserve a chance to life as your own person. In my world, my enemy keeps creating sentient robots and plenty of them have abandoned Eggy to become good guys, hell I keep giving chances to my own robotic copy".
"So… Thats what you meant when you said… You had a faker…". One of her eyes closed, or rather faded away. "C-could… Could you hold my hand till the end… Please…?".
"Of course".
As the golden sparks faded away in his hand, Sonic smiled as he stored a second flag alongside the one already stored under his quills. A golden cup in his hand, he had been wondering where that was, who knew it was inside Jeanne Alter all along huh?
As the Singularity faded away and Sonic felt himself being transported to Chaldea, he felt a spark of excitement in his chest. New friends, new adventures. There were going to be tough moments he knew, but…
"The story doesn't end till I stop running!".
In the realm beyond time, in the temple of the king.
"The attempt to use that madman's creation to form our own Mother Wisp have failed".
A frowning green suited man spoke, Demon God Pillar, Lev Lainur Flauros. He clenched his fists, one of them made of the same black crystal that had infected Jeanne Alter.
"They served they're purpose Flauros, we have learned more of Mobius powers and that of our foe".
The voice of the king of mages echoed around the temple as Flauros kneeled. His gaze travelled to the various artifacts and weapons around the throne room, some of these could even be classified as Divine Constructs.
"My king, I worry some of our kin are taking to much interest in Mobius".
Flauros could understand their desire for knowledge, the world of Mobius was unlike anything even Solomon had ever seen, or perhaps he had? He, who could see all things… Had he known that one day these events would occur? He pushed down the surge of rage at the thought.
"We understand your fears Flauros, but they are worthless. The studies into the forces of Chaos will continue, the power of the Emeralds is vast, but even they're secrets cannot hide forever…".
The king raised a single hand, a white gemstone shined with a beauty and power that froze Flauros. The sheer amount of energy contained within, wasted. It could do so much for their cause, but its powers were to chaotic for such precise requirements.
"Seven gems that grant ultimate power, but only when bound together".
Slowly, the white Chaos Emerald was joined by five others. Six of the Seven Chaos Emeralds gathered together. The king's fist clenched, space-time distorted as the Emeralds were flung to separate areas of space and time.
"As long as they are never united, they're threat is no more. Even the great hero of Mobius cannot reach each Emerald".
Flauros smiled, although he couldn't deny a part of him hoped the rat could gather all seven emeralds. Only to see the despair filled expressions when their miraculous power failed.
During this chapter I wanted to focus on peoples feelings a bit, Gareth's guilt, Jeanne Alter's despair and rage over realizing she's a fake, and Sonic feeling like he isn't helping as much. Nasuverse is very different from Mobius, and its enemies are far more cruel, but he's back to being the Sonic we all know and love!
And I think how Sonic defeated Jeanne Alter really showed just what sort of person he is, this Jeanne Alter is empty of purpose and only starting to realize her own sense of self, if he'd keep offering mercy to Eggman and trying to recruit Metal Sonic, I think he'd show mercy to to Alter and offer her a second chance… Sadly, that doesn't stop Lev's trickery.