Shadow swallowed forcefully, finally getting back in control of his body. Sonic was far too powerful; he'd come to terms with that. He actually was afraid Sonic was more powerful than his super form. This was something he'd never imagined he'd encounter in the other, but you had to do what you had to do. He apologized silently to any innocent bystanders - he'd let it get too far, and he'd have to do his own damage to end it.
He gripped a restrainer, twisting it until it clicked loose of its base, slid his hand back, and let it fall. Frowning more sharply, he did the same with the other wrist. He listened to the screams with guilt wrenching inside of him, tearing at his soul, and took in a deep breath as a golden aura engulfed him. "Alright. Let's do this," he told himself, kicking off the ground roughly as he broke into a smooth run on his skates. He raised a hand back, charging an attack that was considerably weaker than usual in this form. Even as he shouted "Chaos Spear!" he knew he was still not connected to the Emeralds as he should be.
He swung his arm forward, hoping his aim was true and the Chaos missiles could keep up with the monster before him.
Sonic was intent on finishing the rest of GUN off before Shadow proved to be more interesting than them after all. He wasn't paying any attention to him until he successfully made a direct hit with the formerly blue hedgehog, forcing him several feet to collide with the ground on his stomach. His back felt charred as he forced himself to stand, appearing as though nothing had happened with no visual displays of emotion, or a cry to indicate his newly acquired injury.
He turned around, his pupiless eyes gazing towards Shadow with malicious intent. He had his attention and earned another attack on his part.
Sonic took off roughly, making the road crack and the concrete explode beneath his feet. He rolled into a ball mid-way towards him, aiming to cause as much serious damage as possible.
With surprising ease, Shadow initiated Chaos Control, feeling the air ripple around the two of them as he dove over Sonic, just a hair too late. The other skimmed across his right leg, and as he lost his concentration, the Chaos Control ended, depositing Shadow roughly on the paved road. He hissed as he rolled over to break his fall, jumping back to his feet almost immediately.
His leg stung, but he knew it would heal, unlike the numerous men that had fallen in this unpredictable battle. He scowled and took off after the other, stopping only when he was sure Sonic was in range. His aura flashed with red, flaring out away from his body. "Chaos..."
Just a second more.. that's all Shadow needed. His eyes widened, almost drowning the blood red orbs in a sea of white. He hoped he could finish the attack before Sonic could respond and stop him. "Blast!"
Sonic's white eyes narrowed as his quills tensed and he prepared for another attack. He pushed off with his left foot and charged forward just before he heard the first word come out of Shadow's mouth. He realized what he was doing but in a confident fit of rage intended on reaching him first.
Unfortunately he initiated the blow before he had a chance to stop him. The blinding red light flashed forward so quickly, he had no choice but to face it head on, his hand just inches away from Shadow's throat. In that instant Sonic was forced several yards back by the powerful wave of Chaos energy, causing his teeth to clench and grind as he landed on his back, his quills tearing through the asphalt like the road was made of paper.
His chest heaved in a grunt as his mind told his body to get up but hesitated, his dark expression masking any discomfort he suffered from the blast; and undoubtedly left with injuries. There were numerous cuts that the eerie black aura and fur seemed to hide (not just resulting from Shadow's newest attack of course). The blood that was visible just made his appearance seem more frightening.
How long could his body keep radiating such energy and endure such a violent prolonged battle? Apparently he was doing well so far.
Shadow doubled over for a second, panting from the force of his own attack. He gulped down air before uprighting himself, forcing his legs to tear back into a sprint that transitioned to a glide, moving smoothly over the uneven rubble, robots, and even bodies. He kept a calm exterior, not one to let the strain on his body show aside from the mild trembling of his frame.
He had to admit to himself, this was a bit much. He was used to controlling Chaos Energy like it's sole purpose and existence was to serve him. Now that he was having to work against his natural body and thought processes, it was leaving his body a lot more worn than was typical. Despite his exhaustion, however, he forced the energy to flow into his shoes, flaring the jets with angry determination. This was the Doctor's fault, and Shadow would see to it the Doctor fixed it.
He couldn't remember exactly which way he'd seen him try to sneak off to, but he sped up the side of a building, searching the cityscape for any sign of the massively conspicuous mech.
It wouldn't be hard to spot it. Eggman was taking a long way around as if doing anything possible (and he was) to avoid the disaster Sonic was creating in his wake while heading back to his base. He didn't want to be part of that carnage after all, and the massive machine was trampling through city streets, left ignored. He must seem pretty unimportant right now compared to the events taking place miles back the other way. Police cars and sirens were blaring down the roads, undoubtedly heading towards their doom.
Once Shadow caught sight of the robot, he left his temporary post, sliding down the face of the building with his jets clicked on full to slow his descent. He hit the ground hard, leaning in to the wind as he took chase. It was a matter of seconds before he was alongside Eggman's mech, screaming over the thundering steps and whir of the machine. "Doctor! Stop; I need to speak with you." Or he'd stop the robot for him, if need be. At this point, he'd do anything to avoid the certain outcome of Sonic's rampage.
The machine came to a screeching stop as Eggman's concerns immediately went to Sonic and his whereabouts. What was Shadow doing here and where would the former blue hedgehog be? Had he been too much for him? Maybe Sonic had been stopped already?
"What do you want?" Came Eggman's voice through a loud speaker hidden somewhere inside the robot, sounding disgruntled and worried. He glared at Shadow through a monitor on a console that he sat in front of, operating the controls to manually move the android about, unlike before when it attacked Sonic automatically.
"You know what I want. Whatever you did to him, fix it." Simple, right? What, did Eggman think that Shadow was too unintelligent to piece together the source of Sonic's transformation? "I don't expect you to do this the easy way, but I will give warning that you'll be doing it in the end, anyway." Fighting Eggman would be nothing compared to Sonic.
He was afraid of that. Apparently Sonic was unchanged since he fled the scene. Eggman sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, wondering how long he'd keep this up without intervention. "I'm afraid I'm not the one controlling Sonic. He's doing this himself. He must've used this as a last result when I was trying to..." The volume of his voice dropped dramatically as he wasn't sure he wanted to admit the blame of causing this mess. Even if it might have already been obvious.
"I've only seen him like this on two other occasions." He said grimly and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "There's nothing I can do at this point. You're on your own." While torn up about hurting others and doing Eggman's dirty work, the irony of it now was that Sonic used his power to stop himself, and then started a new wave of disaster his dark side was enjoying.
"But.." Shadow looked down. When he looked back up, his features were strong with determination. "What did you do to him, then?" He'd already given himself away a bit, "Control him, right? Perhaps if you reversed whatever you did.." This was still clearly beyond his comprehension. Sonic wasn't like that on his own. There was no way he could channel that much energy on his own, at that. As it was, it took a lot out of Shadow to match that without...
No. That was a last resort. Shadow couldn't control his power if he went that far, and he certainly didn't think there needed to be any more damage done than had already taken place.
"I tried, it didn't work." Eggman grunted, a little exasperated and sounding rather rushed. He was paranoid that Sonic might be right behind them. Who knows where he was if Shadow wasn't watching him and what he might intend to do. Well, he knew what he'd do, thus why he was in such a hurry to get out of there.
"He's lost control. The times before I managed to talk him down before it got this bad. The longer he endures this transformation, the harder it is to control. The only one that can stop him is Sonic himself... And I'm not so sure he wants to do that yet." There was a lot to the hedgehog than most knew, than any did, aside from the Doctor and the hedgehog himself. Beginning to press some buttons, the machine he resided in started to march forward once more.
"But good luck!"
Shadow gaped. So he was just going to run away. Of course. Eggman didn't mind helping if it benefited him in some way. But right now it seemed it would be less risky for the Doctor if he took his leave. Shadow frowned, clenching his fists. It was clearly his fault, but he was leaving the mess for Shadow to clean up. Otherwise...
Well, he was fairly certain Sonic's friends would show up at some point, but it would be without result, just like with the army. He lowered his head, looking over his shoulder at the emergency personnel streaking past, sirens blaring. What a waste. How many others had fallen as he milked the Doctor fruitlessly for answers?
He spun on his heel, taking off after the vehicles, then glided between them in a seamless curve. He followed the sound of screams, of car crashes as people fell upon one another in the roadway, trying to stop before colliding with the carnage ahead. He followed the sweet smell of blood on the air, cursing how it lingered in his nose, a sign that gunfire met flesh, but if it had struck Sonic, he was sure it wasn't slowing the raging monster inside him any.
The dark hedgehog stood in the middle of the street, accepting any fight anyone wanted to start with him. And if an ignorant police officer or whoever else decided to try to be a hero didn't come right away, he'd force a brawl onto an unsuspecting coward trying to flee away instead.
He tore up plenty of vehicles while he was at it, enjoying the sights and sounds of the explosions he made. However, his thirst for destruction was gradually becoming quenched with no real challenges left; it was like Godzilla hit the place or something of that nature with the damages he caused on property and human lives.
But once he saw Shadow, he was more than willing to continue his warpath. At the same time, he felt a little torn; Sonic still lied inside him, after all. His heart of gold wasn't completely tainted. It was just a matter of time until he took control of things again, right? That's what Eggman indicated but how much longer would it take? An essential question that needed careful consideration before more lives were left at stake.
Dark Sonic stood with a disturbing smile on his face; another bullet had struck him but it went totally ignored. Considering everyone he's fought thus far, he had little injuries to show for it. However, if this had been Sonic enduring this absent from this form, there's no doubt he would've already collapsed from the physical exertion alone to keep him going.
Shadow stopped before him, frowning pointedly. Knowing both that he had to get Sonic away from the city and that the real Sonic was still in there, somewhere, if what the Doctor said was to be trusted, Shadow took off, grazing black against black as he lightly touched shoulders with the other. He looked back, aiming to meet the soulless eyes, shooting a glance that said, "Race me."
How could he resist, after all? All Shadow had to do was lead him away from civilization. He didn't expect to be able to match Sonic's speed. Especially not now. The ebony hedgehog thought about the mountain near the coast, but he soon put that idea to rest considering it's active volcano status. He had to think of someplace, though, and he had to think fast.