Me: Yes! Chapter twenty-five! I can't believe I've written so much!
Sonic: I know. This has dragged on forever!
Me: Oh, knock it off. You know you had fun.
Sonic: Okay, maybe a little.
Shadow: But what about me? And running around in my body?
Sonic: That was fun…
Me: Take care of this later. I have a chapter to write!
Shadow's red eyes snapped open. He looked around to see where he was, and it definitely wasn't the Math Department's office. The walls looked organic, and were a pulsing purple color. Shadow instantly remembered where he had seen this before. It was the overlook in Eggman's base! That meant the Black Arms were here! Shadow tried to twist around to defend himself, but he was securely fastened down. Shadow gazed downward and saw that he was strapped to a metal table, but it had hinges on the sides, which seemed to allow it to pivot vertically. He grunted against the straps.
"Is someone there?" a voice called.
"It's me! Shadow!" the ebony hedgehog called.
"Shadow! It's Sonic! I'm stuck!" Sonic shouted.
"I'm trapped too. There's nothing I can do…" Shadow responded.
Suddenly, it felt like a dark presence had entered the room. Sonic and Shadow both fell silent. A deep, booming chuckle echoed around the room.
"Well, well, well," the deep voice said. "It looks like my prisoners have awakened."
"Who are you! Show yourself!" Sonic called out.
Shadow felt his table pivoting downward. He looked around. Tails and Silver were on similar tables, but both of them were asleep. Sonic was fighting for all he was worth against the straps tying him down. Shadow tried to get a better look at the room. There seemed to be nothing below them, only darkness overtaking the meager light the walls gave off.
"Stop struggling, Sonic!" Shadow called. "We don't know how deep this pit is!"
"Oh, but I do," the deep voice said again.
"Who are you!" Shadow and Sonic called simultaneously. A form began to rise out of the darkness of the pit. Gaining shape and color. Both of the young hedgehogs gasped at the figure emerging.
It had three glowing red eyes on its head that seemed to pierce through them and see their very souls. Two horns protruded out horizontally, with red markings on the ends that seemed eerily similar to Shadow's coloration. It was wearing an old, tattered purple robe with gold that adorned the cuffs and neck, while several chains with ornaments adorned its front. The creature had no legs but it levitated towards the two and gazed at each of them.
"Wh-wh-who are you?" Shadow choked out. The creature laughed.
"I am known by many names, given by many cultures. Beelzebub, Diabolos, Voland, Der Leibhaftige, Mammon, Leviathan. But all of which fail to truly capture my essence."
Sonic wrinkled his nose. "You got that right! I can smell you all the way over here!"
"You dare mock me, mortal!" the creature shouted angrily.
Both hedgehogs visibly shrank back at the tone surrounding those words and they both heard a scream from the other side of the room. The monster slowly turned to face the other side. Tails was hyperventilating and staring at the apparition floating near the middle of the room. Silver stirred and shook his head. He looked at what Tails was staring at. He steeled himself, preparing for whatever that could come his way.
"Be strong, Tails. We'll be okay," Silver said.
"How amusing," the creature said. "Caring. Such a pitiful emotion."
"Just tell me who you are!" Sonic interrupted. The monstrosity turned to face Sonic.
"I am known as Black Doom."
"No… it can't be!" Tails exclaimed. "Eggman's data said that you had been destroyed!"
Black Doom chuckled. "What he destroyed was an apparition of my own creation, made to look, think, and act like me. But unlike me, the illusion was mortal. When he discovered the cavern, he awakened all the beings inside. You see, I had made this cavern long ago. But my armies on a distant planet were in need of me. I put this one into hibernation.
"When the doctor stumbled upon this, he set off an alarm. I came as quickly as I could, but the damage was done. He had trapped my offspring. But I was patient. He needed to be punished, and I saw an opportunity. I've seen you fight him in the past, Sonic. So I put it in his mind to take you in for some experiment. You of course, were captured and brought here. I saw that you two wouldn't get out on your own, so I helped you ever so slightly to escape. One or two doors unlocked, a few ideas planted in your mind, and leaving the facility was no longer difficult. However, once you escaped, I knew you would have trouble returning. The box you discovered was an error on my part. I had used it to push you in the right direction, and you have triumphed beautifully. And now that he is out of the way, the Black Arms can now take control of this pitiful planet. As a reward for helping me extract my revenge against the doctor, I will allow you four to live."
"You're not going to get away with this!" Sonic called out. "I'm not going to let you!"
"Oh, no?" Black Doom asked, amused. "How can you when you're trapped?" Sonic locked eyes with Silver, who nodded.
"Who says we're trapped?" Sonic asked slyly.
At that exact moment, Silver undid all the straps and flew all four of them quickly to the bottom. They zoomed up before they could hit the ground and started to fly through the hallways, Silver making any turns. None of them spoke. They didn't know the way, but they knew they had to get away as fast as possible.
"I can see light!" Sonic called. Silver sped up to get them out of the tunnels, but suddenly lost control. They four fell to the ground and rolled a few feet forward.
"I can't move!" Tails choked out.
"Neither can I…" Sonic responded. "Silver… can you use your powers?"
"I can't… something's stopping me!" A deep laugh came from behind them.
"That would be me," Black Doom laughed. "I know all about you, Silver the Hedgehog. It wasn't difficult to manufacture a gas to paralyze all of you and prevent Silver from activating his powers."
"Oh, yes?" Shadow said. Black Doom narrowed his eyes at Shadow. Shadow stood up and looked at Black Doom. "Well, it doesn't affect me."
"Impossible!" the alien roared.
"What I find more impossible," Shadow began, "is the fact that you missed this." Shadow pulled out the Chaos Emerald. He dashed over to his fallen friends and grabbed their hands. "Chaos control!" Shadow shouted. The four vanished and reappeared near Eggman's destroyed base. Sonic looked around. He could see a small crater where the base once stood.
"Why'd you bring us here, Shadz?" the cobalt hedgehog asked.
"It was just the first place that came into my mind," Shadow shrugged. Suddenly, a white light appeared next to them. They turned away and shielded their eyes. When the light dimmed, Shadow squinted over. Black Doom was hovering there, just a few feet away.
"But how!" Shadow shouted.
"You are not the only one who can utilize the Emeralds' powers," he laughed as a red emerald floated out from behind him. Sonic and Silver suddenly locked eyes.
"Pull hard, Silver!" Sonic called out.
Black Doom narrowed his eyes. Silver tensed up and brought his hands up in a fighting stance. He closed his eyes to focus his energy and opened them in a flash. The red emerald began to slowly drift towards Silver. Black Doom tensed and focused his will on the emerald floating in front of him. The emerald hung motionless in the air, the two beings' wills nearly matching. Silver snarled and his eyes suddenly began to glow. The emerald shot forward and Silver caught it in his hand. Black Doom chuckled and let go.
"What's so funny?" Sonic demanded. Three more Chaos Emeralds floated out from behind Black Doom.
"But that's impossible!" Sonic shouted.
The emeralds began to glow being in such close proximity to the rest. Sonic, Silver, and Shadow brought out their Emeralds in wonder. Black Doom narrowed his blood red eyes.
"So all the Chaos Emeralds have been gathered here. Well, well, well. This changes things drastically." He focused his mind and began to draw the rest of the Emeralds to himself. Sonic held onto his emerald tightly, but Shadow lost his grip on his emerald.
Shadow looked at Black Doom angrily. "You're not taking these!" He dashed forward as fast as he could and leaped up towards Black Doom. He met the monster's chest with a hard drive. The creature lost his concentration and fell backwards to the ground. Shadow fell with a thud but picked himself up quickly and dashed back to his friends.
The Chaos Emeralds all fell to the ground. Seizing the opportunity, Silver gathered them all up with his mind. But suddenly, they began to float on their own. Silver widened his amber eyes in wonder. Sonic and Shadow walked closer to see what was going on.
"No!" Black Doom shouted.
The emeralds began to make a circle around the three hedgehogs. They slowly floated around them, mesmerizing everyone watching. Then with a sudden blast of light, they shot towards the trio. They braced for the painful impact, and fell to their knees at the feeling. Their heads were bowed and a single hand braced them to the ground. A strange feeling engulfed them. It felt invigorating, powerful, and almost terrifying. They all looked up. Black Doom was floating a few yards away. He growled and flew off. The three hedgehogs got up and started to brush themselves off, but stopped.
"Guys…" Sonic whispered. "Why am I yellow?" Shadow looked at himself as best as he could.
"I'm yellow too," he breathed.
"Same here," Silver said quietly. Tails stared at his three friends in wonder.
"I think…" Tails started. "I think the Chaos Emeralds gave you their powers! You need to chase after Black Doom and put a stop to him!"
"But how?" Shadow asked. "He's immortal!"
"You're forgetting the Chaos Emeralds," Tails said. "If Eggman was one hundred percent correct about them, they hold unbelievable power. Maybe even enough to stop Black Doom for good!"
"Awesome!" Sonic shouted as he jumped up. He was shocked when he first jumped higher than ever before and even more surprised when he didn't fall back down to the ground. "What?" he whispered. Shadow and Silver both floated up.
"Holy crap…" Shadow breathed. "What else can we do?" he wondered aloud. The three floated to the ground.
"Chaos control!" Sonic shouted. In a brilliant flash of light, he vanished and reappeared fifty feet away. He smiled broadly and started to dash back, but he ran faster than ever before and ended up one hundred feet away from the rest of the group. He looked down at his glowing body, shocked, but smiling broadly. The golden hedgehog walked back to the group.
"This is incredible!" he shouted.
"You got that right!" Silver responded. He floated up into the air and began to fly around the area. He settled back down with the others, a huge grin plastered across his face. Suddenly, the three sank to the ground with a shout. Their yellow auras faded and the seven Chaos Emeralds fell to the ground around them. Sonic groaned in pain.
"What just happened?" Shadow choked out. Tails bent down to inspect the Emeralds.
"They seem fine…" Tails started. "Maybe their powers are too much for your bodies to handle." He thought for a moment. "But I think I can help contain that. Someone warp us to my workshop. I have some designing to do. But make sure you keep the Emeralds separate. I don't think you guys should do that again until I'm done." Sonic picked up the blue Emerald and Silver picked up the white one.
"Chaos control!" they both shouted at the same time. But instead of warping away, a blue portal formed next to them. Surprised, they dropped their Emeralds.
"What is that?" Shadow asked in wonder.
"I think that's a question better asked later," Tails replied. "We're wasting time! We need to get back to my lab and chase after Black Doom!" Sonic nodded and picked up the Emerald again. Tails gathered up the remaining six and handed two to Shadow and Silver. The four grabbed hands.
"Chaos control!" Sonic shouted. The four vanished and warped away.
Me: Ah, this was fun to write. And there's still more!
Sonic: Really?
Me: Yep! I am just brimming with ideas.
Shadow: Like what?
Me: Now that's a secret. On another note, I'm starting to get ideas for a sequel!
Sonic: Well, stop talking to us and start working on that!
Me: I will.
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