Shadic smiled, knowing that now, it was a fair fight.

"Well, I guess we see who's 'immortal' now…" He suddenly leapt forward, eyes blazing with chaos fire. Dark dodged, but only barely. His mouth hung open, completely shocked. Shadic flew in a circle before turning to face his adversary.

"The major advantage to this form? Probably that I get both Sonic and Shadow's powers-doubled. So, I'm just as fast as you, just as strong as you, and have the advantage because I have Shadow's moves, as well as combos that you don't even know about." Dark faltered in midair for a moment, before turning to face Shadic.

"That may be, but I have new moves as well. And I aim to kill…" He suddenly lunged forward, and Shadic leapt higher, avoiding him by inches. He looked back down at Dark, grinning as Sonic took control for a brief moment and stuck his tongue out at him. Dark narrowed his eyes at the same time Shadic did, Shadow not being amused with Sonic's now partly playful attitude. Shadic spoke, but with a darker, more Shadow-like tone.

"It's bad enough I have to share a body with you, now will you quit messing around?" He paused for a moment, then turned back to Dark.

"Good. Now, let's get started, shall we?" Shadic lunged forward, speed twice that of sound. All Tails could see was a yellow blur and a black blur flying upwards. The fight was amazing to watch-2 colored streaks were hitting each other, bouncing away, and hitting again. It was quite the sight to see (and to hear-with every move they were breaking the sound barrier.) Tails was sad that Manic was missing it…or was he?

Manic slowly turned over, every muscle in his body aching like crazy. He opened his eyes, seeing nothing but green for a moment. Where am I? Oh yeah…He groaned, then rolled over again, pushing himself until he was sitting up. What's going on? Manic turned towards Tails, but the fox didn't notice. He was looking up at something, completely mesmerized. Manic lifted his head-and sat up, mouth hanging open. There were 2 Sonics! No, wait. Only one looked like Sonic-the other looked like it was a mix of Sonic and Shadow. Manic sunk his palms into the moist ground, and managed to push himself up. He stumbled over to Tails, still woozy.

"What the hell is going on here?" He enunciated, gripping Tails shoulder. Tails turned to look at him, looking shocked for a moment before replying.

"I'm not completely sure…Dark Sonic knocked you out, but apparently it caused so much turmoil in his mind that Sonic regained control for a moment. Knuckles separated Sonic from Dark, bring him back to normal, but Dark got loose during the separation. Sonic and Shadow went super, then combined, forming something called-"Tails paused, massaging his temples, trying to remember,"What did he call it? Oh yeah…Super Shadic. Now they're battling it out, and all we can do is hope Shadic wins." Manic gasped-for Shadow to agree to this it must be almost hopeless.

"H-how long have I been out?"

"I'm not sure…probably around 20 minutes…" Wow, all that happened in only 20 minutes? Manic looked up again-now all he could see were 2 blurs.

"How long can they last?"

"I'm not sure…" Tails replied. "Dark seems limitless, and both of them can use the Master. Until someone gives up?" Manic looked to skyward-both hedgehogs were floating at a standoff, glaring at each other. The phrase 'if looks could kill' flashed through Manic's head.

"We could be here for weeks…"

xxxxxxx

In the air, the standoff continued. Both parties were breathing hard, and Shadic was edging towards the Master emerald. The disadvantage is in this form, I'm stronger, but I wear out faster. I have to find a way to recharge.

That might not be necessary.

What do you mean, Shadow?

We're still wearing the inhibitor rings, aren't we?

NO! We'll probably pass out! Anyways, I doubt even that will help.

I don't think we have a choice-Dark's cracking his knuckles. He's ready to go at it again.

Well, maybe… Sonic didn't get a chance to finish his thought. Dark had jumped forward, aiming for Shadic's chest.

"What are you doing?" Dark only grinned, the last rays of sunset glinting off his razor sharp fangs.

"You'll see…" Knuckles stirred, then walked over to Tails. Suddenly, Tails' head shot up in shock.

"SHADIC! HE'S TRYING TO RECOMBINE WITH YOU!" Shadic turned to look at Tails, confused, before Dark made his final move. He shot forward and, with a black energy spear, slashed Shadic's chest, right under the tuft of fur. Shadic started sinking lower, eyes closing, before Dark dissolved into a million black particles. The swarm of Chaos energy formed into a tornado-like shape before funneling into the wound. Shadic started twitching, before letting out a loud shriek. His eyes snapped open, one white with a red pupil, the other pure black. He started flying up and down, left and right, looking totally insane. He was screaming the whole time, loud, ear-shattering piecing shrieks. Knuckles leaned on Manic, who then let go of Tails. All 3 boys were staring in amazement.

"What…what's happening?" Manic murmured. Tails turned, face pale as a ghost.

"They're fighting for control of the body…Sonic already fought him, but Shadow's not used to even more darkness, and it's driving him crazy. If someone doesn't win in the next few minutes, Shadows' going to have gone completely insane. Which is Dark's plan, of course…Both need to contribute to separate, and Sonic would be stuck sharing a body with an insane psycho … then, Dark can regain control easier, if he ever wants to…" Manic looked back up, now truly scared for his brother. Suddenly, Shadic stood stock still, before turning and flying for the Master emerald. Knuckles stiffened, trying to move over to protect his precious emerald, but collapsed. Shadic knelt down on one knee, pressing both palms to the giant gem. He floated back into the air, surrounded by a black energy aura, looking for all the world like Darks' had. Suddenly, Shadic started twitching madly, vibrating so fast he almost looked like wasn't moving. Tails shielded his eyes, the light being too bright. A moment before he closed his eyes, he saw Shadow, lowering gently towards the alter. Knuckles gasped-Manic was running towards the Alter, determined to help his brother. Sonic looked normal, except his eyes were closed, and he was floating peacefully above the Master. Shadow's eyes slowly opened, before he bolted up.

"Wha…" Manic ran over to catch him, before he fell off the emerald.

"Sonic needs help!" Shadow shook his head, apparently confused.

"He kept thinking of Maria…trying to confuse me…" Manic noticed Shadow still had the limiters on.

"Help…" Manic's head shot up, quills rustling.

"B-bro…?" Sonic was standing in mid-air, clutching his head, palms sinking into his fur.

"Use-use Shadow. And Knux. I need an explosion big enough to knock me out for a long time." Manic stared at his brother, tears brewing.

"W-why?" Sonic sighed, then winced, as if the slight action had hurt.

"I-I can beat him…if I have enough time…" Manic heard a slight noise next to him. When he turned, he saw Shadow was pulling off the limiters.

"NO! There must be another way!" Knuckles stumbled up, then rested his hand on the crying hedgehogs' shoulder.

"If there was, it would have already been done by now. He'll wake up, eventually…" Manic sniffed, then brushed away his tears.

"A-all right…" Shadow helped Knuckles over to his spot on the altar. The echidna cleared his throat, then let out a nasty sounding cough.

"Let's get this over with…" Knuckles took a deep breath, then grabbed Shadow's glove. They both held up their hands, before intoning at the same time,

"The servers are the seven chaos. Chaos is power. Power enriched by the heart." Sonic curled into a ball above them, still twitching. Shadow let go of Knuckles' hand gently, before floating into the air. He was glowing red, and waves of energy rolled off him. He curled up as well, closing his eyes before doing so. Tails and Manic held their breath, both terrified. Suddenly, Shadow flew open, eyes pure red.

"CHAOS BLAST!" The wave of pure energy headed straight for Sonic, who had unfolded to feel the full impact.

"SONIC!" Tails and Manic cried, tears rolling down both faces. Sonic glowed for a moment, before his body got thrown backwards, looking like a ragdoll. Shadow dropped like a stone, completely unconscious. Tails ran up to the black hedgehog, while Manic raced up past Knuckles to pick up Sonic.

"Sonic…bro…it'll be okay…" He cradled his brother, rocking him like a baby. The sight was funny, and Tails would have laughed, had he not been crying.

Tails turned to Knuckles, who was on his knees.

"H-how long will Sonic be out?" Knuckles managed to push his head up enough to respond.

"D-depends. Could be a few days, it could be a year. Only Sonic knows. Because he freely accepted it, he's only going to wake up when he's ready." With that being said, Knuckles passed out next to Shadow. Tails' teared-up eyes met Manic.

Now…we wait.

Rate and review, PLEASE! This isn't the end!