Chapter 21
Inside the Black Comet, the many Dark Gaia minions were running around like madmen. Apparently some intruders had managed to get aboard and needed to be taken care of. The neon blue creatures were searching every corner of the comet for them, unaware of the third person onboard. The invisible figure was trying to make his way through, stopping whenever one of the creatures went past.
"Damn, I've gotten lost. And these creatures are running rampant" it whispered to itself. "I need to get the control room or…" He stopped when he heard voices. He leapt round a corner as Shadow and Chaos charged past him.
"I understand your frustration, Shadow" said Chaos as they ran past, "But is killing everything in sight going to help us find your friend?"
"No," the black hedgehog bluntly replied, "It just makes me feel better." The two carried on before Chaos suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Shadow asked but Chaos simply tilted his head to the side. Suddenly, he launched his arm out, sending it crashing into the wall. The invisible figure had managed to dodge the attack in time. With nowhere to hide, he revealed himself.
He was a purple chameleon with a coiled tail, white gloves with black gauntlets and purple shoes. He also had a yellow horn.
"Another minion, huh?" the chameleon said. "At least it may stand a chance." The chameleon then pulled out a shuriken before noticing Shadow.
"Shadow? You're here too?" he asked.
"Yes, it's been a while, Espio" Shadow replied. "This is Chaos and we're looking for the control room."
"Hm, this is what some people might call a coincidence" Espio said. "I want to find it too. If we take this comet out, the Twilight Army will suffer a major blow."
"Then let's hurry" Chaos told them, looking over Shadow's shoulder. "We have company."
The other two looked to see a group of Nightmares charging at them. Shadow smirked as he took a fighting stance. Espio copied this.
"It's been a while since I've fought" he said, readying his shuriken.
"Try not to slow us down" Shadow told him. Espio merely smirked back before throwing the ninja star forward, killing two of the creatures in one shot. Shadow then rocketed forward, sending his fist through another one, followed by a kick to the one behind. Another Nightmare tried smacking him but Chaos leaped over the Ultimate Life Form and brought his claws down on it. He then grabbed Shadow by the wrist and threw him forward. Shadow curled up into a ball, allowing him to smash past another group of Nightmares. But once he uncurled, he was knocked forward by a Dark Wizard. Shadow was about to fight back until he saw two more join it. He didn't want to take chances so he flipped back and landed on a red vine-like thing and grinded down it, making the wizards give chase.
"Espio! Those creatures are after Shadow!" Chaos called out to the chameleon.
"We have our own problems!" Espio called back, kicking away a Killer Bee before back flipping to avoid a Dark Eel's bite. Chaos could already sense a multitude of creatures making their way and knew that even he couldn't take them all on. He then noticed that they were standing on a ledge and beneath them was a passageway that stretched on for what seemed ages. He quickly stretched out his arm, grabbed Espio and jumped over the side. As they landed, they immediately ran.
"Thanks" said Espio. "Now what?"
Chaos thought for a while. "We need to find Shadow. I can trace him so just keep running!" Espio nodded as he followed the liquid creature, ignoring the several Nightmares that were chasing them.
Back with Shadow, he was hopping between several red vines as he dodged the wizard's attacks.
"These things just won't quit!" he yelled, jumping to another vine as a wizard threw a purple sphere at him. Shadow then flipped round so he was grinding backwards and fired a Chaos Spear at one of them but they saw it coming and dodged it. Frustrated, Shadow looked back to see that the vine was beginning to end. A plan quickly formed in his head. Facing forward, he crouched so he could pick up speed, before jumping off the end of the vine.
The wizards thought they had him and fired their attacks but Shadow twisted round and threw his own Chaos Spears at them, causing a miniature explosion. Before the creatures knew it, Shadow had dived through the smoke and kicked one to the ground. He then grabbed hold of one and swung it into the other, killing them both. Shadow smiled at his work before realising that he was falling into a black abyss.
"Damn it!" he yelled as he fell. Suddenly, the wall burst open to reveal Chaos and Espio. The two jumped into the air alongside Shadow as more wizards came after them.
"Shadow, follow our lead" Espio told him as he flipped upside down and expertly through several kunai into the wizards. Chaos then threw his fist straight into the opposite wall, creating a hole for them to escape through. He then grabbed Espio and threw him towards another wall. Espio stuck to it and ran along it to reach the hole. Chaos then grabbed Shadow and threw his other claw at the hole, grabbing onto the edge. The two managed to swing into the wall, allowing Chaos to drag them both up.
"Thanks, you two" Shadow said. The three looked forward to see a long canyon, which was swarming with all kinds of creatures. The three warriors weren't fazed one bit.
"Most people would see this as a problem" said Espio.
"I agree" answered Chaos, "But how do we get through?"
Shadow grinned as he took his rings off. "Just stay by me. This will all be over shortly."
Suddenly, Shadow exploded in a flash of yellow before hurtling forwards with Chaos and Espio running beside him, all of them surrounded in a yellow aura. The various monsters stood their ground but were quickly obliterated by the super fast heroes. Unfortunately for them however, they were going so fast, they shot off the path when they reached a corner and smashed through another wall. This time, the rubble fell from the ceiling, obscuring the hole.
Shadow had managed to come to a stop and put his rings back on as he took a look round the room. There seemed to be nothing in it except a circular door leading out. He then noticed someone was missing.
"Where's Espio?" he asked.
Chaos looked around and he noticed that the chameleon was no longer with them. He did notice something above them. "Shadow! Up there!"
Shadow looked up and gasped when he saw two cages holding the trophies of Amy and Blaze.
"What are these two doing here?" Shadow asked his comrade.
"They were most probably kidnapped in an attempt to divide us" said Chaos. "Dark Gaia wouldn't want an army against him."
Suddenly, several pink spores descended from the ceiling and covered the two females before they floated to the ground and took shape. Now, Amy and Blaze were facing them and glaring evilly with their yellow eyes.
"Pathetic clones" Shadow growled as he took up a battle pose. "Let's destroy them quickly."
Chaos nodded and charged at the fake Amy. It responded quite quickly by swinging its hammer at Chaos' head, reducing him to droplets. He quickly recovered and began to spin rapidly, his arms stretched out. The Amy copy followed suit with its hammer and the two began to clash. After a moment, Chaos stopped and grabbed the clone's arm and swung it past him towards the wall. To his surprise, it managed to push its feet against the wall and jump back to the water creature, striking the hammer down on his head.
"This creature is much tougher than I thought" Chaos thought as he recovered from the second hit. "If only I had the Chaos Emeralds."
As he thought this, the fake Amy had thrown its hammer at him. Fortunately, he had quick reflexes and caught it. Chaos smirked to himself (somehow) and prepared to attack but the Amy doppelganger rushed forward at surprising speeds. Chaos tried using the hammer to defend himself but the clone flipped over it as he swung it. It then swung its boot round, knocking Chaos to the side as he dropped the hammer.
"How is this possible?" Chaos said before the Amy clone smashed the hammer down on him, reducing him to a puddle on the floor.
Meanwhile, Shadow was having just as much trouble. Every punch he threw, the Blaze clone blocked with its own. Shadow tried kicking it but it copied that too. Shadow then jumped back before flipping over the fake but when he turned round to attack, the Blaze copy leaned back to avoid it. It then flipped forward and swung its heel down into Shadow's head, knocking him to the floor.
As he pushed himself up, the evil cat covered its hand with fire and swung it up, slashing Shadow into the air as he was injured by the burns. The fake then jumped above him and swung its heel down, sending Shadow crashing into the floor again. It then faced downwards and spiralled down, encased in fire but Shadow managed to roll back to avoid it.
"This thing's much more powerful than the original" the black hedgehog told himself. "But that doesn't mean it can't be beaten."
He then threw a multitude of Chaos Spears at the fake but to his shock, it curved its body to avoid them. It then shot out two fireballs that Shadow was forced to jump over. But they hit the floor behind him, causing an explosion that knocked him forward. As he sailed through the air, the clone jumped and shot both its feet out into Shadow, sending him hurtling into the wall.
The fake Blaze began to charge at the fallen hero but was sent flying back when something invisible collided with its face. The fake Amy noticed this and a weakened Chaos used this to retreat next to Shadow. The two fakes were now focused on the now revealed Espio.
"Where the hell were you?!" Shadow cried at the chameleon.
"Forming a plan" Espio bluntly replied. As the fakes advanced on them, Shadow noticed several tags dotted around the room. Espio must've placed them there when he was invisible. Suddenly, the chameleon formed some hand signs before the tags blew up around the clones, As the dust cleared, only their trophies remained, which then dissolved into pink spheres.
"Impressive work" complimented Chaos.
"Thanks, now let's get them down" said Espio, before throwing some shuriken at the chains that held the real girls. The cages fell down and broke, leaving the trophies unharmed. Shadow and Espio then touched the bases and brought them back to life.
"What the…?" Blaze gasped.
"Where am I?" Amy asked, before noticing her friend. "Blaze! You're OK!"
"Amy? Don't tell me you got kidnapped too?" Blaze responded.
"Ahem!" Shadow said to get their attention. The girls then noticed the three warriors.
"Oh, Shadow! What are you guys doing here?" asked Amy.
"We aim to take out this comet so the Twilight Army can't spread more of those creatures" explained Espio.
"OK, let's go!" said Blaze.
"No," said Shadow. "We're going to head to the control room. You two are staying here. We don't want to be held back!"
"Held back?!" Amy screamed. "Why I ought to…" She never finished her sentence as the three had already left the room, the door spiralling open for them.
"I can't believe they just left us here!" Amy wailed.
Blaze turned to the angry hedgehog and grinned. "Well, just because they told us to stay behind, doesn't mean that we should."
Amy smiled back before the two girls began to follow where Shadow's group went.