Chapter Thirteen: Darkness
*Mephiles' underground Base: three hours after Shadow awoke: Mephiles' throne room*
Mephiles was leaving Earth, never to return to it.
The dark being's next plot for reuniting with Iblis was at hand; in roughly two hours, he would be leaving Earth, and tearing himself an entrance to a dimension where Iblis still existed. Between what Mauve had stolen from Dr. Eggman, Dr. Ovator's research, and the Sword of Chaos, Mephiles was only a heartbeat away from total victory.
At this particular moment, in his throne room, he was going over some blueprints of the large, powerful machine Ovator had built for Mephiles' plan, making sure it fit his requirements. As usual, his throne was lit by two torches of black fire (which only seemed to make the room darker), the throne chair itself constructed of black marble and the arm rests detailed with Mephiles' form-fitting ooze-material, and the outside door was made of triple-layered titanium, and guarded by three cloaked Black Arms Greats, two Black Arms elites (all of whom remained loyal to Mephiles and were unaware of the rest of the Black Arms' return to Earth), and the last, significantly-powerful Metarex. The Lost Ones, meanwhile, were flying around, giving G.U.N. vague sightings and making them think that Mephiles and the Lost Ones still ran free, so as to mislead them. Hades was organizing the army to seize an area to make a formidable holding ground, and then attack G.U.N. to prevent them from interfering in even the slightest. Mephiles felt safe, and as the base was both heavily guarded and remained hidden from G.U.N., the evil creature was certain that not even Shadow could foil his plans this time. He would be taking the journey alone save for Ovator and Shade; Ovator was the only one who knew how to control the device Mephiles needed for his plan, and Shade, because he thought it would be amusing to see the echidna's reaction when Shade realized that his master's plan included his destruction. Oh yes, the echidna had been unwavering in his loyalty to Mephiles, but he cared little; the loyalty was born of ignorance and manipulation, nothing more.
As if on cue, Shade the Echidna entered the room, and bowed before his master. Mephiles turned to face him, and nodded. "Rise, my faithful servant" Mephiles said, lifting his hand. "What news do you bring me, my friend?"
Shade's glowing red eyes met his master's green eyes. "Dr. Ovator reports that all final systems are at one-hundred percent" the echidna reported. "The Sword of Chaos has fit into the core, and is cooperating with our Chaos-drive generators. The transport is nearly ready."
Mephiles chuckled. "Thank you for telling me that, Shade" he said, and put down the blueprint he had been reading. The dark being clasped his hands together in wicked glee. "After so long... centuries upon centuries, battle after battle, deception after deception... Iblis and I shall rejoin, and our power shall grow unlimited!" he exclaimed. "And you, Shade the Echidna, shall be at my side when the entire universe is in the palm of my hand! All of those who have served me loyally, the Black Arms, everyone, shall be rewarded beyond comprehension! And my enemies..." Mephiles chuckled darkly, "My enemies shall be grinded into dust, and scraped as excrement from my feet! At last, glorious victory is at hand!"
Shade tried to smile and share his master's happiness, but still felt uneasy... "Master, what will happen once you and Iblis seize total victory, and our enemies are gone?" he asked with a hint of hopeful innocence. "Will... I finally find peace? Will I finally defy Gerald's wishes to slave me to his whim? Will I finally know... who I am?"
Mephiles turned to face Shade, and put a hand on the echidna's shoulder (which felt uncomfortably cold, but Shade didn't seem to heed it). "Shade, my friend, everything shall become clear then, I promise you" he said. "I am proud of your loyalty, and you have been a formidable weapon and ally against those who would stand against me. Trust me, Shade, once our crusade is over, you shall find peace and truth. Now, if you please; tend to my security. I can't have anything go wrong; not when we're so close."
Half-smiling, Shade bowed again. "Yes, my Lord Mephiles" he said formally, and left the room.
*Above ground: With Shadow and Rouge: Three miles north of Westopolis Border*
The team was now equipped with high-tech x-ray binoculars, and could see the entrance that led to Mephiles' base. The area was grassy outside the city, and the entrance was hidden under a short crevice in the side of a hill. It was guarded by a cloaked soldier (they could tell with a heat-vision setting on the binoculars), and was well-hidden, but they were more than confident they could get to it. After double-checking everything, Rouge confirmed that the guard, the hidden entrance, and one small auto-gun turret were guarding the entrance.
Shadow and Rouge were taking Mephiles down. Four platoons of G.U.N. soldiers, (supported by a team of agents), five platoons of Eggman's mechs (led by Eggman himself in his infamous Egg Walker Mark II), Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were helping them. Getting back from Mobius was hasty, but it confirmed that the Mobians' teleportation device worked. All it needed was a bit of tuning to send masses of people at a time, and a little more time for Kael to assemble his army before the entire Mobian force would stand with G.U.N. and the others against Mephiles.
"Alright; Sonic and Amy are approaching the entrance" Rouge told Shadow. "We need to distract the guard..."
"Rouge... maybe we shouldn't do this..." Shadow said uncertainly. "I mean, yeah, Mephiles is most likely down there, but who knows who's guarding him? It could be the Lost Ones, or maybe he has that doctor building him advanced versions of the Havocs, or something..."
"Shadow, c'mon; you're the one who dragged me out of bed to do this!" Rouge said. "Besides, have I ever quit on you? I'm not going to let you quit on yourself!"
"That doesn't change the fact that we're all in a dangerous situation" Shadow replied, his eyes sharp as he gazed at Rouge. "I dragged you and the others here because of a dream, Rouge!"
"Shadow, if there's anybody I know who has dreams that mean something more than random nonsense, it's you" Rouge shot back, putting a fist on her hip and looking sternly at the ebony hedgehog. "If Mephiles is going to do something because a dream you had said he would, I'll believe it. And we'll stop Mephiles, just like we always do. Maybe for good, this time."
Shadow nodded with a smile, and turned his attention back to the gate. Rouge was right; they needed a distraction. "Throw one of your bombs off in the distance; that'll probably draw him out." Rouge complied, and heaved a bomb of hers with all her strength into the distance. It went off, and they waited awhile... carefully watching the guard their binoculars. They waited... and waited... and for a change of pace, they waited some more.
Finally, the guard stepped out of the hidden post, and walked forward for a closer look.
"Excellent!" Shadow said, and Chaos-Controlled him and Rouge to the entrance. Quiet as a mute, hovering mouse in a library, Rouge pulled out a pair of wire-cutters, and disabled the gun turret before it could sight them.
"Sonic! Amy! Hurry in, now!" Shadow hissed into his communicator. Soon enough, Shadow spotted a blue and a pink blur approaching, and they smashed right into the cloaked Black Arms Great, knocking the huge alien unconscious and disabling his cloaking device. Sonic and Amy walked towards them, and Sonic gave Amy a thumbs-up.
"You're getting faster there, Amy!" Sonic said, and winked. Amy giggled a little and winked back, making Shadow roll his eyes. "Rouge; get the door open before someone notices the guard isn't reporting!" the ebony hedgehog said hastily. The bat nodded, and went to work at unlocking the door.
While Rouge worked on the door, Shadow went over the plan in his head again: The four of them were going to infiltrate Mephiles' fortress directly, split up once inside, and track down Mephiles' throne room without being spotted. Sonic and Amy would try and isolate the guards and cause a distraction both big enough to draw the guards' attention, but small enough so Mephiles wouldn't be concerned. Tails and Knuckles, meanwhile, were traveling through an abandoned tunnel that led to a huge shaft under Mephiles' hideout. Once they were there, Tails and Knuckles would get to a terminal Tails had found using G.U.N.'s mainframe. Using that terminal, Tails would be able to let Dr. Eggman and G.U.N. into the fortress, and then they'd be able to match the guards' firepower... more or less. Then, Mephiles' chance of escape would be zilch.
"Got it! Let's go!" Rouge exclaimed, and they followed her inside.
*Mauve the Bat's room: Mephiles' base*
The sinister bat was, at this time, leaning in the back of a chair in the room Shade had (grudgingly) provided for him, smoking a cigar. Nearby lay his leather jacket full of his deadly arsenal of weapons. His room also had a large, seventy-inch, wide/flat/plasma-screen television on it, where a Ps2, a Ps3, an Xbox 360, a Nintendo Wii, and even a Sega Dreamcaster were all plugged in, with at least ten games for each console. Bored, Mauve yawned and expertly flicked his cigar into the ash tray, and let it smolder.
"I need some new video games..." Mauve muttered. "Maybe Mephiles will let me go to the Poison and pick up some slut... yeah! I can get some games on the way back!" Thus grinning, the wicked bat picked up his jacket, and slung it on. He was about to leave, when his television made a beeping sound. Inspecting closely, Mauve saw something that made him smirk: it was Dr. Eggman's logo.
Mauve hit a button, made sure the door was locked, and Eggman's image appeared on the screen. Mauve could see several mechs standing near the doctor in a protective manner. The bat grinned to himself, forgetting his plan for the day.
"Good afternoon, Robotnik" Mauve said formally. "I take it you're near Mephiles' fortress?"
"Yes, and I have a favor to ask" Eggman replied. "Tails is going to try and hack in and distract Mephiles. Now, I need you to give him easier access, and we need to create an entrance for me and G.U.N. Here's what I plan for you to do..."
*With Tails and Knuckles*
The young fox and the echidna were eerily alone in this long, dark, abandoned tunnel that led under Mephiles' fortress. The only light they had was a flashlight that Tails held, dimly shining their way. Luckily, they'd been at a jogging pace the entire time (flying in Tails' case), and were fairly close to the end of the tunnel. Knuckles stopped for a moment to catch his breath and let Tails rest his... er, tails (*shrugs*). Suddenly, Tails' communicator went off with Sonic's voice.
"Hey, Tails! Knuckles, how's it going?" Sonic asked. "Amy, Shadow, Rouge and I are inside; we just now split up. So far, all they know is that there was a disturbance at the front door, nothin' else! How're you guys doing?"
"We're fine, Sonic" Knuckles replied, stretching his arms and stamping his feet to get it circulated again. The echidna smirked, and replied; "We're almost at the end. It was a long walk, but we just need to climb up one more hatch, and we're there! Mephiles will be toast before dinner!"
"Awesome Knux!" Sonic replied enthusiastically. "Okay... hold out awhile longer, and we'll meet you in an hour or so, okay guys?"
"Will do, Sonic!" Tails replied with a smile. "Be careful you two! Tails and Knuckles out!" With that, Knuckles stood up again, and began walking. This time, Tails joined him on walking. As they continued, Tails' light eventually showed an old, fairly-rusted sewer-ladder that led to a manhole above.
"Great... we've run over five miles to discover... ah... *AHCHOO!*" Knuckles sneezed suddenly, almost making Tails drop his flashlight. Knuckles sniffled, and continued; "To discover we're in an abandoned, and apparently dusty sewer! Ah, being a hero isn't glamorous, I guess" Knuckles admitted with a sigh. Tails just shrugged.
"At least the coast is clear" the genius fox pointed out, and headed for the ladder.
Had Tails and Knuckles been paying attention to a ledge near the ceiling, they may have noticed two, large, Black Aliens watching them, and then suddenly vanish. But they didn't, and continued to walk towards the ladder.
But then, Knuckles suddenly felt a powerful fist slam into his chest, and then punch him against his jaw, making the echidna snarl in pain. Tails turned around to see what was happening, but was grabbed by an invisible hand, slammed into the ladder he had been about to climb, and then hurled to the ground. Knuckles barely had time to notice Tails had a similar problem to his before being punched again.
"Augh! Black Arms Greats; it must be!" Tails said, and frantically reached for his electronic-pulse-firing gun (like he had on Sonic Battle), and fired, but it missed, and the young fox received only a kick to the head for his attempt.
Knuckles, however, was becoming irritated, and with a ferocious bellow, he leapt forward, and amazingly managed to tackle one of his assailants. He then picked up the creature, and punched it in the chest, killing it and simultaneously destroying its cloaking device, revealing its body. The crimson echidna then picked it up by its legs, and began to swing it around in preparation for a hammer-throw, not realizing his foe was dead. Quite accidentally, Knuckles hit Tails' attacker as well, stunning the other alien's cloaking device revealing it just long enough for Tails to act. The fox picked up his gun and fired, destroying the device and blasting the alien against the wall, breaking bones and knocking it unconscious. Finally, Tails put away his gun, and faced his echidna friend.
"Excellent of you to come along with me" Tails said with a thumbs-up. Knuckles smirked and patted Tails on the back in reply. "No problem. Now, let's head topside." So they climbed up the ladder, Knuckles leading the way, and the echidna pushed the manhole out of the way. He helped Tails up... and what they saw next took their breath away.
Tails opened up a link to Shadow, Sonic, and even Eggman, and said; "Um, guys? You know that thing Shadow said Mephiles was planning?" he said, still not quite believing what he saw. "I... I think I just found it."
Tails and Knuckles found themselves in one, large hangar. Before them stood a massive, jet-black starship.
Mephiles was planning to use the Sword of Chaos to power the ship, and using Eggman's Chaos-Warp generators, they would leave this dimension and enter one where Iblis still existed.
*With Shadow and Rouge*
The two agents were now scaling their way through a narrow corridor inside Mephiles' estate. Rouge was making use of her ability to climb walls while Shadow silently used his "Triangle-Jump" maneuver to stay where he was, and used a spiked version of brass-knuckles to stick to the wall longer. However, that almost failed, and their position given away when Shadow's hand slipped, having heard Tails' amazing news. When he recovered, Rouge and he continued.
"Mephiles has a starship?!" Shadow hissed, still amazed at the prospect. If not for the fact Mephiles had stolen the Sword of Chaos, Shadow wouldn't have any clue what Mephiles intended for this ship, but he could guess; using technology like Eggman's Chaos Generators, Mephiles could very well use the Havoc Blade to reunite with Iblis. Apparently, Rouge agreed; "Well, that's one bus ride that's doomed to a fucking up" she replied. "Plane-ride, ship-ride, whatever."
"Well, we're canceling his ride" Shadow declared, almost reminding Rouge of Sonic with this arrogant statement. Shadow contacted Sonic and Amy, asking; "What's your status?"
"So far so good, Shad" Sonic replied. "We managed to lure one patrol guy away from his group, knock him unconscious, and hide him before his group would notice us."
"Excellent" Shadow replied. "I'd guess we're at least fairly closer to Mephiles by now; we've gotten past three areas that have fairly high security, and you should know as well as I, it isn't easy; this place is crawling with guards."
"I hear ya" Sonic agreed, but his confidence hadn't seemed diminished because of that. "How's Tails doing?"
"Your guess is as good as mine; I'll contact him now" Shadow answered, and opened up a link to Tails and Knuckles. "Tails? Are you inside the mainframe yet?"
"Just a moment..." Tails replied, his voice sounding firm with concentration. "I'm in! Quite easier than I expected, really. Alright Shadow, I'm uploading the location of Mephiles' throne room to you and Sonic right now." Shadow saw data roll across his communicator, and sure enough, he now had a mini-map leading to the dark being's location.
"Excellent, Tails" Shadow replied. "Try and let Eggman and G.U.N. inside. Then, when I give the signal, initiate a lockdown so nobody can come to Mephiles' rescue, okay? Then, see if you can try and rendezvous with Eggman and G.U.N., and coordinate an attack against Mephiles' guards, particularly Mauve and Shade. Okay?"
"Will do Shadow" Tails replied. "You guys be careful. Tails and Knuckles out."
*With Dr. Eggman; near sealed-off entrance to Mephiles' base*
Right now, Eggman was near-furious, as he glared down at the 1/6th-sized hologram of Mauve as he said; "This is unacceptable! Absolutely unacceptable!" Eggman snarled. "Why didn't you tell me that Mephiles was planning to leave with a starship? And on top of that, why didn't you also mention that he was able to build it with my discovery of Chaos-Warp technology using information you stole?!"
Mauve's image only shrugged. "You didn't ask, doc" he replied, and his image lit another cigar and began smoking it. Eggman's eye twitched at the bat's smart remark and he slammed his fist down on the Egg Walker Mark II's controls, making Mauve's image waver a moment. "Do not be sarcastic with me, Mauve! That's not a very efficient way to keep a mutually-beneficial partnership with me!" Eggman said quietly, but still steaming.
Mauve just sighed and casually waved his hand as if to dismiss the matter (which he was). "Details, doctor, details" he said, inhaled deeply, and blew out a puff of smoke. "This was prior to our deal. I'll keep my end of the bargain so long as you keep yours. Now, I've already taken down about eighteen of the more complex firewalls and codes so the fox-boy could access Mephiles' mainframe more easily. He'll have an entrance ready for you within minutes. And he will also be locking down the complex so that Mephiles can't be helped, but you can also get through the fortress yourself. Your mechs and you will probably not encounter more than five guards altogether. Not only that, but I've transmitted codes you will find useful should..." Mauve smirked slyly, and he added; "Mephiles launch his ship too soon. It will make his escape... hindered."
Eggman nodded, calming down a bit now. "Good Mauve. And as I promised you, I shall let you have a position of power in my empire, and allow you into my protection" he replied. Mauve was about to respond, but suddenly looked at something off-screen, and said; "Must go. Bye" and his image vanished.
*Mauve's room*
Shade the Echidna and Dr. Ovator had intruded on Mauve's conversation. Dr. Ovator was scanning over a datapad, likely filled with data on the ship he had designed for Mephiles. Mauve felt a quick pang of queasiness, seeing that one of Ovator's eyes was a mechanical replacement. He might not have been able to tell, the eye looked so real, save for the fact that the middle of the pupil blipped with a red light to show its activity, and the jagged scars around it, showing where Mephiles had slashed it out. The memory of Ovator's scream still haunted Mauve, and the bat had seen terrible things in his life (including his father's and his own actions). But what concerned the hunter-bat most now was what Shade had heard before entering so rudely. Guessing by the fact Shade hadn't drawn his claws yet, Mauve thought he was safe. The echidna still glared at the bat, however, and seemed to be angry about something.
"Mauve! Dr. Ovator says he has detected a security breach in the mainframe" Shade snarled at the bat. "A few guards were also found unconscious. Now, you may just be a merc, but since Mephiles is housing you here, you're obliged to take part in our security. Ovator and his technicians are trying to trace the source of the hacker, but I must ask you to at the very least keep your ears open, and keep your blasted television off so it won't leech our security's power."
Mauve nodded and sighed. "Yes, Shade, I was going to get a drink anyway" he said dully. "I'll keep my eyes and ears open, and check with security and get back to you."
"Shade?" Ovator spoke up, looking at the datapad. "There's something... moving through the mainframe now, like a command, or... something."
"Well, find out, damn you!" Shade snarled harshly. "Lord Mephiles cannot have anything go wrong, not when he's this close!" Ovator scrambled back to the hangar so he could man the ship's safety personally, not exactly fond of the idea of having two fake eyes.
*With Tails and Knuckles*
There had been two Black Arms elites and a group of five standard Metarex guarding the hangar, but Knuckles had taken care of them, Tails only having to shoot the Elites and knock them dizzy while Knuckles took care of the Metarex and then finished the aliens. Now, standing a careful watch so Tails could concentrate, the echidna's want to fight evil had been sated for the moment. The young fox, meanwhile, was working furiously. It was easier than expected, but one accident could very well jeopardize their mission. Finally, however, he hit the code that unlocked both of the entrances where G.U.N. and Eggman were stationed on opposite sides of Mephiles' base. Then, smiling, Tails did something much simpler;
He activated the lockdown sequence, leaving only a few doors open for G.U.N. and Eggman to pass through.
"Shadow, Sonic? Knuckles and I are done here" Tail reported over the communicator. "We're heading up, copy?"
"Roger, buddy! Shadow and I got Mephiles pinned in his room; he's got no chance of escaping!" Sonic answered.
"Affirmative; head upwards, and stand by this door that's on the east wall; it's a secret path out of Mephiles' throne" Shadow told them. "Eggman and G.U.N. will probably meet there as well. If Mephiles slips past, hold him."
*With Shade: corridor adjoining Mephiles' throne and security control room*
The echidna had been about to see how the technicians were doing at discovering the night's dilemma, when suddenly, a blaring siren went off, making the echidna jump and reveal his claws in alarm. He looked up to see a right light blaring along with the siren, and suddenly, doors all around him began to slam shut, reinforced with four inches of titanium and a thin layer of energy shielding about half a centimeter thick.
"What- who- damn it!" Shade snarled, and slashed at the door leading to the security room. "Who the hell ordered a lockdown?!" he demanded.
*Mephiles' throne room; ten seconds prior to lockdown*
At this time, Mephiles had been meditating on his throne, relishing in the darkness of his room, and of his own thoughts. But suddenly, the black torches were knocked over, one of them setting fire to the blueprints, and the other just getting plain extinguished, which made the room seem slightly brighter. Standing up immediately, Mephiles saw two very, very unwelcome guests standing about eleven feet away from him:
Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose, who hefted her Piko-Piko hammer into a swing-ready stance.
"Planning a little trip, bud?" Amy said, glaring at the dark being, who was genuinely surprised both by the fact that he had been caught totally unaware, and the fact that he was surprised.
"A little troublesome flying adventure on the moon, maybe?" Sonic added, and got into a battle-ready stance. Mephiles snarled at them, but his dilemma only grew worse...
Shadow and Rouge had arrived through a ventilation shaft at his back.
"You're not getting out of here, shit-licker" Rouge growled, narrowed her eyes into a glare, and readied a bomb to throw at Mephiles. Shadow drew his dagger, and the ebony hedgehog's mouth flickered with the ghost of smile, seeing that Mephiles didn't even have the Sword of Chaos to help him this time.
"Your darkness, your evil, your life, and your deception ends here and now, Mephiles!" Shadow said, and fired a Chaos Spear at his nemesis. Mephiles easily side-stepped it, and instead, the energy shattered his throne. The dark being then summoned ooze to his arm to form a blade, and glared at his hated enemy.
"You shall all die, you miserable-" Mephiles began to say, but Amy jumped him from behind and struck him with her hammer the exact same time Sonic hit him with a Homing Attack. Shadow's nemesis rolled with the blows, and stood up just in time to block an attack from his said enemy. But Shadow's hatred allowed him to kick Mephiles back, and slash the dark being with his dagger. Then, Rouge heaved a bomb at Mephiles, which the dark being barely dodged and still received a glancing blow. Sonic and Amy rejoined the fight, and Mephiles found himself in a messy dilemma, to say an understatement.
"You are alone now, Mephiles!" Shadow said, holding his dagger at the ready. "And this time, you're outmatched. Your end has come!"
*Mephiles' hangar, with Dr. Ovator: Onboard Mephiles' starship.
At this moment, Dr. Ovator was seated on the bridge of Mephiles' ship, making sure all systems were good to go, and that the starship was safe from outside hackers. Everything was fine at the moment, but the nervous doctor still wished for two things; that he had some guards with him, and that he had never signed on with Mephiles in the first place. Mephiles had been planning only on taking himself, Ovator and Shade on the trip, but Ovator had convinced his master to allow two Black Arms to act as Ovator's bodyguards since Shade was Mephiles'. Humming a tune to calm his mind, and hoping the cause of the fluxes in the mainframe were nothing of much concern, he heard an explosion.
Ovator viewed a camera-screen, and to his horror, he saw Dr. Eggman and dozens of mechs blow through a wall in the area where Ovator had his security devices built. The room wasn't far from the hangar, and only about ten Metarex and three Black Aliens armed with swords stood against them. Then, Dr. Eggman took aim at another wall, and now the starship was in Eggman's sight.
The doctor was now aiming for it.
"My God!" Ovator exclaimed, and rapidly hit a series of buttons to link himself to Mephiles' room. "The master must be alerted!"
*Mephiles' throne room*
At this point, Mephiles' body was showing signs of damage; deep slashes could be seen on him, and Sonic and Amy's smashing had cracked some areas. But still, the dark being's stamina was practically limitless, and he fought on. He continued to parry Shadow's dagger and Amy's hammer with the blades on his hands, but his foes still managed to land some hits. Mephiles' powers of fire, energy, speed, and inhuman strength, combined with Rouge's bombs, Shadow's Chaos Powers, and everyone being tossed by their opponent, the room was a mess. To make things worse, Mephiles received Ovator's transmission via a communicator that had been built-into Mephiles' throne chair.
"My lord, something bad has occurred!" Ovator was exclaiming. "Dr. Eggman has infiltrated the hangar, and has disposed of most of your guards! And now he is targeting your vessel!"
Mephiles parried Shadow's next blow, and knocked it aside, just then comprehending what Ovator had said. "Eggman is here? Attacking my ship?!" he replied sharply. But Shadow leapt forward, and slashed Mephiles deep across the chest, and met with one of Rouge's bombs while he stumbled, knocking him to the ground. The dark being snarled in frustration, and cried; "That changes EVERYTHING!" And with a bellow, Mephiles sent Sonic and Amy smashing into the wall with a surge of energy, parried Shadow's attack, kicked the ebony hedgehog away, and slashed Rouge across the leg, and sent her flying into the wall next to Sonic. But then, Shadow leapt high into the air, and brought his dagger down towards Mephiles, who barely managed to catch it between his two blades. Thinking quickly, Mephiles twisted his body, and kicked Shadow in the head, sending him crashing into a statue Mephiles had carved of Solaris. Still, Shadow would not be denied, and he lunged himself at Mephiles again, and this time, the ebony hedgehog decided to kick it up another notch; he summoned Chaos Energy to his dagger, Dark Burner.
Mephiles felt a chill of horror when he saw the golden blade burst into flame and form itself into a long blade of pure amber/scarlet energy. Mephiles tried to parry the blow, but Dark Burner sliced through the ooze-blade like it was butter, and the hedgehog landed a glancing blow to Mephiles' torso, close to where the ribcage would be. The dark being howled in agony, but managed to summon his long, barbed ooze-whip, and lashed Shadow across the torso, wrapped it around his leg, and pulled Shadow into a bookcase, making it topple over and crash on the Ultimate Life Form.
Sonic, Rouge, and Amy were just getting up to reengage Mephiles, when the main door shuddered with a blow. Everyone turned to look, and after a few more thuds, the door crashed down. Shade the Echidna then rushed into the room, his claws drawn, and was followed by well over two hundred Black Arms of every kind, and Metarex, including the ones who had been guarding the door, but had been unable to get in because of the lockdown. Shade snarled once he spotted Shadow and the other Mobians.
"Protect Master Mephiles!" Shade cried, and the soldiers who joined him rushed forward to attack their enemies. Amy rushed forward to meet them first while Mephiles pushed himself back onto his feet.
"Shade! Hold the Mobians!" Mephiles called. "I must get to my ship!" And he ran towards the hidden exit at the back of the room. Sonic turned to see him first, and his eyes widened.
"He's making a break for it!" the blue hedgehog called. Shadow heard him, and stood up, picking his dagger back up. "Get him!" Shadow cried, and he and Sonic ran towards Mephiles, but two Black Arms elites and the Metarex charged with guarding Mephiles' room (who was about six ft. 7 in. with two sleek, slim scimitars in each hand, and electrical power coursing through him), and used their blades to bar Shadow and Sonic's pursuit.
Mephiles, meanwhile, was already in the elevator leading downwards to the hangar. On the wall, there was a radio system, which he immediately linked to Ovator, and yelled; "Doctor, this is your master! We have not a moment to waste; prepare the ship for launch immediately!"
"But, master, nothing is ready to go!" Ovator replied nervously. "Eggman is battling through the hangar guards, and preparing for launch will take-" But Mephiles interrupted him with a vicious snarl.
"I know you imbecile!" Mephiles growled. "But it isn't about to improve any time soon, so prepare for launch, and summon all guards – available or no – to the hangar, now!" The communicator was silent for a moment, and he finally heard Ovator reply, "Yes, master. Preparing for launch now."
Finally, the elevator reached the hangar, and Mephiles charged in, expecting to be shot at by Eggman's forces. But, he neither felt nor heard any blaster-fire... instead, he saw Knuckles the Echidna slaughtering dozens of Metarex guards.
"What in hell's fire?!" Mephiles cursed, but suddenly saw Miles Prower leap at him, and three electric dummy-rings crackled upon hitting Mephiles' body. The said evil being cursed harshly, and Tails aimed his gun at the demonic fiend.
"Thought you might try the emergency exit!" Tails exclaimed, and when Mephiles tried to make a break past the young fox, Tails flew up and slammed into him, and kept his gun trained on the dark being. Mephiles thought this laughable; if Shadow needed backup to defeat him, then this fox – intellect irrelevant – didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of defeating him, no pun intended on the "hell" bit. Eventually, however, Knuckles finished his opponents, and Tails' chances looked a little better... but Mephiles had battled worse odds than this and survived, and Knuckles was likely at least a little tired from his fighting. So Mephiles only laughed and reformed the blades Shadow had severed.
*Mephiles' throne room*
Shadow was combating the lead Metarex at the moment, which had electrical fields around his swords which prevented Shadow's fiery blade from cutting through it. Rouge was battling Shade the Echidna, and Sonic and Amy took out the guards together. Finally, however, Rouge managed to make a fake move to attack Shade's left side, and when the echidna turned in position to block it, Rouge quickly spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick, sending Shade crashing into the wall. Then, the ivory bat hurled a bomb at the elevator, blowing it open. She ran towards it, halting momentarily to give Sonic and Amy a quick hand so they could get to the elevator as well. When they reached it, Sonic and Amy went down first, Rouge lingering to see how Shadow was doing.
Shade, however, had stood up again and was glaring at the gaping elevator-entrance, and he yelled to the remaining guards, "After them! Do not let them harm Mephiles!" And about sixty Black Aliens and Metarex ran for the door, Shade lingering behind only a moment. Rouge, seeing the guards charge her, decided to lure them down so they wouldn't hinder her husband, and jumped down the chute. Shadow growled to himself, seeing that the team had broken off, and with a burst of red energy, he unleashed a Chaos Blast, and sent the powerful Metarex he was dueling flying into the wall. Then, Shadow fired an extra-powerful Chaos Lance from the tip of Dark Burner's blade, and it pierced right through the body. The ebony hedgehog ran after the others towards the makeshift exit, but Shade had stayed behind, not ready to fight, but with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Shadow, please, you do not have to do this" Shade told his hedgehog counterpart. "Mephiles is leaving this planet to achieve his goal, and neither of you will be able to trouble the other! Please, for your own sake, do not follow him!" Shade added a faint hint of threat in the latter sentence, but still didn't make a hostile move.
"Shade, if you think your master will let me and my allies alone, you are a fool!" Shadow snarled, but let the fire on Dark Burner extinguish to show he meant no harm as long as Shade didn't. "Once he reunites with Iblis, life and order as we know it shall be twisted into eternal havoc and nightmares!"
"No, Shadow, he only wishes to be one, powerful being again so he can cleanse life of its impurities" Shade replied coolly. "The humans, who are ruled by greed and improvidence, will be made anew into great, honorable beings. Gerald, when he created me after you, wished to use me as a weapon for humanity, much as he did to you!" This, Shade added with disgust. "But Shadow, you are worthy of honor! Turn away from this path of servitude!"
"I do not serve the humans on their whim!" Shadow snarled with venom, almost making Shade draw his claws in preparation for a fight. "Everything Mephiles has told you is a lie! I would know! He has taken everything that is dear to me away for his own selfish wishes, and now, I shall stop him!" And having said that, Shadow jumped down after the others.
*With Tails and Knuckles; near hangar docks, facing Mephiles: one minute ago*
"Your flight has been cancelled!" Knuckles said challengingly, and stepped forward with his fists ready to start throwing punches. Mephiles only chuckled, and simultaneously sent Knuckles flying into a computer panel, and fired an explosive blade-missile at Tails, sending the fox soaring with a cry of pain and surprise. They quickly stood up again, but Mephiles rushed over to Tails, and held a blade at the fox's throat.
"You cannot stop me!" he growled, but suddenly, a blue, shapeless mass hit Mephiles with impossible speed, knocking the dark demon onto his backside. Standing back up, Mephiles saw himself pinned between two groups: Sonic, Amy, and Rouge were at his back, with Tails and Knuckles still up front. And, to make things worse, Mephiles saw Dr. Eggman and more than sixty of his robots come from his left. The ingenious doctor chuckled, finally seeing a chance for revenge before him.
To Mephiles' relief, however, dozens of guards followed right after Sonic, Amy and Rouge, their weapons all trained on the Mobians and Eggman's force. Shade and Shadow followed soon after, joining their groups. Over a hundred more Metarex and Black Arms arrived from Mephiles' left, and joined with the other guards.
"Step away from Mephiles, NOW!" Shade bellowed, and unsheathed his claws.
"Why don't you make us, pea-brain?" Sonic challenged. Then, however, an explosion went off from the direction Mephiles' reinforcements had arrived from, and the Mobians saw a welcome sight:
G.U.N.'s forces had come, with about seven agents leading the tough troops.
"Well-met, Shadow!" the lead agent called, holding a lock-on laser rifle. "Troops, fire upon Mephiles' guards, try not to harm Shadow, Sonic or those Mobians!" he added. And with that, the entire G.U.N. force opened up their torrent of guns, covering four of the agents who were armed with melee weapons as they charged in. Eggman's forces opened fire as well, but he was less picky on where they aimed, forcing Shadow, Sonic, Amy, Rouge, Knuckles, and Tails to dodge their fire from time to time. From his Egg Walker Mark II, it carried improved accuracy, mobility, and faster reload/recharge times, and he fired a burst of flame that set six Metarex ablaze. Howling in their metallic speech, they went careening out of control, some falling down the chute that held Mephiles' starship, the others being caught in the cross-fire. Mephiles simply made a break for it, running towards his starship. Shade bellowed at several of the guards to try and follow his master, but they had to move slowly or risk being shot.
Shadow however, Chaos-Controlled directly in front of his nemesis, his dagger drawn, but not ignited. Mephiles hissed and reformed his blades in reply. Shadow finally spoke up, saying; "Mephiles, I cannot – I shall not – allow you to leave this dimension! You will wreak havoc on all you come across, reunite with Iblis, and hurl the universe into chaos, murdering all of life and peace... just like you did Maria Robotnik!"
"What?! How did you know I did that?!" Mephiles snarled in surprise, realizing any chance that remained of manipulating Shadow was now gone. The said hedgehog's voice tightened with determination as he said; "Kaynyx told me, less than a year before you killed him! And I, like him, vowed to do everything in our power to stop you! AND, IN MARIA'S AND KAYNYX'S NAMES, I SHALL NOT ALLOW YOU PASSAGE!" he bellowed, and took a mighty swing at Mephiles, who barely parried it. But the dark being suddenly heard Knuckles yell out from behind him, and the crimson echidna rammed his fist-spikes straight into Mephiles' back. The demonic being screamed in agony, but it wasn't over; Rouge the Bat appeared right in front of him, and kicked Mephiles dead-on in the face with all her might. Mephiles was hurled to the ground from the impact, his face now badly cracked and a little bit of ooze leaking from it.
"NO!" Shade the Echidna bellowed, jumped into the air, and jump-kicked Rouge away from Mephiles. He dodged Knuckles' attack and slashed the red echidna across the back, simultaneously helping Mephiles up. "Go master! Head for your ship!" Shade cried, now fighting back Shadow.
Meanwhile, in the firefight behind them, chaos reigned (not to overuse the term). Eggman's and G.U.N.'s forces now outgunned the remaining Black Arms and Metarex, but most of the agents had been killed by the swordsmen, and they were now covered by their gun-armed comrades as they charged into the fray. Dr. Eggman now found himself frantically firing at a Black Arms giant wielding a war-hammer as it smashed aside a dozen of his mechs with one sweep of its arm. Finally, Eggman managed to fell the monster with his giant laser-beam attack. G.U.N. was contending with the Metarex and about two dozen Black Arms Elites at the time, several of which were also armed with swords.
Shade and Shadow battled fiercely in the meantime, Shade's claws and Dark Burner clashing violently. But Sonic managed to land a Homing Attack on Shade, knocking the echidna aside.
"Go catch Mephiles, Shadow!" Sonic said, and dodged Shade's next attack, and kicked Shade in the side. "Give him a kick in the butt for me!" Shadow only nodded in thanks, and threw himself at Mephiles, reigniting Dark Burner's true power, crying; "For Maria!!"
Mephiles barely turned in time to face Shadow, and was tackled down. But Shadow showed no respite; he slashed with all his ferocity, and it melted through Mephiles like fire through butter. Shade, meanwhile, noticed his master's distress, and blew Sonic aside with a Chaos Blast.
"Don't worry master, I'm on my way!" Shade cried, leapt in the air, and flew right for Shadow, gliding swiftly as his claws were held out in front of him. Shadow was too occupied to notice his rival coming, and was slashed across the body, and kicked so hard he smashed into a computer screen, cracking the glass. Shade helped his master up, and helped him towards the ship, but Shade was then tackled by Shadow again, and they continued their brawl. Mephiles' form was now badly damaged, and he "bled" ooze while he limped over to his starship.
However, Eggman spotted Mephiles fleeing, and while his mechs battled the guards, he readied a gun that Eggman was certain would stop his enemy from escaping. "Now, now, Mephiles, no need to hurry" Eggman said with a sinister chuckle, and targeted his weakened foe. "You should really cool down first!" And with that, he fired a sudden burst of freezing-cold nitrogen-molecules at Mephiles, literally freezing Mephiles in place and covering his whole body with ice.
The dark being struggled, but to no avail; he was too weakened to break through it quickly enough. Even the fact that he had made it to the bridge leading directly to his ship didn't lighten things. Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic, Tails, Rouge, Amy, and Knuckles had all broken off from the fight, leaving Mephiles' remaining guards in an utterly hopeless situation against G.U.N. and Eggman's combined forces. Shadow now rushed over to Mephiles, and hefted the evil being off the ground. Then, with a triumphant roar, Shadow hurled Mephiles towards the floor of the bridge they stood upon. Upon impact, Mephiles shattered like the ice he was incased in. His ooze pooled into a helpless puddle. Smirking, Shadow ignited Dark Burner, and pointed it at Mephiles' shapeless mass, and said; "I really hope this hurts."
Meanwhile, Shade had finally broken through G.U.N. and Eggman's forces, bringing about forty Black Arms and ten Metarex with him. He held up his purple Chaos Emerald, and warped right in front of Shadow and the others, creating a powerful surge of energy that made them all fall backwards. Without hesitating, Shade used his Chaos Emerald to gather Mephiles' form into the air, and swiftly bore him towards the ship, the guards – and his enemy Mobians – right behind him.
"Ovator, we are leaving!" Shade yelled over a comm. he had linked to his ear. "Commence launch now!"
"Understood, Shade, sir!" Ovator replied. "This may cause a little rough discomfort, so hold on tight once you get onboard."
Two of the guards gave their lives holding Shadow and the others back, and Sonic was the first to break through and run after them. But Shade, Mephiles, and their remaining guards sealed the door behind him. Amy smashed at it with her hammer, but the metal didn't budge, not really to anybody's surprise.
"Guys? I think we're low on time!" Knuckles exclaimed, pointing upwards. Everyone looked up to see that a huge hatch in the ceiling was opening to allow the ship space to take off and leave the planet behind them. Even Shadow felt a tinge of hopelessness at this sight. Luckily, Rouge spotted a nearby terminal, and had an idea.
"Tails! See if you can get us in!" she exclaimed, pointing at it. Tails nodded, wasting no words and immediately started to type away at the computer linked to the ship.
Dr. Eggman, however, could hear the tell-tale sounds of the ship's engines warming up. Growling, he opened up a link to a nearby group of air-force mechs that served as fighters. This particular group was just outside the base, and had a clear view now that the hatch was open.
"Soldiers! Target that starship! Do not let it escape with the technology it stole from me!" Eggman growled into the comm.. "Disable it! Do not let it take off!" The mechs replied by firing missiles down the hatch and into the hangar. A G.U.N. officer nearby saw what was happening, and sharply faced Eggman.
"What are you doing?!" he shouted at the doctor. "The Mobians are still in there!" But the doctor didn't' seem to hear him.
Tails, meanwhile, finally got the door open. Sonic was about to compliment his friend... when Tails suddenly shoved him backwards. It turned out to save his life; a missile exploded right where Sonic had been standing a moment before. Tails clung to the starship, the part of the bridge he had been standing on now having collapsed below. To make matters worse, there seemed to be an explosion below, and everyone felt a rumble...
The starship's engines had ignited and roared to life, with Tails still clinging to the opening he had made.