Wielders of Chaos

by Super Shadowsonic

Sonic and his friends were defeated. They lost everything, their homes, their planet, and their lives. Now overlanders most stand up and fight for them equipped only with the powers and guidance of the fallen heroes gifted to them. It's a fight to end the darkness that has encased the planet. But can mere children succeed where heroes have failed?

21. Darkest Hour

The Wielders of Chaos part 21

"Darkest Hour,"

The darkness was everywhere. It was night night at this time, and it showed why no one should be out during this hour. The beasts were unleashed in all kinds of ways. They lash out at one another they also operate on a much more primitive mindset attacking everything that moves. It was so disturbing that if one had any source of light they could actually SEE the darkness swirl and twist in the air. Night night has always been pretty intense, but the gravity of the feeling was greatly overpowering. The air was so thick if you inhaled it you were start coughing as if you inhaled a poisonous gas. The taste of the air is bitter and sour. As if the air itself was past its expiration date. The darkness was all consuming, but it got worse farther ahead. Where a ginormous structure stood miles away, but it looked large even five miles away standing on crushed mountain tops.

"Cinos pay attention," Kalia reprimanded the boy who was staring off into space. The Ixis wizard in training and carrier of the Ultimate Lifeform Shadow the hedgehog turned around.

"Sorry…I was a little thrown by that place," Cinos said turning back toward his team consisting of Kalia the carrier of Rouge, and E-123 Omega, the walking arsenal. "That place looks incredible from here,"

"Well we made it here now we need to go over our plan to make sure we all know what we're doing," Kalia said.

"Yeah…the plan…what was it?" Cinos asked.

"It still throws me how such an airhead can be Shadow's Carrier…which means Shadow isn't as astute as he claims to be," Rouge teased from the cyan emerald from Kalia's hip.

"What are you getting at Rouge?" Shadow responded rather sharply at the jab from the red emerald on the buckle of Cinos' belt.

"Well we have similar traits to our carriers which allows the connection to be so strong,"

"The key word being SIMILARITIES, not copies of us," Shadow asserted.

"Shadow you zone out all the time," Cinos pointed out. This made Rouge snicker at the thought of Shadow acting like Cinos.

"But it just means we have to run through the plan all over again," Kalia said. "Alright so Team Dark, this is a really important mission we're one right now, so we need to be at the best we've ever been,"

"WHAT IS THE PLAN?" Omega asked in his robotic voice.

"Omega you weren't listening either?" Kalia exclaimed indignantly. She let out a frustrated sigh since she couldn't simply run through it like she wanted to. "Okay, our mission is to gather as much information about Mephiles' fortress as we can. Points of entry, weaknesses, guards, and gauge what kind of power Mephiles is in command of in this moment of time. I have a camera with night vision picture capabilities so I can take pictures without a flash. But above all else this mission is covert guys, we're trying not to get caught," Omega and Cinos gave Kalia blank stares. "I mean it, we are not going in there guns blazing!" Cinos and Omega both looked down in disappointment. "Now we gather the information we came to get and we get out of here with our lives,"

"Alright…but how covert can we really be when Mephiles can sense the emeralds we have, and probably knows we've been on our way the entire time. We might as well go in guns blazing,"

"No, I have an idea around that, Omega open up," Kalia turned to the robot. Omega stood up straight and opened his chest compartment to reveal a tray with two slots. "Omega has thick armor, he can block the signal of the emeralds I tested it out before we left. With our emeralds inside him Mephiles and his monsters won't be able to track us,"

"Do you hear yourself right now we can't go in there weakened?!" Cinos exclaimed. "Besides I thought with your sneak abilities you and Rouge could conceal your emerald from detection,"

"Mephiles is on a different level entirely, so I don't know if it will work on him so it's better safe than sorry. Besides we're gonna have to and only our chaos enhanced powers will be gone, all of their natural abilities will still be with us,"

"So that would leave me with super speed, fortitude, slightly enhanced strength since I don't have the emerald, and my limited Ixis magic skills. With you, you won't be able to fly, sneaking abilities are cut, wall cling, and your strength will be cut too. Your more disadvantage then I am,"

"Yet you're the one whining," Kalia said placing her emerald in the tray, although she was begrudging to take her hand off. "The two of us will head inside alone. Since Omega isn't exactly built for stealth he should map out the perimeter of the area. Get a layout of everything five miles out from the structure,"

"Honestly Omega will be the safest one between the three of us!" Cinos said unhooking his emerald from his belt.

"I don't know if I like this plan Kalia. Rouge and I won't be there if you get into trouble to protect you if there is trouble. We could take the risk of a direct approach,"

"We can't Shadow," Kalia asserted.

"I know you want to protect Cinos Shadow, especially since he's so… him. But we can't protect them all the time and from everything. If they're willing to take this risk we can't stand in their way, and we'll know the second they're in trouble and alert Omega to go back them up. They'll be fine,"

Shadow grunts in thought. Cinos holds the emerald up for a moment. "I'll be careful Shadow I promise you. You won't lose another friend…" Cinos assured as he sat the emerald in Omega's tray. The tray slide into Omega's chest and closed up.

"EMERALDS SECURED, INITIATING THE MISSION NOW," Omega turned to stomp off.

"Ready?" Kalia asked touching Cinos' arm seeing the stern showing in his eyes shining despite the dark around them.

"Yeah, want me to carry you?"

"Sure," Cinos picked up Kalia bridal style then rushed off in a burst of speed. Cinos noticed that he was also considerably slower as well. He was barely able to reach Mach 1 when he started out. "So, you and Shadow are a lot closer than I thought. What did you mean about losing a friend?"

Cinos glanced at Kalia before returning his attention back to the front to see their target closing in. Cinos didn't feel right telling Shadow's personal history to someone he never approved to tell when he doesn't like talking about it at all. However, he assumed Rouge knew and Omega did too. He and Kalia are teammates so it should be allowed to share. "Shadow lost someone really precious to him a real long time ago. Her name was Maria she was his only friend and one of the most important people to him in his life. She's the main inspiration for why he is who he is,"

"What happened to her?" Kalia asked.

"There was…a terrible accident aboard a place called Space Colony Ark. However, that was just the cover story. The truth is the military believed that weapons of mass destruction were being made there and they were going to shut the place down. They captured Shadow's creator and killed dozens of people. Shadow barely escaped only because Maria sent him out through a space pod right before she was shot and killed," Kalia winced. "He's always had a distaste for humanity because of that. When he reappeared again he almost assisted in destroying the world! But he realized that wasn't what Maria wanted and decided to be the champion Maria saw him to be,"

"He told you all this?" Kalia asked shocked.

"Not in so many words, but I got the gist. I'm his carrier after all,"

"Wow…I always heard Shadow was someone to be feared, but to hear it all sounds so tragic,"

"It was rough for him I'm sure,"

"Rouge and I are partners because she instills me with so much confidence. I would never imagine myself doing stuff like this a year ago. I couldn't stand up to anyone my entire life always being pushed around. I was destined to be the world's doormat. But she showed me that I didn't have to. To take what I wanted with my own power. She gave me freedom and it felt amazing standing up to all kinds of things. I'll be honest with you right now…without her here right now…I'm kinda scared,"

"Well let's make our heroes proud then. Get your camera ready," Cinos said as the approached the base of the mountain. Kalia raised her camera ready to snap a few shots. With the scenery passing by so quickly she had to get the best and most detailed shots she could. She advised Cinos to slow down a bit so she could obtain more quality then quantity. Cinos did as she asked, but found himself feeling vulnerable as he slowed down to a running speed instead of his rocket shoes. Kalia tried her best to steady the camera to make the shots as visible and clear as possible. Cinos approaches the base of the mountain to stop and marvel at the sheer size of the castle from close up. It was amazing to say the least, as he felt chills surrounded him with dark power leaking out every open part of the castle structure. The mountain is extremely sturdy though holding the entire structure. Kalia snapped a few picture of the mountain base and noting any weaknesses. "Well no guards,"

"Well I guess in retrospect what would even be crazy enough to step foot in this place. Who needs guards when it's hard to step outside without getting torn to shreds anyway?"

"Here we go," Cinos summoned a small tornado under his feet as he launched them both into the air towards the castle structure. Cinos and Kalia rose high into the air hovering over the castle to get a bird's eye view of the entire structure from above. Six pointed towers stood erect in on the side of the mountain in the center of the castle and on the corners, walkways were also constructed alongside the edge of the cliffs, and an entrance that was made of thick large wooden doors. Cinos lands in front the entrance. "Let's go,"

"You wanna walk through the front door?" Kalia questioned incredulously.

"Why not, door was left open?" Cinos pointed out. Indeed the door was opened a crack as if someone had simply forgotten to close it when entering. The stone path leading to the front door was barren of anything but a few creepy looking statues that appeared to be based of Solaris, the Sun god. Kalia snapped a few pictures then followed Cinos carefully, but both froze on the spot. They hear a rather mean growl from something that sounded quite large. The door to the entrance was pushed open to reveal three sets of dark red eyes glaring at them. "Dark Feral?" Cinos questioned raising his fist. The threes eyes stuck their heads out to reveal long snouts with dog like teeth and ears. "Dogs?" As the beast stepped out the shadows they saw only one body.

"Dog," Kalia corrected. "Dark Cerberus," She raised her camera to take a picture. The demon hound unleashed a feral cry of rage as all three heads glared at each other. "His guard dog,"

Cinos summoned the wind to lift them both in the air as the hound lunged for the both of them. One of the heads snapped its jaw at them but the two heroes narrowly avoid it. Kalia lands on her feet then quickly rushes to get underneath the beast. One of the heads tries to snap at her but Cinos smacks it away by tackling it with his shoulder. The dog raised its claws then slashed at him, but he flipped backward narrowly avoiding the attack. "Damn lot of close calls. I'm used to being so far ahead of movements," Cinos unleashed a lightning blast at the beast making the beast growl in pain. The heads on the right and left open their jaws to unleash a sphere of purple flames down on him. Cinos kicked up a tornado under his feet to launch into the air, but the demonic flames caught onto the wind catch fire as flames grew with Cinos. This provided a bright light as the flames got bigger as Cinos rose. Cinos dispelled the wind to stop the flames, but it didn't stop him from being slightly burned. Cinos used his hover shoes to slow his decent down but he was left open, as the beast swung its tail into his side and sending him to the ground. The beast glowered down at him snarling with dark black teeth edging closer to him. Suddenly Kalia jumps off the middle dog's head to land in front of Cinos. The middle shook his head as they continued to advance. Kalia held up a detonator then pressed the button. Suddenly, parts of the dog began exploding in sequence. The dog let out a squeal especially after Cinos finished it off with a lightning blast that knocked it off the edge of the cliff. "Whew…."

"That was tough, we'd better get moving before that thing gets its second wind," Kalia said as she led the way into the entrance of the castle with Cinos on her heels.

"I guess Mephiles is drawing inspiration for his monsters from all kinds of places," Cinos said. They both entered the castle to be thoroughly surprised to see the castle was indeed lit rather well but only with candles. This threw them for quite the loop. "Wait, he covers the entire planet in darkness, but not his house?"

"That is just like a lousy house guest to dump all their trash in someone else's trashcan," Kalia said as she snapped a few pictures. "This does change things though,"

"Where should we go now?" Cinos asked leading the way deeper into the castle, still surprised to see light, floating candles with purple flames, but still light. The candles didn't melt so the flame stayed as bright as it possibly could.

"We explore. Look for stuff that's important," Kalia said.

"How will I know it's important?"

"If it's guarded, hidden, or something that can be used to our advantage," Kalia suggested.

"Yeah, let's just wonder around the house of the demon that's trying to kill us. Never mind we're uninvited and beat up his dog,"

"You have a point there, get in and get out," Kalia said. Suddenly, they both heard growls around them. They both turned to see Dark Ferals approach from both direction coming from the walls. Kalia and Cinos stood back to back.

"Yeah and let's try to stay alive," Cinos added. They both leaped into action with Cinos sliding licking up flames with his rocket skates knocking a beast back. He swung his leg to knock the other into the wall but it merged with it. Cinos sent a lightning blast after it for good measure and he heard a howl of pain to confirm a direct hit. Kalia held her own well swinging herself over the beast then performing a back roll of another beast. She performed a vertical split just in time to avoid a lunge. She sprung back to her feet to throw a small bomb at the beast right in its face. The impact made it jerk back, and the explosion took its head right off. Kalia tried to move as if Rouge was still with her, but she realized the movements didn't come as fluid as they usually did. She took greater notice of this when one of the Dark Ferals managed to run its claws across her back making her shout in surprise and pain. "Kalia!" Cinos leaped into action trying to get to Kalia, but the beast would not let up. It occurred to him that more were coming in then they were taking out. "Gotta put an end to this!"

"We have to move we can't be pinned down here much longer!" Kalia called as she slid on her feet avoiding the claws of another monster. The diving monsters were reckless, but they had room to be since in this hall they had the two of them surrounded on all sides. The numbers kept increasing as more beast poured in from the walls. Kalia barely managed to take a steady picture of the action before having to suddenly dodge out of the wall of a creature's teeth. Her saving grace being that it's brighter in here then it is outside. Kalia swung leg backward in a back vertical kick. She followed through with the move to flip forward bringing her other food down hard in the form of an axe kick on top of another beast's head into the ground. "Let's move!" She catapulted herself off the beast's head to flip back into the air.

Cinos didn't need to be told twice as he launched himself into the air guided by a whirlwind. He snatched Kalia from the air then began skating alongside the wall then after passing the crowd began dashing down the corridor. Cinos didn't bother to see if the creatures were following, he assumed they were, plus Kalia's pleas to go faster confirmed this. He allowed Kalia the luxury of looking back while he was concerned about what was in front of him. He knew that looking back automatically slowed you down splitting your concentration. "Hang on!" Cinos alerted. He suddenly placed his skates behind him as he boost forward. He was going fast enough to gain a Mach Cone like he would with Shadow in his hip, but it was still much faster then what he was going. He knew that anything less would get them killed. Kalia alerted him that they were starting to fall behind. Cinos felt like each corridor looked almost exactly alike from each other, like nothing distinctive to direct anyone to where they are or where they're going. It was frustrating, something Kalia also took note off, but they were moving way too fast for her to take pictures.

"I need pictures Cinos!"

"Now!?" Cinos exclaimed looking at her.

"We still have a mission to do, we have to do it. Right now your breezing through this castle isn't getting us anywhere,"

"But-,"

"Just stop every few seconds take a few pictures then move!"

Cinos relented to her. "I thought I was supposed to be leader…"

"Shadow runs the old Team Dark, this is the New Team Dark and you're just the figurehead,"

"Good know, get your camera ready," Cinos screeched to a halt. Kalia snapped a few pictures in random directions trying to get as much as she could as quickly as she could. When the camera finished taking its last picture Cinos was off again before the monsters could catch up and in another direction to help with evasiveness. "These pictures are gonna make no sense,"

"That's something to decide about later!" Suddenly giant hands appeared out the grown covered in purple energy and claws. Cinos gasped screeching to a halt.

"Neat," Kalia said snapping a photo. The hands lunged at them with Cinos pulling a face of panic the entire time. He jumped back to jump onto the back of the palm, then leaped through the fingers of the other, and all while Kalia took snapshots. Some included Cinos' panicked face.

"That was crazy!" Cinos exclaimed.

"Seems like anything can happen in here," Kalia remarked.

"Now you're getting it…" remarked a voice. Cinos screeched a halt looking around. "This way…" the voice called. It sounded so deep, evil, and obviously leading them into a trap. Cinos looked back to see their way was suddenly sealed off leaving them no option but to follow. Kalia wormed her way out of Cinos' arms to begin walking forward since Cinos wasn't moving.

"What are you doing?" Cinos demanded grabbing her arm. "The creepy voice asks you to come closer and you listen? Were you that kid that believed there was candy in the stranger's white van too?"

"We don't have a choice, we're on his turf, his rules, and as we just saw he can make anything happen. If he was going to kill us, he would've…" Kalia said sullenly. "Worst case is that he kills us, but at least he won't have the emeralds," Cinos released the girls arm after that then followed her as they ventured toward where the voice had called.

"Warmer, you're both getting warmer…" the voice teased. Cinos and Kalia were constantly on guard for anything that may pop out but it was difficult to watch the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and each other without trying to concentrate on the voice too. It was difficult and made them wish their heroes were there. They would've made up for their lack of ability to see the entire room, but not just that but the heroes always made their protégé feel much safer. It was odd…Cinos had never been scared throughout this entire adventure until the moment he relinquished his emerald. They entered through a doorway halfway sticking out their heads to scope out the area first. They see that it appears to be some sort of ballroom, lit up by a giant chandelier covered with candles lit with purple flames. It gave off the vibe perfectly, were normal ballrooms were painted brilliant colors given an almost heavenly feel. This one appeared to be straight from underworld. Skulls decorated the walls, pillars black and covered with thorn vines, an enteral fog that hung just about the floor so one couldn't see where they stepped, and ceiling painted pictures of demons acting as if they're angels in heaven all having a merry time. It was pretty disturbing to say the least about it all. The two ventured toward the center of the room until suddenly the candles on the chandelier burst into a dazzling show of flames as the flames grew bigger and brighter. The two stared up at the show watching carefully. A figure appeared through the flames standing before them and Cinos' eyes opened widely seeing them.

"Who is that?" Kalia questioned. The figure stepped out of the flames to reveal themselves. It was what appeared to be Shadow, but paler, purple stripes on his quills, no mouth, and dark green eyes. The colors were inverted a bit, but it was an exact replica of Shadow.

"S-Shadow?" Cinos questioned stuck in a stupor. The hedgehog floats down to the ground slowly to stand before them his head tilted downward.

"Hello Carrier of Shadow the Hedgehog, nice to finally meet you," the creature stated rather casually despite him having no mouth.

"W-who are you…you…you're not like the other monsters here…your different…in an entire league of your own," Cinos said in a shaky voice. He was terrified at what he was seeing. Not only a copy of his hero, but some strange demonic colored version no less. What was Mephiles playing at?

"He…he couldn't be…" Kalia began with fear dripping out of her voice, too scared to even take a picture.

"What's the matter my dear, I'm ready for that close up?" The creature gestured towards Kalia's camera. "Allow me," He raised his hand and Kalia's arm rose beyond her control. She gasped as she fought for control back, but couldn't resist it. She cried in panic as she felt her fingers move until suddenly she heard a clicking sound and then her hand relaxed. "There, would you like to take another perhaps?"

"H-How did you do that?" Kalia asked/demanded.

"Now children, I know that the youth has lost a great sense of awareness of the outside world, but please. You cannot be so daft as to not ascertain my identity by now. The Carrier of Shadow the Hedgehog knows don't you boy?"

Cinos gulped pushing down the lump in his throat. "…M….M-Mephiles….."

"Oh my god…." Kalia breathed out in complete horror. The monster that was plunging the world in darkness, slowly killing it, and the source of the chaos and madness spread throughout the entire world stood in front of them. They had no chance against this person with their emeralds, which is why they were still gathering allies. But now, seeing him in person, they wondered what was in their mind to think they could challenge someone like this. They felt all hope drain from their bodies slowly as standing began to seem pointless.

Cinos swallowed her fear then stood strong again. He knew what they had to do. "KALIA RUN!" Cinos screamed as he rushed Mephiles head on. He knew this wasn't a smart plan, a good plan, or even a plan to begin with. But he needed to do something since they weren't ready for this, but no means. Cinos laced his hands with lighting as he grappled with Mephiles head on. Mephiles didn't even seem bothered to be taking on lightning head on, possibly ignoring 120,000 volts like it was nothing. Cinos struggled as best he could but found Mephiles wasn't budging, hell, Mephiles wasn't even pushing he was just standing there! He pulled back his fist to swing it at Mephiles' face. Mephiles simply spun around the punch easily barely exhibiting any real effort or awareness of a threat. He was behind Cinos now he raised his fist then gently tapped Cinos' back.

However this tap was equivalent to a haymaker from a bus!

Cinos' body smashed into the floor breaking into the brick covered with a dust cloud. Kalia screamed in horror seeing Cinos go down so easy and Mephiles be so casually about it, almost surprised even. "Disappointing, he lasted a lot less longer then I thought he would. Of course if you had your emeralds that would be a different story wouldn't it,"

Kalia ignored Cinos' plea to flee, besides there was nowhere to go. They either fight or die. Kalia came in furiously swinging her legs around and around trying to catch Mephiles in one of her attacks. Mephiles saw this as a game though and decided that he would dodge them this time. Mephiles stepped backwards quickly avoiding each of Kalia fast strikes. She struck with a vertical kick, flipped into an axe kick, a secret kick, a hook kick, backflip kick, and anything else she could make up on the fly. However, each attack was met with no success only striking air. She lacked Rouge's finesse and speed. Mephiles suddenly flashed in front of her shocking her. Mephiles gently places his hand against her stomach then lightly pushes. Again his strength is far vaster then expected as that push equaled being thrown out of a moving vehicle and into the unforgiving wall where her body slammed into. She slammed into a pillar with the thorns, cutting into her body and making her gasp for air as it was knocked right out her. She felt her bones shift, her body shut down, and blood trickle out of her throat. The thorns held her against the wall as she twitched trying to control the muscle spasm from the shock.

"I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around this. You mean to tell me, they actually sent you two here knowing that I would be here and that encountering me was a possibility," Mephiles shakes his head. "Sooooo, disappointing, and I thought I might get to use my puppet if you defeated this simple construct I crafted. This thing barely has a fraction of my power,"

And it finally dawned on Cinos and Kalia just what exactly they were trying to fight. A monster…a complete monster with unfathomable amounts of power. Mephiles, if he wasn't bluffing, was saying that the creature in front of them was merely a construct he created, and apparently a relatively weak one. Also, he has something even stronger then this thing, and then Mephiles himself. Cinos staggered back to his feet as he looked like he collapse in a moment's notice. Kalia began crying as the dread of it all began to come crashing down on her. She was so stupid to think this was a good idea. Going in without Chaos Emeralds, in the lion's den without any form of protection and it didn't even matter if they did have them. Mephiles corralled them here in the first place no matter how many turns they took Mephiles could manipulate this entire castle, they would only go where he wanted them to go.

"Shut…up…." Cinos flicked an air bullet at Mephiles didn't even blink as if a soft breeze just slapped him in the face.

"I think it's only fitting to send you off like only your mentor can boy," Mephiles raised his hand as sparks of dark energy began to pulsate around it. Cinos recognized it instantly and gasped as he prepared himself. "Nega Chaos-,"

An explosion from behind Mephiles cut him off as he turned his head, as he turned though he was greeted by a metal fist slamming into his jaw throwing him across the room and into a pillar and breaking through it. Cinos gasped as he looked to see that it was Omega, battle torn, but still rarying to go. "SENSORS INDECATED HIGH LEVELS OF DISTRESS, REMEDYING," Omega's chest opened to reveal the two Chaos Emeralds of Cinos and Kalia. Cinos raised his hand already feeling strength return to him as the Emerald flew towards him and he snatched it from the air. Omega helped Kalia peel herself from the wall before giving her Emerald to her as well. Mephiles rose out the smoke like a vampire would a coffin. "THREAT DETECTED!"

"Cinos will you be alright!?" Shadow asked clear worry in his voice and he trying not to even hide it.

"I'll be fine he only hit me once…" Cinos said caressing the emerald in his grasp. The emerald's energy restored his strength, he felt the injury he sustained to lessen as he felt like he could take hits like that every day. His eyes casted toward Kalia who was picking herself up much slower. Rouge was tough and the emerald did help, but she didn't have the power of the Ultimate Lifeform, she'd need more time.

"Kalia! Oh my god, this will never happen again you hear me. I knew I should've said something, I knew it, I was just so pigheaded…" Rouge cried in such genuine concern she almost scared herself. She couldn't believe she let her confidence in her carrier cloud her judgment. It wasn't a good idea she didn't have what it took yet.

"Now, I suppose the real fight is about to begin?" Mephiles questioned.

"You bet your ass it is!" Cinos exclaimed speeding forward this time speed restored. He understood this was a construct, he also understood that it was holding back, but he had no idea by how much. He was reminded when he rushed forward with a spin dash meeting Mephiles's fist this time in a full swing and the resulting shockwave knocked him straight into the ground.

"Cinos let me take over!" Shadow ordered.

"I got this!" Cinos protested resisting Shadow. Shadow didn't want to risk snatching the reins with Cinos in mid fight. Cinos unleashed a multi arrowed Chaos Spear that smashed into Mephiles actually making the construct slide back. The attack kept being pressed though as Omega started unleashing a barrage of bullets at Mephiles. Mephiles created a shield to make the bullets bounce off him harmlessly. Cinos circled around the barrier to slam into Mephiles from behind making him grunt. Kalia followed up with a powerful screw kick that slammed Mephiles into the ground and slide him against the floor as he was plowed into it. Kalia backed off once she felt that was through and returned to the side of her teammates. They waited with batted breath to see at least some damage from their efforts.

"The New Team Dark, peh, you're going to have to do a lot better than that to defeat me," Mephiles said standing mostly unscathed from the last rounds of attacks.

"Chaos Inferno!" Cinos exclaimed. Omega raised his hands to begin charging his laser cannons. Cinos grabbed his emerald to activate Chaos Control while touching Kalia. This made time move to a stop as Cinos and Kalia rushed forward to begin pounding away at the Mephiles construct. They combined attacks punching, kicking, and slamming the creature into the ground. Cinos and Kalia landed a opposite ends of one another then rushed the construct on head on then both brought themselves forward in a hook kick that plowed the Mephiles construct into the floor. They kicked off for both of them flip off to land on Omega's shoulders, as it appeared the laser was almost done charging. Cinos snapped his fingers for time to return to normal and Omega unleash a super concentrated purple laser cannon that was so large it ripped through the floor, the wall, and possibly outside the castle. Omega's beam ended and the robot's arms grew slack as they feel at his sides. Cinos slid off Omega's shoulder to inspect the smoke closely. "I think we got him…"

As if to show how wrong he is a purple colored spear rushed out the smoke as it parts in it's wake. Cinos twisted his torso while throwing up his hands to dodge the attack. However, it was heading straight for Kalia positioned at Omega's side who was severely drained from that last attack.

"KALIA!" Rouge yelled. Kalia snapped up to see the spear, but she saw it for only a moment. Her vision was obscured as Omega wrapped his arms around the girl then turned for the arrow to pierce right into the back of his armor.

"OMEGA!" Kalia screamed. Suddenly a rush of purple spears began rushing out the smoke making Cinos dance back on his feet avoiding them as best he could. However, he was distraught, exhausted, and using Shadow's chaos powers were always taxing. Shadow wanted to take over so badly, but knew that he would be putting Cinos's body in more danger. A few spears managed to find their way home in Cinos' shoulder, thigh, and hip. Omega was still holding Kalia firmly in his grip not allowed the girl to pull away to find a different form of cover. Omega's armor was holding, but Omega was getting severely damaged as Kalia heard and saw some of the nuts and bolts of Omega falling on the floor around them. The spears finally stopped as the construct revealed himself.

"Yes, this is the power I was expecting," Mephiles stated as the construct was breaking apart, it didn't have a right arm anymore, it looked like cracked glass. "Such a shame you have to die now," Mephiles took a single step for spikes to shoot up in a row toward the prone Kalia and Omega. Omega, with the last of his strength, threw Kalia to the side as the spikes run straight through his metal shell.

"OMEGA!" Cinos and Kalia scream. At this moment, Rouge and Shadow take over, knowing that if they continued to stand by then no one would make it out. Rouge rushed toward the construct elegantly avoiding each spear that it launched towards her. She began spinning in the form of a top as she swung her feet into the construct's face like a never ending barrage of kicks. She kicked off of the construct just as he raised his hand to respond. Shadow burst forward in a spin dash that literally took out the construct's legs breaking them apart. It hit the floor harshly as Shadow brought down a full powered Chaos Lance down on the construct shattering it more. Shadow didn't stop though as his rage flowed ever strong as he continued to rain down red death down on the construct over and over again. Shadow would've kept going but something caught his eye and he instantly teleported away just as a spike lashed out at where he was a moment ago. The smoke cleared to see only the torso, part of the left arm, and half of the construct's face was left.

"What's the matter Shadow, don't have the strength to finish this simple toy,"

"No, it's not that," Shadow growled. A shadow loomed over Mephiles as he looked up to see Rouge crash down on his head smashing it to pieces against the ground as the rest of it went limp.

"I called dibs," Rouge growled grinding her boot into the remains of the creature.

"We're gone," Shadow said sternly. Rouge nods as she rushes over to Omega with Shadow meeting her there after scouting things out first.

"But you're gonna miss the best surprise of all…" Mephiles' voice again rang in the air. Shadow and Rouge looked towards it to gasp in terror of what they saw. Two more constructs waltz out from the darkness of the other room, and they are followed by what appeared to be a black hedgehog with spikes turned upward. However, the hedgehog looked familiar.

"Is…is that…?" Rouge shakily spoke as she tried to fight the horror working its way through her system.

"Sonic's body…" Shadow snarled in complete discontent. Mephiles was truly much viler then he had ever thought was possible.

"Now, you die, all over again," Mephiles' voice echoed from all three shells. Each one raised their hand to unleash bluish hue of energy that focused on them.

"Rouge!" Shadow yelled.

"You'll find your Chaos Control won't work Shadow. This is my world, and I control everything here," True to his words Shadow's Chaos Control was not working. He didn't know what to do when he was trapped in Mephiles' shadowed world.

"Shadow…let me…take over…" Cinos gasped in utter exhaustion.

"Cinos, now isn't the time,"

"I can get us out, trust me…"

"Cinos you can't-,"

"Please…I don't want to lose everything…"

Shadow stared down the charge shot about to be fired in their direction. Shadow had nothing, so he figured he may as well give Cinos his chance. They switched and Cinos' hand flew to his chest as his heart felt like it would explode in a moment's notice. He got control of himself though as he motioned for Rouge to come close to Omega's remains. She did as he motioned without question, desperation lacing her face. Cinos places his hands on the ground then closed his eyes to concentrate. He'd never done this before, and was only guessing how it worked. But he was extremely gifted…so maybe he may be just gifted enough.

"Good-bye again, Shadow the hedgehog," Mephiles called as he fired his blast toward the three members of Team Dark. The shadows shifted under the light and then an explosion. Mephiles' puppets studied the dust cloud for any remains. When it did clear he was thoroughly shocked to see that there was nothing left, nothing. He knew he was powerful, but he was aiming on leaving something left. Evern a robot part should be around so where could they have gone. Mephiles was quiet as if searching and then a laugh escaped into the air. "HAHAHA, well done, well done indeed carrier of Shadow the Hedgehog. Managing such a feat was a stroke of geniuses I'll give him that. But that was luck of the draw and nothing more. I suppose there is no point in chasing after them…they've already moved too faraway now that they are beyond my walls. I shall let the beast do what they do," the constructs merge into the floor as Mephiles, in control of Sonic's body, backed into the shadows to merge into the wall. He reemerged into what appeared to be a lavish throne room, at least for a demon anyway. Darkness swirled all around the room as a pulsing cocoon sat in the middle of the floor, pulsating. "Soon, my transformation will be complete, and I will simple take the emeralds myself. Let the children play, let my message ring clear, as play time is drawing to an anticlimactic end…"