I don't own Sonic or Sega.
21. Extremely Inconvenient Showdown
"Holy crap." Said Knuckles. Shade had passed out and they had found a long cut running down her leg, while Laoch's leg was completely useless. "You can remove the leg part for now." Said an awakened Shade. "First off, what the freak happened?" Asked Sonic. Laoch, a smile on his face, grunted when he spoke. "What was a friendly scuffle turned into a battle for supremacy, that's what happened." "Well now you're both injured and we're approaching the Echidna!" Shouted Shadow. Sonic screamed in horror. When they had removed the leg attachment of Laoch's armor, they discovered badly burnt leg that had scars and cuts running down the side. "We shouldn't have done that. We put the whole group in jeopardy, not to mention Laoch's healing. If you think that's bad, you should see his left arm…" Said Shade. "Aw, look what happened!" Said a chilling voice.
The Echidna was looking down from the sky. "It appears as if it's just you and Shadow." Said the Echidna. "Evil as he may be, for some reason the Echidna won't fight a disabled or seriously harmed person, only if he did it himself." Laoch grunted. "This will be for the day only. Use these crutches." Said Tails. Laoch had a cast on his leg and the boot of the armor back on his foot. Shade was resting in her tent. "Idiots…" Muttered Shadow, and they charged the Echidna.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, thought Sonic. The Echidna was eventually going to get to the point where they'll need to power to their super forms just to match him, and then… he didn't want to think about it. "Chaos Control!" Sonic and everybody else but the Echidna and Shadow froze. Shadow went wide-eyed. "What?" The Echidna gave an evil grin. "That's right, Shadow. I've gotten so powerful that not even time and chaos itself can't contain me." Shadow was speechless. Time continued and Shadow got nailed in the face. He then turned to Sonic and the same thing ensured. He then felt a sharp pain in his side, and life seemingly drained out of him. He turned to see a smile on Shade and Laoch's face. They had thrown their leech blades into his side and absorbed it's power, completely healing them in the process. Laoch snapped the leg piece back on and threw the cast to the ground. He turned to Shade. "You ready?" She nodded and they charged.
The Echidna was weakened by the blades and drained of a bit of power, and couldn't keep up with the onslaught. "Chaos Control!" Time froze, even the Echidna. Shadow smiled. If he's weakened enough. He hit a combination and the Echidna went flying. "Chaos Control!" He left in a flash of light. Laoch was walking back to his tent when he once again got hit with a dart and was captured by the Nocturnus clan.