Heart of a God, Soul of a Warrior

Prologue

"One life you now must leave behind to save the lives of all."-The Spirit Willow from Ori and the Will of the Wisps.

Eggman's Egg Dragoon had just been defeated as Sonic and Chip made their decent into the fiery pits of the Underground, the name of the dimension giving to the Earth's core. It was indeed very hot down there, for Sonic was slightly burning up a bit. Probably because of all of the fur on him. He noticed that Chip was just fine. "How come you're not burning up down here?" Sonic asked his friend. "Eh I've been used to it for years," Chip explained to Sonic. Fair, Sonic thought, since he just recently discovered that his friend was Light Gaia and all. Abyss flew next to them. "I love the taste of sweet revenge! It felt so good beating up that blasted doctor!" she said happily. "How could I lose?!" Eggman yelled from his Eggmobile as he watched his Egg Dragoon fall. "This isn't over! I'll build a prototype-2 and it-"

His yells, along with Abyss's happiness, were cut of by a huge rumble as the four watched as a colossal, draconic figure emerged from the lava. It reared its head up as Sonic and Chip gasped in shock and horror, while Abyss looked worried. "What?" Sonic gasped as the creature loomed over the two of them. "It's Dark Gaia!" Chip then exclaimed as Dark Gaia let out a deep and rumbly growl. Abyss couldn't help it anymore. "Please calm down!" She shouted. "I don't wanna see you in pain anymore Dad!" This made Eggman, Sonic, and Chip look at her. "THAT'S YOUR DAD?!" Sonic shouted in total shock. Abyss nodded. She explained everything, even the part where she had known Chip and his son Lucius her entire life.

Eggman then laughed, happy at his success on seeing the actual Earth god of darkness appear before him. "Yes, YES!" Eggman exclaimed happily. "Dark Gaia! Crush this innocent little hedgehog! Kick him to the outer limits of space!" But Dark Gaia didn't turn around nor listen to him. Instead, it summoned one of its tendrils and swatted him away, causing him to scream as he was sent flying out of the Underground. Sonic, Chip, and Abyss watched Eggman get sent back up to the surface world. "What.... just.... happened?" Chip asked in confusion. Abyss just started into black space, just as confused as Chip was. Sonic just stood there, smirking as he crossed his arms. "I don't know but it was satisfying to watch," he said happily.

Abyss turned to Sonic. "Sonic, please promise me that you'll defeat Dark Gaia, my dad, and put it back into its slumber. I just don't like seeing it like this. All I want is my calmed down dad to hang with again. Please," she said. Sonic, sighing, said, "Don't worry. We'll have Dark Gaia snoozing again in no time," Sonic told Abyss. "For now, head back to the surface and get the others to safety. Me and Chip will handle the rest." Abyss hugged Sonic, not knowing she would see him again later on, and then teleported away, leaving Werehog and Earth god of light against the darkness entity.

That still confused him. Why would Eggman want to try and control Dark Gaia? Sonic knew that Eggmanland was being powered by some of the god's energy, causing it to go completely nuts and all, which explained why Abyss so worried about it right before she teleported away to the surface world and right after when it was revealed that Dark Gaia was Abyss's dad. There had to be some way to seal it away again, right? Dark Gaia roared again, and summoned a variety of tendrils from its back. "Uh Sonic what's it doing?" Chip asked Sonic as tendrils came closing in on them. "Chip get down!" Sonic shouted as he grabbed Chip and used his stretchy arms to jump onto another ledge. Once they landed, he placed Chip down. "Thanks," Chip said to Sonic. "Anytime," Sonic replied. "Just trying to keep you safe."

The two turned back to Dark Gaia, who had its eyes focused on Sonic. Sonic felt immense pain. Even more painful than his nightly Werehog transformations. "Sonic?" Chip asked as he watched his friend get down on all fours, piercing his claws into the rock. "What's wrong?" Before Sonic could answer, he screamed in pain as the energy began to leave him. Dark Gaia claimed back what it lost as Sonic fainted, returning to normal in the process. Chip was starting to get worried as Sonic slowly woke up. "Sonic! You have to get up! Sonic!" He shouted.

Before Sonic could muster any words, he felt more pain. Sure enough, even Dark Gaia was roaring in pain as well even after when its eyeballs opened up. Chip then gasped in horror seeing what was happening. Sonic was absorbing more Dark Gaia energy, but way more than anticipated. In fact, he was absorbing the god itself! "Sonic! What's happening to you?" Chip asked in worriment. Sonic, through strains, said, "Something isn't right! Dark Gaia. It's drawing me towards it!" It was true, Sonic tried to hold back, but the more energy he absorbed, the quicker his feet shifted as he walked towards the ledge they were on.

Chip didn't know what to do as he watched both Dark Gaia and Sonic become engrossed with so much pain. Sonic turned around, eyes glitching from white to black, and smiled. "Looks like this is the end of the line," he said. "Sonic! What are you saying?!" Chip screamed. Sonic was about to slip off the ledge as he felt the last bit of Dark Gaia's power slip into him. Small tears came from Sonic's eyes. "I'm sorry Chip," Sonic started. "It's all up to you now. Please.... defeat me." Then he fell of the ledge as soon as Chip reached in to try and save him. "NO!" he shouted as he watched Sonic fall into the lava. Dark Gaia roared one more time before it disappeared into mist. Chip looked over the ledge and started to sob a bit. "I couldn't..... save him....."

Lucius then appeared before his father. "Dad. I got your message. What happened? Where is the hedgehog?" he asked. Chip didn't say anything but flew next to Lucius, who noticed that Dark Gaia was gone. "Wait. Where's Dark Gaia?" he then asked. Then another rumble was heard as another colossal figure emerged from the lava. Lucius nearly fell but used his wings to get himself up in the air before landing again. The figure looked like Dark Gaia, but at the same time, it had the features of a hedgehog. It growled, reared back, and roared, sending dust towards Chip and Lucius as they shielded their eyes from it.

When it was finished, the creature reared down towards Chip and Lucius, growling. When the two opened their eyes, Chip gasped in horror when he stared into the eyes of the being. He finally knew who he was looking at. Sonic had absorbed too much energy to where he fused with Dark Gaia, transforming him into the monster the two saw. "SONIC!" were the words that left his mouth. The now transformed Sonic tilted his head at the mention of his name, but then growled again. "Dad..... why is the hedgehog Dark Gaia?" Lucius asked Chip. Before Chip could say anything, two tendrils appeared from Sonic's back, and launched them at the two of them, who took to the skies to avoid the attack as the ledge below them collapsed into rubble. Oh no..... Chip thought, he doesn't even know who I am. At Lucius, Chip said, "I'll explain later. What matters now is that we calm Sonic down!"

Sonic blinked and looked again at the two gods of light before roaring again. They both made their flight towards him. "He looks really infuriated Dad!" Lucius shouted as the two started their flight. "It's because that Sonic isn't Sonic anymore! His mind is clouded from all of the energy he absorbed to the fact that he took on the form of Dark Gaia!" Chip explained. They had to dodge balls of molten lava getting thrown at them, along with a laser that would launch here and there, meaning they had to combine their attacks to stop them. Tendrils would fly here and there as Lucius and Chip used their powers to put them in place. It was a different story once they arrived at Sonic himself.

Chip happened to sense Sonic in the heart of the monster, yet he knew that those belly scales would be hard to pierce. This was when Chip saw the forehead eye blink, making it the most sensitive spot on Sonic. "Aim for the forehead eye!" Chip told Lucius. They dodged a few claw slashes and tendril attacks from Sonic, who would roar slightly. They even deflected a laser that Sonic launched at the last minute before they launched an attack back on the third eye. Sonic reared back and roared again. The roar sent Chip and Lucius back to the beginning, where they did their decent again, this time attacking and defeating several mages that Sonic had spawned through his rage.

The second attack was finished. Sonic, who was weakened, grabbed onto two nearby rocks, and was breathing heavily. This was their chance to finish him off. As Chip and Lucius were about to do the finishing blow, they noticed that Sonic had gotten up from the rocks and was now was roaring in pain, grabbing his head with his hands in the process. He looked at Chip and Lucius, softly crying. "Ch-Chip....." Sonic softly said. After this, Sonic then clawed himself and plunged into the lava, still crying as he closed his eyes, and prepared to sleep for a long time, leaving Chip and Lucius on their own. "He sacrificed himself..... to save the world," Lucius said. "He gave up his old life to save those he loved."

Chip sighed, knowing what his son said was true. They could even hear the final piece of the planet snap back into place, signaling the world being saved once again. Chip still didn't know what to say, asides from the fact that Sonic..... was now the new Dark Gaia for all eternity.