Chapter 13: The Ultimate Power

Sonic and his friends were now in the core of the ARK where the Chaos Emeralds were connected to the Eclipse Cannon. The shrine in which they were currently embedded was spinning out of control. There were only twenty minutes left.

"What is that?" Knuckles breathed in disbelief. "It looks just like the shrine of the Master Emerald."

"I'll bet it's designed like that to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds," Sonic suggested.

"Then it's doing a fine job of it," Ash muttered.

"Pikachu," Pikachu agreed.

They moved forward, but another sudden lurch threw them back, as a bright light slowly grew in front of them, the image of the professor that was looping on the world below exploding in front of them and unleashing a new threat: a massive, reptilian creature that looked ready to kill.

"Wha-what is that?!" Knuckles cried. Team Rocket, who was standing not far off, recognized it instantly.

"It's that monster from the papers we had!" James cried.

"You mean," Meowth looked at him fearfully, "that this is the real ultimate life form?"

"No," Jessie noted. "This is the Biolizard; it was only a prototype, and it was supposed to be encapsulated after the death of the professor."

"I'll bet that madman bypassed the system so he could use it to secure his ultimate revenge," Sonic shrugged.

"One way or another, nobody's going to die today," Ash growled. "Leave this to us."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu growled, small sparks on his cheeks.

"Ash," Sonic started, but he stopped him.

"We can distract this monster long enough for you guys to go get the emeralds."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Go, now!" Sonic and Knuckles nodded and dashed off. Ash cracked his knuckles and looked at Pikachu, smiling. "You ready for this, buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded.

"All right. Start out with a Thunderbolt!"

"Piiiiikaaaaaa...CHUUUUUUUUUUU!" Pikachu unleashed his signature attack against the Biolizard, but the monster was barely fazed as it brushed off Pikachu's attack and slammed its jaws down on the mouse Pokemon.

"Gah! Pikachu!" Ash cried, attacking the monster, but the Biolizard slammed his jaws down on his shirt and threw him upwards. He landed on the massive metal machine on its back, and then all was strangely still. "What?" He looked up and saw that the Biolizard was breathing hard through pipes that connected to the machine Ash was on. Getting the hint, he slammed a fist down on the machine, causing the monster to yelp and rear its head, shaking violently. Ash fell to the side and got up quickly, rushing over. Pikachu was falling from above, and Ash leapt up to catch him. They landed in a heap.

"All right," he smiled at his best friend. "Let's try this again, shall we?"

Pikachu nodded and charged the Biolizard with a quick attack, but instead of trying to hit it, it kept it busy while Ash climbed up onto its back again to damage the machine, which he discerned to be its life-support system. It roared again, throwing him off its back. He landed hard on the ground this time, fazed but not undone. He slowly got up, grunting in pain.

"Pika!" Pikachu called, rushing over to him.

"There's got to be a better way to destroy that thing on his back," Ash muttered. "Even your most powerful electric attack won't destroy it completely, and after that we'd both be worn out." He glanced at his Pokeball. "Heracross has already been through enough. I guess we'll have to give it our all, now."

The Biolizard roared in their faces again, a dark ball of energy forming in its mouth. "Look out!" Ash cried, jumping to the side with Pikachu. The energy ball missed, but now Ash was worried. "The professor gave it the ability to use Shadow Ball?! What else did that crazy old devil do?!" Pikachu leapt up and used Iron Tail on the machine on the monster's back, and that did some damage. The monster raised its foot and stomped near them, knocking them to the ground. It started charging another Shadow Ball, and Ash, knowing full well we wasn't getting away from this one, threw Pikachu away and squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the impact.

It never came. Instead, he heard another voice grunting and groaning as two power blasts collided. He opened his eyes and couldn't believe what he saw. "Shadow?!"

Shadow threw the Shadow Ball back at the Biolizard and turned back towards Ash. "You look like you could use some help."

Ash was skeptical. "What are you doing?"

Shadow's face grew solemn. "I was wrong about you," he admitted. "I was wrong about everything. Now I understand why you are so extraordinary."

Ash was puzzled, his eyes displaying their auburn side. "You embody everything good in humanity," Shadow went on. "You are kind, loving, courageous, and devoted to everything good...even at the cost of your own life. You are a true hero, Ash Ketchum." He turned back toward the monster, which was preparing for another attack. "Now it's time I learned what that means."

"Okay," Ash stuttered a moment, but then his eyes regained their fire. "Let's do this!"

"Pika pikachu!" Pikachu cheered, new determination in his eyes as well.

Shadow used Chaos Control to teleport onto the Biolizard's back and slammed his fists into the life-support system, causing the monster to roar in pain. He had made a real dent. Pikachu followed up with an Iron Tail, which made the pain worse. The reptilian monster raised its head and roared, pink bubbles rising from the ground. These bubbles began homing in on the unlikely trio, hurting them as they did so.

"Urgh!" Shadow grunted. "Where did the professor gain the ability to hone these powers?"

Ash raised an eyebrow. "I think a legendary Pokemon used this kind of tactic," he muttered. "I can't quite put my finger on who it was, but it's a powerful Pokemon."

Shadow used Chaos Control again, but the bubbles prevented him from getting in. "Gah!" he muttered. "These bubbles form an anti-Chaos barrier. I can't get in there any more!"

"Hm," Ash muttered, thinking hard; when it came to these situations, thinking was his element. "Try using your homing attack."

Shadow thought this over and nodded, bouncing off the bubbles and slamming into the life support system. By this point, it was starting to smoke from the damage it had taken. "I think we're halfway there," Ash muttered.

"Pikachu," Pikachu nodded.

"A little more, and Pikachu can finish the job," Shadow agreed.

Ash lit up. "Pikachu: try using your Iron Tail to deflect those pink bubbles when they come at us."

Pikachu smiled, liking the idea, and did so. The strategy worked: the pink bubbles shot back at the monster and hit its skin, but that didn't faze it in the slightest. It kept firing, and Pikachu grew weary.

"Leave this to me," Shadow growled at them, spotting an opening for Chaos Control to squeeze him through. He used it and slammed the machine once again. By now, it was really smoking, and the wired innards were exposed somewhat.

Ash saw this. "Now's our chance!" he shouted to Shadow. "Get out of the way. Pikachu: use Thunder!"

Shadow got out of there as Pikachu leapt up, screaming its name as a super-powerful electric shock slammed into the machine on the Biolizard's back. What followed was a huge explosion that caused the lizard to roar again, then fall to the ground, silent.

"Take that, you ugly prototype," Shadow grunted.

"Nice work, Pikachu," Ash smiled.

"Pikachu," Pikachu smiled back, nuzzling him.

Meanwhile, Knuckles placed the Master Emerald into the center of the shrine. It glowed brightly as it reacted to the presence of the seven Chaos Emeralds. The seven emeralds glowed in response to its plea for them to stop what they were doing. Unable to defy the large emerald's power, they let their glow fade. Sonic and Tails took them just as a deafening roar shook the room. The Biolizard, still alive, began glowing brightly.

"What's that?!" Sonic cried.

"It's...fading!" Ash noted in shock.

"Is that...Chaos Control?" Shadow breathed.

The Biolizard disappeared, gone without a trace. All was silent for a moment, but then a sudden lurch knocked the sense back into everyone.

"What?!" Knuckles cried. "But if we stopped the Chaos Emeralds, then why are we still on a course to crash into the planet?"

"THAT MONSTER STILL LIVES," came the familiar voice of Dr. Eggman through the loudspeakers in the room. "IT'S FUSED ITSELF TO THE ECLIPSE CANNON AND IS DRAGGING THE ARK ALONG ITS PRESCRIBED PATH. WE ONLY HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES TO STOP THAT THING."

Ash huffed angrily. "Just couldn't stay down, could you?" he growled.

"We'll take care of this," Sonic nodded to him in determination. "Now that the Chaos Emeralds are free, we can use them." Shadow nodded to him, and they let the emeralds swirl around them, infusing them with their power and giving them super strength. They looked at each other, nodded, and flew out.

It took them five minutes to get out there. The Biolizard, just as Eggman had said, was fused to the Eclipse Cannon and dragging the ARK down, but it was really weak, as its life support system was destroyed.

"How do you want to go about this?" Sonic asked his unlikely teammate.

"Hm," Shadow mused. "Let's improvise for now. If we find something, we'll holler."

"Right," Sonic nodded, charging at the monster's skin. He began punching it rapidly, but the Biolizard didn't even flinch. "Uh, okay," he shrugged, punching various other areas. He got nowhere.

"It's skin is designed to absorb attacks," Shadow informed him; he'd met similar results. "We can't hurt it that easily."

"What's the plan, then?" Sonic asked.

"There!" Shadow pointed at a lump on the lizard's stomach. "It's swelling. Let's try that." Sonic shot straight at it, hitting the swelling lump dead on. This time, the lizard screamed in pain.

"Good guys: 1, Bad lizard: 0!" Sonic cheered.

"All right," Shadow dashed forward, searching around for another spot. "My turn." He spotted a lump and launched a super-powered Chaos Spear at it, splitting it in two. The pain seared through the lizard's body.

"Sonic! Can you hear me?" came the voice of Tails. "The ARK's getting close to the atmosphere. You've got to hurry up and stop that thing!"

"Roger!" Sonic replied, shooting for another spot, but a sudden laser shot out of the monster's back and knocked him away.

Ash saw this and gasped. "How much did the professor know about Pokemon? That was a perfect replica of Hyper Beam!"

"All right," Sonic growled. "You want to play rough, do you? Let's do it!" He charged at another swelling spot that caught his eye, dodging the lasers that the lizard apparently had no problem firing without the need for recharging, and slamming into it. The Biolizard roared in pain once again.

"It's working!" Shadow nodded. "The monster is weakening."

"Guys!" came the voice of Amy. "We're getting too close to the atmosphere! You've got to stop that thing now!"

"Got it, Amy!" Sonic assured her as Shadow charged the monster. The Hyper Beams didn't faze him in the slightest, and another Chaos Spear split another swelling in two, causing the Biolizard severe pain. He drew back, breathing hard. Sonic raised an eyebrow in concern. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Shadow huffed, though his eyes looked tired. "Just go for it again."

Sonic nodded and charged the beast, dodging the lasers that came his way, but it was no use. He was thrown back. "Let's try going at it together," he suggested to Shadow.

"That should do the trick," he agreed, and they both charged at the same time, slamming into both sides of the lizard's neck. It gurgled and spat, but it was still going on.

"So we can choke it, can we?" Sonic muttered.

"Guys!" May called. "There's no more time! You've got to finish that thing off now!"

"Leave this to me," Shadow nodded to Sonic.

"Shadow, no!" Sonic retorted. "We can finish it together."

"The Biolizard will keep dragging the ARK down, whether it's dead or alive. I'm going to defuse it from the cannon while you distract it."

Sonic nodded. "Be careful."

Shadow didn't respond. He shot forward towards the base of the cannon, a familiar voice ringing in his head. "Yes, Maria," he nodded. "I will fulfill my promise to you!" With that, he let the braces on his wrists fall off and slammed his karate-style hands into the cannon's base. The Biolizard glowed brightly, and then fell off into the void that was space. The ARK was free of it, but it was too late: it had entered the atmosphere!

"No way that's getting through!" Sonic shouted. "Shadow! Let's use Chaos Control to get this sucker back in the sky!"

"No!" Shadow weakly informed him. "I...can't…"

"I can't do it without you, Shadow."

"And I can't do it." Sonic growled, but then Shadow lit up. "Wait a minute…"

Sonic nodded and called out via walkie-talkie: "Yo! Think you could lend us a hand?"

The gravelly voice came back in the affirmative. "Okay," Shadow nodded. "Let's do this...NOW!"

With that, Sonic, Shadow, and Ash Ketchum all shouted in unison:

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

The ARK exploded as energy swirled around it, and then it disappeared completely, along with Sonic. But Shadow, having exhausted the last of his power, closed his eyes and let his weariness consume him. He felt no fear as he fell through the atmosphere, and soon he saw a light coming towards him, blotting everything out of sight.

"Maria," he whispered, "this is what you wanted, wasn't it? Yes...this is the promise I made to you…"