"There's Station Square." Knuckles mentioned as him and Shadow ceased speeding. They were now in a barren wilderness, within a few miles from the borders of Station Square. "So we need to get into the city and find Tails?" Shadow inquired.
"Right," Knuckles answered sharply, "but it appears that GUN are getting ready over there." He then pointed towards a plethora of khaki helicopters flying in from the direction of where Prison Island's situated. "It seems like they don't want anyone getting in or out." Shadow observed. Knuckles then smiled a little. "I was talking to the president not too long ago," he replied, "and he is preparing to-"
"I don't care, just get me to Tails."
"Man, you need to lighten up…" Knuckles replied as he leisurely ventured towards the city, Shadow closely following.
"Hurry up!" Shadow demanded impatiently. He couldn't stand the snail pace Knuckles was forcing on the ultimate life form. "There is no need to hurry," Knuckles argued serenely, "Dark Sonic wouldn't think about going here until a few days a-"
BOOM!
Knuckles and Shadow immediately ceased all motion, as they were engrossed by the petrifying dark aura surrounding the sinister figure of Dark Super Sonic! Sonic was facing them, his fully-white eyes staring at their faces, seeking fear in their faces. On the contrary to his wishes, Knuckles and Shadow were not that frightened, but more rather surprised. They both saw behind Sonic, and noticed that the helicopters had landed, as countless GUN soldiers from across the continent were congregating behind the newly-built city walls.
"Sonic," boomed the brittle voice of the GUN commander's megaphone, "you are to turn away and stay at least 2,000 miles away from Station Square! Understood?" Everybody then fell silent; all that could be heard was a gentle – albeit quite chilly – windy breeze. The momentary lapse of silence felt to those there as though it had occurred for an eternity…
Suddenly, as quick as a flash, Dark Sonic hurtled towards a sluggish Knuckles, and took the red Echidna by surprise! Dark Sonic thrust his fist at Knuckles' face, and sent him crashing to the ground over 50ft away! Shadow, enraged at what he had witnessed, clenched his fists and eyed Sonic with a menacing gaze. "You'll pay for that!" Shadow promised Sonic. Despite this threat from the ultimate life-form, Sonic just stood motionless, seemingly oblivious to any threat Shadow bestowed. Shadow then glanced towards Station Square; a loud siren had gone off, followed by the immediate arrival of what appeared to be almost every single soldier in the city, approaching the location of Shadow and Dark Super Sonic. There were thousands of soldiers, accompanied by the full arsenal of the GUN. Tanks, artillery, helicopters, and snipers were all deployed in sheer force; surely Sonic would find sense and cease his little games?
"Sonic," Shadow said slowly, "you know this isn't you. Take control of yourself: fight the negative energy overwhelming you, before you do something stupid…if not then I'll have to kill you…" Shadow then unclenched his fists and cautiously protruded towards Sonic! This was now being recorded on live television, as a courageous news reporter and her team were covering the event in their news helicopter above.
"We are bringing you LIVE footage from the outskirts of Station Square! Here, we can see most of the GUN's military strength assembling over *there* and they will help protect us from the evil Dark Super Sonic over th- who is that?"
The camera then zoomed in towards Dark Sonic, to reveal to the public of another dark hedgehog, however this one seemed almost identical to the blue Sonic of the past, and lacked that distinctive purple aura Dark Sonic possessed.
"Well, it appears that there is another hedgehog! He is confronting the evil Sonic, it appears. Could he save us? Perhaps the president ought to rethink his decision to form an alliance with the Eggman after all. But where did this hedgehog come from? We are now going to turn on the microphone, so that you can hear everything for yourself."
"Sonic," Shadow repeated, "you don't have to do this. Millions of people are already scared thanks to you, just turn around, and go away!" This was followed by another moment of silence as tension escalated. Eventually, Sonic moved! But it spelt disaster for Shadow, and the inhabitants of Station Square, for he now had a broad smile on his face, and chuckled in such a sinister manner that even Dr. Eggman would be jealous! "Huh?" Shadow remarked, as he understood the harsh reality that diplomacy would inevitably fail with this beast. "Move in!" the commander's voice bellowed from afar. Subsequently, the soldiers rushed in; each platoon was lead by a captain at the front, and moments later, the land was now completely covered by military forces! They closed in on Shadow and Sonic, completely surrounding them and leaving but a small circle for them to move around in. The front line was actually from the police force though, as riot response units engaged their riot shields, creating an impenetrable wall that, in theory, would prevent Sonic from advancing should negotiations turn sour.
"Sonic? Say something! I am tired of you just standing-" In a flash, Sonic had seemingly teleported so that he was now face to face with Shadow, who was not intimidated in the slightest. "All of you are writing your own death sentence," Shadow told the soldiers near to him, looking sternly at their anxious faces. "Go; let me take care of-"
"AAAARGH!"
It was Knuckles! He had recovered from his knock early on and thrust himself towards Sonic, with his sharp fists heading straight for the back of his head! Shadow saw what was happening, and he quickly moved out of the way, whereas Sonic was ambushed, and was sent crashing head-first into one of the countless riot shields. He was on the floor, dazed, down, but not out…
POOF! Dark Sonic had disappeared, leaving the eerie purple smoke where he lay. This spooked the soldiers, who collectively took a step backwards. "He could be anywhere," one soldier yelled in fear, "let's retreat!"
"Hold your line!" Immediately came a deep voice, with no trembling in his voice – it was the captain of his platoon. "You okay, Knuckles?" Shadow asked, trying to sound interested. "Sure," Knuckles replied, holding his head due to the pain derived from the collision to the ground earlier, "it's gonna take more than Sonic with a new fur coat to defeat me!"
"Yeah, you sure look silly now, coming to find me in the mountains, and grovel for my help. Dark Sonic is so weak that-"
SMASH! Sonic had reappeared, and sent Shadow high into the air with a powerful kick. Shadow then crashed down behind all the soldiers, far away from the subsequent duel between Dark Super Sonic, and Knuckles the Echidna…
Knuckles punched and punched and punched, but it was no use, for Sonic was merely teasing the poor Echidna. The fact was that Knuckles, while having the same strength as Sonic has speed (albeit Dark Sonic now has 3x the speed), was just too slow. And Sonic whooshed to the left, to the right, and back again. "Stay still you coward!" Knuckles demanded angrily as he became ever more tired. Then, Sonic stood still – to the amazement of Knuckles! He directed his fist towards Sonic's malevolent face, but Sonic merely maneuvered his head away from danger, and grasped both his hands onto Knuckles' outstretched arm. He then twisted it round, causing Knuckles to scream in sheer agony. Then, he dragged his arms behind his head, sending Knuckles flying over him and crashing to the ground. Knuckles barely had enough energy to nurse his fresh wound, hence resulting in him lying unconscious.
"It appears that our friend Knuckles the Echidna has been brutally beaten here. The problem, though, is the manner of the defeat. Sonic teased the poor guy, as his strength was far superior. What about the army here; could they defeat Sonic? Doctor Eggman should be joining forces with us in the next few hours, as negotiations are confirmed by sources close to the president to have commenced!"
Sonic towered over the broken echidna. Knuckles was clearly unconscious, as he lay completely stationary, as oodles of blood gushed out of a severe cut on his forehead. Sonic sensed no threat from Knuckles, and decided to spare his life. He then booted Knuckles in his chest, sending his back whacking a riot shield! This was met by the sudden ramblings by many soldiers, many of whom fleeing towards the city. "All forces retreat to rally point bravo immediately!" ordered the commander with his megaphone from the city walls. As everyone ran towards the highway leading in to Station Square, Sonic noticed what was occurring. He then took his focus off of Knuckles and proceeded towards the city!
The GUN commander saw that Sonic was fast approaching. "Tanks," he barked, "fire at will at Sonic!" Twenty heavily-armoured tanks then trotted forwards, simultaneously unleashing a blistering volley of shells toward Sonic! All the soldiers were now at the checkpoint, behind the large wall obstructing access to the city. Shadow and Knuckles were still out there, but this did not deter the commander. "I want this perimeter secure," he ordered, "close the gate at once!" He was referring to an impenetrable steel gate, towering 30ft tall, to cover the only way into Station Square. "Sir," asked one of the soldiers, "what about Knuckles and-"
"We need to ensure that Dark Sonic does NOT get in here...whatever the cost. I want to remind you all that there are thousands of civilians evacuating as we speak, and it is our job to give them as much time as possible." And with that, the gargantuan gate was bolted shut…Sonic and the tanks were alone now…
Sonic rushed toward the tanks at a phenomenal speed, striking fear into the drivers. The twenty tanks broke off from line formation into a scattered formation, to have a better chance of hitting the evil being with some shrapnel. However, despite the immediate landscape being scarred by the shells' explosions, Sonic was still not being hit! He was getting closer and closer, then POW! He jumped into the air, and rolled into a ball towards the tank on the far left, slicing the thing in half! As the other tanks slowly turned their turrets to face him, Sonic left no mercy and was relentless in his assault. He kicked, punched, and rolled through all of the heavy armour of these supposed heavy units.
A minute later, he vanished, and reappeared directly in front of the gate! He once again performed his intimidating pose, much akin to when he annihilated the helpless town before, as he was floating off the ground with his arms out, the white eyes gazing sternly above him at the countless soldiers pointing their firearms at him from the city walls. Despite this method of intimidation from Sonic, the commander began to sit down, complacent and confident.
Subsequently, the general retrieved his megaphone from the floor and addressed Dark Sonic down below. "You cannot enter this city," he teased, "the entire city is now surrounded by reinforced concrete walls, and this gate is made from the strongest metallic compounds we have ever created. Now, turn around, and leave us in peace!" And with that, the commander stood up and paced left and right. A line of soldiers was in front of him, aiming over the wall with their assault rifles. "Keep to your posts," the commander ordered, "desertion is punishable by death. Do not lose focus, for Dark Super Sonic now travels three times faster than he used to."
Astoundingly, Sonic remained stationary. He was no longer off the ground, and he seemed to be staring at the gate. What could he possibly be thinking? This obscure behavior confounded the GUN commander. "I need to contact the president." He thought aloud. All of a sudden, the commander witnessed Sonic spring to life, as he powered his way through the seemingly-impenetrable gate! He gasped out of sheer surprise, and turned around to run towards his private helicopter for evacuation. However, when he did turn around, he encountered the purple aura of Dark Sonic directly in front of him! His close proximity sent a shiver down his spine as he secreted cold sweat on his forehead. "S…s….sonic…" he stuttered. Sonic immediately clutched his throat and raised the commander off the ground with one hand. Sonic brought his face closer to his own, and peered deeply into the frightened eyes of the commander. Then Sonic smiled slowly, further intimidating the commander in his grasp. The soldiers were all pointing their guns at Sonic, many of whom were shaking their firearms uncontrollably with fear, as the air up there had eerily chilled over.
Sonic stamped his right foot hard on the ground, which in turn had a ripple effect on the concrete everyone was standing on. The following cracks on the surface caused an entire segment of the concrete wall to crumble, sending tens of soldiers falling to their doom. The soldiers unaffected by the wall's collapse began to scream in fear, and then frantically rushed away to where the nearest stairs were situated. "Cowards!" the commander shouted as Dark Sonic was hovering over where the section of the wall used to be, the GUN leader's throat still clenched tightly. The commander was looking pale now. He bravely glanced down below him, confirming that the weird sensation in his feet was indeed real; he was floating 30ft off the ground!
"Sonic," he winced, "put me down…please." Sonic grinned at this remark as he further tightened his grip on his throat. Then, he let go! The commander was sent hurtling uncontrollably at an exponential rate towards the hard tarmac of the highway down below!
Whoosh! As the commander was about to go splat, he disappeared! Sonic jumped down to the floor to investigate, and as he did so he saw the commander safe and sound, at the start of the highway outside the city wall! Stood next to him was none other than Shadow the Hedgehog, who regained consciousness at precisely the right time to save the GUN commander. Sonic rolled into a ball and began to speedily spindash towards them. "Better look next time, Sonic." Shadow teased. He then grabbed the arm of the commander, who looked bemused and exhausted after his traumatic near-death experience, and shouted: "Chaos…CONTROL!" And with that, Sonic stopped rolling and stood still, for he no longer sensed the fear emanating from the human. Where were they? Well, Shadow and the commander had teleported even further back, now joined by a limping Knuckles the Echidna – he had also awoken courtesy of a firm tug from Shadow. Sonic pointed his index finger at the three, a semiotic to convey his anger and rage. Before he could proceed any further, Sonic glanced up, for he felt a dark shadow covering the vicinity. As he did, he was immediately squashed by a cumbersome titan! This mimicked what occurred at the very start of the adventure, when Sonic was attacked from the air by the E-1000; now an identical event had occurred to Sonic, ironically conducted by none other than Tails himself! The silver titan's yellow feet were planted firmly in the ground, its sheer weight crushing the notorious Dark Super Sonic below. "How do you like that?" Tails asked rhetorically as he was navigating the control panel.
Moments later, another titan landed on the ground, this time with pink joints and an extra driver on board; it was Amy and Cream! "Where's that horrible hedgehog?" Amy inquired to Tails through the titans' oral communication system. "He's right under me," Tails replied, "let's take a look." He then maneuvered the Titan away from the slight crevice he and Dark Sonic had conjured in the ground. As both titans' drivers glanced down to see the body of Dark Sonic, to their horror he was gone! "Damn," Tails remarked, "he must've zoomed away as soon as I let my foot off." Tails felt deflated; he had Sonic right there, but he ultimately made the wrong decision, he should've waited for reinforcements and a cage to arrive, he thought.
Amy and Cream turned their titan around and robotically walked to Knuckles, Shadow and the commander, who was utterly flabbergasted by what he saw before him. Tails immediately followed. They then opened their polymer semi-spheres which allowed them to climb out. Each of them firmly shook the GUN commander's hand. "Lucky you guys got here in time," he said, "I'd like to thank each and every one of you for your heroic actions to not only defend this city, but you saved my life Shadow! I cannot thank you enough!" Shadow tried his hardest to look uninterested in what he was saying, but he felt a warm sensation in his heart. Performing this good deed felt so rewarding, so meaningful, and so right, he now realized why Sonic perpetually battled against evil in the past. "No, commander," Shadow eventually replied slowly, "I'd like to thank you. You have given me a revelation; I can now see why Sonic put his life on the line to save others, and the world." He then turned his attention to Knuckles, while the others were utterly amazed at Shadow's sudden change. "Knuckles," Shadow continued, "I don't want to continue the deal we made. You said that you and your friends can give me all the chaos emeralds, well I can help too. And when I become Super Shadow I'll defeat Dark Super Sonic. But that won't be over, no. I also need to find out what Eggman's been up to…"
This confirmed to Tails that Eggman was up to something. Eggman wanted Sonic to change for a reason, which was clearly to take over the world, but what if Eggman had a solution, an antidote, locked away in his secret laboratory? Tails approached Shadow and shook his hand. "I'm Tails." He introduced. Shadow nodded slowly, a genuine smile finally showing on his face. "Knuckles has told me all about you," Shadow replied, "and it would be an honour to work with such a brilliant mind."
The commander then performed a fake cough to get their attention. "I don't want to rain on your parade," he said, "but I'm not convinced Sonic has been defeated. He'll be back soon, I know he will. We need to reorganize the defenses and contact Mr. President." Tails nodded in concurrence. "Sure," Tails agreed, "we also need to give medical attention to Knuckles, and I need to brief Shadow on everything. Plus I need to contact my agents, as well as warn the president that he's walking right into a giant egg-shaped trap!"
"Agents?" Shadow asked.
"A trap?" The commander mimicked. Tails immediately climbed into his titan, and utilised its giant arm to signal the others to follow. They were heading all the way to the city centre, where the president was at. Amy, however, didn't get in her titan. "You'll be fine Cream," she called, "I only control the weapons anyway. Let Knuckles get in, the poor thing is so hurt he can barely walk." Amy then helped Knuckles get into the seat of Cream's titan, and waved goodbye, for now. Amy felt good, for she was helping others and her generosity was of use to the team.
Tails, Cream, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow and the commander all proceeded towards the president. They trotted through the destroyed city gate, and continued down the surprisingly-serene highway. Not a single moving car was in sight, but they did however encounter a few soldiers at a blockade. There were about thirty of them, each taking cover behind a few abandoned cars left here when the president issued the evacuation order on the TV and radio. "What's it like down there, commander?" one of the soldiers inquired as they walked past. "We won against Dark Sonic." The commander replied. The corporal seemed confused. "Then why aren't you all happy, and why are you going the other way?" The commander paused and sighed. "Listen," he replied, "we put up a good fight against Sonic and young Tails here managed to trap him. But somehow he escaped. We have scared him off! At least for now…but we have still proven that this monster is not as indestructible as we initially presumed! I want you to be in charge of rallying all troops in this territory, and I want you all to guard the city walls. You may want to bring a truck though, for many soldiers didn't make it…" The soldier then stood bolt upright and shouted: "Sir, yes, sir!" And with that, he, along with his comrades, marched towards the city gate, whilst Tails and the others continued moving deeper into the city. Time was not on their side, and they had to get to the president before sunset, as Rouge and Topaz would have made a deal with Eggman by then!
Meanwhile, at the back of the group, Amy couldn't help staring at the ultimate life-form. "So, you're Shadow the Hedgehog?" she asked him dreamily. "Of course I am," Shadow replied hastily, "and you are?" Amy told him her name, and that she had amnesia. As the afternoon was transitioning to sunset, Amy told an intent Shadow about the struggles she faces having no memory of her life before battling Dark Sonic, and how alienated and isolated she felt. Shadow, rather surprisingly, empathized with the pink hedgehog.
"I feel alone too," he confessed to Amy. Amy tingled with excitement deep inside; maybe they were to be after all? Amy had always been infatuated by Sonic in the past, but what if she was barking up the wrong tree? Shadow looks and sounds virtually the same as Sonic, but this sudden change of personality from Shadow, along with his caring nature towards her, could potentially be the start of something special.
At the middle was the titan with Cream and Knuckles. Cream really missed her best friend Cheese, who was protecting her mother Vanilla, likely at a citizen refuge point underground. She hoped they were okay, and this got her worried slightly. Then she looked below her seat, to find a sleeping Knuckles in Amy's seat. Cream saw Knuckles try his hardest to fight Dark Sonic, and his courage and determination made Cream feel more optimistic for the future. She then remembered - as she was on the Tornado 2000 with Tails, Amy and the Chaotix - when she was observing the fight with Sonic at the city border, she couldn't help but notice the news helicopter prematurely fleeing from the scene. They were headed into the city, the same direction Cream was going! Why did they leave early? Did the president see Shadow? Will he still go through with Eggman's alliance? Cream then remembered that Tails never trusted Eggman from the start. "I'm glad mister Tails has sense," she said to herself, "without his judgment who knows what would happen to us all…"
They were nearly at their destination now. Tails and the commander were having a serious discussion about recent events. "So, you're saying Eggman caused Sonic to transform?" Tails nodded in reply to the commander's question. "Well, that mad man cannot be trusted! Of course, it all makes sense now! Eggman wants Sonic to scare us all, so we go to him and sell our freedom for his 'help'." Tails nodded stiffly. "Yeah," Tails replied, "but there's more. I think Eggman wants Sonic to destroy a lot of the land, and population, so that he can build his own empire on the ruins of our civilization." The commander looked alarmed. It was all so clear to him now. "We have to stop the deal!" The commander claimed. "Don't worry," Tails replied, "I have that sorted. Rouge and Topaz think they're the only ambassadors onboard the Egg carrier; I have a team of highly-skilled ambassadors myself. They should have docked on with the Tornado 2000 by now." Tails then reached for the comm. link on his dashboard, and began to call Espio…
