So has anyone played the shadow-dropped game The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog? I had some fun with it, though I feel like it should've had multiple endings like other visual novels usually do. Shadow, Amy, Sonic and Tails all had at least one meme-able pose; like that shocked one Tails has when he's staring right at you, or when Shadow was caught getting Amy's present.
This would also mean Amy is now officially 13, the legal age… SonAmy side's gonna have fun with that…
I was also thinking of including it somehow in this story, but then I told myself we're gonna beed to be in Sonic's World for that to work. Maybe I'll write it as a side story rather than the main plot, you tell me what you guys think.
Oh... remember when I said "Sonic is about to fight the Devil?"... I never said which one ;)
From Sbjon21:
Ok so I don't mean this to come off rude or anything and this is definitely not a rant I love Sonic The Hedgehog and I also love Highschool DxD but I have to ask why these two series together of all things I mean we got one where it's super ecchi and the fanservicey it feels a little weird and bizzare to imagine Sonic and co in the world of Highschool DxD with Anime girls with plot. (If you know what I mean)
I just wanted to know how the story of putting these two series together came about is all.
Bakuganman: No sure if your gonna see this, but No worries. I don't take offense to it. To answer your question, it actually started as a Forces rewrite all the way back in 2017. But as I wrote the story more and more, I had a idea baby, so I started nurturing it. I then began experimenting with both franchises to see how they could mesh together:
Both Franchises have items of power of limitless power (Chaos Emeralds, Sacred Gears, etc)
Both Franchises have cute little creatures (Chao and Familiars)
Both Franchises have those humorous slice of life moments, but can also contain very mature stories or incidents.
Both Franchises despite their target demographics have very similar written characters (Rias can be just as stubborn as Sonic, Akeno and Rouge are the 'Ara, aras' of their respective groups, Koneko and Shadow are the ones with complex backstories which this can also apply to Akeno and Shadow as well.)
The list goes on and on. Yet here we are, over 300 faves and follows later, which even I NEVER could have predicted. It honestly blew up pretty fast too, which could be tied into the first Sonic movie as I begin officially posting it around the same time.
Plus, I'm having fun with it, writing down how Sonic what react to being in such a world, and the audience is having a blast reading it. Now I'm gonna be adding in some more fan favorite Sonic characters soon, expanding on the Endless Possibilities (….heh).
I think the one thing that also really caused the blowup was my lack of bias for either side. The entire story, I made it fair to both series' involved, neither favoring one over the other. Allot of crossovers that were on this website originally (which strangely enough as mine blew up, they disappeared) only seemed to focus on either Sonic's aspect, or the DxD one, like making Sonic a Devil or him doing the dirty with Rias Gremory. While I have nothing against them personally, it has been done over and over again, so I figured this would be a time for a change of pace.
The whole thing was a gamble, I must admit. It could have gone either way, like people could have laughed and moved on and not gave it a chance. The point is, I got lucky. And I'm proud of the fanbase that I have and the content I'm providing them.
Since this review was left on chapter 38, I'm not sure you read the story at all. But if not, why not give it a try? If you like it, you like it. If you don't, then you don't. Simple as that. I'll be looking forward to whatever answer you provide me 👍
From Ultimate savior infinity:
$20 says Sonic would own Fried Chicken, even WITH a chaos emerald
From Lildeevil:
I can't wait for Sonic to rub the Chaos Emeralds in Rias's face.
Bakuganman: We'll see.
Chapter 31: Training for a Rating - Part 2
For the next couple of days, Issei continued his training like he was ordered too in a daily routine. First Kiba, then Akeno, then Koneko… he didn't go back to Rias as her 'lesson' was mainly just an extension of Akeno's. Rias would come out to see the results once and a while, and he was getting better little by little, but they only had 5 days left till the Rating Game deadline.
Issei just finished Koneko's lesson and was heading back to the house covered in leafs, twigs, dirt, sweat and bruises (which would heal thanks to his Devil body anyway). As he left, Koneko was left to her own devices, wondering about something. An image of a black humanoid cat filled her minds eye before shaking it off.
"You okay, kid?" Sonic's voice shocked Koneko, to the point that she immediately turned around faster than the eye could see, and probably would've attacked him if she didn't realize it was him. "Whoa! Eaaaaasy, Rooky." Sonic added, hands up in defense just like with Kiba yesterday.
Why were all the Devils so on edge?… The Rating Game, maybe?
Koneko stood down and got out of her fighting stance. She couldn't believe she acted like that in front of him. Not only that, she didn't even sense his presence at all. "What it do?" The white-haired mascot asked.
Sonic blinked, not understanding that slang (he can't with these people…). But after a second to think about it, he assumed it must have meant something along the lines of: "Whats up?" or "What do you want?"
"I just wanted to compliment ya on your training of Issei. Your battle style reminds me so much of this Knucklehead I know." Sonic said, to which Koneko appreciated the comment but didn't visually show it. "Which also comes with the same set of problems."
That last line got Koneko to stiffen and feel a bit insulted. What was he trying to say? There's absolutely nothing wrong with her battling style! Course Sonic saw this and didn't want to be beaten on like Iseei, this kid packs a punch as he had experienced once before, so he explained further.
"I-I'm not saying its wrong to strike you're enemy at their weakest points. I'm just saying its not as simple," Here's where Koneko began to show interest, at least from what Sonic could tell as Koneko didn't emote much.
"Not all baddies have an obvious weak spot. Don't be afraid to take a step back. And even if they did, there's no guarantee they'll go down in one shot." Sonic added, remembering a few opponents where he had to do that. A certain Black Hedgehog being one example, and most recently a certain Fallen Angel.
While Sonic couldn't read Koneko, she was thinking about what Sonic said.
"I told a friend of mine this secret that really helped her out… she probably doesn't remember it… or me, but…" Sonic continued, and that's the little girl cocked an eyebrow at the Mobian. "Er, the point is: if you have time to worry, then run."
Now. Koneko looked at Sonic like he was an idiot… what sense did that make?! That just sounded like running away! She didn't respond to him, for she couldn't think of one.
XXX
The next day after that, Issei was sparing with Kiba once more. He did really improve, course he was still not as fast as Kiba. But while they were practicing, Sonic figured he'd speak to Akeno before her lesson begins for the day. Just have a talk with her like he did with Kiba and Koneko prior.
"Hey, Lightning Queen? You got a-?" Sonic was just walking into the room she is usually seen in for the lesson, but his mind was drawing a complete blank at what he was witnessing in front of him, and probably something he shouldn't be seeing. Akeno herself looked at him in complete shock from his unexpected intrusion, both parties mouths agape.
No, she's not naked or anything. She was fully clothed. She just had her wings out, probably to stretch them or something (Sonic assumed keeping their wings hidden must cause cramp or something), the bat-like wing out behind her.
Wing. Singular. The other wing was black… and feathery…
…
…
…
…
"… wwwwwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" After continuing to stare at each other in shock, Akeno broke the silence by screaming loudly. As you can imagine, this was more than loud enough to get the attention of the others, who stopped their exercising or watching of the exercise to look in the direction of the house.
Rias was the one to summon a circle below her, sink into to, then went into the room Akeno was currently occupying while rising up from the same magic circle. "Akeno! Is everything…?" Rias was asking, but then noticed something odd. "… Akeno, your wing…"
"Ah… yeah…" Akeno went to explain. "I was straightening up a little bit, and a rat came by. Scared the crap out of it."
Rias blinked a few times, then looked around the room, seeing no rat in site. "… a rat?" She repeated after finishing looking around and looking back at the Queen.
"Well, he's ratatouille now. Hehehehe…" Akeno said with a nervous giggle, also holding up her hand and letting sparks dance along her fingers.
Rias still didn't look totally convinced, still giving Akeno a stare, but their wasn't any evidence to suggest otherwise. Mainly because according to herself, whatever rat was in here was fried by her. "….ooookaaay…" Rias said, then opened a circle below herself again then sunk into it.
Once Rias' glyph vanished, Akeno heaved out a heavy sigh, and Sonic peeked out of from behind her feathery wing as that was large enough to cover half of him while the other half hid behind her body.
"… so uh…" Sonic began, making Akeno look back at him. "You wanna share?" He added a bit humorously. Seeing as Rias wasn't surprised about Akeno Fallen Angel-like wing, Sonic assumed the peerage already knew, except for their most recent members.
XXX
So she could tell Sonic everything, Akeno canceled her lesson and had requested Rias via a magic circle to take over for her. This confused Rias but she agreed to fill in for her best friend without question.
In that time, Akeno teleported them to her room and sat at a coffee table in it with cups of tea (ironic for multiple reasons), and told him everything. About her, how she become a Devil, where she originally was a Fallen Angel but left that life behind. But when Rias received her Evil Pieces and made Akeno her very first servant, since it was Devil power mixing with her Fallen Angel power, it caused a mutation in Akeno herself. Resulting in the wings. One Demon. And one Fallen.
She hated this, so Akeno used magic to conceal the Fallen wing and make it appear as a Devil one. Seeing as Sonic just learned that the key to magic (in this universe anyway) is about visualization, and how skilled Akeno was at it, this idea seemed flawless.
Obviously, she didn't expect to get caught.
Sonic had listened to her story intently as he sat with her. While most of it was mumbo-jumbo to him, from what he gathered, Akeno's mom, who was a human, helped an injured Fallen Angel (drawing parallels to Asia interestingly enough); and 9 months later, she popped out. At only 10 years old, her mother was assassinated by another Fallen Angel, and the young Akeno blamed her father (and by extension, the entire Fallen Angel race) for not being able to protect them, so she ran away.
Tragically, nobody would take her, not even her own human relatives once her Fallen Angel wings grew to large to conceal (as she didn't know the first thing about magic at this time). She eventually would use her Fallen Angel heritage to purify evil spirits for as they were still technically Angels for food and money, but was barely able to get by. That's when she met Rias in her junior high years, who despite being opposing factions, the Crimson Devil did everything in her and her family's power to protect Akeno legally.
The only way was to make her a servant, and Akeno jumped at the chance… the rest was history.
Sonic was able to see himself in some of Rias' actions, as he would also probably do the same… maybe not Ace Attorney style like Rias, but would do anything in his own power for the same goal. He and Rias had more in common then he realized.
Oh… and apparently Rias was so upset they couldn't go to all of Kyoto at one point in their school years together because the new King didn't schedule it properly, she literally stomped off in and out of the railroad station like a spoiled brat and Akeno had to be the voice of reason to calm her down… bits of Demonic Power leaked from her stomps…
"Wow… that really happened?" Sonic asked, with Akeno giving a small nod to confirm.
"The truth is, I wanted to tell you and Issei for a while now… But then Raynare happened…" Akeno said as her voice trailed off, sounding sad. "I'm sorry, this was stupid. Your probably not even gonna be here for much longer, and I'm dumping all my baggage on you like this." The Queen then apologized.
Sonic needed no further explanation. Akeno must've felt conflicted on telling them the truth, seeking what Raynare and her band of birds put Sonic, Issei and Asia through. Poor Akeno must have needed someone to talk to about this, and leave it to Sonic to accidentally stumble on this secret.
In the end, Akeno just needed someone else to talk too about it.
"Not to me." Sonic's answer got Akeno's attention. "Sounds like you had it pretty rough." His second response got the Devil Queen to blink and open her mouth, but no words came out. "It ain't easy holding that stuff in… believe me, I know a guy who went through something similar over 50 years ago."
50 years? That was a pretty long time at least in mortal years. Akeno wonder whom the Hedgehog knew? A military vet maybe?
"Not gonna sit here and tell you you should tell Issei and Asia. That's only up to one person in this room… I'll take this to my grave." Sonic said, making a promise and offering some advice.
Akeno… didn't know what to say. He took that information dump so well, and even promised to keep this secret with her.
Sonic then sat up, and began to stretch. "This was nice, but my legs are starting to cramp up." Sonic said with a smile. "Later, Lightning!" Then in a burst of speed, dashed off and out the open window before landing on the green grass outside. By the time Akeno recovered from the wind generated in her room and went to the window, all she saw was a blue line running off.
She couldn't help but smile as she watched him run.
XXX
POV - Knuckles:
This world Knuckles ended up one sure was strange. Bird-like beings that wielded some kind of offensive strange light that can be manipulated into spears and even barriers with equally strange symbols.
Aside from the 'warm welcome' they gave him, they gave him decent hospitality. Food, drink, etc.
Knuckles learned from their leader, the same one who was able to block him… what was his name? Cocomelon or something?… Anyway, he learned that these being were called Fallen Angels and were once at war with another race called Devils. As for the device Knuckles arrived out of, those things were apparently scattered all across this dimension, but the inhabitants could never figure out how they functioned, though it would be more accurate to say they didn't know how to turn them on.
But it begged the question: why were one of these devices on and near Angel Island?
The Echidna was currently sitting in a room prepared for him (which was nice, he had to admit. Very luxurious.) as he couldn't do much else, but he got bored of this pretty quickly and left for a training room. While most of the stuff here was for magic target practice, there was a dummy he was able to use for punching.
They've gone through about 987 of them already, as he would easily punch straight through…
Thankfully, the Fallen Angels learned and had to get a special custom-made punching bag that hung on the ceiling for the powerful Echidna. It was made of the toughest material available (not to mention expensive). As Knuckles was passing the time punching the bag, a male Fallen Angel then entered the room via one of those teleportation circles.
"If its not to send me home, leave me alone." Knuckles said without even looking at the Fallen and just kept alternating his punches on the bag, obviously hearing the sound effect the circle makes.
"Kokabiel wants to talk to you. He asked if you'd reconsider." Said the Fallen.
Knuckles didn't even have the energy to roll his eyes and just kept punching… this again? When Kokabiel told Knux about this world, he also mentioned he needed some help with something seeing how powerful Knuckles was… the Mobian Echidna really wasn't paying attention, something about finding swords or whatever, but he wasn't interested. He only wanted to get back home.
"And you can tell Coco-bean thanks, but no thanks." Knuckles said, dryly. "I'm not interested in going on a treasure hunt for some magic sticks." He still continued to pound away at the punching bag.
The Fallen waited a moment before following it up with: "… and if it included a Blue Hedgehog?"
POW!
Knuckles then hit the punching bag so hard with his next punch, not only did he snap it off the ceiling, but it also went through what the stunned Fallen could count was at least 8 walls from his current position (at least the punching bag didn't break this time).
Knuckles held his position for another moment before looking back at the Fallen.
XXX
Kokabiel was sitting on a throne with a Fallen Angel standing next to him (a Guard most likely) when another Fallen (the same one that went to fetch Knuckles) flew in front of him and landed on the floor before his throne and yelped at this, having been thrown in by something. One this particular Fallen Angel recovered, he crawled away.
"Good morning, my friend." Kokabiel said to Knuckles with a smile. "Finally change your mind?"
Knuckles didn't answer right away. He just walked froward up to the Fallen Angel, no fear in his eyes. "I don't know what your trying to pull, Coca Bail," Knuckles begin. "But one of your hatchlings just made a very wild accusation… what's this about a blue hedgehog?" He then asked, and if Kokabiel got the answer wrong, Knuckles knew he was lying.
"Wild accusation? There's been sightings of a Blue Hedgehog all over Devil territory. Including a few by some of my informants." Kokabiel said.
"Don't lie to me!" Knuckles ordered Kokabiel, getting a little agitated. From what he understood, the blue hedgehog he was thinking of was off stopping Eggman's latest scheme. So there's no way he could be here.
Kokabiel smiled and lifted a hand, summoning a magic circle next to Knuckles, who looked at it. "See for yourself…"
Following this, like a video, the magic circle showed Knuckles the very same vision he saw of Sonic running from the ORC courtesy of the Master Emerald (when they first encountered him at Kuoh Academy). It showed him a few more visions such as a redhead Devil (Rias) flaring her energy near Sonic with some human kid on the floor nearby (Issei), Sonic and that same human kid being chased by the cyborg Devil, and also Sonic saving the redhead from a building that just exploded.
Pretty much almost every time Sonic was near one of the ORC Devils, this magic circle showed a glimpse of it…
POW! SHATTER!
Knuckles was then shown to have punched through Kokabiel's magic easily, the Echidna looking angry.
"… pinched a nerve?" Kokabiel asked, not having lost his smile. "He's been getting quite cozy with the Devil faction. It could be his own free will… prepares mind contr-…"
POW!
Knuckles then punched the ground, causing a small earthquake rippling over to Kokabiel. Although the Fallen Angel's guard got a little scared and did take flight, the leader himself didn't even budge from his seat, even though the resulting shockwave did crack the floor and almost made its way to his throne.
"I don't know who you're trying to fool with that hocus-pocus… but it won't work!" Knuckles said. "Unless you've found me a way back, don't waste my time!" He then stomped off out of the room.
With the Echidna's back turned, the Fallen Angel guard floated back down and begin to prepare a spear in his hand, but Kokabiel simply waved him off without uttering a single word. He still smiled.
XXX
Knuckles was back alone in the room prepared for him… it wasn't true. It just couldn't be! He's been fooled one too many times, and even if Sonic was in this strange dimension (which Knuckles figured he would've seen at least glove or quill of the hedgehog by now if that was the case), there had to be a good reason for it.
It's not true… there's just no way…
XXX
POV - Normal:
There was only 3 days left until the day of the Rating Game, but Rias decided to give the entire group at least one day off. They've been hard at work for a full week by this point, and all of them were making some progress. Would it be enough?… if she was being completely honest, she really wasn't sure.
Even with Sonic helping them out, Riser was practically immortal…
But just because it was a day off from physical training, that didn't mean there wasn't anything to learn. Rias had the good idea of going over 'basics' with Issei and Asia, and while she probably would have said Sonic didn't need to hear this, she decided against it in the end. Honestly, she needed a break herself, and didn't want to argue with him. If she could avoid one today, then that's a win.
If Issei was being honest, his brain felt like it was going to fry. They all gathered in the living room where Rias decided to teach him about a bunch of names he had to remember. Mentally exhausting was not strong enough to describe it.
Kiba: The Angels led by God. What is the name given to the highest rank Angels? Also the ones among them?
Issei: Ummm… Sephira?… No, that's from that dating anime… Seraphim. And those 4 were named Raphael, Gabriel, Michael and Ariel?
Kiba: "Uriel". But otherwise, correct.
Akeno: What are the names of the Four Great Satans?
Asia was the one to answer this question.
Asia: Lucifer, Beelzebub, Asmodeus and… um…
It looked like Asia had forgotten the final one, but Issei jumped in and answered it perfectly.
Issei: Leviathan!
"Oh, thank you, Issei." Asia thanked him.
"Heh. That one was easy." Issei said confidently… although Sonic couldn't help but shake his head. Leviathan was the only female member of those Satans…
Koneko: The Fallen Angels?
Now when Koneko asked the question, Sonic glanced over to Akeno, who was also glancing back at him which no one else noticed. Sonic zipped his lips shut then with 2 fingers and pointed to himself, letting Akeno know their promise was still in effect. That's of course not what Akeno was worried about, but she appreciated it.
She's still wondering about telling them the truth…
Asia: That they have more leaders than any other faction.
Issei: And their top group is Grigori. Governed by Azazel and Shemhaza. And their leaders are… Armaros... Barakiel... Tamiel... Ah?… Bene-meme and Cociane Bear...?
Sonic snickered to himself upon Issei getting the last of the names wrong. Rias also smiled, finding some humor in that.
"Benemue, Kokabiel and Shariel." Rias corrected. "You have to remember them properly. It's the same as remembering the names of the prime minister and the vice-prime minister of Japan, as well as the leaders of the surrounding countries."
"How many leaders does one organization need?!" Issei complained. "And didn't The Rock become President yet?"
Huh… Sonic couldn't help but have a sense of déjà vu…
But this information was helpful and added more context on how this world worked. Fallen Angels apparently watch over the mortal world and constantly monitor Sacred Gears 24/7… That's why Issei was attacked and Asia was sacrificed during that ritual.
Instead of just monitoring like she was supposed to do, Raynare took it a step further and wanted a power for herself, so Issei was first on the chopping block. When she failed due to Sonic's interference, she instead turned her attention to the next candidate, being Asia.
Damn… Fallen Angels were a pain.
"So… any particular reason for the history lesson?" Sonic asked.
Rias was the one to answer Sonic. "That's probably the only decent question you've ever asked." She couldn't help but jab at Sonic before officially answering. "The answer dates back to what even today would be considered an eternity ago. All factions were at war. Why? We don't exactly know, but many have presumed it was because of the power of the Sacred Gears or some diplomatic disagreement gone wrong."
"Either way, us Devils were dealing with both Angels and Fallen Angels, so we were constantly attacked from both ends. Ultimately, the war ended in neither victory nor defeat for any side involved, with well over half of each factions population either dead. Or MIA."
Even though Rias didn't say much about this war, Riser did mention something about a war when he and his peerage dropped by just last week. Obviously, they were speaking about the exact same war; and given the fact that over half they're kind were wiped out, now it added more context about this arranged marriage Rias was involved in.
Did that make it right?… It was a tough call, but Rias obviously wanted no part in it.
"And Chicken-Face?" Sonic asked with Rias immediately nodding her head.
"Now, our lifespan is pretty close to eternal. One could be 10 thousand years old, and still be considered young. But because of our longevity, our birth rates are extremely low. What's the point of expansion if you already live forever, right?" Rias added, being a bit sarcastic when saying it, most likely having to do with the marriage thing.
By now, Rias realized she was projecting her objections to the group, including the blue alien she disagrees with on a few things. Why was she doing this? Well for one thing, for Issei and Asia to understand what Devils and their society is like…
'Maybe he can help you…' Akeno's voice then echoed in her thoughts. Then of course their was her older brother having negotiated on her behalf and allowed Sonic to join the fight. Plus they all had been training together this entire week…
Maybe just this once… she can let go of this rivalry…
"The war was disastrous and destructive, and nearly every Devil family of the 72 Pillars were claimed but a few select. You've already met 3 of them… Sona. The House of Sitri… Me. The House of Gremory… and of course, the House of Phenex. Riser's family." Rias revealed.
"It was then the Devils began recruiting humans to join their ranks to try and re-populate our numbers. This is where the Evil Pieces come in, but as you can probably tell, they can only do so much…. then of course, the Rating Games started shortly after that, and they have huge impacts on a Devils nobility and status. Masters of Houses could provide newly recruited Devils with combat experience in the most effective way possible… maybe show off from time-to-time…"
Sonic, Issei and Asia took all of this in… it was allot. There was no easy answer as to who was right or wrong in the situation, having Rias marry someone even though birth rates for these entities are very low. They couldn't help but sympathize with her.
"Just think… out of 72… less than 20 survived…" Rias finished. "And even then, we don't know the answer…" Rias took a breath after that. "How's about a tea break?… Akeno? You mind?"
"Not at all. I'll be right back." Akeno got up from her seat to go prepare her special beverage.
"Wait! Let me help you!" Asia said, wanting to help the Queen, but she was stopped by Issei.
"Wait, Asia?" Issei asked, making the Bishop look back at the person who called her name. "Sorry about… ya know. Last night." He then apologized, which for some reason made Asia flush, catching the interest of both Kiba and Sonic who happened to be sitting next to each other and saw this.
Her following answer peaked said interest even further: "Oh. It's okay… the way you…"
Issei then shushed her… this was odd, even for Issei. "You mind keeping this just between us? I just need a little more time to perfect my technique." The Pawn rubbed the back of his neck, the same pose anime boys do when their embarrassed or having gotten caught doing something they shouldn't have.
"Oh yes, of course." Asia said. "That move is definitely worth waiting for. Let me know if you need my help again.
"What new move?" Kiba asked.
"Finally learned Aura Sphere?" Asked Sonic.
"We can't tell you that! It's a secret!" Asia said with a finger to her lips and a cutesy smile on her face.
"What did he do?" Koneko asked dryly, already assuming the worst.
"I didn't do anything!" Issei insisted.
Asia went to try and join Akeno a second time, only when she passed by Sonic, he quickly yet gently grabbed her wrist.
…
…
…
Sonic: … what. Did he do?
"Come on! I mean it!" Issei insisted a second time. "It's not like that!"
"What's all this new move deal?" Akeno then asked, coming into the room with some of her special tea. She then said with a smile: "Issei? Are you cheating on me?"
Issei: Can I catch a break around here?!
As entertaining as this was, Rias decided to change the topic. "Asia. I've been meaning to ask you this, but I always forgot. I'd love to know more about your life as a Holy Sister."
"Like, right now?" Asia asked. When Rias confirmed this, Asia left real quick back to her room to grab a bag that she had a loaded with stuff from a room she was using and returned shortly after. Borrowing Akeno's tea cart as a stand, she emptied her bag on it and pulled out 2 items. First was a book, and the second was a small bottle of water, both of these items having a holy cross on them.
"While I was with the church, I did assist in some exorcisms, so I suppose there's that." Asia said, probably meaning exorcisms that were less bloody due to a crazy Priest. "As a church member, there are 2 important things you always need at al times." She held up 2 fingers when she said this, then grabbed the bottle first. "This is Holy Water. While the bottle is fine, Demons of any kind can't actually touch the water. Your skin will be harmed."
Issei raised his hand at that point as if he was in school and wanting to be called on by his teacher for a question. "Will it cause us to melt like that one green witch from the east?"
"It'll do something… really bad." Asia said, probably having seen the effect in action and didn't want to describe it. It was probably a painful memory.
"I get that, but why are you leaving out the cool parts?" Issei asked.
"Remember, it isn't just us… that goes for you too, Asia." Rias reminded the Nun, who heaved a cute sigh.
"Yeah, I know… no point in showing how to make it…" Asia said, implying she was probably going to show how said water was created up until being reminded she couldn't make contact with it, then put the bottle down and picked up the book in its place.
"Next, this is the Holy Bible! I used to always read one chapter a night!" Asia began energetically, but then began showing sorrow as she continued. "… but as of lately, I've been getting a terrible headache every time I start a verse and can't get through it…"
"Because your a Devil." Rias repeated.
"Your one of us." Kiba said.
"Maybe write it down." Koneko suggested, but her dry demeanor made it hard get if she was being serious or not.
"Ara, ara… as long as you don't read it…" said Akeno.
Asia then became teary-eyed. "I just want to read this one verse! It was my favorite!" She opened the book and I looked at the page, she then opened her mouth to start reading, but then grabbed her forehead at nearly the exact same time and cried out in pain. "Owie! Why do you hate meeeeee?!"
Asia continued in vain to trying to read just a single sentence, but every time she tried, she would've rinse and repeat the same cry and same pained expression. Both Issei and Sonic couldn't help but think: 'Dear God, ignore the Child's Prayer.'
XXX
For the remaining days, the group continued their training. One night, Sonic happened to hear some commotion coming from Issei's room, and he was sure he heard coming Asia's voice at least once, but went back to sleep. It was probably that secret move they were talking about, but can't they keep it down?
He did hear Issei ask: "once more? Pretty please?" Then Asia responding with: "sure! Let me put some clothes on!"… What were those two up too? Sonic was too tired to investigate, so the following night, he caught some Z's in a tree instead.
He respected Asia's thing about wanting to keep it a secret, but if he found out Issei was doing something to her…
On the final day, Rias didn't start any training until the afternoon, which was odd… maybe since it was the last day, she'd let everyone sleep in a bit? Regardless, they all went to an open field some distance from the house upon Rias' request.
"Mind taking out your Boosted Gear? Your gonna need it for this exercise." Said Rias.
"Didn't you say no Sacred Gear during training camp?" Issei asked.
"Since its the final day, I'm willing to make an exception." Rias said, but even as she said that, Sonic couldn't help but eye her… now what was she up too? "Sonic, would you mind partnering with him this time?" Rias asked.
That was quite the surprise to the rest of the group. Rias asking Sonic this time?
"Me?" Sonic asked.
Rias then smiled. "Unless you have an objection, of course."
Sonic slowly smiled himself and simply took a leap away from his position next to Rias and about 15 feet from Issei's front. He also took a starting position when Rias gave the signal to start the spar. "Now gonna hold back on me, are ya pal? I'm not."
While Issei what is still a little surprised at this twist, he summoned his Boosted Gear. "Well neither am I!"
[BOOST!] His Sacred Gear said, triggering its first initial Boost upon activation.
"Good. Again." Rias said.
"Go!" Issei said.
[BOOST!]
"Once more."
"Again!"
[BOOST!]
"Keep going!"
"More!"
[BOOST!]
Issei's Gear kept glowing and doubling his power again and again, and this continued every 10 seconds like it was designed to do. Rias kept commenting him to power up even further while looking intently focused on him alone. Sonic was wondering what Rias was up to having him partner with Issei, and this confirmed it.
This wasn't a sparing match, at least not at this point… it was a test.
[BOOST!] That was the 20th time Issei's power had doubled. Considering his Demonic Power was pretty low to begin with, that was allot.
"Wow! 20 times in a row! That's a record!" Akeno commented, sounding impressed. Everyone was honestly, Issei being the weakest of all of them, now he was near pretty much on par with them if one crunched the numbers.
"Alright, that's enough." Rias said. "Do you finally get the purpose of all this training, Issei? How far you've come?" Issei looked down at his glowing Gear, realizing what Rias said was correct. He's never been able to Boost up this much before without feeling fatigued, and the one time he did, while yes he beat Raynare in one punch, he felt like he got hit by a truck afterward.
"You've weren't able to safely endure so much power in the past, but by using your own power, you've increased your cap." Rias revealed. "I'll admit, even I didn't anticipate you would go well over triple than what you've done before, but the results of all the training is abundantly clear now."
Rias immediately thought and flash-backed to Raynare's initial defeat. While Sonic and her were fighting, and she herself arrived but decided not to get involved, she felt a power brewing from Issei at the time. While she counted 2 Boosts during her time observing having just got there, there was obviously more Boosts she simply wasn't there to count for; as when Issei finally stood up, nothing Raynare did to him afterward even effected him at all.
Issei really had to take a long second to take all this information in. Rias was not wrong in anything she had just said. The kid had no words to describe it. "… okay!" Issei recovered from his shock, his confidence climbing up. "Lets do this, Boosted Gear!"
As if responding to his command, the Boosted Gear glowed a bit brighter this time. [EXPLOSION!] Once that call was said, just like the last time, all the power Issei had stored up began to flare around him, only this time it was much more visible.
"Wait, what's he doing?" Asia asked, as she was technically dead when Issei did this last time.
"Its the second effect of his Boosted Gear. He's gathering all the power he stored up this entire time, then release it in one massive blow." Rias explained to her. "Sonic. Try to knock him down."
Although he was going to do that anyway as this was technically a sparring match, Sonic began his attack, deciding to go with his Classic move. "Alright, pal. Here I come!"
Z-Z-Z-Z-ZWHEEEEEEEEEEE!
After spinning in place to charge up, Sonic rocketed off in a burst speed via a Spin Dash straight at Issei. Knowing he had less than a second to respond, Issei reactively or instinctively (could be either one of the two) put up his Boosted Geared arm.
POW!
Issei actually managed to block Sonic's attack, the alien Hedgehog still spinning as his pinball-like maneuver made contact with Issei's dragon arm. Surprisingly, Issei was more than capable of holding Sonic off, though one could still tell he was struggling from the amount of momentum the Hedgehog used. Using all the strength he could, Issei repelled Sonic off back in the opposite direction he came from.
Sonic left his ball form just before he made contact with the ground again, landing on his feet while skidding backward slightly. He had to admit, he was impressed. When he made contact with that Gear, it felt like he was being held back by Knuckles. All that Boosting probably just didn't increase Issei's strength, but also his physical endurance.
"Okay, Issei. Use it on Sonic." Rias then said, as even though this was training, he still had to attack.
Issei did just that, but this time something different happened: a small red ball appeared when he opened his palm. What's ironic was this ball was only slightly bigger than the one he summoned during Akeno's lessons.
'Wait, that's it?!' Issei mentally questioned himself. After all the training he's been through, working his behind off, THAT's the best he can come up with? Sonic tried his Spin Dash again, only faster this time. Issei had now even less than a second to react!
'Come on, Issei! Trust yourself!' Rias thought to herself, though even she wasn't sure the Pawn could counter Sonic in time.
'Aw, screw it!' Issei thought, thinking that since Sonic was gonna strike him anyway, he may as well go out trying…
PEEEEEEEEEEW!
None of them expected it, but Issei's next attack went from a small ball, it a LARGE beam of dragon energy when he triggered the attack. Sonic had to veer off his original course out of shock, and changed direction a second before the large beam hit him… but it kept going, traveling towards a mountain in the distance…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The impact caused wind to blow and the screen to shake, forcing the rest of the group to brace and shield their faces. The impact itself also made a large and bright explosion. The girls' long hair, even Koneko's and Kiba's short ones, blew in the fierce breeze generated before it finally subsided.
"Ara. Looks like it worked." Akeno said after everyone took in the sight at what just did. The mountain had a giant hole in it, just a little under its top.
"Dope. He broke the mountain." Koneko said.
"I can't that came out of Issei." Asia said.
"That's more than anything he's ever thrown at me." Kiba said.
[RESET!] The Boosted Gear called, its stored energy now having been used up.
"… holy crap… that was badass…" Issei said, but then fell to his knees. After using so much power, he once again felt that same truck slam into him.
"Issei!" Sonic said.
"Issei, are you okay?!" Asia said, running over to him, Sonic zipping over and getting to him at the same time she did.
"Looks like he used up all this strength for that one, but he should be okay." Rias said, of course concerned for Issei, but figured he'd be fine after some rest. Even so, that was truly incredible what Issei just pulled of. Even a decent rank of Devil would take pretty major damage from that one blast.
"Issei, your now the linchpin of this entire game. An attack like that can and will effect what direction this challenge goes." Rias added on. "Trust in us, but more importantly, trust in yourself."
Asia and Sonic were still holding Issei up, the poor boy unable to stand on his own two feet. "I do…" Issei said. "I think I can do this…"
"… Pal? Are you sure about this?" Sonic asked Issei, heavy concern in his voice; but before Issei could even respond, Sonic turned is attention to Rias while also letting Issei go and having Asia hold him up alone (which wasn't too hard). "And what about you?" The Hedgehog asked accusingly to Rias. "He can barely stand after that… your just gonna send him out like this?" He used hand gestures at Issei, pointing out his argument.
Now Rias understood Sonic was just being protective, so she didn't yell at him or anything. His reaction was pretty normal. "He'll be fine." Rias said. "And if he's not, we can make him a sniper or something. That'll still take out Riser in one blast."
"Even if he does, what if he misses?" Sonic said. "He was barely able to control that. Your gonna have him go through all that again, assuming they even give him a chance?" He brought up a valid point. Despite the huge power Issei commanded now, there was no guarantee it would work in the field. And if he DOES miss, that would leave him very vulnerable.
Rias bit her lip and lowly grumbled, forcing herself not to snap at Sonic. "This is not up for discussion." She said as calmly as she could. "Issei has shown incredible progress and his power has gone up really well, and if makes you feel better, we can do some target practice later." Rias turned her back at that point. "Now if you would kindly drop the subject and help Issei to his room." She began to walk off…
…
…
"… You and Raynare have allot in common."
Ya know when you say something to someone that really effects them, they freeze in mid-step?… That's exactly what happened to Rias. The Princess of Ruin immediately stopped dead in her tracks, and while her face could not be seen by the others, her eyes widened from Sonic's declaration. The Hedgehog continued still:
"She was after his power, but made the mistake of letting him go and instead turned her attention to Asia… that's what you saved him, isn't it?" Sonic accused the King. "Not just not for me or him subconsciously summoning you, but for the same reason feather-breath wanted him?… Gave you the perfect excuse to serve her rotisserie style, didn't it?"
One of Rias' fists began to ball and tighten lightly, yet Sonic went on: "What about them?! Does that go for your family too?! Even your Best Friend?!" He added while gesturing to Rias' other peerage members, thinking about Akeno's confession when he said this. When Akeno heard his indirect slip, she couldn't help but feel both touched Sonic clearly did care about her story, but also awkward for the current situation.
While Rias had no idea how Sonic was able to figure that out, the resulting accusation made her clenched her fists so tightly that if she had claws, she would be making herself bleed right now. She also slowly stepped around so her body was sideways to look at Sonic… she was not happy.
"… … … take that back." Was Rias' only 3 words in a low tone. Said calmly, but straining to keep it that way. Sonic didn't even answer, nor take back what he said. "Sonic. Take. It. Back." She repeated herself.
"Or what? Force your minions on me with your demon magical shapes?" Sonic asked while wiggling his fingers with both of his hands held up.
"I would never force them into anything!" Rias yelled at him, feeling offended Sonic would even consider using that term. "They are my family and I would NEVER treat them as anything less!"
"Funny way of showing it!"
"You don't understand!"
"Then help me understand!"
"I've explained this to you time and time again!"
"And all it sounds like is that your using people!"
Once again, Rias and Sonic began to argue, only this one seemed to be more heated than any of the other arguments to two had over the course of them knowing each other. Both Rias and Sonic gritted their teeth at the other, growling at yet another disagreement they were having…
FLOOOOOSH!
ZWHEEEEEE!
BOOM!
At that moment, Rias summoned a glyph for a Power of Destruction fireball and Sonic launched a Sonic Wave after revving up on the ground, both attacks colliding and causing a small explosion. Because each Devil had a different pair of eyes of the attackers and by the speed they both moved, it was impossible to tell who threw the first punch.
They're disagreements… had finally gotten physical.
"Sonic!… Hold up!" Issei told Sonic despite still feeling weak from his Gear.
"Rias! Calm down!" Said Akeno, feeling she had to play ambassador again, but both the supersonic Hedgehog and Princess of Annihilation didn't seem to hear or simply ignored the pleads of her and Issei.
Rias was then launching fireball after fireball at the Mobian, but Sonic easily evaded each attack as they made small explosions were he was standing a second ago. When he spun and attempted a Homing Attack, he lost his target as she unfurled her wings and flapped them right as he was readying the attack and evaded herself (which was mostly dumb luck).
The Devil was going to attack again, but as she was preparing her magic, Sonic tried a second Homing Attack, THIS time right on target. Knowing she had leas than a second, she decided to forgo her attack and instead blocked Sonic with a barrier using both hands to maximize the potency, the Hedgehog still spinning as he made contact with her shield. She was pushed back from his incoming speed, but using her own strength, she pushed him off sideways which did take a good chunk of her stamina.
Sonic landed on the ground, which he had to leave his pinball form to dodge 2 waves of crimson fire. He landed on a pose with one hand and both feet on the ground, staring at Rias intently, whom did the same with her hands glowing as she held them up. They both had the same thought:
No more talking… No more arguing…
Now… it's on.
Next Chapter Title - Boss Battle: Rias Gremory