Chapter 26- Former Friends, New Enemies
The legendary blue hero gladly complied to the dark hedgehog's wishes and charged at full speed, which, by Sonic's standards, was close to the speed of sound. He had completely boiled over with anger at the ultimate life form's taunting and nonchalant words and was determined to shove a few fists down his throat as a consequence.
A small smirk played onto Shadow's lips as he simply, but with tremendous speed, cocked his head to the side to avoid Sonic's first attack, a basic punch aimed for his jaw. With a quick jerk of his arm, Shadow's fist latched itself onto Sonic's tan stomach, causing the blue hedgehog's eyes to widen out of pain.
Quick to retort and recover from the attack, Sonic controlled his natural wheezing from such a forceful punch to the gut and sent both of his legs into the air, slapping his left hand onto the ground and pivoting it so it sent both of his legs jetting towards Shadow's head.
Much to the hero's shock, the ebony warrior caught both legs with a simple swipe of his hand, tightening his grip and shifting his center of gravity, beginning to spin Sonic around with him.
With proper momentum and speed, Shadow released his powerful hold on his counterpart and sent Sonic crashing into the rough terrain, scratching and bruising his backside and causing multiple small cuts to peak out from beneath his water-colored fur.
The blue hedgehog growled out of mild irritation and sprang to his feet. He didn't even have time to draw in his next breath before Shadow was in front of him again, sending his fist crashing into his jaw. Bones crunched and cracked under the pressure as the hero tumbled to the ground for the second time in less than five seconds, but this time avoiding his painful landing by somersaulting to his feet.
Greedily sucking in air through his mouth and nose, Sonic regained his composure before raising his hand, just as if he was about to cut through something like his arm was a giant knife.
"Sonic Wind!" the speed demon roared, summoning a strong gust of wind enhanced by Chaos energy with a swipe of his arm, sending it directly at Shadow.
The obsidian and ruby colored hedgehog's gaze remained unimpressed as he jumped out of the way of the rather lethal attack, with it cutting down a small, lone tree in the rough terrain instead.
"You disappoint me, moron," Shadow taunted as he landed gracefully on his feet again, his arms slouched forward.
"Shut up!" the cerulean hero spat back in retorsion, wiping a small trail of blood from his chin.
A low, dark chuckle echoed from Shadow's lungs as he raised one hand in front of his body and cradled his fingers inward, as if wanting to hold an invisible dodge ball, "Time to end this."
With no trouble at all, a swirling violet orb of energy was summoned into Shadow's cradling hand, its eerie glow illuminating his glove and lower arm.
Before Sonic even had time to blink, Shadow charged at him full speed, air whizzing by his body as the attack in his hand dangled at his side.
The blue hedgehog raised both of his hands across his chest to create a large "X", attempting to block Shadow's incoming attack simply. A blink of surprise and a bead of sweat all escaped the hero as Shadow disappeared from sight in a sudden flurry of black and red lines.
His detection of energy was the only thing that hinted Sonic off as he quickly jumped into the air just in time to see a swirling violet energy orb shoot below him, grazing the rocky ground and hitting a large boulder up ahead, completely shattering it as if it was made out of Styrofoam.
Jade eyes widened out of realization as his feet hit the ground again. Turning his body with a quick jerk, he saw Shadow standing not ten feet from him, a malicious and dark smirk on his face.
'He's really trying to kill me,' the hero thought in utter shock.
After a brief moment of heavy silence, Sonic voiced his thoughts, "You're really serious, aren't you?"
Shadow hesitated, his smirk disappearing, "Of course I am, you wouldn't stand down."
"How could I?" Sonic demanded furiously, swiping his hand through the heavy, tension-filled air, "You're trying to betray me and everyone else! Don't you know G.U.N. will list you as a rogue agent?"
Shadow's black eyes studied Sonic's rage-infected form, his gaze hardening, "How could I betray something I was never a part of?"
Those words, spoken in such a cold and emotionless tone, hit the blue hedgehog like a ton of bricks. He wasn't a part of them, a part of their circle of friends? How could Shadow actually say these things to his face?
"Bullshit," the cerulean hero spat at his ebony counterpart, taking a step forward, "You saved the world with me all the time, how could you not be a part of our friendship?"
"It was for my own convenience," Shadow replied without missing the beat of the heated conversation, "I merely helped you on a whim."
Jade eyes hardened once again, Sonic's features narrowing in anger, "A whim? Then consider me kicking your ass and dragging you back a whim of mine!"
A small, dark smirk graced Shadow's emotionless face as he beckoned his clone-like opponent with his hand, "Very well."
In an instant, Sonic darted forward, his feet kicking up dust and sand from the surface of the boulders, making a beeline straight for his treacherous friend. With a battle cry mixed with a hint of despair and sadness, Sonic dove forward, his fist extended and came into contact with Shadow's face.
A loud smack echoed through the air, giving an audio clip of proof that the punch had hit its mark.
A small wave of blood jutted out of Shadow's mouth and landed on the ground with a splat, his head turned to the right from the force of the hit. Other than that, he remained completely still.
"That's all?" the dark hedgehog asked suddenly in a monotone voice.
With his head still cocked to the side, his eyes fell upon Sonic, although the blue hedgehog could only see one of the unworldly ebony eyes of the hedgehog boring straight into his.
"You can't hope to defeat me like this. We're in a different league now," Shadow deadpanned, straightening out his head, not even bothering to wipe the blood from his chin and mouth.
Suddenly, the wind was knocked straight from Sonic's chest, his green eyes widening in pain, his body convulsing as he was sent flying back in a burst of invisible air, crashing into a nearby boulder. His body hit the giant rock full force and the rest of the breath he had retained shot out of his body as his back arched instinctively from the pain of the impact.
Managing to suck in a mouth-full of air, although his chest tightened painfully when he did so, the hero slumped to the rocky ground, his body still against the rock, the unforgiving piece of nature scratching his back up and turning it bloody.
One of his eyes was closed all the way and the other was barely open, his blurry vision allowing him to see two red and white shoes drawing closer to him. He was in no position to defend himself now. There was even a possibility that he might have a concussion.
Like the ghastly sounds that came only from a haunted house, Sonic's ears picked up each piece of audio that Shadow's shoes created every time they hit the rocky ground.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Gasping, the hero was suddenly grabbed by the neck by a strong and powerful hand, once again lifting up his body and slamming it against the rock he had been slumped up against with tremendous and dominant force.
"Pathetic," Sonic heard Shadow murmur quietly as he managed to open one eye fully to look into Shadow's dark orbs of sight.
"Sha-dow," the speed demon managed to choke out from beneath the layers of pain hitting his body again and again.
Blue and tan ears twitched when they suddenly picked up a whizzing sound.
Something that Sonic knew all too well.
It wasn't all too hard to figure out since Sonic's blurry vision was becoming clouded with a dark yellow light and he picked up a sudden burst of energy. Shadow was gathering his signature-attack in his free hand: the Chaos Spear.
With a grunt, Sonic's other eye opened as both of his orbs of vision settled on Shadow's face, which wore a dark smirk illuminated from below by an eerie, yellow, shifting light. Then, before Sonic could even register what happened, Shadow's hand carrying the Chaos Spear shot forward, heading straight for Sonic's chest.
At that very second, something flashed within the blue hero and time seemed to stand still. Shadow's Chaos Spear stopped, Sonic's pain ceased, and the speed demon became lost within his own mind.
His mind was a dark pool of water, everything else was dashed in crimson. It had no sky, no earth, no life, only the ebony pool of rippling water, and a lone blue hedgehog walking on it as if it were the ground.
Every time his soap shoes hit the water, it rippled and momentarily showed the reflection of what was underneath.
And each time, it showed himself, exactly opposite and parallel as if the liquid was some sort of mirror.
Just as fast as the ripples had appeared, they vanished, only to be brought back again by Sonic's continuously moving feet.
Suddenly, something happened, something that had not happened once within the hedgehog's mind.
The next time he took a step and sent ripples through the water to allow a brief gaze into his own personal reflection, he did not see a blue hedgehog.
He saw one that was black and red.
That instant, something within Sonic clicked and with a newfound source of determination and strength, his hand shot up and grasp Shadow's attack arm firmly inches before the Chaos Spear made contact with his chest.
The ebony hedgehog's eyes, for the first time since the start of the fight, widened in shock at the blue hero's sudden burst of life and energy.
He was for sure that the moron was done for!
"Shadow," Sonic growled in a low, animal-like voice that seemed totally alien on the blue hero.
The grip on Shadow's arm suddenly tightened, causing the obsidian hedgehog to gasp out in pain, the Chaos Spear in his trapped hand disappearing with a few weakening crackles.
With a fierce tug, Shadow freed himself from Sonic's grip, letting the blue hero hit the ground again but unlike Shadow had expected, he stood upright, his green eyes aflame with anger and staring directly into his own.
Then, before he knew what hit him, the ultimate life form was sent flying backwards into the air for a few seconds before tumbling onto the hard and rough ground. Using his hand as a stopper, Shadow flipped his body back and landed on his feet, his knees bent and his back arched, his eyes never leaving Sonic.
Sonic's shaking, gloved fist was still extended from the hit he had just driven into the dark anti-hero's chest.
Slowly, it lowered and the legendary hero charged at his counterpart at full speed, destroying and engraving a path of destruction into the ground. Barely managing to cough out a gasp of shock, Shadow was hit again, just as hard and flung high into the air as a result of the successfully delivered uppercut Sonic had just hit him with.
'Where is he getting this power from?' Shadow thought wildly in his mind, remembering that his foe was half-dead not two minutes ago.
With a whoosh of the surrounding air and a splash of water, the ultimate life form crashed into the lake with a thunderous splash. Waves of water shot up as the dark hedgehog was sent spiraling deep below its surface into a blue abyss.
"SHAAAAAADOOOOOOOOOOW!" Sonic roared over everything and anything else that made a sound, his animalistic cry accompanied by him lashing his arms and head backwards as if he was crying towards the heavens themselves.
As if on cue, the ebony and crimson hedgehog burst from the surface of the lake, landing high above the fuming Sonic on the large boulder elevated over the waterfall where he had originally started out on.
Two obsidian eyes, glistening with evil intentions and the lust for revenge.
Two emerald eyes, glistening with the pain of betrayal and twisting, burning anger.
The sudden stare-down seemed to last an eternity, but it came to an end all too abruptly when Shadow's deep voice rang over the roar of the waterfall, traveling to Sonic's sensitive ears.
"I admit it, you surprised me, moron."
After a long, pregnant silence and no retort from Sonic, Shadow smirked, closed his eyes, and continued, "Perhaps you are worth my time after all."
"Shadow," Sonic growled back in a voice so low and venomous, it would have scared off even the fiercest of warriors.
But all Shadow did was open his eyes, his dark smile widening slightly, "You seem determined to bring me back, don't you Sonic? Fine. If you defeat me here and now, I'll return with you."
There was another wave of silence and Sonic's voice and expression softened, "Please, Shadow, don't do this. Come with me now, while you still have a choice."
The wind blew and whistled, roughly pulling at Shadow's black and red quills. There seemed to be a hint of regret and sadness laced into his next set of words, if ever so slightly, but still enough for Sonic to pick up.
"It's too late for me, Sonic. I won't be persuaded by anything less than a defeat by your hands."
Will Sonic be able to take Shadow down and bring him back? Don't miss the next chapter: Sonic's Rage!