-1As Chaos Four reverted to liquid form and retreated, everyone dusted themselves off and headed back to camp. By that time it was evening again. They weren't afraid, though. They had trashed Chaos twice in one day, so it would probably leave them alone for the night. Doing a little preliminary packing in preparation for departure in the morning, they all settled down for the night. Cyber Shadow was on his own, as Metal Sonic had taken the much-needed opportunity to shut down and recharge. He didn't dispute that, since the blue robot really needed it after what he'd been through. The night was uneventful.
In the morning they did their level best to completely obliterate any and all traces of their campsite before moving on. Moving at the speed they were so well known for, they decided that the best course of action would be to cover as much ground as possible before setting up camp anywhere. Cyber Shadow brought up the rear, clutching the Chaos Sapphire tightly against his chest plate as he tried to watch everyone's backs at once. Unfortunately for him, he was so busy watching everyone else's backs that he forgot to watch his own. He had no time to cry out, much less react in any other way as a thick spray of water jetted out of nowhere, forming into a long, thick tentacle that immediately seized him and flung him head first into a nearby tree. The impact jarred delicate circuitry, triggering an automatic descent into stasis lock until his internal sensors performed a full systems check. Chaos Four arose from a nearby stream to loom over the fallen robot. Seeing the Chaos Sapphire lying where Cyber Shadow had dropped it, Chaos Four reached out to grab it with one tentacle and immediately incorporated the gem into itself. When the resulting flare died, the utterly anomalous form of Chaos Four had been replaced with the terrifying shape of Chaos Five. It only needed two more Chaos Crystals to achieve its ultimate form, and it knew exactly where to get them. Scooping up the robot's limp body, it set off to track the others. Not even bothering to fully revert to liquid form, it slithered along after the others with all the swiftness of a tsunami.
Having chosen a spot for the night, everyone gathered together and began to settle down. It was only then that the absence of Cyber Shadow was noticed. A search was organized immediately and rendered unnecessary with equal immediacy. The thunder of mighty rapids heralded the arrival of Chaos Five. A tentacle whipped out, hurling a dark form into their midst. Cyber Shadow's armor clattered roughly on the dusty ground as he came to rest face up lying sprawled on the ground. When he didn't move or speak Tails and Metal Sonic charged to his side to see if he was all right or not. Getting no response no matter how hard they tried, Metal Sonic scanned him. "He is all right," he said finally, "Or he will be. He is in defensive stasis lock. He must have taken quite a hit to initiate his self-diagnostic protocols." Shadow turned to Sonic, shrugged and asked, "Go for the brain again?" Knuckles interrupted, "Of course. Shut up and let's take this sucker down." Sonic just nodded at that. Tails heard this and said, "You go help them out, Metal Sonic." The robotic hedgehog just nodded silently and went to join the others in their fight. Tails stayed with Cyber Shadow to make sure nothing else happened to him while he was out.
The battle was harder since they lacked Cyber Shadow's electrical discharge ability and Chaos Five was getting better at protecting its brain. It took a little bit longer, but the result was still the same. The water creature reverted to liquid form and left the scene just as Cyber Shadow recovered fully. He sat up and asked, "What happened to me?" Tails laid the details out for him. When it was done, he was very angry at himself for having let his guard down and gotten surprised like that. But everyone asserted that he had done all that he could, and so he calmed down rather quickly. Putting it behind them, everyone settled down for the night. They would move on in the morning, but for now they would rest.