Operation: Shadowfall
by Asher Tye
Author's Note: This is getting to be a habit with me, isn't it. Hopefully next week's update will be more afternoon than middle of the night.
Anywho, since I can't contact them via private message, here's my shout outs to the three reviewers who left anonymous reviews. ::clears throat::
Nothern_megas: Hopefully this chapter will answer your questions concerning Shadow.
Jessi: And here it is for your viewing enjoyment. ;)
O-o: Can you think of a better way to show off the power of Shadow?.
Now that that's done, all I can say is remember to review when you read. After all, I can't make improvements if no one reviews. Ciao for now.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic, Sonic Underground, or anything related to Sonic's copyrights. Sega and DiC own them. (bland, no?)
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Chapter Six: The Darkness Within
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"Maria!" Shadow screamed at the top of his lungs as he raced through the corridors of the base.
He ran as fast as he could, the metal heels of his sneakers making a distinctive clicking sound as they struck the metal floor, a sound that was almost instantly drowned out by the noise of the chaos that surrounded him.
The enemy was attacking.
Good as the complex's defenses were, as excellently as its shields had hidden them, the humans had still been discovered, had still been attacked. The human soldiers were fighting valiantly to keep the enemy at bay but it was clearly a losing battle. They were outnumbered and outgunned. Every time he encountered a fire fight Shadow attempted to offer aid as he could, the complex was his home as well, but one too many near hits by frightened humans who thought HE was part of the invasion force had convinced him to stay hidden unless bidden otherwise. But with the invading Mobians so deep within the building, Shadow's thoughts had turned to worry over the Professor and Maria. He had to find them and protect them from harm.
"Halt!" yelled a voice Shadow didn't recognize. The ebony hedgehog turned to find himself facing three figures who were most definitely not humans. Like him they were short, only about three feet tall, and covered with fur. Or at least the parts of their bodies that were visible under their armor were. Though each looked different from the other two, Shadow's mind swiftly latched on to the notion that they were all one race; Mobian. They were in fact the first flesh and blood Mobians he'd ever seen. And they were pointing energy rifles at him.
Not a good start to a first meeting.
"Sir, it looks like a hedgehog," one of the Mobians that resembled a rat with raccoon markings said.
"Not one of ours Cole," the leader of the trio, a ferret-like creature, responded. "That makes it one of theirs."
"Look I don't have time for this," Shadow interrupted, trying to reason with the Mobian soldiers. "Just leave me alone and I'll leave you alone."
"Nothing doing traitor. By order of the King of Mobius, you're now our prisoner."
"No," the ebony hedgehog stated with great finality.
"You don't have a choice kid," the third member of the group finally said. "You're unarmed and defenseless. Don't give us any trouble and you won't be harmed."
"I may not have weapons," Shadow said as his arm crossed his chest, "but I am anything but defenseless. Chaos Spear!" Blasts of chaos energy left his hand as he swiped it through the air. The soldiers' trained reflexes allowed them to fire their weapons, but the spears of power simply intercepted the shots and absorbed them, not even slowing down as they struck each weapon and destroyed them. Recognizing an unwelcome battle when they saw one, the soldiers opted to withdraw and regroup; just as their opponent had intended.
Glad he had not had to be more forceful with the soldiers, Shadow turned and continued on his trek through the base to find his missing friend. If the Mobian soldiers were willing to shoot at him, they would most likely have no qualms with shooting actual humans. A few more times he came across more Mobian soldiers, and each in turn fled before him after a disarming demonstration of his powers. All the while the building shook, rocked by the heavy artillery the Mobian army had apparently brought with them to soften up the humans' defenses. The fact that their forces had penetrated the base so deeply meant that in all likelihood the main defenses had been summarily destroyed.
Finally he made it to the room he'd been looking for, the one belonging to Maria Robotnik. He paused for a second as the scent of smoke came to his nostrils, a bolt of fear racing through him as he recognized the tell-tale presence of fire.
"MARIA!" he bellowed as his hands forced their way between the hydraulic door and its frame, yanking the steel barricade open with supernatural ease. Inside the room was ablaze. Shadow felt a horrible dread well up within him as images of the blonde Robotnik's immolated form danced unbidden through his head.
"Shadow!" called a voice that lifted the black hedgehog's spirits. Maria was alive. Unable to escape from the shaking, burning, crumbling room, the sickly girl had done the only thing she could, gone into the washroom and barricaded herself against the smoke with wet towels. His mission now clear, Shadow boldly strode into the flames, small bursts of chaos energy allowing him to smother some of the flames as he went, cutting a path to the washroom, though he was wary of damaging the room's remaining structural integrity. Again a door proved little obstruction for the Ultimate Lifeform and inside he found his friend standing unsteadily in the bathtub, as far away from the door as possible. A look of relief came over the girl's face as she spied her ebony friend.
"Are you able to move?" Shadow asked as he moved over to Maria. Carrying the petite human would be easy, she didn't weigh very much, but doing so would hamper his own movements considerably. Not the best way to travel through a potential combat zone, especially given that the more fragile girl was still bigger than he. Fortunately Fate had decided this would not be a problem.
"I'm all right, I should be able to move without too much assistance," she answered. Shadow nodded and grabbed one of the hand towels from the nearby sink, turning on the faucet in order to get the cloth good and wet.
"Put this over your mouth and nose," the ebony one commanded. "It should be able to filter out the smoke from the air for now." Obediently Maria complied.
"Have you seen my Grandfather?" the girl's muffled voice asked through her makeshift mask.
"Not yet," Shadow admitted. "But the Doc's tough, and important to boot. I'm sure he's being taken care of." Once more the experimental creature used his chaos abilities to blast back the fire, again mindful of the damaged area.
'Just make it to an evacuation point and Maria will be safe,' Shadow thought as he began to lead the girl through the complex, his superior hearing allowing him to steer them away from any active combat zones. 'Surely they wouldn't shoot at Maria, would they?' he worried. 'They may be enemies to the humans, but she's just a girl. And a sick one at that.' Still, Shadow had seen enough war movies and documentaries to know that civilian status meant next to nothing in a firefight. It would be best to keep Maria as far away from the actual fighting as possible.
Of course even the best laid plans of hedgehogs can go awry without warning.
"F-F-Freeze where you ar-r-re," a trembling voice commanded in what was obviously an attempt to sound authoritative. Immediately Shadow halted, as did Maria.
'Please, not now,' the hedgehog silently pleaded.
"T-t-t-turn around, now," the voice stammered out, quickly adding, "Slowly! Or… or else." Quietly human and hedgehog complied. The speaker turned out to be a cat, and a young one at that if Shadow was any judge, possessed of a tabby's striped markings. In his orange furred hands he held a laser rifle just like the other Mobians had, its barrel shaking in fright as he stared at the two he'd caught.
This was not good. Scared out of your wits was no condition for anyone to be holding a gun in, particularly in such a delicate situation. A soft noise came to Shadow's sensitive ears as he watched the frightened feline and tried to figure out some way to escape without endangering Maria.
"Unit 3-6-1 confirming contact with black hedgehog of unknown… unknown identity, please advise," the cat suddenly said, a sharp movement of his head revealing not only the small headset radio he talked into, but also the stain of blood that matted his fur. "Command, please advise," he said again. It was at that point that Maria suddenly doubled over, caught in a coughing spasm as the smoke began to irritate her sensitive lungs. Immediately the cat's attention fell completely on his captives as his body went rigid and his gun swung to aim right at the girl, his hand tensing around the trigger.
"No, no wait!" Shadow yelled, moving in front of the girl. "She's sick, she needs medical help!" he explained hurriedly, hoping the Mobian would understand and calm down a bit. Though quite sure he could disarm the youthful soldier if he needed to, he wasn't so sure he could do it without Maria getting hit. Agitated opponents were simply too difficult to predict.
"Stay back!" the terrified tabby commanded, his gun now aiming at Shadow's smaller body. "Stay back or I'll shoot!" Shadow held up his hands, more than a little irritated that he had to patronize so pathetic a creature as this Mobian. Still, Maria's safety took priority over pride.
"I'm unarmed," he said softly, calmly, and clearly, trying to show off how non-dangerous he was.
"No-no you're not. You've got some… device or something, I don't know what. It lets you shoot lasers from your hands."
'Crud!' the hedgehog angrily thought, though his face betrayed none of his emotions. 'One of the soldiers I bumped into must have reported me.'
"Command… this is Unit 3-6-1, please respond," the cat said again, his voice cracking a bit in fear. Even with his own limited experience, Shadow could tell this particular invader was completely green, lacking any real field experience and completely in over his head. He'd probably been told all about the humans inhabiting this base, how they were bigger and stronger than him, and most likely he'd even prepared himself psychologically to handle such opponents, especially with his squad-mates to back him up. But it was quite clear an energy shooting, enemy hedgehog who could rip doors out of their frames was a bit out of his realm of expectations. That, combined with what most likely had been a previously disastrous event if his head wound was any indication, had pushed the cat to his breaking point. For the sake of Maria, Shadow had to find a way to calm this soldier down. How was a problem the Ultimate Lifeform's computer-like mind just couldn't solve. Fortunately Maria's more empathic one proved up to the task.
"We surrender," she said in as strong a voice as she could muster without shouting, causing the tabby to look back in her direction, though his gun remained trained on Shadow.
"What?" he asked, more curtly than Shadow thought appropriate. The hedgehog dismissed this thought and decided to follow Maria's lead.
"She said we surrender," he repeated, saving Maria some energy. "You win; we're your prisoners." The tabby didn't look like he believed Shadow.
"You're… You're lying. Trying to get me to drop my guard."
"No, we're not," Shadow replied, attempting to will calmness and serenity into the frightened feline.
'Please, please, please believe us,' the hedgehog thought, even as he prepared for the worst case scenario. If he moved quick enough, he could probably cause the rifle to explode in the Mobian's hands, crippling him and allowing them to escape.
"You don't really want to hurt us, do you?" Maria asked; a childish question, but very too the point and asked with such sincerity that it sounded more like a wizened elder asking a wayward child than a potential war casualty to a scared soldier. At her very concise question, the cat seemed to calm a bit. Maybe he really didn't want to hurt anyone, at least anyone who was as plainly unarmed as they were.
"Command, please acknowledge, Unit 3-6-1 requesting orders," the feline said, continuing his efforts to get the leaders of his group to speak to him. From what Shadow could hear, whatever response they might have been sending was being severely broken up by static.
"From the looks of it, you got a head injury recently," he began. "It's possible whatever caused that may have damaged your comm-link." Fur stood on end as the cat looked at Shadow in horror.
"No! I-I'm just…"
"Hold it, hold it," Shadow begged. "We surrendered remember; we're your prisoners. Maybe instead of trying to get in touch with your commanders, you should just do whatever you're supposed to do with prisoners you catch."
"You'd like that," the suspicious Mobian accused. "Wipe out my entire chain of command here in one fell swoop."
"We would never…"
"He would… he COULD… He's too dangerous. Too able to destroy everything… everyone."
"I won't do anything, you have my word."
"Why should I trust you?"
"You have a hostage," Maria informed him. "Me."
"Maria."
"Shadow won't attack as long as I'm your hostage, so you have no reason to be afraid of him." The hedgehog gritted his teeth. The point of surrendering had been to keep the guns pointed AWAY from the sickly girl who didn't move fast enough to deal with them. That was when Maria once more began a coughing spasm. No doubt about it, the smoke in the air was getting to her. She needed medical attention, any medical attention, and she needed it now.
"Look, uh, Private," Shadow said, hoping human and Mobian military uniforms were similar enough to allow him to make an assumption of the cat's rank, "my friend here needs help. If you keep her safe and get her the help she needs, that's all I ask."
"She doesn't look good," the cat observed. Shadow bit his tongue to prevent a caustic remark from escaping his mouth. Raising the Mobian's ire would not help him do what he wanted.
"Yes, she is. And being out here is killing her. Help me save her… please." The pleading tone of his voice made the bile rise up in his throat, but Shadow could see no other way to move this conversation along. "Just take us back to your base, or headquarters, or whatever your King has set up for you and you'll be a hero. You'll have captured the 'dangerous black hedgehog' single-handedly. And with no bloodshed." The cat seemed to be considering this at the moment, his ears twisting about as he did so.
"Fine," he finally decided, motioning towards Maria with his gun. "You… You come over here by me, and he stays in front where I can keep an eye on him."
"That won't work. She needs help to walk." Again the cat looked unsure, but Maria was very convincing as a frail young girl.
"Fine. She can lean on me for support," the private decided, some of his courage coming back to him as he began to assume the proffered upper-hand. As Maria approached, the feline jerked his gun at Shadow. "But no funny business from you."
"Not even a bad pun," the black hedgehog said, relief filling him as he finally saw a light at the end of this dark and fiery tunnel.
But the Universe rarely remains so uncomplicated.
"Put your hands in the air, all of you," a new voice commanded as the sound of several energy weapons being primed to fire was heard.
'No, not now,' Shadow thought as he watched the Mobian's fur suddenly stand out on end as his weapon rose. A squad of human soldiers had managed to sneak up on them and were now aiming their own weapons at the trio. Almost predictably the cat grabbed hold of Maria, his previously calm demeanor vanishing under panic again as he held her close.
"S-Stay back! I have a hostage!" the feline private yelled, pointing the barrel of his gun at the blonde Robotnik's ribs. It was all Shadow could do not to recklessly charge forward to save her.
"He's right, he has a hostage, hold you're fire," Shadow called back, hoping the squad would hear him and understand.
"Drop your weapon and release your hostage furry. Don't test your luck with me," the human leader called back.
"No. I-I know what you animals do to your prisoners," the scared tabby predictably responded. "I'm not gonna end up as a guinea pig for one of your cracked experiments."
"You're the only animal around here Mobian," the human retorted, causing Shadow to shudder slightly. "Now drop your weapon and surrender before you end up in a pyre over a cage."
"Stop," Maria interjected, "there's no need to shoot him." It was at that point that Shadow realized the cat private had not pulled Maria close to him to be a shield, Maria had moved herself. She was protecting him.
"Don't shoot, you might hit Maria!" Shadow commanded, not trusting even the best of shots to be able to hit the smaller Mobian over the girl. Maria stood her ground, moving to stand in front of the cat now.
"In case you haven't noticed, Miss, his kind are the ones invading our home. He's the enemy. Now stand aside before I decide you're an enemy sympathizer and take steps to neutralize the both of you!"
"They'll be the last steps you ever take human." Those words had formed in Shadow's mind, but they had not come from his lips. Rather they had come from the leader of a squad of Mobians that had apparently decided to join the fracas. The only good thing Shadow could say about these new arrivals' appearance was that the extra back-up seemed to calm the cat near Maria down somewhat.
But this was getting out of hand. Silently Shadow began to summon his chaos energies. If he acted quickly he could destroy everyone's guns before a single shot could be fired. And then it happened.
An explosion that rocked the area.
Human and Mobian both lost their balance as chunks of what was once ceiling fell down upon them.
And then came the gunfire. There was no way to tell who shot first or why. Just as easily as someone could have seen an opportunity to attack and end this quickly, someone could have accidentally squeezed their trigger as they lost their balance. There was even every possibility that the first "gunshots" heard were in fact something else exploding. It didn't matter. In seconds the air was filled with laserfire as everyone began to shoot. Instinct caused Shadow to duck for cover to avoid getting hit, but he quickly mastered himself as he remembered his charge; Maria.
She was still out there, still defenseless, and no doubt still with that cat. Knowing this was an unsafe position for her to be in the dark hedgehog moved onward, staying under cover lest either side mistake him for an enemy combatant. He moved with all the grace and speed his lithe body could produce, his ebony coloring allowing him to blend in with the shadows cast about by the fires of the damaged building.
Soon he found them both, the cat and Maria. They too had taken shelter from the gun fire. The cat was clearly scared out of his mind as bolts of light sailed above his head, and Shadow might have felt pity for the youth if he hadn't been the one who'd started all this nonsense.
Quietly he moved about, getting closer to Maria who did not look to be fairing too well with all the smoke that was about.
"Maria, are you all right?" Shadow asked quietly as he made it to the girl.
"Shadow, cough, cough you're all right," she answered, smiling weakly at him. "I was afraid you'd gotten hurt out there."
"Not yet, though we're both probably running out of luck on that point. Let's get out of here," the experimental creature said as he lifted the girl up and gave her his shoulder for support. This proved noisy enough to catch the cat's attention and alert him to their presence.
"You! St-Stay Away!" the Mobian yelled, his eyes wild with panic as he swung his gun around to aim at Shadow. For a brief moment, time seemed to slow down as Shadow watched the furry finger pull the rifle's trigger. Red eyes widened as he watched the bolt of energy explode from the barrel. Weighed down by Maria, there was no way for him to fire a chaos spear to destroy the bolt. It was only a sudden, forceful shove to his side that prevented Shadow from closing his eyes to oncoming death.
But Maria was not so lucky. Driven by a need to protect her friend, Maria had shoved the black and red hedgehog out of the way with all her might, putting all of her miniscule weight into getting him off balance. Unfortunately this action also threw her off balance and thus did she take the blast full in the chest, jolting backward before Shadow could save her. All he could do was watch, helpess as she fell to the ground. For a few brief moments, the young hedgehog could see the unmistakable look of shock on the girl's face and then, nothing. Her eyes, once sparkling with life even at her weakest, grew dull and lifeless as she fell backwards. As he looked down at the body, an unbearable grief began to overtake Shadow as tears welled up in his eyes.
"Maria… Maria, talk to me," he begged in futility, trying to fan whatever spark of life might remain in the sick Robotnik's frame. But nothing happened and all the hedgehog could do was wallow in his misery.
And then he heard it, the tell-tale sound of a laser rifle being primed to fire again. A glance to his side told him that the Mobian cat was once more aiming his rifle. He still looked terrified, but that mattered little to the Ultimate Lifeform. All he could think about was what, who this feline's actions had taken from him.
'No, it's not just this cat's fault,' Shadow thought as the cat seemed to say something the hedgehog didn't bother listening to. 'This stupid fool is just a tool. If it hadn't been him, another would have done the deed. It's the Mobians who are to blame for this. If they hadn't attacked, if they'd just left us alone…' Sadness and grief began to twist and turn, transforming into rage and hatred as he gave these thoughts more and more attention. "Vermin! Maria tried to help them, tried to keep the humans from killing them, and they gunned her down like she was nothing."
"Put your hands in the air, right now… or I'll fire!"
"Fire? At me?" Shadow asked incredulously, his blood pressure rising as he began to move towards the Mobian soldier. "Do you actually believe that to be a threat? That your pitiful gun can protect you?" Shadow's eyes blazed as the cat's own widened in ever growing fear. "You DARE threaten me after what you've done?!"
"Stay back!" Once more the gun's trigger was squeezed. Like lightning Shadow shot forward, one hand striking the gun and knocking it out of the way just before it released its blast. His second hand grabbed hold of the private's throat, hefting the struggling feline into the air by his neck. With an audible snap, the cat's neck broke in Shadow's grip and his body went limp, after which he was allowed to drop to the floor like a rag doll. As he looked at the dead body the hedgehog felt no remorse for his actions; save that he had not performed them earlier when they might have saved Maria's life.
All around him he could hear the sounds of battle and all he could think about was the one casualty that mattered, at least to him. And yet neither side shared his grief. They couldn't even stop their senseless conflict to understand what they'd done, the valuable life their actions had snuffed out.
They were selfish, they were unworthy.
As Shadow continued to dwell on this fact, his rage only intensified, so much so that he didn't even notice the explosions going on around him. What he did notice was the bodies sneaking about, getting into position. The Mobians were pushing back the humans.
They didn't care.
As he began to focus on the nearest of the soldiers, all the dark hedgehog could see was red.
Sonic hurt. Scratch that, he hurt a lot.
Sonia and Manic held him carefully, trying to keep their ailing brother from being injured further, but it wasn't helping much.
Several yards away Shadow stood, a malicious smile on his face as he looked at the three hedgehogs. Nearby Tails, who had been flying from the van to warn Sonic of Shadow's impending treacherous actions, stopped mid-flight, his face the picture of worry as he looked at his injured hero.
"Apparently Dr. Robotnik greatly overestimates your abilities, Prince Sonic," Shadow concluded, clearly challenging the injured Freedom Fighter to rise again. This instead raised the ire of a certain pink hedgehog instead.
"Brave words from someone who attacks an unaware opponent," Sonia called, clearly upset. Shadow merely chuckled darkly at the Princess's show of fury.
"What you call cowardice, I call taking advantage of a foolish opponent," the dark hedgehog retorted. "Or did you really think you could win by so insulting a tactic?"
"Insulting?!" Manic yelled, now also visibly upset. Although of each of his siblings he had the fewest qualms with fighting dirty, there was still a limit. "How do ya get that?"
"Do you really think there isn't anyone on this worthless mudball who wouldn't realize Robotnik is a 'bad guy?'" Shadow asked, hands crossed over his chest.
"So you just help butt-heads like Buttnik to get your jollies?" Sonic managed to growl out, struggling to get into a sitting position despite his injuries. Instantly his siblings were giving him support.
"This has nothing to do with him, he is merely a convenient ally to have," was the response. "This is about revenge."
"Revenge?" the three hedgehogs asked in unison.
"Revenge for a crime committed against an innocent. Revenge for happiness bought at the expense of another. Revenge for what your wretched family did to mine!"
"What are you talking about?"
"One hundred years ago, your family ordered an unprovoked attack on the last human stronghold. The result of that attack was the death of Maria Robotnik, a girl who had never so much as harmed an insect let alone you. I have come to make you pay for that crime!"
"Dude, that was like a century ago," Manic called back. "Nobody's alive who was took part in any attack on a human base."
"I'm still here," Shadow barked. "And it doesn't matter. Without human competition, Mobians were free to expand and establish their civilization with out heed of anyone else. You lived lives of peace and happiness, all bought with the life of one who never deserved to be sacrificed for such a pathetic race. A dying girl your ancestors' actions slew." Shadow's red eyes almost seemed to flare crimson as his rage exploded. "For that crime… I'll make you all suffer before I wipe you from existence." Jumping into the air, the black hedgehog's hands glowed as he tucked into a tight ball. "Chaos Spear!" His body exploded as he screamed this command, sending forth shafts of deadly chaos energy screaming towards his targets. Sonia and Manic each gripped hold of Sonic's arms, preparing to move their still wounded brother out of harm's way. It was the intervention of another that proved this unnecessary and unnecessary risk to take.
"Aeroni beran!" called Tails as a wall of solid air appeared before the hedgehogs, knocking the chaos attack off its course and harmlessly to the ground. The little fox zoomed in to stand before his friends, his body shimmering with a faint green glow as maintained control of his elemental magic. Shadow glared at the cub, clearly angry that his vengeance had been so denied.
"I guess that would make you the new Archmage. Miles Prower, correct?" he stated flatly. Miles nodded determinedly, trying to hide the nervousness he felt as he faced down the hedgehog. The fox could still feel the waves of paralyzing fear Shadow was giving off, now obviously a side-effect of his exponential chaos powers.
"That's right," Tails answered truthfully.
"At present I have no real grievance against you personally," Shadow began to explain. "That being the case, I'll give you a single chance to leave this battle in peace."
"I'm not leaving my friends, so fat chance," the vulpine wizard retorted, hoping he sounded braver than he felt at the moment. "If you want to hurt them, you have to defeat me."
"Admirable; but remarkably foolish." With that, Shadow charged forward.
"Gigani race!" Tails commanded as the ground beneath the attacking creature's feet suddenly shifted. Shadow's quick reflexes served him well as he leapt into the air just as his balance began to shift. Again the hedgehog's hands glowed, signaling he was preparing an attack, but this time he was interrupted as something hard struck him in the back, sending him careening back to the ground. Casting a glance back up behind him Shadow noticed what looked like a small, metallic piglet floating in the air via a propeller that was sticking out of its back.
"Way to go Clockwerk! You nailed him," Tails called up to his pet machine.
"Annoying little brat," Shadow growled as he nimbly pushed himself back to his feet, dusting off his ebony fur. "Do you think your little toy a match for me?"
"Maybe not by himself," the fox responded, success adding a bit of defiance to his voice as he summoned more magical energy to himself, "but we're a team."
'And probably a fairly effective one too if I let you keep gathering steam,' the Ultimate Lifeform thought to himself, trying to keep a wary eye on both vulpine and mechanoid. 'Robotnik's file on this cub was short, but it told me he isn't that advanced a magician. That being the case, he probably isn't too serious a threat by himself, but if he can keep me occupied until Sonic recovers from those blows I gave him…' Deciding this was not a plan he'd let come to fruition, Shadow made his move, charging for Tails in an erratically hopping, serpentine path in order to negate the potential problems in the fox's earthen magic. Predictably the boy's mechanical minion attempted again to strike Shadow from behind, but this time the hedgehog was prepared. Recognizing a recurring problem when he saw it, Shadow caused the rockets in his shoes to flare as he suddenly altered his course. This in turn allowed Clockwerk to shoot past him, now on a collision course for his young master. The robotic piglet let out a terrified squealing sound as it realized where it was headed, a sound echoed by Tails as the fox reacted and dove to the side to avoid getting struck. How could he know this had been precisely what Shadow had planned for him to do?
"Gotcha!" the dark hedgehog yelled as he caught up to the mage and made to grab the boy. A nasty smirk suddenly crossed the boy's muzzle.
"Ferani pickaye!" Tails called as he threw his hands out before him. Sensing something was coming, Shadow too called upon his own powers just as the explosive ball of fire appeared between the fox and the hedgehog. The interaction of the elemental and chaos energies wound up increasing the explosive power of the spell at the cost of its heat, causing both creatures to go flying away from each other. More resilient than his vulpine opponent, Shadow was the first to recover, glaring angrily at the woozy fox as Tails got to his feet.
"You stupid brat," the hedgehog barked. "You don't make bombs that explode in your face. If I hadn't acted to get rid of the heat, we'd both be charred corpses right now."
"Don't milk it, you only acted to save yourself," Sonia interrupted as she leapt at Shadow. The pink hedgehog had managed to sneak up behind the black one as he'd been sent flying and now grabbed hold of Shadow's shoulders and began to spin.
"Woah," the surprised Shadow called as he found himself suddenly caught in a tornado. Quickly the black hedgehog tried to regain control of the fight, pulling himself back towards Sonia in an attempt to deliver a kick to her head. Before he could strike however, the Princess released him and allowed the spinning winds she'd generated to carry her enemy into the air. Rockets flared to life in Shadow's shoes as the Ultimate Lifeform stabilized himself in the raging winds. "A nice trick Princess, but you leave yourself wide open for retaliation," Shadow called as his hand began to pulse with power. Power that never got a chance to be released.
"Cowabunga!" Manic screamed as he descended from on high. So occupied had he been with Sonia that Shadow had not noticed it as Manic had entered the swirling vortex and used the undamaged half of his wrecked hoverboard to surf the air currents. Thus had he gained far more altitude than Shadow, the perfect vantage point from which to catch the experimental creature with a literal flying tackle. Hedgehog quills had acted as rudders to guide the green body downwards, smashing Manic right into the very surprised Shadow. It had been all Shadow could do to twist his body about in mid-air to try to catch Manic with the prepared chaos spear, but all this did was add more thrust to their combined bodies as they fell. Their momentum had been helped the rockets on Shadow's suddenly flailing legs, virtually guaranteeing that both enemies would be forced out of the twirling tornado.
Thus it was that both Manic and Shadow were sent crashing into the ground below, their bodies creating a rather deep crater where they landed. Having had the good fortune of being on top of this mad tackle, Manic was spared the brunt of the impact, allowing him to rise again fairly quickly and get to his knees to gaze down at the half-buried and unconscious Shadow.
"Hey guys," he called back to his team mates. "I think I got him."
"Be careful Manic," Sonia called back. "We don't know how much this guy is capable of."
"Ah you worry too much Sis, dude's completely unconsc… ACK!" Manic's words were cut off as a hand clamped onto his throat, choking off his air supply as Shadow pulled himself out of the rubble that covered him.
"Congratulations, you have become very annoying," the dark hedgehog announced, his free hand glowing as the green hedgehog struggled to escape the death grip. "Now you're going to pay for trying to bury me." Before Shadow could carry out his threat though, the Ultimate Lifeform suddenly released Manic's throat, jerking his arm back just before what looked like a blue buzzsaw blade could slice off the appendage. Even as it passed the two combatants, a tan arm shot out from it, taking hold of Manic's own arm to pull him to safety at high speed. Only when they were both out of reach of the Ultimate Lifeform did the "buzzsaw" stop spinning, revealing itself to be none other than Sonic Hedgehog.
"You okay bro?" Sonic asked of Manic as the drummer rubbed his sore neck.
"Better'n I was," Manic responded, just a little bitter he'd had to be rescued. "How're you hangin'?"
"Tails fixed me up good as new while you had Shadow distracted," the blue hedgehog explained, stretching his legs for emphasis. Then he turned his attention back towards Robotnik's new ally. "What say we put the kibosh on short, squat, and ugly?"
"Arrogant words for someone who's spent the better part of this battle moaning in agony," Shadow quipped as he crossed his arms in contempt. "What makes you think that won't happen again?"
"You caught us be surprise before Shads. This time we know what you can do."
"Oh really?" the dark one said as both hands gripped something on his wrists hidden under his gloves. With an audible snap, what looked like two golden bracelets fell from his wrists, clicking as they hit the ground.
"What in the…"
"Guys," Tails called, backing a step away. "He's… he's done something… something bad."
[[Author's note: Begin track; "You Better Fear Me" by The Deleted]]
"Very perceptive," Shadow responded, his eyes glowing as he smiled. "Those bracelets were designed to help me control my chaos powers when I was younger. They suppressed my energies so that I could control them better, but left me much weaker as a result. But now that they're off…" A wave of power washed over the quartet as Shadow summoned chaos energy to him, bringing with it a cloud of dirt and young plants as it did so.
"This may be a problem," Sonia stated as she and her brothers struggled to see through the artificial storm.
"Why? Just because he's become even more of a wind bag?" Sonic quipped.
"You fools barely held your own before, now I have you completely outclassed." Shadow's arms swung wide as he released a barrage of chaos spears.
"Motor time!" Sonic called as he grabbed Manic's arm again and sped out fo the way. Responding to the threat as well, Tails took to the air, airlifting Sonia to safety as he did so. Though the energy projectiles failed to hit any of their intended targets, they did manage to decimate everything else in the area, including the Sonic Underground's crippled tour bus.
"Ah man," Manic lamented as he watched his beloved van exploded under the assault. "We just got it back together too."
"My apologies," Shadow said as he moved to intercept the two brothers, "I'll bury you with its engine when I'm done."
"Gigani gan!" Tails called out, summoning forth his spears of rock to stop the dark hedgehog's advance. Heightened senses and quick reflexes easily allowed the Ultimate Lifeform to evade the trap.
"I wondered if you were still in this battle," the dark creature grumbled as he broke off one of the rocky spears' sharp tips and hurled it at the fox's perceived direction. The eerily accurate throw so startled the fox that he failed to move even as the sharp point made a beeline for his chest. Fortunately Clockwerk, for whom fear was not a concern, did not fail to act, intercepting the rocky projectile as best he could.
"Clockwerk!" Tails called as the little machine was knocked from the sky, his tails spinning madly as he went to his familiar's aid.
"Typical child," Shadow snorted, "more concerned for his toy than about the battle happening around him."
"Speaking of battle," Sonic interrupted as he charged in to try to deliver a high speed punch to the back of Shadow's head. Much to the blue one's surprise, the attack failed as Shadow nimbly dodged to the side, grabbing hold of Sonic's outstretched arm as he did so.
"Fool," he spat as he threw his attacker over his shoulder. "Do you think you can so blithely announce your attacks with me?" Sonic gave a pained grunt as he landed on his back, the force of the throw nearly enough to dislocate his shoulder. Before Shadow could capitalize on the attack however, a surprise attack managed to strike, a small, thin stick belonging to none other than Manic.
"You want sneaky, come to me dude," the drummer snidely remarked as the thrown drumstick returned to his hand, allowing Sonic to move away.
"If you really were all that effective, you would have made such an opportunity amount to more than hitting me with a puny stick."
"Dude, check your butt." Quizzically Shadow did look down at the back of his hip, just in time to catch sight of one of the small explosives Manic kept in his fanny pack for opening particularly stubborn locks firmly attached to his fur. A hand moved lightning swift to rip the offending device off just as the detonator's timer reached zero. Having been designed to be used as a breaking and entering tool, the resultant blast was not particularly powerful but, given the device's owner's own flare for exhibition, it was bright and stronger than expected.
"Got him!" Manic cried as the watched the air fill with smoke and dust. His good cheer quickly faded as the smoke cleared to reveal Shadow standing perfectly still, not even a single mark on his gloves.
"Inferior explosives for an inferior hedgehog," he pronounced as the charred remains of the explosive device fell from his hand. "Your brother is super-fast, your sister is super-strong, even you little mascot can command the elements to a degree… Remind me, aside from being a klepto, what do you do?"
"Ah that's easy man," Manic answered as he reached into his belly bag and pulled out a small device. "I'm tricky." With the push of a button, the sound of whirling gears was heard as the gun turret on the wrecked tour bus began to move, homing in on the signal from Manic's remote. Turning his waist to meet this new attack head on, Shadow prepared a chaos spear to destroy the weapon, only to watch as the damage it had incurred took its final toll and the turret stopped, a cloud of smoke escaped from it.
"Apparently not tricky enough," surmised his enemy with a hint of derision in his voice as he turned to release his attack on Manic. Before the beam of energy could strike, a wall of rock erupted from the ground, shielding the thief even as it was blown to smithereens. "That's getting to be very annoying."
"Deal with it," Sonia said as she stood by Tails. "We will always protect one another from harm."
"I guessed as much," Shadow pointed out. "Which means I need to start by taking you out FIRST!" Rockets flared as Shadow shot forward. No sooner had he begun his charge than he was intercepted by a familiar blue blur.
"Hey Shades, miss me?" the leader of the Freedom Fighters quipped as he started a high-speed grapple with the ebony hedgehog.
"No," Shadow said as he suddenly slowed down to get behind Sonic. A sudden burst of rocket speed was all it took for Shadow to propel himself back to his previous speed, slamming hard into Sonic's back.
"Ah! Dirty playing lammo," Sonic complained as he twisted about to face his foe. Shadow was already tucking himself inward, getting his feet up on Sonic's shoulders to launch himself forward, adding Sonic's fantastic speed to his own.
"Sonia, Tails, move!" the hedgehog ordered as he gave a desperate swipe at Shadow's legs, missing the black hedgehog's feet by centimeters. Both Sonia and Tails complied, but rather than move to safety, the two moved for an interception. Sonia extended her arms out to her sides, preparing to catch her opponent in another tornado attack.
"Not this time Princess," Shadow smirked as he began to tuck into a ball, rolling forward in a very familiar attack. This also put him too low to the ground for the twisting winds to grab him. Sonia's spin halted as she leapt into the air to avoid losing a leg. Taking advantage of this hasty reaction, Shadow stopped rolling and kicked off the ground with his hands, somersaulting back into the air to land a kick to the Princess's back. It was with an undignified grunt that Sonia landed on the ground, Shadow nearby and ready to press his advantage.
"Sonia!" Tails called, his hands glowing as he attempted to fly to the pink hedgehog's aid, only to be stopped by the black one.
"That's right, you have the power to heal the others, undoing any progress I make," Shadow said as he violated the fox's personal space. "That's really not something I can tolerate."
"Gah!" Tails yelped as one of Shadow's hands balled into a fist and slammed hard right into the cub's forehead. The kit's vision swam for a second or two before going black, his tails ceasing their rotation as he lost consciousness and fell from the sky.
"Ah no," said Manic as he watched his foxy friend's uncontrolled descent, trying to scramble the impossible distance to catch him and prevent further injury. Though the drummer lacked the ability to accomplish this, Shadow did not, catching the young Prower and getting a pained grunt from the fallen boy as his white furred belly slammed into the Ultimate Lifeform's shoulder in the process.
"You probably should have spent some time teaching this kid some basic self-defense moves. He might have been able to avoid that attack."
"Not COOL dude," Sonic said through gritted teeth as he got to his feet.
"Don't be so naïve little Prince," the ebony creature sneered. "What did you expect would happen to him? I'd give him a swat on the wrist and send him home?" Black scowled at blue before dropping the vulpine to the ground in a crumpled heap. "This is a battle in a war. If you didn't want him to get hurt, you should have left him safe at home."
"Right. No quarter given and all that junk," Sonic said as his gloved hand went to his chest, touching the crystal medallion that hung from his neck. A rainbow of energy began to dance around the leader of the Freedom Fighters before a guitar of all things appeared in his hands. Shadow looked in curiosity at this odd instrument. It had three necks sprouting from a blue body done in the shape of curled up hedgehog. Two of the necks were connected by a single head, from which a nozzle of some sort seemed to be coming from.
Before he could make a comment, Sonic struck a cord and from the nozzle fired what appeared to be, for lack of a better description, a sonic laser. The beam was certainly loud as well as bright as it streaked towards Shadow. Quickly the dark hedgehog moved out of the way to avoid the attack. What he didn't expect however, was for the beam, rather than to impact on the ground and leave a smoking crater, to bounce off the ground and keep going, ricocheting off a few of the rocks before coming back for him. It was only thanks to his superior reflexes that Shadow was able to avoid the return attack.
"Nice trick," Shadow admitted, his ears ringing slightly from the sound of Sonic's odd weapon. "But I'll stick with mine. Chaos Spear!" Just as with Shadow, Sonic's reflexes were more than up to the task of escaping the attack at such a distance.
"Sorry sucker," Sonic smirked in declaration, "gonna have to be faster than that to catch this ol' hedgehog again."
"I'll admit, I didn't believe the dossier when it said you used a guitar as a weapon. My mistake."
"Not your only one," Sonia said, touching her own medallion and summoning her keyboard in its more mobile keytar form. Fingers danced across the keys as Sonia played a quick tune, generating a rather shrill sonic laser similar to her brothers. Again Shadow moved, avoiding the blast only to feel it as the ground beneath his feet suddenly seemed to liquefy. At first wondering if he hadn't hit Tails hard enough to take the little fox out, sensitive ears soon picked up on the tap, tap, tap of a drum and Shadow could see Manic sitting behind an odd looking drum set. Smiling wickedly the green hedgehog again began to tap out a beat on his drum, causing the terra firma Shadow stood over to suddenly become not so firma. Not wanting to chance sinking beneath the ground, the black hedgehog used his chaos spear to blast himself out, propelling his body into the air and well above Manic's current attack range. Like flies both Sonic and Sonia were on him; firing off lasers the Ultimate Lifeform was forced to dodge at a constant rate. Of course Shadow was quick to retaliate, using chaos spears in an attempt to knock out one of the siblings. Now armed with their own energy attacks, the two siblings were just as capable of blocking his spears as he had been their own attacks. So busy was Shadow trying to dodge the two mobile members of the Sonic Underground, that he was completely ignorant of the mounting threat below him. This threat presented itself in the form of a giant flat rock that suddenly rose to meet him. With a speed that belied the stone's great weight and a flexibility that seemed to it ignore its makeup, the stone slab folded around the ebony hedgehog before falling again, binding shadow to the ground tightly as Manic struck the skins of his drum kit as hard as he could.
"Sonic, Sonia, finish this!" Manic called as their enemy struggled to escape his sudden imprisonment.
"On it," Sonic called along with his sister as the pink and blue hedgehogs aimed their weapons at their helpless opponent. Twin blasts of energy fired, obliterating the ball of rock and stone and hopefully its captive in one fell swoop.
"AGH!!" Shadow yelled as the blasts engulfed him in a flash of light and a howl of sound. Their work complete, Sonic and Sonia stood still, watching the after-effects of the devastating attack.
"Think we got him this time?" Manic asked after a few minutes as the dust began to settle, revealing not but rubble.
"I'd say so bro," Sonic concluded as he looked over the shattered earth. "No one coulda survived something like that."
"So far this guy HAS survived Sonic," Sonia pointed out. "But still…" No sooner was this said than the broken ground began to shift.
"CHAOS BLAST!" came a cry as the rubble was thrown into the air revealing a frighteningly familiar form.
"I don't believe it," Sonia responded.
"No way," groaned Sonic.
"That ain't right dude," Manic called out.
"What part of 'Ultimate Lifeform' don't you three get?" Shadow growled as he took a step forward, dirt that had managed to wedge itself into his black coat the only sign of his having been attacked and essentially buried. "I'll admit that was more than I expected from a trio of glorified musicians, but if you wanted to hurt me, maybe you should have attacked FULL FORCE!" Both Sonia and Sonic looked guiltily at each other. Though both hedgehog's understood full well what was at stake with the outcome of this battle, neither hedgehog had been brought up on the idea of going for the kill. It was one thing to scrap robots without a second chance, but against an opponent of flesh and blood, both had pulled their proverbial punches, lest their weapons accidentally destroy their enemy. How Shadow had realized this bit of information was anyone's guess. Tachyon swift the guilty faces disappeared as both pink and blue hedgehogs steeled their resolve as best they could.
"Fine, next time we give you full force."
"Don't flatter yourself. That is not going to happen," Shadow said as he jumped and turned about, sending a chaos spear forth to obliterate the second stone that had been flying up behind him. A second spear trailed behind the first and shot back along the rock's course, heading right towards Manic's position. The thief barely had time to put up his drums before the explosive energy sent him careening backwards.
Despite their concern for their sibling's well being, both Sonia and Sonic decided to press onward, not wanting to give Shadow time to mount a new attack against them all. The black hedgehog had other ideas however.
"Those instruments are better weapons than I thought. Maybe I should give one a go."
"Fat chance, we're the only ones who can use these," Sonic shot back.
"I wouldn't sully my hands, your highness." Lifting his hand into the air, Shadow began to concentrate. Once more the appendage glowed with chaos energy, but this time rather than being generated at the hand, it was being collected. The light of the energy grew in intensity, forcing all three of the Technicolor hedgehogs to avert their gaze when it became too much for them. Once the light had subsided they could see a small object resting in the vengeful experiment's hand; a medallion not unlike the ones the Sonic Underground tended to wear around their own necks.
"No," Sonia said as she realized the implication. "You couldn't have… We're the only ones with…"
"Let's just see, shall we?" Shadow responded as he placed the amulet around his neck before touching it with his other hand. The object suddenly transformed into a spark of black energy, zipping around the dark one like a spastic firework before stopping right before his chest. Instinctively Shadow reached up to take hold of the ball of energy as it expanded and took form to become…
"A harp?" Sonic asked in confusion as he stared at the stringed instrument that had apparently answered Shadow's summons. The confusion lasted for no more than a nanosecond before being replaced by a sense of amusement. "Let me get this straight. You went to all the trouble to make a medallion so you could match kicks with us… and the best you could do was some sissy harp?"
"Sissy harp?" a bemused Shadow asked.
"Yeah, sissy harp," Manic restated, backing up his brother's insult. "This ain't no opera ya know. What do you expect to do, bore us asleep?"
"Considering how poorly you three have faired since this whole debacle began, I'd think you've be more respectful. Still, if you're so sure of your superiority, then try to take me out," Shadow mocked. Realizing bait when she heard it, Sonia attempted to intervene.
"Maybe we should be careful about this. Every time he does something new, he just keeps getting stronger."
"No, I'm not gonna let this loser make a punk out of us. Besides, it's a harp, how dangerous could it be?" Sonic asked. "I'll show him he's nothing but a pale imitation of us. A fake hedgehog with a fake power." Like a bolt of blue lightning Sonic was charging headlong into a complacent looking Shadow. Closer and closer the Freedom Fighter leader got and still his target did nothing. At a little less than ten feet away, Shadow's hand finally moved and for a moment Sonia feared her headstrong brother would be impaled on one of the monstrous creature's energy spears. Rather than summon forth the chaos energy, nimble black fingers instead reached up to deftly pluck one of the harp strings, just as Sonic made it to within a foot of his enemy.
It happened before anyone could blink; the space of a second, the tick of a clock. One moment Shadow stood nonchalantly in place, awaiting the attack coming from Sonic, the next he simply wasn't. No one was more shocked at this than Sonic himself as his fist passed through naught but thin air. Before he could wonder where his target had gotten to, the question was answered as another fist suddenly struck the back of his head. Now lying face first on the ground, Sonic looked back to find Shadow looking down at him, a triumphant look on his face.
"Any more doubts?" he asked. The sound of a sonic laser was heard as Sonia moved to help her brother, accompanied by the sound of earth and rock moving about at Manic's command. Again an ebony hand rose to the harp and again the sound of a string being plucked was heard. But this time Shadow did not disappear. The lower pitch of the note the harpstring produced indicated a different string from before, so it was not surprising that a different effect occurred.
Sonia and Manic's eyes both widened as they watched their attacks suddenly begin to curve backwards and return to them, forcing both musicians to dive for cover or be struck by their own instrumental attacks.
"Guys, we gotta hit him as one," the recovered Sonic said. "The instruments always work better in harmony, and that's a trick he can't copy."
"What makes you think I'm not already in perfect harmony, hedgehog?" Shadow asked suddenly. It was at this point the Sonic Underground looked at him as though he were crazy.
"What are you talkin' about? In case you haven't noticed, you're a one man band."
"Fool, I am never alone, now more than ever," Shadow responded as he held up his new harp. "The harp is the instrument of the Underworld, the music of the dead. The power you feel is not merely my own, but that of all those wronged by your wretched family so long ago." So forceful was Shadow's declaration that, as he made it, the three hedgehogs he railed against could almost swear they could see dozens and dozens of angry faces glaring at them. Not used to being on the receiving end of such hatred and anger, the trio felt themselves begin to back down just a little, actually taking a step backwards. "But dearest of all is my Maria, the very heart and soul of this instrument of vengeance and the one your wretched family, your wretched species destroyed in your arrogance." Again Shadow's hand moved towards the harpstrings. "Now feel the pain and sorrow of all those wronged in your name!" This time it wasn't a single cord those cold fingers plucked, but an entire group that called forth a sound that was both beautifully harmonious… and devastating.
Sonic, Sonia, and Manic would have been hard pressed to believe such a melodious sound could do what it did, but as all three of them dropped to their knees, their hands clutching at their ears as they howled in pain, they couldn't help but be convinced of the harp's powers. Sonic could feel his vision blurring as what felt like pure agony danced through his body, just as it did through his two siblings'. Just as suddenly as the torture began, however, it ended.
"What… What was that?" Sonic asked weakly.
"The very essence of pain and agony, directed against your very minds and spirits thanks to the power of my harp," the dark one answered. "Now feel the sorrow of all those who suffered on that fateful day, and of the pure voice silenced by your GREED!"
"We're not the ones who destroyed your friends!" Sonia pointed out, causing Shadow to stop mid strum.
"It doesn't matter. Just because you three weren't alive when this tragedy happened doesn't mean you didn't profit from it. Without humanity to compete against, the Mobians overran this world, allowing your kingdom to reach its prominence." An accusatory finger was pointed at the trio. "The peace and happiness of your people was bought with the destruction and suffering of the other, the very blood of the innocent. In the name of Maria Robotnik, I will consign you all to oblivion!" Shadow's hand raised to strike the necessary strings of his harp again; ready to deliver the final blow to his hated foes. Weakened as they were, none of the Sonic Underground could move to stop him. Just then a sudden tapping sensation came to the Ultimate Lifeform's left shoulder, drawing his attention.
[[End Song]]
"Excuse me," said a voice, just as a giant fist clad in a white glove and sporting two nasty looking spikes on its knuckles slammed into Shadow's cheek. So unprepared was the dark hedgehog for the sheer force of the blow that the attack was enough to send him bouncing across the ground, crumpling to a heap about fifty feet from where he'd been. Shadow looked up to see his attacker and was shocked at what he saw; an echidna.
Professor Gerald had known of the echidnas. Given his area of study it would have been unlikely he wouldn't have known. But, according to everything the human scientist had learned, the echidnas were a completely extinct species. Or, more accurately, they had all vanished as no echidna corpses had been discovered beyond a certain point, making it seem as though the entire population had just turned into air at some point in time. And yet the figure that was now taking up a defensive position over the three downed hedgehogs was no mere ghost.
"Ugh… glad to see ya Red," Sonic said as he shakily managed to get to his feet, the realization that he wasn't going to suffer another of Shadow's harp attacks renewing his strength somewhat.
"Looked like you could use a hand," Knuckles responded before noticing Sonia was trying to get up as well and almost skipping over to help her. The pink hedgehog offered quiet thanks even as her green brother made a joking quip.
"What, I'm not cute enough to help up?"
"Oh, sorry," Knuckles responded with a blush, clearly not getting the joke. Sonia shot her brother an annoyed glare that bounced harmlessly off Manic's good cheer as he was helped to his feet.
"That was very stupid echidna," Shadow called, springing to his feet before rubbing his sore jaw. Knuckles had an exceptional right hook. "This had nothing to do with you."
"One; my name is Knuckles, but creeps like you call me Guardian," the echidna said defiantly, matching Shadow's baleful glare with an impressive one of his own. "Two; if you attack my friends, rest assured I'll make it my business very quickly." At this declaration Knuckles's body seemed to sway from side to side, his massive fists swinging like a pair of pendulums. The echidna was loosening himself up in preparation for a fight while trying to intimidate Shadow at the same time. As if to add insult to injury, the contemptuous look on Knuckles's face spoke volumes about how little he thought of the black hedgehog as an opponent.
"You don't honestly think you're a match for me do you? I guarantee you'll never get a chance at another cheap shot on me again," the black hedgehog retorted. "You're strong, I'll grant you that, but next to me you're nothing." At this Knuckles simply snickered.
"And yet I don't see you attacking," he pointed out, much to Shadow's ire. "But don't worry your quills grey, I just got first hit because I could move fast enough to intercept you. My friend on the other hand…" Before Shadow could react, several shafts of steel rose from the ground around him, forming a cage of sorts as their tops moved together in a dome-like shape. Moving quickly, Shadow tucked himself into the ball and began spinning, channeling his chaos energy into his quills and cutting his way out of the cage before anything else could be done to keep him in. Searching the area for his attacker, Shadow noticed what looked like an old anteater dressed in a blue robe, the hood of which helped to obfuscate the obvious wizard's eyes. What made this Mobian seem particularly odd was the fact that he was covered in green scales, giving him a distinctly lizard-like quality. Though he had never seen the creature before, the black hedgehog had little trouble deducing the identity of this newcomer from Robotnik's files.
'The Oracle of Delphinius. This may be a problem.' His muscles tensed as he noticed the Oracle's hands begin to gesture, presumably preparing a spell to attack Shadow with. Not wanting to give him the chance to attack, the Ultimate Lifeform prepared to surge forward again, only to find himself stopped as what appeared to be thick vines bound their way around his ankles, causing him to lose his balance. Angrily the hedgehog summoned his chaos energy into his hand and made an angry swipe at the plants, severing them from the ground. Looking back up he noticed a pair balls of light heading right for him. Grabbing hold of his harp, Shadow quickly plucked a string, hoping to get the spell to turn back upon its owner as he had done with Manic and Sonia. Rather the spells instead suddenly turned downwards, striking the ground right in front of Shadow and knocking him backward.
"I would suggest you surrender young one," the wizened wizard spoke, his tone benevolent and kind. "Powerful though you may be, you cannot win against the forces aligned against you."
"I am the Ultimate Lifeform, a creature of unlimited potential and power," Shadow retorted angrily, the large number of interruptions he'd been experiencing beginning to wear away his patience. "You have no idea what I am capable…"
"Shadow," barked the gruff voice of Robotnik directly into the hedgehog's ear, thanks to the small communications device he'd been made to wear before coming to this battle. "This is quickly becoming too unpredictable to determine an outcome for. It is time for a strategic withdrawal."
"I can still win this. These vermin are nothing."
"Maybe, but the odds are no longer stacked in your favor. I don't want you to merely defeat the Sonic Underground, I want you to crush them, and you can't do that with the Oracle around. Now prepare for extraction." Shadow growled in a low voice as he glared at his new opposition. The five Mobians prepared for an attack, only to be surprised as the sound of several engines being turned on came to their collective ears. Twenty armed SWATbots on hover-cycles suddenly flew overhead, each one firing its laser array to lay down a wall of suppressive fire upon the battle field. Knuckles grabbed hold of Sonia and dove for cover as Sonic raced over to take possession of the still unconscious Tails and pulled him to safety, an action mimicked by Manic for Clockwerk. Quickly the Oracle bid all of them come close to him as he cast a spell of protection against the raining death from above. Only Shadow seemed unperturbed by the rampant destruction, calmly raising an arm as one of the cycle flew close enough to the ground for him to grab onto it.
"Don't think this is over Hedgehogs!" he yelled as he was carried away. "I will have my vengeance!" For once in his fast and dangerous life, Sonic's mind failed to come up with a suitable comeback to this proclamation.
As Dr. Robotnik watched Shadow's enforced retreat from the safety of his Command Center in Robotropolis, he couldn't help but grin a little.
"Well so much for the great 'Ultimate Lifeform,'" Sleet said from beside his master as he watched the viewscreen. "I suppose I should get a contingent of SWATbots ready to escort our fallen ally to the roboticizer."
"Sleet, what have I told you about thinking," Robotnik intoned menacingly. "It is an activity for which you are ill equipped to perform."
"But sir, he failed you," the wolf Mobian pointed out.
"You fail me on an almost daily basis, but I haven't roboticized you… yet. Besides, though they were not destroyed, the Sonic Underground was defeated. It was only by the intervention of Knuckles and that busy-body the Oracle that their defeat was not final. And that can actually play right into my hands." Said hands typed commands into the computer, recalling the five super-stealth orbs that had been hiding in the area since the battle had begun. Unbeknownst to the Sonic Underground their entire battle had been broadcast live from start to finish to every machine on which a moving picture could be displayed, regardless of what they'd been doing at the time. Every citizen of the empire, be they rich, poor, young, or old, had borne witness to the defeat of the Freedom Fighter's champions and their saccharine sidekick. And that wasn't even counting the rebels that had probably tuned in, expecting to see another route of the dictator's forces. Even now they were probably discussing what they'd seen and Robotnik could almost swear he could feel the rising panic of the city.
"No, Shadow performed his job most admirably, so I would suggest you not do anything to anger the dear boy, unless you want a personal demonstration of his powers."
"Of... Of course Doctor," Sleet stammered out. Satisfied the wolf had been cowed sufficiently, Robotnik turned back to his monitors.
"Now all I need do is pick the time and place of their next confrontation, and I shall finally be rid of that wretched Sonic Underground. And then, dear Sleet, all of Mobius will be mine."
To be continued….
