Chapter Seven – Quadruple

Shadow searched the Ark. Sonic had completely disappeared. He found the Chaos Emerald he kept on the space station missing. He only had two, the other he kept on his person, at all times. Sonic was no longer on the Ark. He must have returned to the planet. Sonic Chaos Control abilities were not that good, but good enough to get him from the Ark to Mobious. The one chance he had with Sonic and he'd blown it. But Shadow couldn't stop thinking about him. He had bonded with him, and now he desperately wanted to find him.

Sonic felt completely betrayed. He knew Shadow was evil, he was well aware of the risks in dealing with that black hedgehog. But Shadow turning him into a mindless slave, literally, was far more then he had bargained for. Not after what he had given him. He was expecting torture, evil scheming, or some sort of world domination plan maybe, not something this literal or this intimate. This was beyond evil, this was Eggman territory. How could he have even planned such a thing? This left him extremely upset.

Sonic had returned to the planet, but he wasn't exactly on it. He was doing the one thing he needed more practice at. Flying. He was soaring high in the midday sunlight, feeling the air beneath his wings. Slowly learning how they worked so he could make the most out of them. He travelled vast distances, to his surprise, hunger didn't bother him all day. He remembered the night before, when he and Shadow... Sonic didn't know what to think anymore. Did he regret it? He wasn't sure. He was beginning to. He remembered biting Shadow, a lot. He must have drank enough blood to last him for a few days. Thank goodness for small mercies. He didn't fancy going on another killing spree to quench his hunger. He continued flying until the sun started to set and twilight began to close in. He hadn't seen anyone all day.

He was passing over a meadow that looked familiar, when he heard commotion below him. He could see a large cage at the side of the field, by a large tree, with some kind on creature within it. The cage was surrounded by people. Their voices rang up into the sky.

"Careful, he going to break free." One screamed.

"Please stop him!" another cried.

Sonic recognised them, he was his so-called old friends. He lowered and steered to the left slightly. He focused his eyes to get a better look. They had no idea he was above them. Knuckles, Rouge and Vector were gathered around the cage. Wave was in Amy's arms, screaming and crying. The creature was bashing against the cage so hard, it was buckling. Then he remembered.

Jet. Sonic stared. He barely recognised the hawk, he had changed so much. Come to think about it, he barely recognised himself. Jet was larger then before, his feathers now darker, larger and rougher. His arms and torso had really bulked out, making him top heavy, so he was walking around on all fours. His eyes were red and his fangs were protruding from is beak so badly that he couldn't close his mouth properly. What had he done to him? What had his venom done? Sonic had no idea. But before be could think, there was an almighty roar from the cage and Jet broke through. His friends scattered. Sonic made up his mind. Their had been too much killing in recent days and he didn't anyone else to die. He was going to help them despite what they did to him. Thinking back, he was very cruel to them, he deserved their rejection. But that was then and this is now. He had a hawk monster to deal with.

He dived. As he plummeted to the ground, he thrust out his hands, claws bared, fangs out, hissing. The sun had set as he landed on Jet. Nobody saw him coming. They all screamed, but Sonic ignored them. He landed on the hawk's back, clawing him, biting him, but he was easily thrown off. He had a problem. He had the strength and speed to stop Jet but lacked the weight to through around. Jet was heavier and going to difficult to move. Time to have a play with the laws of physics. Speed times acceleration equals force. To combine his super-spin with his super-speed on the ground, with his wings. He had never done this before, and the results were spectacular. He span into a ball and charged at Jet, again and again, from every direction, on and above the ground. This wings simply allowed him to stay in the air for longer. This form of attack proved to be extremely effective as Jet backed away into the cage. Sonic was loosing his temper and roared at Jet until he was cowering in the back of the cage, whimpering.

Sonic smirked. You can't out vampire the pureblood, he was born this way. Just like you can't out evil someone born that way either. Sonic thoughts went back to Shadow. He didn't notice the others gather around him.

"Thank you?" questioned a nervous voice behind him. This snapped Sonic from his thoughts and turned around. It was Knuckles. "I didn't know you could fly?" He asked.

Sonic looked over his shoulder at his wings. He loved them now, they were a part of him now. He spoke quietly and emotionlessly.

"Yeah, sure!" he said. "As for these," indicating over his shoulder. "Their new. Got them when I turned."

"But you didn't..." Knuckles was about to enquire why Sonic hadn't showed them eariler, but he changed his mind. There was more pressing matters.

"Why are you helping us?" He asked, giving Sonic a sideways look.

Sonic sighed. He gave up. The whole evil thing, he wasn't for him anymore. He tried it, and there were situations when it was fun. But with old friends, it just wasn't worth it anymore. He still cared after all, just about. Not easy through Chaos darkness, which was heavily blocking it. Time to cut out all the bull.

"There had been enough killing." He said honestly. Knuckles gave him another sideways look. Sonic gulped, the Echidna knew what he was getting at. "I know, I know, I haven't helped that statement in recent days. I was hungry." They stared at him. "Hey." He defended. "I'm still new at this too." He had been a full fledged vampire for less then a month.

Knuckles looked at him. It was obvious that the Echidna didn't believe or trust him, but he was staring at him in such as way that it bore into Sonic. Sonic wasn't keen.

"What?" He spat.

"You've been marked!" He said, disbelieving. The others gasped. Sonic went red, he knew exactly what that meant. When a couple mate and bond. They mark each other. This is a chemical signature that tells other male sapients that a female, for example, is taken and to look elsewhere. Knuckles could not only read it but could tell who left it. Sonic couldn't hold hit it in any more, and burst into tears. He completely broke down. Knuckles ran to him and grabbed him.

"That black..." He swore. He was fuming with Shadow. He may have fallen out with Sonic, but even the vampire didn't deserve this.

"What the hell did he do to you?" He asked, shaking Sonic. The vampire couldn't answer, it was to painful. Knuckles dreaded to think. He partially didn't want to know, but he was now really concerned for his old friend. A month of evil bad attitude didn't offset a lifetime of friendship. The Echidna had a hunch Sonic wouldn't do anything now. Shadow had marked him and ripped him to pieces in the process. Did Shadow force him? Did the vampire let him? Knuckles just didn't know as he lead Sonic back to Tails' House after they had successfully restrained Jet.

It was extremely weird being back inside the house. The last time he was here felt like a lifetime ago. It has been a busy month, a changing month. He nervously entered the house. He could sense he still wasn't completely trusted, but this was progress. He looked around at them. He had calmed down somewhat, though his mind and heart were still mush.

"I'm sorry!" he said in a quiet voice. "That I was evil to you, I just..."

"Couldn't help it." Knuckles smirked at him. Sonic stared. The Echidna continued. "I know all about Chaos darkness, and it's dangers. Great-grandfather told me before he died. It grabs you and doesn't let go. You cease to care about those around you, and blocks everything out but yourself."

Sonic nodded intently. Knuckles was spot on.

"But." he continued. "How have you managed to punch though it? If you were truly Chaos dark, you would have just flown on by and left us to deal with Jet alone."

Sonic sighed. "I don't know." He stammered. "But believe me, I have. I do still care, underneath it all, just about. But it comes and goes, depends on vampire instincts and situation. But if push became major shove." Sonic paused, staring at them all. He was pleading with them. "I'm with you all the way." He sighed. "I don't have the guts to do anything, I thought I did, but I can't. I can be all talk, but that just me." he smiled lightheartedly. He was trying to lighten the mood. They all looked at each other, there were whispers around the room. Some of them believed him, some didn't. It was some time before anyone spoke.

"Where is Shadow anyway?" silence reigned. It was Rouge who spoke. Sonic's temper flared out of nowhere. He rounded on her.

"I don't know and I don't care." He swore at her. Why was he so angry at her? But she had inadvertently proved his point. Knuckles grabbed him and held him back. He felt the Echidna's calm strength and stopped fighting. He could do this, he could be trusted again, but he'd got an uphill climb ahead of him. He walked away from Knuckles towards a clear wall to lean against to get his head back in gear.

Knuckles was surprised. He didn't realise that Sonic struggled to keep control so much. To keep the darkness at bay. He had seen what happens when he didn't bother. It lead to them falling out. He walked over to Sonic and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Can I help?" He asked. Sonic looked up at him. That Echidna was incredible. Sonic shuddered, keeping the evil at bay was difficult. He desperately wanted to mock him, to rip him to pieces, but he couldn't do it, not anymore.

"Unless you know how to control the worst evil in the world, not really." He stammered. Knuckles smiled.

"Then keep trying, and don't slip back there, no matter how tempting it is. If you do keep fighting, then you and me have no quarrel." Sonic looked amazed at Knuckles, he was indeed incredible.

"How can you trust him?" Squealed Amy from the background. Sonic's eyes narrowed at her.

"I don't!" said Knuckles. "I'm giving him a chance, it is what he would do for us." He paused, and suddenly grabbed the blue vampire. "Whoa! Sonic. SONIC?"

Sonic hadn't been listening. His eyes had been fixed on Amy. He hated her. He wanted to bite her. He wanted her dead. He wasn't hungry, but he wasn't going to pass up this opportunity. He had been slithering towards her, on the hunt, bearing his fangs.

Knuckles had to hit Sonic to snap him out of it.

"Ok." he sighed. "This is going to be more difficult then I thought." He glared at Sonic.

"What?" The vampire defended.

"Leave Amy alone!" Knuckles spat at him. Sonic growled back. That went against everything in his entire being, but their friendship was worth more now. They stared at each other, until Sonic gave in.

"Ok, fine." He spat. "But only if she leaves me alone. If she even touches me, I'll kill her." He was fuming.

Knuckles was somewhat satisfied at that. It was the best result he was going to get in the situation.

Tails have been ignoring the conversation. He had been working on the directory that Shadow had originally gave them and had almost cracked it. The word 'ghost' referred to a super-secret project Eggman was working on whose headquarters lay somewhere in the North Mountains. That was vast area. He was about to get an exact location when all of sudden, his entire house shock violently and the power was cut. They were plunged into total darkness. Sunrise wasn't for another several hours. Some of them screamed and panicked. Knuckles tried to get control of the situation.

"Can anyone see the torches?" he hollowed. He couldn't see a thing. Tails replied.

"Knuckles, I can't find them. I can't see." He sounded panicked. His house was still shaking.

Sonic piped up, suddenly realising that with his vampire abilities, he was the only one there who could see. The night vision was extremely good, better then his day vision.

"I can!" He yelled. "Where are they?" Silence replied to Sonic. But then Knuckles answered.

"Under the sink, can you get them?" Sonic went straight for them. It was just like old times. He got the torches and handed then around. Then he was back at Knuckles' side. Sonic was using him as a guide, and they both knew it. If Sonic was going to get this right, live potentially without evil, he was going to need the Echidna's help. Knuckles turned to him. He was beginning to understand the vampire now and his abilities, though he was still concerned about what Shadow had done to him. But Sonic wasn't talking and now wasn't the time.

"Can you see anything out of the window?" Knuckles asked him. Sonic stared through the glass into the moonless night. There was clunky movement of a very large metallic object in the distance. Sonic couldn't make it out at first, but it was firing missiles at the house, making it shake. Parts of house were beginning to fall. It wouldn't stay standing for much longer. The metallic object was walking with the thump, thump, across the landscape. A giant robot, that someone appeared to be piloting. Sonic recognised them. He swore very loudly, as he jumped away from the window, as an explosion blow the glass out. Silence followed.

"It's Eggman!, he's firing at the house!" Sonic shouted. The missiles kept coming. "He's got some nerve attacking us directly!"

"Where has he been?" Tails asked. But Knuckles cut across him.

"Never mind that." He shouted. "Sonic, he's baiting you out!"

"What!" Sonic exclaimed. "I can't leave you." He had only just rejoined the group, he didn't want to leave. Knuckles pushed him.

"You have too. This house can't take much more. Plus..." He added, smirking. "He's been missing for the past month. Hide yourself, he doesn't know." Sonic looked back at Knuckles and smirked in return. He knew exactly what the Echidna meant. Knuckles knew that Sonic had the ability to hide the vampiric part of him and look normal. He had managed to hide his wings. He was suggesting that Sonic did so. He now realised the lives of his friends were now in his hands. He had to do this. They were relying on him, whether they wanted to or not.

"Go!" Knuckles urged. He was now holding the house up. Sonic now had no choice. He went for the door, opened it and ran.

He ran across the countryside towards Eggman. He wasn't difficult to find. Eggman always left complete destruction everywhere he went. Every instinct told him to take to the sky, but he couldn't, not just yet. He had to let Eggman believe that he was still normal. But then he suddenly remembered. When Shadow hacked into Eggman's database, the word 'vampire' granted access. Was that a reference to him? He didn't know. Then Sonic's mind drifted to Shadow. He still had mixed feelings. He still loved him, but he still hated him for believing he could control him like that.

Sonic was snapped out of his thoughts, when a metal leg of a robot narrowly missed him. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going. He barely dodged. Eggman's robot was huge. In the shape of a giant tarantula. With eight enormous legs, each one them hitting the ground with a deadly super-sharp slicing point. Eggman was sitting aloft his mighty machine, on the thorax of the spider. The cockpit was surrounded by a reinforced glass dome, three stories above the ground. Compared to other robots Sonic had faced, this one was one of the fastest. Yes, the spider could move.

It was fast, Sonic was faster. When Eggman saw Sonic, he immediately stopped attacking Tails' House and went after him, full on. Sonic dodged those legs, left, then right, down a crevice, up a hill. Lasers and bullets were flying in his direction. Sonic was beginning to wonder. This was far more dangerous then usual. He wasn't worried for his life, he was immortal, but his friends weren't. He ran, he span. He was trying to get up in the air to jump on the back of the tarantula. He ran ahead of the spider, and leapt high in the sky, curled up up into a ball and span. He backwards summersaulted and managed to land a top of the robot. Sonic rounded on Eggman. He looked surprised. That cockpit's dome was no match for Sonic's newly-found vampire strength, but he didn't get the chance. Something shot him in the back. He was blown off the spider and landed hard on the ground. Sonic rolled over, he was badly bleeding. Someone grabbed him and pulled him to temporary safety.

Knuckles.

"Where are the others?" Sonic gasped.

"Safe. The house was destroyed so I've sent them to Tails' house Mark-Two." What? Sonic didn't know Tails had a second house. Knuckles saw Sonic's confusion.

"It was strictly between me and Tails. No one else knew. It was emergency backup plan if we lost the first house."

'Ok, whatever.' Sonic thought, now was not the time for details, he was in too much pain. They were being shot at but not only from the tarantula. There a second robot. That one who shot Sonic. It was from a giant stag beetle, its pincers snapping closed, slicing through everything. And aloft...

A second Eggman. Identical to the first, right down to clothing and manner. What the? Sonic swore. They both stared. Things was getting dangerous, as they didn't notice behind them.

Some black and extremely fast flashed past them and hit the ground hard a few metres away. Whatever it was, took the missile meant for Knuckles. He rolled over on the ground and somehow staggered to his feet, bleeding badly.

Shadow.

He looked around at what shot him. A third giant robot, a wasp flying above them, aloft... a third Eggman.

Now it was getting extremely dangerous. Chances of surviving were dwindling by the second.

Shadow dragged himself towards them. He spoke to Knuckles.

"You have to leave, you can't survive this!" He hissed. It was obvious he had tracked them down using the Ark. Sonic was glad he was there. Knuckles agreed. As they spoke, they were all still dodging bullets from three directions.

Make that four! Gunfire came out of nowhere straight at Knuckles. Shadow reacted faster then Sonic, shielding the Echidna. He took the bullets. He stumbled to the ground. A fourth robot appear, a giant army ant, with more guns and lasers then any of the others put together. A fourth Eggman laughed. Knuckles now realised he was now out of his league and ran for his life. He had no choice. The hedgehogs were on their own.

Four Eggmans. All identical. Knuckles was extremely confused. What was going on? He didn't know. He suspected no one did. As he ran, he realised he wasn't being followed, they were letting him go. He had been injured, several bullets had hit him, but not severely. He would survive. He heard further gun fire and explosions behind him. He feared for his friends lives.

Four Eggmans verses two immortals hedgehogs. Would Sonic and Shadow going make it out alive?

In a word.

No.