The striped hedgehog went about hacking the lock on the final Level 7 security gate. Meanwhile, his literal partner-in-crime nervously kept an eye on their surroundings.

Scanning the area, she noticed something she'd never seen before: a large blue box. When she approached it, she saw an image on its side—Wait, is that the head of a Chao?

When she focused, she could sense Chaos Energy coming from it. How strange! This is probably something we should investigate. "Um—"

The beeping of the electronically picked lock and the grating of the opening gate interrupted her. Shadow nonchalantly (despite the still-whining sirens) skated into the next room, so she followed him and left the strange container behind.

It was a very large vault; the farther they traveled into it, the softer the blaring became. They finally reached another console and the anthromorph went to work again.

Time was of the essence, but fortunately he knew everything he needed. The privileges of the username he was using needed to be reinstated but that wasn't incredibly troubling. Once he was able to start actually logging in, he knew the password would never have changed—Maria.

Immediately the gears began to shift, startling the orb. A large box (made of the same material that seemed to have replaced rock in this era) lowered from the ceiling. When it was exactly three-quarters of the way down to the floor it stopped.

She started for it to see how she could open it; after all, there was no way Shadow could fly, right? But then, as he had many times already, he surprised her.

The black anthromorph used his hoverskates to levitate off the floor up to the safe, balancing them with one hand while reaching out for the keypad lock on the door with the other. It was when he input the proper password again that trouble came in the form of blaring sirens and an approaching engine.

He flung open the door and grasped the blue Chaos Emerald. Hm. So they set a trap for anyone who used his login information that doesn't activate until the Chaos Emerald container lowers. He inwardly chuckled. That might be the first truly clever thing I've seen them pull off all day.

"Oh no!" his companion exclaimed. "More enemies are coming!"

Shadow levitated higher and turned to face her. "Don't waste your time worrying. Behold, the true power that I possess!"

The anthromorph grasped the Emerald tighter and flashes circled around him—he's warping using the energy from the Chaos Emerald! the light realized. I can't believe it, but this is—this is what the legends talked about! This is Chaos Control!

But I can't sit by and not help… wait! She quickly flew to him. If the Master Emerald's power transported me here, that means I might have used Chaos Control too! So maybe if I latch onto his Potential like I have earlier, I can follow him faster!

The flashes grew momentarily blinding before blinking away, leaving neither the hedgehog nor the orb behind.

ooo

"3… 2… 1… And we're outta sight!"

A (surprisingly palpable to the two hedgehogs) veil of Chaos Energy swept over Command.

It feels like when I was using Chaos Control… and the atmosphere of that island. "Whoa… Tails, what did you do?" Sonic asked.

"It's a cloaking device," his adoptive brother beamed. "Now we're invisible to anyone looking for us."

"Wow!" Amy exclaimed.

"So if the Chaos Emeralds have unlimited power…" the other hedgehog pondered, "then we should be able to stay invisible as long as we need to," slamming his fist into the palm of his other hand. "Awesome job, man!"

"Thanks!" With his spirits buoyed, the fox turned to the controls. "Now we're ready for takeoff."

He counted down: "3... 2… 1… Go!" The airship wobbled up off the ground, turned, and headed in the direction of the coast. There lay its destination of South Island.

ooo

The two partners jumped out of the warp on the other side of the room. Another grey paneled floor with wooden storage crates scattered around greeted them—this was a vault, after all.

And before them landed…

ooo

-GUN- Mobile

ooo

…yet another combat mech. It was similar to the one the striped hedgehog had faced with Sonic earlier that night, but more heavily armored.

Intimidated by this large robot (is that the correct word?) but still determined to help, the light made a risky and quick flight towards the machine. The first thing she saw was yet another human operating it; the second thing she saw was the writing painted on its outside.

"This weapon is named the B-3x Hot Shot!" she proclaimed as she zoomed back to Shadow. "It's a… Heavy Armored Combat Walker?"

The hedgehog himself was a bit annoyed at this, as he could've figured out the important parts on his own. She's been a valuable help, but still… I can handle this again. She'll be a liability to both of us if she's taking unnecessary risks.

"Like I've told you before, don't trouble yourself," he said. "I am familiar with this type of weapon; it's something I've handled before without a Chaos Emerald." Speaking of which, I should put this away in the pocket space to keep it safe. He did so.

"But still—"

"No buts." The hedgehog readied a fighting stance as the walker took off. He smirked, feeling confident. "Just observe."

The battle was indeed an easy retread for Shadow, especially since that other hedgehog hadn't gotten all the crates destroyed before he began this time. It was just a matter of using their height to homing attack the machine mid-flight.

His foe landed for the final time right after its last laser blast (which Shadow avoided with ease) and fired all its remaining missiles (which he also dodged without issues). Once its ammo was depleted the walker began stamping its feet in the liftoff preparations—it was too heavy to get off the ground right away.

This was the perfect moment, so he jumped in a ball and struck the cockpit at just the right angle to destroy the controls. The missile launchers and engines simultaneously sparked and then ignited; the machine's legs then buckled and its main body fell to the ground.

He braked to a stop and crossed his arms. "Hmph. Pathetic human." Then the cockpit of the machine opened and the pilot scrambled to get out. But something about that person looked familiar…

Wait! The hedgehog's eyes widened. This man… he looks like one of them. The men that killed Maria!

Shadow opted not to use his skates for the pursuit—he didn't need them for this. He walked towards his target and bared his teeth. The pilot had some years (and promotions) on him now, but he was definitely one of the same soldiers.

"Remember me?" the Ultimate Lifeform asked. The soldier looked at him in terror. "No… of course you do," he continued. "But do you remember her? The innocent girl?"

"Shadow…" the light silently trailed off in sad shock.

His voice getting angrier now: "The one you killed who did nothing to you? Nothing bad to anyone? The one who died simply for the sake of your mission?"

The soldier's face suddenly hardened from fear to resolve. "Our mission was to better the world: to usher in a new era of unity and peace—a weapon of the dark ages has no place here now!"

A snarl turned into a ferocious grin. "Your mission failed. And the dead of the past shall be avenged!"

NO! He's just like Chaos! the orb realized. All that rage and hate, born of a bloodbath. With two powerful and angry souls like this, how will the world survive!?

…I must save this world somehow! But… what can I do? I couldn't stop Chaos by myself, let alone another just like him…

Wait. I wasn't able to calm Chaos because I didn't have much time after his rage took hold—but with Shadow, the situation is different. He has an inner kindness as well, and there's still time. I can save him from his anger, and then everything else can be saved! It could be a long shot, but…

The "weapon" himself summoned a Chaos Spear. "Now DISSAP—"

"Shadow, STOP!" she cried.

He halted with widened eyes and snapped his head around to look at his partner (he'd forgotten about her while he'd been carrying out his vengeance). While seriously pissed off at her interference, he suddenly realized—

"How do you know my—"

But he was cut off as the soldier, in his last act, pulled out his gun and fired into Shadow's chest. The hedgehog reflexively released the Chaos Spear that impaled him in turn, ending his life.

"Ghh!" The anthromorph clutched at his chest as he staggered backwards, dropping his rings but barely holding onto the Chaos Emerald and the dragon.

The light rushed over to him. "Oh my gods! No, no, no!"

"Gods dammit…" he replied over the once again blaring sirens. "Take care of it." He gave her the dragon, but kept the Emerald.

"I don't want you to die because of me!" she exclaimed. Their small friend yelped repeatedly in alarm.

"I'm not." At that he ruefully smiled. "I suggest you don't watch if you're faint of heart."

Once he reached in his bullet wound the dragon immediately covered his eyes while the orb stayed silent and shocked. She had seen blood before, but to see someone put their fingers in their own body to remove an arrow point (or whatever was fired from that weapon) was nothing she'd experienced before.

Shadow found the bullet and pulled it out, dropping it on the ground before he made his next move. He always healed quickly, but he'd need to tap into more Chaos Energy so he could heal faster. Once again, time was of the essence if they wanted to escape.

He grasped the Chaos Emerald tighter, and all three of them could feel the energy being drawn from it into the hedgehog's body. The dragon slowly uncovered his eyes and the lighted orb was relieved once both of them saw Shadow's wound completely healing up.

He slowly stood to his feet and scooped the dragon back into the pocket space.

"I-I'm sorry, I need to explain myself; my name is—" she began.

"Again, there's no time for introductions," he cut in, both warily curious about who she was and how she knew who he was but also very aware that there were definitely incoming reinforcements. "They can come later. Now," he extended a hand, "we're going to use Chaos Control to leave. From the way you stayed with me coming to this part of the vault, it's obvious that you have this ability as well."

"Y-yes, I believe so."

"Perfect. Then we can combine our powers to warp where we need to go. Let me focus on the location," he ordered. "And—"

"I'll focus on channeling the energy from the Chaos Emerald and through the both of us so we can go farther," she interrupted.

Hmm, so that's what it feels like. "Exactly. So on the word "Go," we'll begin."

His partner almost nodded but realized that it wouldn't show. So she settled for giving a "Yes."

"3… 2… 1… Go."

Streaks of light surrounded the two as they began warping. Shadow clearly envisioned where he wanted to go in his mind—the rooms in space, the large windows offering a view of the blue earth below… and then:

"Chaos Control!"