Chapter Ten – Retaliations
But not before Bowser tried again. Kamek may have been down, but the rest of army weren't and getting the courage back, he charged back into the Mushroom Kingdom. Alarms rang across Toad Town, as King Koopa's flying airship, plus smaller ones following, slowly came towards them. They were common seafaring vessels. But these ships were sustained by in the air, with multiple huge propellers, in order to fly. They were all armed with cannons and flamethrowers against stowaways. Bowser stood at the stern of the lead airship, the largest of them all, gleefully looking down on the panicking down below. Captain Toad squealed.
"This is not happening." He stammered. But Princess Peach desperately looked at the Mobians, as they joined her outside of the castle, to see the commotion.
"I hope you've got something. That fleet is nearly impossible to take down." She stammered. But Tails frowned.
"Really?" He frowned, pointing at them. "But those ships are wooden." He summated, noticing the obvious. But before anyone could so anything, a huge roar of sound came from behind them, as a certain Blue Blur charged at the oncoming fleet. But his usual speed streak wasn't blue, it was a deep purple, borderline black, aura. Tails swore and hard, squealing in fright. Sonic's had lost his temper again, but for real, this time, not just surface level, and now he was extremely dangerous.
He sped along the ground, and then span into a ball, and surging his Super Speed forward, he homing attacked straight at the lead airship, with enough force, it would have just disintegrated the entire ship, and potentially the whole fleet, killing everyone. But before the Blue Blur's quills could even touch the vessel, someone else got there first.
Sukko.
Upon hearing what material the fleet was made from, it immediately gave the Sorcerer an idea. To take down the airships before his twin, but in a much more controlled manner, rather then the Blue Blur's wild anger. He wasn't surprised Sonic had lost it. This stunningly beautiful place, along side Bowser's and his pet Magikoopa, Kamek's, appalling attitude towards it, it just rubbed the Blue Blur's anger, up the wrong way, especially with the inclusion of Magic. He deeply cared about the environment, and the planet, and hated anyone who didn't. He hated Eggman for the same reason, but weirdly, the Human didn't press his buttons anywhere near as badly. Sukko lost his temper at Eggman, far more often, then ever Sonic did.
Suddenly, the Sorcerer appeared out of nowhere, and running forwards, he snapped both his fingers. Sticking both the thumbs out afterwards, with the singular blue flame on the end, he immediately flicked the wrist, again ensuring the singular blue flame, hit the centre of the palm, creating into a ball of bright blue flames. The Fabled Blue Fames of Chaos Sorcery. In one swift motion, his threw his both hands forwards, his wrists coming together, his fingers spread out like a flower, the two orbs of fire merged, as he aimed high at the air fleet. With his eyes glowing hard, his teeth gritted, Sukko surged the fire forwards, as a long line of deep blue, incredible hot flames streaked across the sky, and hit the main airship before the Blue Blur, instantly disintegrating the entire vessel.
The Koopa fled, including Bowser, Sukko allowing them, as he swung his blue fire line across, left and right, taking the rest of the ships. Within seconds, they were gone, nothing but ashes. Everyone gasped in utter astonishment at the Sorcerer, but Sukko quickly dissipated his blue flames, as he quickly prepared himself with what was coming. It surged at the airships and then just sailed straight through them, missing everyone as the blue flames disintegrated everything, careful to miss him in the process. Suddenly, Sonic's anger just ignited, and roared as he knew of only one person who had that kind of power. His twin.
Landing the other side, unscathed, Sonic whirled around, and eyed up his brother in the distance. But didn't bother to run back, yet again, as one almighty of pale blue flash, he teleported, and was instantly on top of the Sorcerer. But he dodged, as the Blue Blur, growled at him and hard.
"Sukko! Bowser was mine." He hissed, as he desperately tried to surge at his twin, but the Sorcerer held the Blue Blur back, with his powerful Telekinesis. But Sonic was gone. His entire body was emitting a deep, dark purple aura, as all his head quills turned upwards, and his the iris's and pupils of his eyes vanished. It was incredible frightened to see the hero like this. But Sukko just deeply sighed, staying incredible calm, as he looked at his twin.
"I'm not fighting you." He spat. "Not now, not ever. I don't care how angry you get. You know that if we were ever did, we could damage the Psychic Link beyond repair, and we'd both die." He hissed. But Sonic just scowled at him. "Sonikku, I thought you knew better. Attacking in full temper, gets people killed." He spat, very bluntly. Suddenly, Sonic stopped, as he just blinked the whites of his eyes, the iris's and pupils still missing. He was shaking with pure rage, high emotion, desperately struggling to keep the control. Then the realisation hit him, and hard, that as he could have outright murdered those Koopa. Yes, they were bad guys, but the mere thought of killing anything, was more then Sonic could bare. Several tears fell down his face, but the temper didn't ease. Finally, he calmed down enough, for Sukko to shut down his Telekinesis. He allowed the Blue Blur to rest his head on shoulder as Sonic sniffed and hard.
"I hate this." He squealed. But Sukko just sighed. Yeah, been there, done that, as he shared exactly the same temper, just with a significantly shorter fuse. Neither twin, enjoyed having it. But he also knew the Blue Blur wasn't done yet. He looked at his twin.
"I know." He comforted, and then he backed on the Blue Blur slightly, and encouraged the others to do the same. Sonic's temper just wasn't settling, it still potentially fuelling itself out of control. Therefore something needed to be done. Sukko nodded, to his twin. "Scream it out." He encouraged. Sonic was still growling hard with roar anger, after a pause, he finally he let it out, as he threw his hands towards the floor, while still on his feet, and with his nose pointed towards the skies, he opened his mouth wide, and screamed.
A scream, of pure and utter frustration. Suddenly, all hell broke loose.
The Blue Blur with a pale blue cloud of pure Chaos Energy, as lightning fell all around them. Real Lightning, not Sukko's fake pale blue illusions. Bright white and cracking loudly. No one dared move, out of fear of being hit, but there was trust that the Blue Blur wasn't aiming for them. They made everyone jump, including the Sorcerer himself, until Sonic finally petered out, as his scream faded away, taking the majority of his temper with it. He was panting hard, breathing deeply, as he began returning to normal, his bright green eyes returned, his quills falling back down, and his deep purple aura vanishing, but he was riddled with intense anger, but at least now, he had back the control.
Tails tried to approach him, but he back off, aggressively growling. No thanks. The last thing he wanted, right now, was fuss. Then he suddenly, looked at his twin, and then vanished into thin air, with a Chaos Control, to complaints all around, but Sukko snapped at everyone, hissing hard.
"Let him go." He spat. "It's going to take several days for Sonikku to get over this. Leave him alone." He growled, and suddenly, not liking all the attention, as he, himself vanished, in a cloud of bright white orbs, and was gone. There was stunned looks all around, as everyone realised that both the twins could teleport, as Shadow also vanished, using the same trick.
Sukko then spent some time, in private, with the Ultimate Lifeform, but it was a while before Sonic felt ready to take on the world again, having finally calmed down. One, day, Sukko was, finally, spotted shopping in the local Toad market. Excitement erupted around the kingdom, as word got back to Peach, who raced down to the market. Seeing the incredible Sorcerer there, was breathtaking. His appearance when Sonic lost his temper, was all too fleeting, so maybe this time, he might stick around. But first she had to shoo away all the Toads ogling the Blue Hedgehog. He stood there so still, extremely calm, and somewhat reserved. He was definitely the opposite of the Blue Blur. Once done, she just sniggered, as he was, unsurprisingly enough, all over the tea stall. Peach silently wondered over, and beamed.
"I'd recommend the Mushroom Lilt, Desert Rose, and Snow Drift." She grinned, giving her suggestions for tea flavours. She was a young woman with long blonde hair, fair skin and blue eyes, framed by six lashes and small, thin eyebrows. She has an oval face with a pointed chin, a triangular nose and full pink lips. Her hair has a triangular bang in the centre of her forehead, two rows of flips on her back, and two split sideburns framing her face. She wore a pink floor-length dress with puffy sleeves, magenta panniers at the waist, a high collar and a frill of the same colour at the hem. But Sukko just smirked, he already knew the Princess was there.
"And let me guess, Fire Flower Rose, is extremely spicy." He hissed. But Peach just gulped. It wasn't a favourite of hers, and not something a new comer should have known about. She frowned.
"Yes, how did you know?" She wondered. But Sukko grinned, leaning into her ear.
"I'm Telepathic." He sniggered. She just blinked as the Sorcerer giggled. "And Stripes sends his apologies from throwing off that island, for me for catching you, and then pulling a B.S.U." He smirked. As he spoke Mario and Luigi, finally showed having also heard the Sorcerer was back. But Mario frowned.
"B.S.U.?" He wondered. Sukko just suddenly giggled, his voice getting rather deep.
"Blowing Stuff Up." He sniggered, but much laughter all around him. But Peach shook it head.
"No, it's fine. You saved my life, or at least, from a horrible relationship." She admitted. But Mario frowned.
"But what about Bowser?" He wondered, as he thought about the Blue Blur. "And where did that temper come from? I didn't think Sonic had it, being the Hero." He wondered. But the Sorcerer faced him, sniggering hard.
"You think having superpowers is fun?" He asked, but Mario just looked and Luigi and shrugged. Well, yes, maybe? But Sukko shook his head.
"Yes, they can be, but like with everything, they have their flaws. Chaos Creatures, what people with superpowers back home, are known as, come in two forms. Those with physical abilities, such as Sonikku and psychics, like myself and Silver. But it's not perfect. Superpowers based on the body have a mental weakness, whereas those with abilities of the mind, are left physically frail. It's a balance." He explained. Then he growled. "And they are not cheap." He hissed. But Peach frowned.
"There's a price tag?" She stammered, as many locals gasped around them. Sukko looked at her and nodded, heaving hard.
"Yeah. A ruthlessly high one, as Chaos always collects. For me and Sonikku, our entire family is cursed." He admitted, but Mario sighed.
"The temper?" He wondered, but the Sorcerer nodded.
"Yes, we all have it, to varying degree, no matter what superpowers we were born with, and it is as ferocious as you saw, including on myself. It's very dark, riddled with pure Chos Darkness, and no, none of us like it, especially Sonikku, hence why I asked him to scream it out. It gets rid of, a lot of the evil. So, you see, even the Hero isn't perfect. Unfortunately, my fuse is extremely short. Whereas Sonikku's takes days to blew up and petter out, mine takes just minutes." He added, to the fright to all those around him. "It's how we spot imposters trying to masquerade as Sonikku." He added, as everyone blinked at him. Sukko nodded. "Yeah, it happens. People trying to get at his fame, and fortune, which trust me, there isn't any. I pay for my brother, with my earnings." He grinned, but then he sighed. "Unfortunately, for superpowers, everyone has to pay, but the prices vary. The Echidnas have spent generations competing in brutal trails, and incredible dangerous tests, to earn the rights to their superpowers, and Stripes." he heaved. "Well, he got it the worst, outright loosing a loved one, as payment for his." He added. Everyone gulped, as Sukko continued. "Yes, superpowers can be fun, they can be incredible. We can do spectacular things, as you saw, but non of us forget, how much it costs for us, to have them." He admitted. But Peach just frowned.
"But your guys are so powerful." She wondered, but Sukko sniggered.
"Now that's sheer dumb luck." He giggled. "On Mobius, only one percent of the population have superpowers. Of that, only one percent of those, have the top level abilities, and a hundred percent of them are stood right here, in the Mushroom Kingdom." He giggled. The locals just all looked at each other, as the Sorcerer nodded. "Yeah, Chaos Powers come in different levels. Enhanced, Super, Ultra, and Titan." He gulped, looking rather sheepish. "Titan is potentially possible, though very rare. It's literally world destroying levels of power. The average Chaos Creature only has Enhanced superpowers, so there's a reason why the guys here, are fighting on the front line against Eggman. They have the strength for it. Sonikku, Stripes, the Echidna, are all Ultra, Silver is extremely close, borderline, but he is still growing, and everyone one else, is Super. That was how we took out Bowser so easily. We are all very powerful for our own planet, let alone here." He added, as everyone gasped, but the Sorcerer seemed distracted. Mario glared at him, as he mentioned everyone's abilities but his own, but as he thought, the reason why made him gulp. He rounded on Sukko, stammering hard.
"Your a Titan?" He wondered, as suddenly, the Sorcerer rubbed his face, heaving hard. He nodded.
"Yes, but I'm not evil, I swear, and for Chaos sake, please, don't tell the others. Sonikku and his friends don't know, and I'd like to keep it that way. Sonikku's does indeed equal me in strength and power, but he's just not ready for it yet. As my power increases, so eventually, so does his. He always catches up." He sniffed as he looked around. "But that's Chaos Sorcery for you, I'm afraid. My Magic. It is the most versatile of all the superpowers. You can so much more with it, then any other, and as a result, it just exploded up through the ranks, me fighting a war, not really helping." He admitted. But Peach frowned, now fascinated, as she looked past the revelation of the Sorcerer's power, and wanted to know more. She smiled.
"So superpowers can be trained?" She wondered. But Sukko nodded.
"Yes. A Chaos Creature is usually born with superpowers. They are never earned. Then they grow, as the child grows, usually causing havoc, as the kid struggles to control them, as he learns. Then in adulthood, his level of superpower is established, and must then work with what he has. Training refines the abilities, making them easier to control, polishing them, and maybe increasing it by one level, if they're lucky. But no about of hard graft will get an Enhanced Chaos Creature up to Ultra, it's physically impossible. Your final level of power is largely dictated by your heritage. It's in the blood." He heaved. Luigi looked at his brother, as then at the Sorcerer.
"So the superpowers are inherited and as the generations go on, they increase in strength and power." He asked. Sukko again nodded.
"Yes, they can do, which is what exactly happened to me and Sonikku, our own father, a 'hero' of his time, himself, and those before him. A family of true champions, desperately needing the super-high powers, just to survive. But normally, it's not as fast as my own kin, as we wizzed up through the ranks within a few generations. The Echidnas spend centuries refining their abilities, and Stripes cheated by being physically created in a laboratory." He shrugged.
The locals looked at each other. They had all heard this before, but now, they were beginning to understand. The Sorcerer was right. The Mobians they had chosen to befriend were some of the most powerful on Mobius, and that was indeed pure coincidence. Not everyone on their home planet was like that, and it was very rare indeed. But Peach smiled, impressed.
"Your very knowledgable about this." She asked. But Sukko smirked, as he grabbed his coat and dropped it off his shoulder. He revealed the serpent-entwined rod tattoo, Asclepius, in black, on his right arm. The highest honour in Mobian medicine. Now it also carried the wings of Caduceus, the symbol of consultancy. He beamed.
"I'm a Doctor, it's my job to know." He spat, but then he heaved. "I have the power to heal. Magic is banned at home. It's what I do for the war effort and it's keeps my out of trouble." He added. The locals all blinked, them all knowing the symbol, but weirdly, not surprised at this, looking at the Sorcerer himself, as they all just collectively sighed. There was just something incredibly special about him. Yes, he was extremely powerful and yet, in those stunningly beautiful eyes, they could be trusted. Suddenly, Sukko suddenly rounded on Luigi, as he replaced his coat. "I'm born first, by the way." He added, with a grin, of which the younger of the Plumber brothers, just exploded in absolute joy.
"Yes, I knew it." He bellowed, of which Mario just growling with an massive sulk.
"Aww, what?" He fumed. He had desperately hoped that he and Sonic were the older siblings in their clans, and therefore something in common, but now he was rather annoyed, that wasn't the case. He bounced off Sonic far better then Sukko, but truthfully, he still didn't the Sorcerer that well. Regardless, Peach frowned, in confusion.
"Er, I don't understand." She wondered, but Sukko just giggled.
"Ever since I arrived here, Mario and Luigi." He paused, pointing to the brothers. "Have been debating between themselves, whom, out of me and Sonikku, is older, i.e. who was born first." He repeated. "Mario thought Sonikku, but Luigi believed it was me." He explained to the Princess. "Well, the ghost hunter is indeed correct. I was born three minutes before Sonikku." He smiled. But Luigi's jaw, suddenly, hit the floor. He gasped.
"Whoa. You really are telepathic. I never told any of the Mobians, I was a ghost hunter." He stammered. "I thought they'd make fun of me." He added, rather nervously, to the surprise of many. But Sukko shook his head.
"Nah." He comforted, of which he immediately got jumped on by both the Plumbers and hugged. But after a long pause, Sukko heaved and hard, as he let go of them and rounded on everyone. "Look, I've been thinking, in regards to the Koopa." He paused, answering Mario's question from earlier. "Sonikku and I are not killers, or at least, we try not to be. We fight wars, we push back the bad guys, but we never deal the final blew. Either surrender or death. That is for someone else. Bowser will be back, and so will Kamek. I saw Sonikku smash his Magic, as I told you he could, but the effects are not permanent. Certainly not at the speeds he was travelling at. He'd have to go significantly faster, to achieve that. The Magikoopa's sorcery will return to him, in time, but now is your chance, during this lull, the prepare your defences to fight back. Me and the other Mobians, won't be around forever. We have our own war to fight, people to protect." He heaved. "But I notice you have nearly almost no armoury here, against the King Koopa, and no weapons, either. Yes, I know we heavily overwhelmed him, but compared to here, he's the one whose severely overpowered." He growled, rounding on the Princess.
The Sorcerer had a point, as all of the locals just looked at each other. Sukko heaved, rolling his eyes, unimpressed, but Mario grabbed him before he left, having paid for his tea selections, as he pocketed them. The Plumber stammered and hard.
"Can you teach us?" He pleaded, as immediately everyone agreed with him. But Sukko smirked, as he looked over Mario's shoulder, and his now deeply blue glow eyes, fell on his twin, who was just arriving with the other Mobians, behind him. The Plumber turned around, as saw the Blue Blur himself, walk right towards him, and stop. He nodded, his eyes also glowing blue, as he folded his arms, finally back to his old self. The sheer strength in unity between the twins was staggering, and could easily be felt. The powerful Psychic Link showing it's true colours. Sonic, literally wasn't the Blue Blur without it. Yes, his superpowers were his own, but without Sukko being on the other end of their incredible telepathic connection, that they'd had all their lives, Sonic just wouldn't have the confidence to do anything, let alone be the hero. Alone, in his own mind, he'd just crash, unable to cope.
But they were indeed equal in both strength and power, but as identical twins, not that surprising, but many was still reeling at the fact that the Blue Blur could potentially wield real lightning, certainly within his own temper. They suspected that was why they'd never seen it before. But it was also became very clear, when it came to fighting wars, who was in charge.
The Blue Blur.
The next few weeks was gruelling for the locals. It was very different to the Olympic games, learning to fight with the Mobians, instead of competing against them. Sonic look Mario under his wing, Shadow took Luigi, Amy had Peach and Rouge collared Daisy. Each of them, teaching them, the necessary combat skills. The rest of the Mobians rallied around the locals and got building. Tails created a computer and surveillance room, all the while monitoring Mobius and Eggman. They could stay as long as the Human didn't do anything, which for now, was fine. Knuckles built from scratch, a huge armoury, and raided everywhere to fill it with weapons.
Sonic had planned to have Sukko conjure weapons for the Mushroom Kingdom, which were going to be the strongest ones they had, but he decided they were going to be stored elsewhere. He doubted that Kamek, with his Magic, could wield Sukko's staff. It didn't contain it's own Sorcery and needed to be fuelled. But he lacked the power under the hood for that, as the only reason why the Magikoopa lasted so long against Sukko, was simply because his brother was significantly holding back.
But to the locals, it was heartbreaking that the Mobians were so proficient at this, but unfortunately, Eggman hadn't really given them much of a choice. As for the pretend 'bad guy' they would be practicing against, Sonic immediately volunteered Sukko, and wow, was the Sorcerer insanely hard to crack. In combat training, he just floored literally everyone, as a martial arts master, even without his Magic, including his own brother, whom he put through the ringer. Soon, the skills of everyone improved.
Finally, all the defences were prepared, as Sukko had conjured enough weapons were everyone. Unfortunately, as time passed, there was an impending attack from Eggman, back home, and soon, it was time to leave, as Tails generated an electronic portal back to Mobius. Mario heaved, hugging Sonic, but the Blue Blur heaved, somewhat guilty.
"I'm so sorry for blowing my head. It's not normal of me. I, very rarely, loose it like that." He apologised, but Mario just smiled.
"Hey, it's fine. We are have bad days, but it proved your just like the rest of us." He beamed, and Sonic smiled, but the Plumber nodded. "I really hope we see each other again." He prayed, but with a war on, he had no idea. Suddenly, he spotted Sukko in the distance. He smiled. "Your brother is something special. Look after him." He nodded, as Sonic produced Sukko's original staff, and handed it to Plumber, for him to keep. Suddenly, the Blue Blur caught sight of Luigi, as he rounded on Mario in return.
"Same to you." He added, and one-by-one, all the Mobians left for home. Sukko was the first to go, now extremely keen to get back to his job, and see his children. They were fine. The Sorcerer had highly trusted friends, who could look after them. But he sneakingly casted his usual memory wipe cast behind him, on all those who followed. It was too dangerous otherwise, as Mario, Luigi and Peach were left alone, with the fate of the Mushroom Kingdom, now left entirely in their hands.