So addressing the elephant in the room, i've got a few private messages and reviews saying I posted the same chapter twice… well shit, we content creators are allowed one slip up once in a blue moon, right *chuckles*?… As long as we don't blow half of it up, but a golden mote of light illuminating in the abyss is fine (… heh.).
Not much else I can really say. If there was one thing, I've been requested to read a story by a fellow chad named Sonic245. He had a fic called Pokémon Special: Sonic The Hedgehog chapter… ngl, there are a few good moments in there I actually like, but there is also some cringe inside. It's not terrible, don't get me wrong, but I figure we'd all help a fellow out and lend him a hand.
I can only do so much so if a few of you could do me a solid and check out the fic in question? And if you review it, be nice with any criticism. I can tell Sonic245 is really trying his best, and his work is definitely coming from a place of passion.
Regardless, the Boss Battle against Rias and Sonic begins. Some of you have already placed your bets, let's see if they win big money. And if you lose, go back on the train and try the slots again.
From TheGamerwriter456:
HOOOO, BOY! Shit just hit the fan quick! Not gonna lie, when Sonic accused Rias, I got me a bag of chips and sat down like I was at a movie! Got one question... will there be boss music?
Bakuganman: You know it. I chose the only track that I felt would be fitting.
From Twilight-to-Oblivion:
Hey man, i have some things i'd like to talk to you about, about high school DxD as a whole, it's kinda of a mess, isn't it? I mean, the themes, ideas, ideologies and as a whole thing, it's pretty pretencious, isn't it? Don't get me wrong, i get that i'm being a bit to into it, but i have to say my point somewere, and i need to be heard, this series just rubs me the wrong way,and i'd like a fanfic that trully puts things into perspective for people. What do you think about it, Bakuganman?
Also, to further my point, it's kinda hard to make a crossover with it, for isntance, think Devil May Cry, sure, at first glance they seem like they could mix, there both about demons/devils, but the moment you get a closer look at what makes these series what they are, you realise that they don't mix at all, the themes don't mix, the characters don't mix (hell, i'm pretty sure characters like Dante, Vergil and Nero wouldn't hesitate to kill the high school DxD cast in a heartbeat, even if you separate demons and devils in some way, i don't by it, to me, even if in the surfase there different, deep down, there the same, selfish, cruel monsters). And that goes the same about any other media with demons, angels, gods and humans in it, the themes just don't mix, and because of that, i don't think high school DxD is a good media outlet, or good material at all, just a dumb eyecatcher with no real sence of a moral code.
Of course, i'm not chastising anyone who likes it, you're free to like what you like, i'm just getting my point across, i still come back and read this story for a reason, and it's not to say that you can't make a good crossover with it, for isntance there's a good crossever with Castlevania Lords of Shadow that gets it's point across, sadly it's not under continuation for a long time, but my point is, you can make something good out of this series, it's just really difficult to do it.
(Phew!) that was a long one, but i'm glad to get my opinion out there, what do you thing about it, oh kind reader, and what do you think, Bakuganman?
Bakuganman: That's fine. Everyone has their own opinion on franchises and shows. They are art, and like all art, it is subjective. Tbh, there is a little inconsistency with DxD, and like any show it's not perfect. One example I can think about on the top of my head is Issei's armor being able to shield him against Holy power… but for whatever reason this gets retconned later on, then goes back to being able to shield him again.
So yes, there are definite parts of this series that are a mess. I'm not going to dispute that, that is a fair critique (in the anime's defense still, this only happened once). It is a mixed bag, but I still like it.
A mess? Yes… but a Hot Mess 😏
Sorry to hear the DxD half rubs you wrong, I've said it before and I'll say it again, High School DxD is not for everybody and it can be an acquired taste. While I'm not sure how my audience is going to react to this review (I sure HOPE they are not screaming sammyclassicsonicfans), I will say here let the man speak. He said his piece. And if you disagree, fine; but don't butcher him over it. We're all civilized degenerates here.
Finding a correct flow to this type of crossover wasn't too hard, at least for me although it took a while to plan; and honestly to pat myself on the back here, it is quite ambitious. With that being said, the target demographics for both series' involved is going to have mixed opinions along with some criticism. I fully understand not everybody is going to feel the vibe considering what I have created here.
Like I told Sbjon21, I've experimented with both franchises to see how they could mesh together and found the following similarities:
1) Both Franchises have items of power of limitless power (Chaos Emeralds, Sacred Gears, etc)
2) Both Franchises have cute little creatures (Chao and Familiars)
3) Both Franchises have those humorous slice of life moments, but can also contain very mature stories or incidents.
4) 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. There is one more I didn't mention and that might be because unlike most of the stories I've read involving this crossover type, I'm actually not afraid to have both protagonist forces physically tussle with one another. I think back to the iconic Raynare Boss-fights, as well as now this Rias one we are about to go through. Both of these I consider to be some of my favorite moments that I've ever written, the Raynare fights having nearly the most views in the view log.
On the up side, it does sound like your gonna stick around a little bit longer, and if you happen to leave at some point, then that's fine too. Its been and has been fun interacting with you whether it be in the comments section or in DMs. Don't be afraid, and this goes for everybody else, to express your opinion with me. Whether I agree with it or not is irrelevant.
Moral of the story: we all have different pallets, and broadening them can be a gamble depending on what the dish contains. What brought Twilight to me was the interest in Sonic, but DxD doesn't mesh with his taste buds. Simple as that.
From Daku Shirosaki:
Yo I'm back and MAN OH MAN! I knew the feud between the both of them would eventually take a turn for the worse, but not like this!
It's understandable on why Sonic was reacting on the way Rias was treating Issei like that, and after his talk with the other and Akeno, it would soon turn into a fight to where both sides are gonna be out for blood.
But that little bit with Knuckles and Kokabiel?! MAN. I was half expecting for Knuckles you punch Kokabiel in the face, to at LEAST wipe that smile on his face. Though it kinda ironic that Knuckles said he's not to be fooled with, not knowing he's fooling himself on not believing that Sonic is actually in the same predicament as he's in. But hey this Knuckles we're talking about lol.
Hopefully both Rias and Sonic both come to an understanding with one another and not try to kill each other over something that is kinda like a misunderstanding between them. But I get to where Sonic is coming with Rias using them for power, since Sonic has already seen Eggman use the Wisps for an energy source to help build Eggmanland XD. Though I'm surprised that it took this long for me to see some Rias Bashing, even if it a little bit lol.
Well that's I have to say for now, imma go back dying a lot on Sonic Unleashed now XD. SEE YA!
Bakuganman: For that last part of that review, good f***ing luck in Eggmanland 😆😆😆
Yes, this was always an end goal, having Sonic and Rias settle things with a big fight. Even before I started the story, I always saw the scene playing in my hear, how it would go and more importantly, what would cause it?
The answer: slavery. Being tied down. Now of course Rias is not guilty of this, giving her servants the choice to reincarnate and become one of her, but she's also willing to assist if their about to die or in some kind of trouble, bend the rules or find a loophole to make it legal.
Does she still use her peerage for power? To a degree, yes. They have Stray Devils to keep off the streets, and of course the Rating Games, but that's something that comes with the territory. In fact Rias and Issei eventually have a Rating Game against each other, but they decide lets just have fun with it. Lets beat the crap out of each other for societies entertainment.
From Lildeevil:
The Blue Blur vs The Crimson Ruin Princess
Place your bets!
Bakuganman: Now this was a Guest review, so the only reason I'm responding and letting it through is to confirm this is you. I've already sent you a PM and if its not responded to in some way, be it PM, twitter, or a discord message; I'm gonna assume its someone posing as you.
Getting too the comment proper, yes. Before anyone reads, lets do a quick optional little game. Write down who you think will win in a PM or comment to me BEFORE you read, and lets see if you get it right. Be honest! No cheating cuz there are ways I can find out.
Chapter 32 - Boss Battle: Rias Gremory
Continuing on where the last chapter left off, both Sonic and Rias were now Spin Dashing and Crimson Fireballing at each other wildly. They both would evade or block the opponents strike before attempting to return fire, only for this cycle to rinse and repeat itself. When Rias knocked off Sonic again, instead of attacking her straight away, he instead dashed off into the forest.
"Get your spiky blue ass back here!" Rias said, taking off herself with all the speed her wings could grant her. Everyone else watched in shock, everything hit the ceiling pretty fast that time, they were still trying to process what exactly happened.
"They're gonna kill each other." Koneko said, which immediately after came explosions from the forest…
XXX
(AN: Optional Music - Sonic Unleashed: Boss Battle - Day)
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM, BOOM! BOOM!
Sonic then ran through of the forest brush as him in a blue streak shot away from those explosions and continued onward. A glyph then opened up some distance away, Rias Gremory herself rising out of it, her power flaring around her, as we close in on her eye showing it was glowing with her Demonic Power just like with Riser, but then we zoom back out to see she was positioning her hands for another attack as the Boss Battle officially begins from Sonic's perspective like during Boost-Gameplay.
Rias, a new magic circle before her, fired a magical blast of her destructive fire, though this was easy enough to dodge by Sonic with a simple Quick Step. Immediately after, Sonic Boosted forward and got within striking range of Rias before jumping up and launched a Homing Attack directly on her! The timing was absolutely perfect, him landing the blow just as her magic was fizzling out.
Rias did grunt at this, and of course was launched backward from the generated force, but a magic glyph caught her and she went inside it, most likely teleporting somewhere else. Either she did that after Sonic attacked her so she wouldn't skid on the ground, or somehow knew Sonic would do this and did so as a precaution. It was hard to tell.
Either way, Sonic had lost visual of his target but he just kept running after landing back on the ground after the rebound. Staying still wasn't an option right now.
Ahead of Sonic, a magic circle… er… circles opened up along the ground… a lot of them…
They all bursted columns of demonic energy straight up from each, blocking Sonic's path as hazards he must avoid. Nothing he hasn't done before, having evaded pillars of fire or electricity, sometimes even bolts of ice. Again, Sonic had to Quick Step past these; but he had to admit with the way they were placed and how close they were together, he nearly got burned from them.
Another glyph opened a bit further ahead, only this time Rias rose out of it much like she did just before the Boss Battle started. This time instead of summoning a circle to attack, demonic embers formed around one of her hands, where she then bent her arm in front of herself before waving it outward, sending a fast and destructive wave of crimson at her target, being the Hedgehog running along the path.
Sonic had to either jump or slide under that, to which he chose the latter, and rushed at Rias to strike her again the same way he did before…
FLARE!
"ARGH!"
Before Sonic could land another Homing Attack, Rias flared her Demonic Power and pushed Sonic back much like Raynare had done when that Fallen got desperate. However unlike her, Rias' managed to not only push back, but also hurt him! Sonic could feel his body heat up and was coated in unholy flames similar to when he was a Werehog and fought a certain bird.
Thankfully for him that wasn't fatal, and it seemed Rias had the same idea Raynare did and only wanted to deflect him, but her power was much stronger than that thieving Fallen Angel and as a result, actually caused him damage.
Despite the above, Sonic managed to recover and continue running, the fire around him dispelling.
Sonic tried something else, running on ahead of Rias before doing a U-turn around a tree a good distance away to try and hit her from behind when he circles back around. The moment Sonic dashed off however, Rias had already begun preparing her magic again and avoided Sonic's Homing Attack a second time just one second before the Hedgehog's attack was able to connect. Sonic gritted his teeth due to this.
Once again, more circles spawned ahead of Sonic, only this time they were sideways. They began blasting magic seconds before he approached them, either to the left or the right depending on which side they spawned from and at varying levels of elevation. He had to jump, stomp, and slide to avoid this just as quickly as the first attack pattern.
For the 3rd time, Rias arose, summoning 2 circles on each side of her before firing them. Getting in the center in-between the blasts, Sonic the Boosted forward but didn't use his Homing Attack this time. Instead, he caught her off guard on the chance her seeing him jump would aware her of his Homing Attack, and simply jumped at her while still Boosting.
This tactic worked and Sonic did get another hit on her!
FLARE!
Though at the same time, she flared her power and knocked him off while also damaging him. Even as Sonic recovered mid-run, you could see Rias took damage from the attack at the spinning into tore at her gym uniform a bit so her bra and stomach areas were showing in very small pieces that one could only appreciate if they were close enough. She was able to repair her clothes with magic of course.
Sonic realized what was going on here. Rias did not need to be faster than him, because of the way devil magic worked, she simply had to think. To visualize a spot and she'll teleport there. And since this is a Gremory property, she obviously knew this entire location like the back of her long crimson hair so regardless of how fast Sonic could run, in this particular situation, Rias had just as much of the speed advantage as he did.
This time however, Rias did not teleport away, but instead energy glowed in her hands. As Sonic was running, he heard the humming sound of her magic before a circle opened up before her and she seemed to repeat the same bursting column attack from earlier which Sonic Quick Stepped around…
Wait… why did he still hear it?…
Glancing behind him, the magic column was now following him! It was here Rias finally vanished out of Sonic's sight, leaving him to be chased down by her own magic. Sonic had to hit the gas to evade the column following directly behind him… him avoiding this attack this way reminded him of a certain fiery feline…
Rias reappeared on the side behind the cover of some trees while he was still running (AN: again, similar to Boost Gameplay), summoning balls of crimson fire from some more glyphs as they flew at him. Sonic did speed up or slow down to evade these, not slowing down too much due to the deadly column of fire following behind him.
These crimson fireballs functioned a little differently from Rias' standard version of the move. Instead of simply wizzing past when they were launched, they appeared to follow Sonic for a bit before they generated small explosions after they popped. Sonic did get hit not by the balls themselves, that clearly wasn't the purpose behind this attack, but when they went poof they burned him and slowed him down a bit (AN: basically his damaged animation when he runs into a non-breakable hazard or trips). He didn't expect this type of maneuver from Rias' powers as he mostly just saw things or individuals blow up from it.
Despite that, Sonic wasn't gonna let his demonic rival one-up him that easily. After Rias was preparing a magic blast this time, Sonic quickly leaped onto a tree, getting out of Rias' line of fire and out of sight, causing her to hesitate. While she could think up ways to use her magic against the Hedgehog, she still needed a visible target. She looked around quickly, knowing full well she didn't have long. She did manage to get a glimpse of Sonic jumping into another tree (which he was doing multiple times to throw off her aim).
ZWHEEEEEE!
POW!
From her side, after Sonic landed in another tree and figured was now the time to strike, Rias was struck, but he was far from done with her…
POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW!
He must have used his time in the trees to charge up a Light Speed Attack for the moment his Homing Attack knocked her away, Sonic continuously attacked her from numerous directions at supersonic speed and preventing her from escaping into another circle should she have opened one.
While Rias continued to get pummeled, it only made her angrier and angrier, and put up a barrier before her… or at least what Sonic thought was a barrier, as he went straight through and inside it.
The next second, Sonic found him falling from the sky, the circle spawning further above in the sky. "… WAAA-AAAH!" He said as he dropped like a rock, having not expected this either. As he was falling, he then stopped as glyphs took form around him, something Raynare did to him way back when.
She summoned a teleportation circle before her knowing full well Sonic would still attack her or mistake it for a barrier… either way, she one-upped him again! Rias had flown up a bit from the forest around this time, then her eyes flared…
BOOOOM!
The prison that was holding Sonic hostage then flashed with the same color of red before all of the circles containing the Hedgehog then blew up. Sonic, seemingly unconscious from that, fell from the sky once again… only for his eyes to then snap open…
ZWHEEEEEEE!
Rias: …! GAH!
Before Rias could even react, Sonic Spin Dashed straight for her using Sonic Meteor (though at an angle instead of straight down) and upon impact, he stayed connected to her so they were both on a collision course with the earth below. Even if she could have broken out, at the speed they were going, it was impossible for her to even think of teleportation either because by that point, they had already touched the ground and made an impact with the camera angle showing them rocketing down from the sky that it looked like a blue meteor was pushing down a red one. There was a good amount of dust that was kicked up upon the impact.
…
FLOOOOOOOOOOSH!
Then a deep red column of demonic power spawned from the crash site a few seconds later. It was unknown if Sonic was damaged by that or not, because the next second he was shown running while Rias was flying after him. Summoning magic on each hand, she then launched 1 crimson fireball, which blew up when it made contact with the ground but didn't hit Sonic (though it was close); then tossed the second one, only faster and with more power behind it. While this was even closer to her intended target, Sonic was still faster and evaded.
BOOST!
Sonic then sped up, his plan was to outpace Rias and attack her from a blind spot. Rias gritted her teeth at this as Sonic ran off, her eyes glowing again…
…?
Wait… why were Sonic's quills tingling again? He looked behind him…
ZOOM!
Sonic: …!
Sonic had to Quick Step during his Boost to evade a blast of crimson fire… at least that's what he assumed it was. Color him surprised when he saw Rias, her body covered her red Power of Destruction magic, was now right next to him.
No way… Rias knew how to Boost?!
As Sonic ran and Rias flew right beside him, the 2 of them tried to outpace the other. Sonic was clearly the faster one still, but Rias wasn't one to give up and had to pour more power into her improvised Boost.
CLANG!
Rias turned into Sonic, attempting to throw him off course. This was effective to a small degree as again, this was something Sonic did not expect Rias to have in her repertoire. He gritted his teeth as he then turned…
CLANG!
And he too, tried throwing Rias off, a bit harder than she did. She nearly was knocked away, and she did fly through a tree but that tree was burned away by her power when she rammed through it. Once she got her bearings, she gritted her teeth back.
CLANG! CLANG!
CLANG, CLANG!
CLAAAAAAAANG!
Both Boosters ran into each other a few more times while avoiding trees and such, attacking when one saw a chance. Then upon clashing a bit longer on the last one, they both rocketed off once they parted ways.
The scene flips back to the rest of the group for a moment, showing they have been seeing explosion after explosion from Sonic's and Rias' big fight, but they didn't know or see anything else about it. What exactly was going on between them or who was winning wasn't clear to them, but they did manage to see 2 glowing trails that even bumped into each other a few times heading up toward the mountain Issei blew a hole through…
Going back to Rias and Sonic, as you'd expect, Sonic was the one to make it to the top first with Rias right behind him. Instead of following, she instead flew straight up a few more feet before extending a hand, which opened her magic glyph and out came some Destruction balls in a rapid-fire fashion. Sonic avoided this easy enough while small explosions went off behind him as Rias followed his path, and did a loop around while dashing off.
Not knowing what he was up too, Rias stopped her attack to try something else, but she didn't realize (or wasn't prepared for) Sonic had gotten below her and Air Dashed upwards. Immediately after making contact, he excluded a Blue Tornado on her to immobilize her then when he was done, he used that momentum to get above her before spinning and performing a Bound Jump on her to bounce off her and sent her towards the ground, then he went to use Sonic Meteor again like before.
FLOOOOSH!
Rias did not give him that chance this time, for while she was falling, she flared her power again to improvise another Boost to recover and then flew straight up while Sonic was coming down at her. When they collided, they both held their positions for exactly 5 seconds until they knocked each other back. When they did, they hastily launched a stream of Destruction power (Rias) and a air wave via a Somersault Kick (Sonic) at the same time, the intent was to hit the other while they were currently defenseless and/or block the opposing attack. One attack flew towards the other…
The issue was the aim of both attacks was a little bit off, and with literally only a whisker-length away from each other, both attacks slowed down for you the reader to clearly see they curved away from the other ever so slightly, but this small miscalculation for both opponents caused the attacks to miss each other completely and still impact the intended target once time resumed as normal.
The stream of magic collided with Sonic while the wave of energy hit Rias, both combatants crying out in pain as this occurred (a spilt-screen showing both of them at once), and both fell on the ground with small dust clouds from their impacts and grunting in pain upon them.
Both combatants began to rise up, both a little shaky from dealing quite a bit of damage to each other, though Rias was the one who made the next move, her pupils showing her clans symbol…
Rias' family crest spawned below her, so she was gonna use magic again obviously, but its how she used it next that shocked Sonic. Lifting up one arm up, she generated a ball of Destruction magic only for it to continue to grow to where eventually she had to use her second arm to maintain control of the power. In fact, this new attack appeared so strong, that sparks of demon power shot out periodically but this wasn't by Rias herself; more likely this was so much energy being used at once that a bit of it couldn't help but not be contained properly.
Sonic even noted that some rocks along the mountain were starting to float up at this point… this huge ball of Rias' power also had own gravitational force! It was like a black hole, only both black and red!
Sonic knew for a damn fact nothing in his arsenal could do anything against that. So he did the only thing he could do, which was run… he got a good 10 feet away with his speed before he too was being pulled up by Rias' attack, his feet and arms flailing around. This reminded him so much of a red Jackal from a while back…
Sonic: Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOOOOOOOOA!
XXX
Back with the rest of the ORC, they of course saw the giant ball of Destruction.
"Talk about humongous!" Issei said.
"W-What is that?" Asia asked, having never seen or felt a large surge of power like that before.
"… Extinguished Star…" Akeno said, recognizing the move in question and giving its actual name, having seen Rias use this attack before.
XXX
Still flailing around like a fish, not wanting to be a victim of whatever effects Rias' attack would have, Sonic had to pull deep into his energy to Boost with almost everything he had… oddly enough some sparks left his body. In fact, his eyes glowed a deep blue for a split second upon triggering this massive Boost, then this visual effect disappeared once he blinked, probably shutting down that power for not needing it anymore at the moment.
Rias at that point threw the humongous sphere of her Destruction magic downward, not just because Sonic escaped it, she was going to do it anyway. Sonic or course had to run like hell at that point.
FLOOO-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A bright explosion of deep crimson filled the air and the vision of those watching. Just like when Issei blasted that mountain (albeit by accident), the group again had to brace themselves from the aftershocks and such from the mountain's location. When they looked back up again… remember that hole in the middle of the mountain?
The better question: what mountain?
Even though he evaded the actual attack itself, Sonic was still blown forward and off the mountain by the sheer force generated from it. This included some rocks of the mountain that were not absorbed by Extinguished Star, or they were newly created by the few leftover pieces of said mountain from the explosion.
Regardless, there was one rock near him that was a little rough, but could be used as a snowboard. Grabbing it, Sonic repositioned the rock under his feet so when he hit the ground, he began sliding down it with style. This reminded him of that one avalanche he accidentally caused…
The flying Rias dove after him by tucking in her wings, granting her a speed boost thanks to gravity. She then launched more fireballs out of her hands after they grew to a satisfactory size, throwing them at Sonic one after another, but all Sonic did was use his makeshift snowboard to ride away from them. He even had to use a small hill/bump in the land as a ramp to evade at one point, not able to help himself and pull of a trick while doing so; but this was a second later shown to be beneficial as a fireball wizzed between him mid-trick and the rocky board below him.
Sonic kneeled down to speed up, then kicked himself backward and off the board after getting some distance away, which also sent the board upwards, then gave it a powerful kick back at Rias. All Rias did to stop it was send a single stream of her Destruction power at the rock-shaped board, immediately shattering it to pieces instead of it disintegrating instead.
While that happened, Sonic already initiated a Drop Dash to speed off once he hit the ground. Rias had to summon a new circle in her hand and then toss it in front of herself before she dove inside it, nearly identical to Raynare when she was chasing him through town.
As Sonic got down to the base of the mountain, Rias' portal appeared on his right, and she shot out of it with her improvised Boost maneuver. To counter, Sonic immediately activated his own as she trialed shy behind him. Both Devil and Hedgehog chased after each other, clashing a few times, and at one point Risa flew above for a split second to try and crash down on Sonic like the blue shell from Mario Kart/Smash Bros (Sonic always hated that thing, was very painful) and cause a similar explosion to it only in red when she impacted the ground.
Sonic honestly barely avoided the attack and the following explosion, and even as he ran off, Rias burst out from the aftermath of said explosion a moment later. As they got closer back to the training field, the rest of the group could now hear more clearly the sounds from their battle.
(AN: Stop Music.)
That's when Rias and Sonic, locked in another clash, shot out from the forest and to the center of the field. Sparks of their respective colors of energy shot off of them and when they got to the center of the field, they broke apart and were separated by a good 7-9 feet.
"This isn't gonna change anything, Ruin-Head!" Sonic said. "They aren't your puppets!"
"For the last time, my family at not puppets to me! They are my adorable and most honored servants. You have no idea the sacrifices I had to make for them!" Rias argued back for in her POV, a servant is family and is to be treated as such. "I should've never made that deal with you! I should have just blasted you out of my territory like any other Devil, but nooooo! I had to be the good guy and let you scurry around like a dirty little possum!"
"Well guess what? Your stuck with that dirty blue possum until he can go home!" Sonic countered. "But he's not gonna sit back and let you use people for your own benefit!"
"FOR MY BENEFIT?!" It was here Rias was not only screaming, but there was clear heavy emotion in her face. "When they were left out there dying or in danger, when no other Devil even BOTHERED to lift a finger, it was ME!" Rias patted herself on her chest a single time with a hand. "I was the one that took then in. I was the one that gave them love and support. I was the one to revive them, and give them a second chance, when everybody else left them for dead!"
Now Sonic was self-aware when it came to the fact he would jump ahead to quickly on lots of things… and getting that context finally made him realize that, while Rias as a species did allot of things he personally disagreed with, he may have gone a bit too far this time and completely misunderstood why Rias as an individual revived and created her peerage…
She saved them. When none of the higher ranking Devils even gave her Pieces the time of day, Rias went out of her way for everybody else… just like he did…
Now, Sonic could admit that he was wrong in that aspect, but their was still the issue of the Rating Game and Rias putting all the pressure on herself. But before they could even think of discussing that, he should probably calm her down.
"By carrying them all on your shoulders?" Sonic asked.
Rias glared at him with her teeth gritting for a second before answering. "… What do you know, Mister Hero? Your always saving your own world with Rainbow Rocks, aren't you?" She asked, both sarcastically and seriously.
"But never alone! You know how many times I needed help with and without my Rainbow Rocks!" Sonic said (making a mental note of Rias' nickname for the Emeralds. Was honestly one of the best things he's heard in a while).
"I never ASKED for your help!" Rias cut him off due to her highly emotional state, which was kinda Sonic's fault, but it also helped him understand Rias a little better:
It's not that Rias didn't want Sonic's help or appreciate it… She didn't know how [or was subconsciously afraid] to ask for it.
For the longest time, she has done virtually everything on her own, her own family rarely ever assisted in anything she had done, such as helping many members of her peerage by finding loopholes in devils legal system. And when they set her up with a bird, she escaped and set up shop in the human world not only because she liked it, but to get as far away from Riser and her own family that forced her into it as possible.
In simple terms, she was flying solo since day one, and it sounded like no one ever bothered to help her but instead, she'd offer her help to various people and place herself in difficult positions without them ever asking for it... yet another thing these two rivals had in common…
"Rias, I knew someone in a very similar situation as you…" Sonic said (minus the whole arranged marriage thing but she didn't need to know that now), which did show to peak Rias' interest despite her whirlpool of emotions right now. "She has power just like you. She was fighting for the fate of her people, her kingdom; but wanted to do it all on her own." Sonic remembered his friend Blaze, and how they clashed with 2 Eggmen watching them. "Even with me helping her, we barely survived! Both our worlds would have collapsed on each other so if she couldn't do it, and even I couldn't do it, then you can't either!"
Sonic was hoping that would work… but it had the opposite effect…
Now… Rias' entire body and eyes began to glow with deep crimson, the exact color of blood. Additionally, her power was flaring so much, that it created what looked like a giant flame around her body, similar to a burning candle.
To match this, Sonic's body glowed in a similar way only in light blue and also looked electrical. What appeared to be his Boost energy sparked around him, the hum of his Light Speed Attack emitting as his eyes glowed like Rias' but again, in blue. The others watched with both anticipation on what's going to happen, but also concerning do the sheer amount of power both of them were generating…
…
…
…
It was unknown who shot off first, both Sonic and Rias both flew at each other at incredible speed…
CLASH!
(AN: New music - Vela-nova: Part 2)
Sonic ran into Rias and Rias flew into Sonic, both crashed into the other head-on with every last bit of their power! Sparks of energy and Demonic Power were shooting out of the clash from both fighters trying to knock the other away. Sonic's feet were pounding the ground and Rias' wings were flapping like crazy, both trying to gain the upper hand.
The spectators could not help but watch in shock and awe from the tremendous force both Sonic and Rias were hitting each other with, and it only continued to build up as they continued pushing. At one point, Rias looked to be gaining the upper hand, but Sonic gritted his teeth with a growling sound and poured more power into his own Boost, now pushing Rias back. She retaliated in the same way once she realized she was losing ground, pushing Sonic back also. This was just like the battle with Sonic and Blaze.
Only… the power didn't stop increasing…
It was here Akeno sensed that was gonna be an issue and put up a magic barrier before herself and everyone else behind her as neither person involved in this duel was gonna give in…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The music stopped upon the result, which was a extremely large and extremely powerful explosion from where Sonic and Rias were clashing, a mixture of red and blue. And explosion so powerful that an even larger amount of wind was generated than when Issei blew a hole through the mountain that used to be here.
In fact, Akeno's barrier immediately started cracking the moment the explosion went off, the Queen barely able to repel all that power from both a King Devil and a supersonic Hedgehog from another universe. She had to also grit her teeth and continue to hold back the insane level of energy.
If she prepared this barrier any later…
The energy eventually subsided, Akeno's barrier could now be broken by a tap from a baby human from how damaged it was. She lowered the barrier after a few moments to confirm there was no more danger… the grass and trees, weren't as lucky…
It basically looked like a nuke went off, with the only section of living plant life being behind Akeno and the group.
As for Sonic and Rias, they were standing some feet apart while looking at each other, apparently they both knocked each other back but no further. They were also breathing heavily in and out of their mouths after fighting each other to a complete standstill.
Despite one processing high speed and the other having dangerous power; the two of them were equally matched.
Sonic: *huff… huff… huff…*
Rias: *haa… haa… haa…*
Sonic's and Rias' chests were rising and falling, trying to re-supply their systems with fresh oxygen they needed after such a intense brawl they shared.
Sonic: *huff… huff…* heh… heheh…
For whatever reason, Sonic's huffing and puffing changed… and his lips curled upwards…
Rias: *haa… haa…* he… hehe…
And Rias copied those actions.
Sonic: Heheh, heheheh…
Rias: Hehe, hehehehe…
"Ha-HA, HAHAHAHA!"
The other ORC members had this biggest question marks over they're heads along with faces that were beyond gobsmacked. Sonic and Rias… laughing…
Those two mixed together like oil and water, argued almost every time they were in the same room, they literally just ran after each other like a cat and dog, tore up a forest, knocked each other out of the sky, blew up a FUCKING mountain!
They've been trying to KILL each other… and they're LAUGHING?!
Sonic and Rias just continued to laugh as if they didn't just cause a nuke-like explosion that Akeno could barely hold off on her own. Sonic's hands were up in the air and even pointed at Rias with one of them at one point; while Rias was holding her stomach not because it was in pain (although it kind of was due to a Spin Dash or 10), but because all the stress left her body so all that remained was a relief bubbling to the surface in the form of laughter.
And both of them couldn't stop.
XXX
Much time later, the duo eventually did stop laughing and calmed down while their laughter slowed down to giggles and finally caught their breath. Now Sonic could admit he was wrong during that situation, but then again so was Rias.
When she saw Issei's attack, she finally saw a way out… a small glimmer of hope to put this nonsense her family forced on her behind her. She wanted to get out of this so badly, that just seeing the power Issei now commanded clouded her judgment.
Surprisingly, both of them apologized to each other. Very eagerly interesting enough.
In fact, Rias invited Sonic into the office she was using for her battle plans and while the door was closed, the passerbys' could hear there was virtually no arguing in any capacity behind that door. Call them crazy, but it sounded like mature conversations were being had instead of shouting matches.
By that night, Rias also invited Issei to the room, who was too surprised at the fact that his alien friend and demon master were getting along to make a joke about it. Rias ended up sharing the battle plan as well as backup plans she and Sonic had made during the time gap.
Currently Rias was wearing a pink nightgown with a pair of glasses, making her look like a sexy librarian. Issei was in a white T-shirt but he didn't get the chance to change out of his casual jeans since he went over he moment Rias called him.
"So those are the plans?" Issei asked upon seeing Sonic in a lab coat big enough for him, a wig of white hair, and a pointer he was using on a large chalkboard that made him look like a college professor. The 2 of them must have worked overtime with all that information.
"While those are the plans…" Rias said.
"But they're not exactly great ones." Sonic finished, throwing off his costume afterward. "Definitely not A pluses, that's for sure."
'Great, now they're finishing each other sentences…' Issei thought. These two ended up clicking so fast after they knocked each other around a few times. "But they gotta work, right? You've been in here all day, and Rias' has been busting her ass the whole time we've been here!"
"While I have no reason to doubt it will work to some extent, we ultimately can't control what the opponent will do." Rias said, which was a fair point. "Besides, we are up against Phenex. And let me assure you, the name is most appropriate. Like the beast he's named after, he immediately regenerates from any injury and is believed to be completely immortal and indestructible."
"I concur. I fought a Phoniex myself once… their not easy." Sonic agreed with her… Issei couldn't help but feel he accidentally walked into a different plane of existence. Sonic and Rias agreeing on something? This felt really weird.
"Is that even allowed? How is that fair?" Issei asked, as it would appear they were at even bigger of a disadvantage then he originally thought. The most he thought they had to worry about was numbers as he had a full set of peerage members and Rias only had half.
"Just the way it is. He's also lost only 2 games in his entire career, but that was only due to him throwing those matches on purpose because of Houses he's close to. Even then, he recently re-challenged those two families and put his lose ratio to zero." Rias said. "Even before he or I was born, the Phenex family has completely dominated the Rating Game culture ever since they first began."
"I'm sorry. This is pretty much my fault." Issei said, feeling guilty. "I told Riser where to stick it and now he wants to fight. Should've kept my mouth shut."
"Not at all, Issei. This isn't even close to your fault." Rias said. "In fact, this has been a long time coming, and now I can finally tell Riser and my family where to stick it." She added, seeing a positive in this. "They must believe I'm going to loose in the end, otherwise the house of Phenex wouldn't have even bothered making this deal nor my own family. So now I have the opportunity to prove them wrong."
"Butt-Kick Diplomacy! My favorite!" Sonic interjected, and would you believe it, Rias cracked a smile and nearly giggled from that dumb joke… seriously, this was going to take some getting used to.
Rias then looked out the window of the room at that point. "As I said, I understand why my family is trying to push this marriage proposal, and my title is something I will always cherish; but when it comes to my happiness, I want to share it with someone who sees me as Rias, not see how my status can improve their life."
"Whatever! I like you because your Rias, your title doesn't define you and it shouldn't!" Issei said. "Look at everything you've done for me, even if it puts you in a difficult position. Your incredible, and I just hope I can pay you back somehow."
"Don't get me wrong, I like my titles too. Blue Wind, Blue Blur, The Fastest Thing Alive…" It appeared Sonic misunderstood the situation, but he continued. "But that's all they are. Their just titles, they don't mean much else." He shrugged.
Rias looked back at the boys and took a mental step back, thinking about what Sonic and Issei said… she never thought she'd see the day, but it turns out there were two people aside from only her peerage that actually understood.
"I mean, you're called both the Princess of Ruin and Empress of Annihilation. If anyone can beat the Phenex families winning streak, it's gonna be you!" Issei added, with Sonic looking like he heartily agreed.
"Its not gonna be easy." Rias said, and Sonic was going to respond with 'nothings ever easy' or something along those lines, but Rias' serious expression made both boys silent. "My powers are strong, but even I can't heal instantaneous injury. Not even Asia's Sacred Gear can do that. My strength lies in my entire team and our ability to fight together. When I fight, Gremory fights with me. But if I loose, Gremory does as well. We all fight as one, losing tomorrow is not an option." She added, not necessarily talking about her family (though maybe a little bit), but mainly her team.
It's not that she didn't appreciate Sonic and Issei's encouragement, but she was talking realism here.
"… with that being said…" Rias then walked other to Sonic of all people, stopping once she got before him. "… I should've done this sooner, but…" She extended her hand at that point towards him.
…
…
Sonic smirked. "Oh, now you wanna ask?" He joked.
Rias smiled back at him with a chuckle. "I'm desperate."
Sonic waited 3 seconds, but ultimately took Rias' hand and shook it. No words works changed any further between the two, the only looked into each others eyes, confidence in both pairs. Again, this was very strange for Issei to witness between these two individuals of all people…
But… this looked like the start of a beautiful friendship. They just had to knock some sense into the other…
Now I can already feel the small group of angry typing from the people in back saying 'yOu NeRf SaNiC aGaIn, REEEEEEEEE!' Or the Big Brain superfans of both series' saying 'Um. Actually…'
Nah. I'ma stop ya right there. This was the most fair battle I could make between both Sonic and Rias, our favorite rivalry of this fic behind the Raynare one before she was killed off. Both Devil and Hedgehog using everything they've got as their bickering throughout the story finally boiled over. But also finally developing them to start getting along without it feeling forced.
Now if you have a different opinion, that's fine too.
One comment I'm probably gonna hear is: "Um actually, you just gave, Rias Gremory the Boost, to empower her, and also, under power Sonic, because she would, not be able, to stand up to him, because he is faster and stronger than Gods. Biggot. Racist. Homophobe."
Yes I've really gotten comments like that, another reason Guest Reviews are no longer accepted for any reason and are immediately deleted without me reading them… But what if I told you, Rias in fact, DOES. Have a Boost mechanic?
She used it during Season 3 - BORN of the anime. She was under a curse at one point, and it made her unresponsive to her fellow club members. Now you can make the argument that it was this curse that did this as it also gave Rias a Boosted Gear-like armor (which she actually gains much further in the story anyway just naturally); not to mention this part of the anime is what caused HERO to spawn into existence and retcon that as it made no sense, came virtually out of nowhere and only existed due to creative differences between the studio and the writer.
But even if it didn't or Rias didn't have this power, she would be smart enough to improvise the Boost mechanic anyway. Its still her Power of Destruction magic as this curse functioned like mind control, plus she has flared it a few times in the anime before taking off. To reiterate, its not as fast as Sonic's Boost, but it's definitely more destructive.
Another goal of this boss battle was for any Rias-haters. Yes, she's definitely not the perfect character; but from her outburst just before the final clash of their battle, I'm honestly hoping some people will sympathize with her and maybe understand her a little more, as a lot of people simply choose to be disingenuous when discussing her and why they don't like Rias… they never bring up the fact that Rias revived people to help them in her own way. And if you do, they'll scream like a group of Karen-Banshees.
She didn't HAVE to help Kiba, Koneko, Akneo or anyone else or her peerage… she did so on her own free will. And if you peel back the layers of her character, she also most likely did it because she was never given the same luxury… being forced to breed with a bird just for some brownie points…
Lastly, that Extinguished Star move… that's real. Its from a now discontinued mobile game called Fantasia Re:Build, which was a large crossover of anime characters. Extinguished Star was basically Rias' Final Smash, if you will.
So there you have it. The official result of this Boss Battle between Sonic and Rias ended in a tie. But then again, a victor wasn't the purpose of it anyhow.