Corporal Jenkins kept his laser at full power with the rest of the squad. The airlock door was already white hot and beginning to break under the repeated laser heating and application of liquid nitrogen. Ironic that the ideas that the humans had taught them could be turned so easily against their masters, at least that's what Jenkins was thinking.

"Lasers, cease fire! Fire extinguishers, loose!" Came the voice of Auron. The purple hedgehog seemed obsessed with getting through the airlock, but they had killed the human, and one mobian was hardly a threat, even if he looked a little weird. The fire extinguishers finally ran out half way through Jenkins musings but the door looked like it would crumble under the first impact. The prince stepped forward and kicked in the broken hatch, showering the occupants of the airlock with metal fragments.
Jenkins was surprised to see the black furred hedgehog cradling the dead humans head with his back turned to the royal guards. He didn't know that many Mobians who regarded human lives as worth valuing, aside from Jules and his normal commanding officer Charles. The purple furred prince stepped into the airlock and pulled out his sword, but the sound got no reaction from the young adult hedgehog kneeling with his back turned.
All the soldiers felt Auron's ire at being, apparently, treated with contempt, raising his sword ready to slay the black hedgehog even from behind. The sword sliced down but at the last second the younger hedgehog blurred and Auron's forearm exploded in a rain of blood and bone fragments, his sword flying into the wall and stabbing into it.

Jenkins was too shocked to fire as Auron looked down at his ruined arm and emitted a strangled cry. The black demon (no Mobian could have moved so fast) was standing with one of its arms covered in gore, first staring hatefully at the prince before turning its attention to soldiers. Its expression seemed to fill with rage and Jenkins, along with the rest of the now terrified soldiers opened fire to no effect it seemed as the hedgehog's red stripes seemed to glow. Some of the soldiers at the back tried to run, but Jenkins knew there was no escape; nothing could escape a demon like this. The black hedgehog was completely glowing; a bloody red colour suffused its entire form, hung there for a few seconds, then blasted out. That red glow was the last thing either Jenkins or any of the rest of the soldiers within the immediate area ever knew.

"We've been over this, just take the hard drives, and don't worry about downloading them now!" Robotnik heard the call through the archive door. Still incensed by the Mobians betrayal, Ivo charged at the metal door and smashed it down, crushing two luckless soldiers who were meant to insure no one interfered with their theft. The various soldiers within the archives stared at the voluminous human, some of them shocked to the point where they didn't drop their spoils. These few were quickly dispatched by Ivo's plasma pistol, while the rest either dived for cover or tried to get their weapons ready.

By the time they had returned fire the bulky human was already in cover himself, moving throughout the aisles of databases. He knew he had the home ground advantage and, despite his tremendous bulk, moved with a grace that surpassed many of the Mobian soldiers. Robotnik knew that the ceilings were reflective, and he felt satisfied when he sky gazing was rewarded with the opportunity to kill another of the soldiers within the archives.

The soldier gave a shocked cry when a hand the size of his head crashed through the data crystals between him and the other aisle, grabbing his neck and crushing it before he could put anything more articulate into his voice.

Of course, some of the others will come running to investigate the scream. Thought Ivo, his mind salivating in anticipation.

Seven soldiers came, more than he had thought, but the more the merrier in his mind. These soldiers were alert though, covering each other's movements, leaving no openings for direct fire. But they were on the lookout for the bulky human who had already left the immediate surroundings, so they missed the string located a few feet away from the mortally wounded royal guard. Two of the guards heard the snap and looked around spooked, but didn't see anything. Then the fragmentation grenade went off, the crystals providing additional shrapnel which killed the stricken soldier and five of the soldiers who came to help him. The two who had been further out were merely wounded, but their howls of pain, along with the explosion, attracted the rest of the soldiers, buying Robotnik enough time to reach the control console at the back of the room.

Ivo felt a swell of contempt for the Mobians; they hadn't even been able to discover which consoles were important, thinking the critical ones were in the centre rather than the back.
Perhaps an insight into their psychology? He wondered idly as he set the destruct sequence on the archive, the important things being obvious rather than safely concealed. The computer asked for confirmation, which the doctor gave without hesitation, dooming the archive and any within to a slow radiation induced death in five minutes.

He saw a reflection in the screen and dodged aside as a laser burned into the screen, satisfied that nothing could stop the sequence he shifted his bulky form down an aisle and left the room, only pausing briefly to pick up a laser rifle on his way out.

The Mobians didn't hear as he shifted the door off the ground and wedged it back into place, using the laser rifle to weld the door shut. He then ran as swiftly as he could for an exit hatch.

Shadow's mind was aflame even as he ran. He couldn't think of anything except Maria's death, he replayed it over and over in his mind. Each time he relived it his fury intensified, both at himself for closing the door too late and the royal family for betraying her. His speed picked up every time he thought about it and since he though very quickly he was rapidly approaching the sound barrier. The grassy plains that surrounded the base were already giving way to lowland scrub. The change in terrain brought Shadow out of his guilt and grief, making him question his destination.

Where AM I going? He wondered; he hadn't really decided, his emotions demanding simply that he run. Now that he thought about it, however, he couldn't simply run anywhere!

No! He realised there was somewhere he could go to even the score. He turned and ran full pelt towards a nearby forest. He quickly accelerated and ran through it, deftly weaving past the trees while gathering enough speed to generate a powerful slipstream. As he broke the sound barrier the trees he blasted past were literally picked up by the forces of his passing, creating a maelstrom of destruction behind him.
Needless to say he cleared the forest quickly and passed into the farmlands surrounding Mobotropolis. He pushed his speed even harder, pushing past the 900 mph mark, any objects near to his path being drawn into his slipstream.

The citizens of Mobotropolis never knew what happened to them as they were unexpectedly sucked in the vengeful hedgehogs wake, their homes and bodies torn apart by the forces of his attack. He noticed the wall protecting the palace grounds, but didn't slow until he reached the wall itself. Turning to his left he used his chaos energy reserves to teleport past the wall, and then burst into a high speed run until he was able to take cover within an entrance into the palace itself, just in time to avoid the wave of destruction slamming into the walls.

The seven foot thick walls cracked under the initial impacts, lasting a fraction of a second until the debris smashed the fortified walls down completely. Although the palace itself remained intact, anything smaller or made of less resilient materials was completely destroyed. The palace ground on the west side resembled a wasteland, every large object covered in a thin red paint that, under closer analysis, were the remains of Mobians caught within the slipstream.

Shadow didn't have time to check on the carnage he caused, though, as several squads of royal guards hurried out of the palace. Confusion was evident on the black hedgehog's features and one of the guards noticed. This mobian had a kind look on his face and walked over to Shadow, who tensed up ready to fight off any attack.

"Don't worry kid, we don't know what caused this attack but we'll find out who's behind this and deal with them." Shadow felt the soldier's words intensify his rage, how could he believe his culture even had the right to defend itself?

"No you won't!" He said as he checked to make sure the rest of the guards were now outside, insuring he wouldn't have to fight them yet.

"Sure we wi-hrrrk!" The guard didn't even get the chance to scream as Shadow moved with blinding speed, crushing the poor Mobian's neck before he could finish the sentence. He was rewarded with a satisfying cracking noise, after which he discarded the remains of the guard with that familiar empty feeling.

He weighed his options carefully; Shadow knew he had to move quickly before the royal family was able to escape, but he decided against using chaos energy to track them down, after all, expanding the slipstream effect and teleporting had been taxing, nearly exhausting him completely. This left Shadow with two choices: Either he attempted to get the chaos emerald from the vault somewhere within the fortress, or he attacked now with his physical speed and strength.

Lieutenant Arcus fired his laser rifle, slaying the last of the humans before him. He glanced at Taur, noticing the bull's expression of satisfaction. When Taur returned his stare Arcus looked away down the hall, which was fortuitous as he saw a humungous human with a ridiculous orange handlebar moustache arrive junction behind the squad. Arcus dodged aside as the human snapped off a bolt of light from his unusual weapon causing one of his soldiers to be incinerated by the energy. The grand duke roared a challenge, but the human only laughed insultingly as he took the left route down the corridor. Taur was too pissed to even howl an order and he simply chased before anyone could react.

The golden furred lieutenant was just as incensed by this fat fools cowardice as Taur, however, roaring the order to pursue the obese human. Taur turned the corner well before the rest of the squad, running faster than Arcus had believed he could. The squad broke into a sprint and turned the corner to see Taur discarding his weapon in favour of running full pelt in order to catch the bulky humanoid.

"ROBOTNIK!" Taur roared, flecks of foam escaping his wide open mouth. This must have been the human's name since he slowed and turned to face the Grand Duke, half crouching with his arms spread wide to meet the massive bull. It wasn't until Taur reached the human that Arcus realised just how massive this one was. Yes all humans were normally taller than Mobians but this one was as tall as the bull and twice as wide. Its mechanical eyes were jet black aside from its red pupils, and a look of disdain was etched on its face.

Grand Duke Taur opened with a powerful looking straight punch, but was unable to find his mark. Arcus and the rest of the squad gasped at the startling speed of this creature. Surely something so massive couldn't move so fast.

But the one called Robotnik did, catching Taur second punch in his own massive hand, pulling the bull into his waiting fist. Taur staggered back, and the royal guards were too shocked to fire their weapons while the human was open. The bulky human leapt at Taur both arms raised for attack, but Taur, recovering quickly, got under Robotnik's guard and smashed the human in the chest, winding the human. Even this didn't stop the human, but his expression did shift from his previous contempt to one of fury as he grabbed head of the gigantic Mobian.

Taur tried to wrap his arms around the bulk of the enraged doctor but was unable to reach full around, leaving Ivo enough time to smash the stubborn bulls head into the wall with enough force to render the Grand Duke unconscious. Arcus was shocked, he hadn't thought anyone could even last a so long in a fight against the seven foot tall Mobian, much less defeat him. His disappointment was bitter as he gazed at the fallen Grand Duke. He then looked at the human, who was drawing his pistol from his lab coat then looked to his own laser rifle preparing to fire.

Robotnik evidently had other plans, because he fired an overcharged shot into the unconscious form of Taur, mercilessly killing him and filling the air in front of him with superheated vapours. The squad's laser bolts dissipated harmlessly in the steam and the soldiers heard the thunderous footfalls of the retreating human. Arcus wasn't going to let this infuriating human escape, however, and sprinted behind him, running straight into the still heated gasses.

Arcus had never known such pain before in his life and had to press on, just getting through the boiling vapour. When he emerged from the vapour with his golden fur singed all over and his skin beneath already blistering he saw the human running down the corridor.

The golden furred Mobian sprinted after him, ignoring the screams of the royal guards who had also given chase and were engulfed by the burning air between them and their quarry. Arcus raised his rifle and pulled the trigger, only to hear the buzzing noise of a weapons malfunction. The human stopped running as Arcus looked down at his weapon to see the rifles energy cells had ruptured, leaking the toxic battery fluids onto the floor. The lieutenant hastily discarded the now useless weapon and carried on charging, only to see the hulking human bearing down on him. Arcus felt the first punch before he saw it, and felt like the right side of his head had exploded. Then he felt his neck in the grip of a massive hand, which lifted the semi conscious Mobian up to until it was eye to eye with the humans face. Saw through his good eye the human draw him in close, baring its teeth beneath its orange moustache. Arcus flailed with his fists and was rewarded with a cracking noise when he got the ugly humans nose. Ivo raised his free hand to his bleeding nose and confirmed that it was indeed broken. The look of anger turned to one of chilling resolve, and a growl emerged from the humans throat as the pressure on Arcus own neck intensified steadily. Black spots began to gather at the edges of his vision as the blood flow to his brain was restricted.

Arcus panicked as the pressure increased and he looked around desperately for any way to stop the human from killing him. His flailing hand hit something and the bulk head door began to close, eventually closing down on the human, who pulled back quickly but not fast enough to avoid the arm gripping Arcus from being lost.

Arcus, however, didn't get to savour his survival as he lost consciousness just before the bulkhead sealed. Before the darkness consumed him the image of Robotnik's face was imprinted on his mind. Those black eyes that promised a terrible vengeance, eyes that would haunt the lieutenant for the rest of his life.

"Sir? Lieutenant? What happened? Where's that fat freak?" Arcus heard a voice as he struggled back into the world again. Arcus felt ashamed and stood up as quickly as he could. He was still thinking about the face of Robotnik, and how its surreal appearance looked. Amazing, how it was much more threatening up close.

"He escaped, the one called Robotnik, he got away." Arcus replied sadly. He glanced down at the severed limb of the human. He felt slightly sickened looking at it, but the hand that nearly killed him lay there motionless.

"Well, I don't think we're going to get him now, he's probably long gone." Said the soldier, indicating the human digital clock. He then glanced around and saw the remainder of his squad, several of them sporting burns and singed fur like himself. Something was wrong, his field vision was in a much narrower than before, then he raised his hand to the right side of his head and realised what was wrong.

"Yeah, sir, I don't think that's gonna ever get better. On the bright side, what harm can a fat one armed human do now?" The soldier's idiotic statement irked the lieutenant, but Arcus had to concede he had a point. What could this Robotnik do, after all, with only one arm he wasn't nearly as effective in a fight.

Perhaps this was the end of it.

*************

The corridors and rooms blurred by as Shadow ran through palace, bouncing off the walls to retain his speed. The guards in his way were easily left behind or, if they happened to have the bad luck to be standing in his way, destroyed. The rage that had consumed him immediately after Maria's death had cooled and hardened into an unbreakable hatred of King Maximilian and his spawn, driving him onwards.

He had a fair idea of where the throne room was, but he had checked along the way just to be sure. Shadow was surprised and just a little bit worried by the lack of opposition. They can't have all gone to defend the breach, because it shouldn't be that massive, thought the apprehensive hedgehog. Tired as he was, he wouldn't be able to fight a full regiment of royal guards all at once.

Doesn't matter, the king had my home destroyed, he thought as his resolve returned, and anyone who tries to stop me from getting vengeance will be destroyed in turn!
With that thought Shadow proceeded as directly as possible to the throne room only to be greeted by three squads of soldiers in the antechamber of the throne room. The antechamber was large, circular, and its walls encrusted by expensive looking paintings. The guards had overturned chairs and desks in order to create cover for themselves, making it difficult for Shadow to attack without slowing down. As he had taken in the situation the soldiers had noticed him, however, and trained their weapons on him. He leapt to the right hand side of the room as they fired, but could find a safe opening there either, so leapt for the throne room doors in the hopes of kicking them down.
This hope led to immediate disappointment, however, so Shadow leapt to the left side of the room before the troops even got the chance to aim this time.

That doors got to be reinforced, thought Shadow as he continued leaping around the walls, then noticed that as he circuited the room progressively faster, small ornaments and debris was being picked up by the air current he was generating. The idea sprang into his head as he began to run on the walls of the room faster and faster, relying on centrifugal forces to keep his body from falling while running. Within seconds the soldiers had given up even aiming and were totally focused on keeping themselves under cover from the flying furniture and other debris gathered up within the chamber.

"Now!" Said Shadow as he began to opportunistically attack guards. While still increasing the whirlwind, a kick here and a spin dash there was all he needed to drive the guard's numbers and cover down to the point where he could leave the whirlwind and focus enough strength into a spin dash in order to break down the door.
The rapidly dissipating whirlwind gave him just enough time to charge up, the surviving guards didn't have the chance to retrieve their weapons before the black hedgehog blasted through the door. Shadow took a fraction of a second to recover from the spin attack, before leaping out of the way of hundreds of laser bolts. The air which he had occupied flared brilliant red, turning the granite floor of the throne room into a glassy rock.

Funny, this place would have been much prettier if they'd made the entire palace like that. The hedgehog thought in a detached way. He then glanced around from the pillar he was hiding behind and felt his rage intensify as he saw the form of the king Maximilian. The ancient hedgehog was still seated at his throne, something that enraged Shadow beyond measure. The thought that the black hedgehogs vengeance was something not even worthy of standing for infuriated him beyond any means of reckoning.

He simply leapt at the filthy white hedgehog, ramming his fist into the side of the treacherous ruler of Mobius with sufficient force and speed to obliterate the bones of the helpless monarch. Shadows speed carried him beyond the line of fire and into another hiding place.

Suddenly Shadow heard the cry "Father!" a male voice, Alio, couldn't be anyone else! The bitter hedgehog thought. Then he heard the same voice again;

"Shadow! I know you're here, show yourself and face ME!" The voice sounded both grieved and angry.
Shadow was tempted to wait longer just to push the prince into a state of rage but decided to come out. Leapt onto and then off of the wall opposite he attempted to land directly on top of the source of the sound. He had miscalculated, but landed directly in front of the purple furred hedgehog prince, roughly in the centre of the massive throne room. The prince looked startled by the suddenness of the ultimate life forms appearance.

Despite his armour, Alio was relatively free to move, his arms, legs and head free of any ablative plating. This one will prove no challenge, thought Shadow as he consciously shifted his expression into one of amusement.

The purple hedgehog gathered himself, his pain at his father's death renewing itself in his expression. "So, you at least have the courage to face me like a warrior." Shadow felt a genuine spark of amusement at the implication of his cowardice.

"Frankly, it's beneath me to kill you directly, too. But your tone wrenched my heart greatly enough that I give you this honour." Shadow said the last part with a contemptuous twist, and was rewarded with an immediate expression of rage from the prince. While the conversation was going on the black hedgehog surreptitiously checked the soldiers around him.

"You dare to come here, kill my father in such a cowardly fashion and then claim it's an honour to fight you?!" The hedgehog prince demanded incredulously.
The two hedgehogs were surrounded by royal guards, all of whom looked as though they would attack at any moment. Careful not to give away his actions he checked his chaos energy gauge, while keeping up the conversation.

"Of course, such a helpless creature is no match for the ultimate life form in direct confrontation."

Shadows taunts were having the desired effect, intensifying the emotions of those around him, drastically increasing the amount of ambient emotions that he converted to chaos energy. He decided to stop taunting his opponent and return the challenge.

"Are we going to trade taunts and insults all evening or am I finally going to be able to kill you?" Asked Shadow in his most offensive tone.

The challenge was what Alio had been waiting for and he drew his sword in a flash, "Take up your weapon then, no one can match my skills with a blade." Shadow waited until the sharp edge of the sword very nearly touched him before using his superior speed to get directly behind the purple furred hedgehog.

"Perhaps, I simply don't care!" Shadow said in a bored tone as he pushed the prince off balance and waited for him to recover. A part of him wanted to avenge Maria as quickly as possible, but he decided that the prince should at least suffer humiliation for his part in the destruction of the humans.

The prince, however, recovered more quickly than Shadow had expected and swung his sword around very nearly beheading the dark hedgehog. At the last instant he ducked and kicked one of Alio's legs out from under him, causing the prince to stagger and slip to his knees.
Shadow leapt back and glared into Alio's brown eyes with his red ones. The mundane hedgehog had surprised him and Shadow resolved not to underestimate his opponent so readily.

Not that he's anywhere near my equal, but he's better than I expected. Shadow reassured himself, trying to heal his slightly wounded pride, the only thing that was damaged.
The Mobians, of course, don't know that my pride has been damaged. Shadow thought as he slid past an attack from Alio and shoved his flat hand into the Mobian's chest, cracking a couple of ribs. The prince coughed wetly as he staggered back, but evidently the injury wasn't incapacitating, much to Shadow's bored disappointment. Shadow glanced briefly at his chaos energy gauge, checking that it was at the charge level was what he needed, then looked up to see Alio charging in for another attack.

The attack was never finished as Shadow deliberately released his chaos energy in a blast of reality warping power, causing the royal guards who had been crowding around the fight to disintegrate. The blast just fell short of the throne and its dead occupant.

Shadow was exhausted, but not disabled. He staggered wearily over to the fallen king, and looked him over. Ironic that the murderer of Shadow's loved ones should look so peaceful in death. Life it seemed was full of that. The black hedgehog noticed a crumple piece of paper gripped in the king's hand.

His curiosity piqued, Shadow pried the dead fingers off the note and read it.
"So, Princess Aleena is getting married to Jules, and is carrying his three children, about three months gone." He thought out loud.

He briefly considered letting the princess live, as she was pregnant, but he discarded this idea as his thoughts shifted back to Maria. As he set out for the emerald hill region, he idly wondered why it was that battle and murder helped him to forget his pain. He began to question who he was again, something he hadn't done since his first mission a few years ago.