Sonic and Shadow sat in the basement of Tails' workshop; both of them bandaged at the chest. Their bandages were white and clean. Tails walked over to the both of them and untied their bandages. "No blood, and both wounds seem to have cleared up completely," Tails said.

The two hedgehogs got up. Shadow ran towards the door.

"No, Shadow. You can't leave yet. As soon as you walk out of that door, Black Doom will be able to sense you once again," Tails said. "And building this reinforced basement would have been for nothing. Just wait a while so I can set you guys up."

Shadow sat back down, crossed one leg over the other, folded his arms, and waited impatiently. Sonic began tapping his foot.

"Come on, Tails. You had a month to do this," Sonic said. "We're ready to go."

"You're not ready to go," Tails said. "You didn't stand a chance against him before, and you won't now without the help of technology." He walked over to a cupboard and got out a box of tech. "Aright, these," he put two wrist devices on the table, "can be used to communicate with each other, they can also spawn shields so you can avoid getting impaled again. They can only be hit once before you have to re-spawn them manually, so be careful." He also got out two decided that were in the shape of a collar. "These, when worn, will block out all signals your DNA gives to Black Doom. So he can't sense you coming." He got out one pair of more devices. "And these are laser guns."

"No way, I'm not using a gun," Sonic said.

"Fine, I'll take both," Shadow said and picked up both of them. He held them out in front of him as if he was aiming to shoot. "It's been a while since I used something like this."

Tails snatched one of them off Shadow and passed it to Sonic.

"Use it. Remember, it's them, or you," Tails warned. "And if you're back here in a mere five minutes with another chest wound, then we'll have problems."

"Sure, Tails. I'll try my best," Sonic said. He put on the wrist device, and the collar. He took a gun belt from a rack on the wall and put his laser gun in there. Shadow did the same.

"But by all means, return if you think staying out there is life threatening. I'd rather you come back here then to find you dead," Tails said seriously. He walked to them to the door. "Ready?"

"More than ready," Shadow said and burst out of the door. Sonic shrugged and followed.

They walked out into a darkened world, the sky was filled with dark red clouds. The tint of red fell down upon their air and floor, giving every visible place a red tint to the dimness. Sonic grabbed onto Shadow's arm and held it tight, causing Shadow to looked at his partner in concern.

"Are you okay, Sonic?" Shadow asked.

"Shadow, I didn't think it would be this bad," Sonic said. "It looks like the whole world has been effected by some sort of apocalypse."

"It won't be for much longer," Shadow assured him. "We're going to get those emeralds from him and then we're going to destroy him. We've discussed the tactics, we can't lose."

"But we're too late for all of those people who are already-"

Shadow interrupted Sonic by putting a hand over his mouth.

"Never mind them. There's nothing we can do," he said softly. Sonic looked down sadly. Shadow lifted Sonic's head back up softly from under the chin. "But we can save those who remain."

"Sure, with the power of teamwork," Sonic said with a grin. Shadow took his hand away from Sonic's chin.

"That's the Faker I know," he said with a slight smirk.

Their conversation was interrupted by Tails' voice through the communicators on their wrists.

"I've pinpointed Black Doom's location. He's in Westopolis," Tails said.

"It's interesting that he'd land there again," Shadow said. "The original site the Black Comet landed in."

"Whatever, Shadow, let's just go!" Sonic yelled impatiently then took a head start. Shadow chased after him.

They arrived in Westopolis to see complete and utter destruction. There was nothing but rubble; not one building stood. They stopped to look at the damage. Shadow glanced at Sonic's face; the blue hedgehog looked distraught.

"Shadow, they're all dead," Sonic trembled. "And it's all out fault."

"Don't be ridiculous, Sonic! It's Black Doom's fault! He did this!" Shadow yelled.

"We weren't there to save them! And it's our child that enabled this to happen!" Sonic yelled. Shadow didn't know what to say, so he was silent. "Even if we save whoever's left now, we'll still be hated. I already hate myself." Sonic sounded deeply upset, even on the verge of tears. Shadow hugged him tightly.

"I guess that's how it was meant to be…" Shadow said solemnly, feeling a strong pang of guilt go through his stomach. It was his fault since he was the one to let Black Doom go with Omen in the first place, he was also the one who made the deal in the first place too. Sonic pulled away.

"We need to get going," Sonic said. "The longer we stand here, the more people die."

Shadow nodded in agreement, but before they ran, Omen and Black Doom appeared in front of them. The two hedgehogs tensed up and got into their defensive stances.

"So, the two of you have finally decided to show yourselves," Black Doom said arrogantly. "I knew you were alive all of this time."

Sonic and Shadow looked shocked.

"Oh, those devices of yours may have confused my senses but, I could still sense it was you," Black Doom said. "They don't block out the signals completely, so I was able to work my way through the distortion and find out that the two of you are still alive. And I've been preparing for your arrival this whole time."

There was a moment of silence before Black Doom pointed down at Omen, who spawned the Chaos Emeralds and turned super in a few seconds. Sonic and Shadow stepped back, the both of them grabbed each other's arms. Omen flew up into the air, then came crashing down, pushing the two of them down and into a crater that was created upon their impact. The two of them laid together bloody and beaten. Then Omen flew back to Black Doom and hovered in front of them.

"That's all we need to do. They won't bother us anymore," Omen said to Black Doom boldly.

"That's what you thought the last time. Make sure they're dead this time. I don't want to see a trace of them," Black Doom said. Omen turned to Sonic and Shadow, who looked up at the ominous glowing hedgehog in fear.

"Th-this is it, Shadow," Sonic trembled. "We didn't stand a chance."

"The… bastard," Shadow hissed and hugged Sonic tighter, then hid the blue hedgehog's face in his own black shoulder. Then he looked at Omen furiously. "I can't let him get away with this." He put his hand out and sent a Chaos Spear, which bounced right off of Omen.

"Try all you want to, Shadow," Black Doom said arrogantly. "But you can't save the humans. They're all ready for the Black Arms' consumption."

Shadow's eyes narrowed and a growl sounded in his throat.

"You mean you haven't killed any of them yet?" Shadow asked angrily.

"None, we decided to conquer the whole planet first and that once we get all of the human race under captivity, we will begin our feast," Black Doom said in anticipation. "And that task has been completed. We just need to make sure our feast will not go interrupted."

Shadow's eyes widened, there was still a chance to save them.

"Shadow, we have to do something… we can't just sit here," Sonic said urgently. "We need to save them."

"I know…" Shadow whispered, then let go of Sonic. He stood up, as if to challenge Omen. "Faker, remember when I challenged you while you were in your super form?"

Sonic nodded.

"Yeah, you held up pretty well," Sonic said. He stood up too.

"It's time to try again," Shadow said. He gave Omen a determined look; he was ready to fight. He held out his arms. "Come at me! I'm ready this time!"

Omen flew down at Shadow again. Sonic saw the speed that Omen was going at and realised Shadow's certain doom. He ran out to Shadow at top speed, every millisecond felt like an hour. The blue hedgehog grit his teeth and charged forward. Each rapid step hit the ground with a small echo, and the dirt around him displaced and became clouds of dust. Sonic edged closer and closer towards Shadow, as Omen did the same. At the last moment, Sonic leapt into the air, displacing another plume of dust. He put out his arms, which hit Shadow's back, and pushed the dark hedgehog onto the floor. Shadow went down, hitting the dusty, rocky floor face first. Sonic landed on top of him. Omen flew right over the top of them. Sonic turned around quickly to see his son soar away from them.

"He should have hit me instead, why did he miss?" Sonic asked himself.

"F-faker! Get off, what are you doing?" Shadow yelled.

"Saving your ass, you would have died. I held back for you when I was in my super form, but Omen wouldn't have, you idiot!" Sonic yelled at him as he got up.

"You held back?" Shadow asked as he got up too. "But, why? I thought all this time that I could hold up against a super form." Sonic rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and chuckled.

"I guess I cared about you at the time," Sonic said. "I mean… considering what happened later that day."

"We made him," Shadow said through his gritted teeth and turned around to see Omen floating above them. "Which I completely regret now."

Omen gasped in shock, then narrowed his eyes in hatred.

"Shadow," Sonic snapped. "You can't say that. He may be trying to kill us, but you never tell a kid you wish you never had them."

"Why?" Shadow asked stubbornly. "It's not like it matters. He'll be dead when I'm done with him."

Omen shot down towards Shadow like a swooping bird and picked him up, then swerved upwards again. Shadow yelped as he was carried through the air at a stomach wrenching speed. Omen picked up speed, then smashed into the ground with Shadow still in his grasp. The young hedgehog floated back up again, not a scratch on him. Shadow, however, was suffering in a crater in the ground.

"AH! You sonfa-"

Shadow was hit with a large Chaos Spear before he could finish his sentence. Sonic arrived at the scene, having run after them. He stopped at the edge of the large crater, looked up at Omen with wide eyes, then glanced down at Shadow, who was in a state. The dark hedgehog was covered with blood, bruises and dirt. But he still seemed to be trying, reaching out his hand to push himself to his feet. But he didn't get anywhere. Then, the struggling stopped and Shadow fell limp. Sonic ran down to Shadow, expecting to get pummelled by Omen in the process. But he reached Shadow, and nothing happened. He turned around to see Omen still floating above the crater, just watching them. Sonic looked back down at Shadow and shook him.

"Shadow," he said desperately. There was no response. The blue hedgehog looked at his motionless partner distraughtly. "Shadow, please!"

"He's not dead," Omen said as he descended down towards the floor. "I can sense him, sadly."

Sonic stood in front of his dark companion protectively. He looked at Omen, not bothering to hide his fear.

"Father," Omen said softly and held out his hand. Sonic's facial expression changed to that of confusion. Before he could question what was going on, Black Doom appeared by them.

"Omen, the utilisation of the human's energy has begun," the villain announced.

Omen swallowed and flew towards Black Doom, away from Sonic.

"Stay back. Your purpose has been fulfilled," Black Doom said and put the palm of his hand out. Omen looked at Black Doom in fear. "I no longer need you."

Omen gasped and fell to his knees.