Chapter 34
Miky threw up a telekinetic wall around her and her friends and the initial shockwave slammed into it so hard, it pushed Miky back slightly but the wall itself held. Forceful jets of fire and energy exploded from Shadow's body in every direction and as Miky planted her feet and pushed the telekinetic wall back against the push of the flames. Having nowhere else to go, the energy and destruction reflected upwards and began to burn a hole through the ceiling and up through the other floors.
Miky put all of her might and power into keeping the wall erect and intact while Sonic watched, flabbergasted and utterly amazed. Tails and Knuckles had now also looked up, wondering why they weren't obliterated and gasped at the sight. Miky's face was twisted in pain and effort as a small trickle of blood dripped from her nose due to the strain. The other torrents of destruction that came from Shadow demolished the lab, burst through the walls and caused several smaller explosions as they come in contact with flammables in the lab. The noise of the explosions and energy blasting about was defending and was the only thing that could be heard. The ordeal seemed to be lasting forever and soon Miky was beginning to feel dizzy and the world seemed to be fading into darkness but she kept focusing on her friends and the strong urge she had to protect them as they had always protected her and the telekinetic wall continued to stand until at last, the Chaos Blast ran out of steam and ceased.
Shadow collapsed where he stood, half kneeling, half laying on the ground panting and clearly trying not to pass out. Miky fell over as well but Sonic caught her. She too was trying to catch her breath as she managed to ask, "Are you guys ok? Did it work?"
"We're fine, thanks to you." replied Sonic as he helped her lean against a wall.
"How'd… how'd you withstand that much Chaos Energy…? That's unheard of…" muttered Knuckles as he looked around the charred, devastated lab.
Tails pointed upward at the massive hole carved through the upper floors that went all the way to the roof, "Not to mention, deflect it! That was incredible!"
Miky smiled a little and shrugged, "You three have been there for me and helped me since the beginning and I just… wanted to return the favor. I don't even really know where I found the strength to pull that off. But what I DO know is that I'm ready to get out of here and that hole is the perfect escape route."
"She's right! I can fly us straight up onto the roof and the Tornado can pick us up. But, I'll have to make two trips cause I can only carry two at a time." agreed Tails as he continued to stare upwards.
Immediately Sonic said, "Take Miky and Knuckles in the first trip. I'll wait here."
"No, Tails can take you and Knuckles and I'll take myself up. Remember my new trick?" insisted Miky.
At once Sonic remembered and nodded in agreement but Knuckles and Tails were confused as the dread-sporting echidna asked, "What new trick?"
"I learned how to use my telekinesis to fly. I'm worn out from the Chaos Blast but I'm sure I've still got enough juice in me to get out of here. Surprisingly, I feel better coming out of a nap in that capsule than a solid nights rest." replied Miky as she called upon her power again.
"But to be on the safe side, let's book it in case you do suddenly get tired. Ready Tails?" said Sonic as he remained stuck to Miky's side, unable to remove his hand from hers and take his eyes away from her face. Miky noticed and blushed; turning her eyes to the ground and unsure what to do in response.
Tails took to the air and held out his hands for Knuckles and Sonic to grab, "I'm ready! Let's bail!" Knuckles took the one of fox's hands and after reluctantly letting go of Miky's, Sonic took Tails' other hand. "Ok, here we go!" Tails began to fly upward and with a small hop and some concentration, Miky was following after him.
Sonic was kept looking down at her as if simply checking to make sure she was following, but the cerulean hedgehog's eyes told a different story. He clearly had something to say but either didn't know how to say it, or was saving for when they were out of danger and could talk privately. Either way, it was weighing heavily on him and showed as clear as day. Miky of course saw this and began blushing again but she didn't really understand why and what she should do about it. Despite everything that had happened and how much she had grown, when it came to this matter she was still utterly clueless.
The group was about halfway to freedom when suddenly, out of nowhere, a Chaos Spear flew up at them. It missed fortunately and harmless hit a wall but nonetheless struck fear into their hearts because it meant one thing: Shadow had recovered and he still wasn't giving up.
Another spear flew up, missing them just barely. The tunnel carved up through the G.U.N. HQ was narrow with no room for evasive maneuvers so all they could do is keep climbing and hope they could get out before being hit.
"Geez! This guy doesn't know when to quit!" yelled Knuckles angrily as one of the paralyzing bolts of energy nearly hit his leg.
Tails was panting heavily as struggled to ascend faster, "We're sitting ducks! I can't go any faster!"
"I can take somebody!" suggested Miky as she extended her hand.
Sonic immediately took it, "Take me; I've flown with you before." With Tails' load lightened, he rose faster with Sonic and Miky right behind him. Several more Chaos Spears flew up from the depths of the G.U.N. base, which was now beginning to reek of smoke as fires started from the damage of the Chaos Blast. The Spears repeatedly missed but eventually, the inevitable happened.
"AH!" shrieked Miky as she was struck in the back. Instantly she found she couldn't move and lost her concentration. With no telekinesis keeping them aloft, Miky and Sonic plunged screaming back down.
"Sonic! Miky!" cried Tails as he immediately began to descend after them.
There was sudden rumble causing Knuckles to shout, "Wait Tails! Stop!" The panicked fox did stop and just in time as one the floors of the G.U.N. building below them collapsed and blocked the tunnel.
"Oh no! Their trapped and now this place is falling apart due to all that structural damage! Knuckles what we do?!" fretted Tails as he scanned the collapse for a gap or anything that could be advantageous.
"We can't do anything from here. If I try to dig through that, the whole rest of the building could fall in on top of us. We need to find another way."
Tails resumed his ascent as fast as he could, "Ok, lets hurry!"
Down below the collapse, Sonic opened his eyes slightly and groaned. He stirred slightly and winced, inhaling in a hiss as a jolt of pain raced through his arm. He slowly sat up, holding the offending limb and trying to examine it. It was unsure if it was broken again but it certainly hurt. Sonic looked around him uneasily. He and Miky had fallen all the way back into Lab 7X but it seemed like a completely different room. Next to him was a pile of rubble that had seemed to have fallen from the ceiling and just missed him. Only two or three of the ceiling lights were intact and dimly lit the room with an eerie glow and cast lots of shadows. The ground and walls were completely scorched and the floor was littered with charred metal tables and instruments. In a corner or too, as well as some cabinets that might have stored all manners of chemicals, there were small fires contently gnawing away at their fuel and creating a smoky haze that hung in the room. In glancing around, Sonic noticed Miky lying a foot or two away and was instantly beside her.
He gave her a gentle shake, "Miky, you alright?"
The red-haired raccoon rolled on her side and rubbed her back, "Ow… My back hurts from the fall but other than that I'm good. Remind me never to fall from that height ever again…"
"Believe me, you won't." said Shadow as he stepped out of the darkness.
"Why can't you just leave us alone!?" cried Miky in frustration as she jumped to her feet.
Sonic got up as well as he added, "Just accept that you've been beat and give it up!"
"I'm not going to give up when I still have an agenda to fulfill!" snapped back Shadow.
"Come on Shadow! If G.U.N. told you to jump off a bridge would ya?"
At this, the obsidian hedgehog scoffed, "HA! This isn't about G.U.N. anymore! If they wanted to keep getting that sort of loyalty from me, they should have been planning to replace me!"
At this, Sonic and Miky looked at each other confused before Sonic asked, "Replace you? With who?"
"HER!" Shadow pointed accusingly at Miky as he continued, "A little more than two years ago when we first brought you here, G.U.N. quickly figured out your origins and all of the potential power you have. More than I have…" Shadow muttered this last part with resent dripping from each word before raising his voice again, "They immediately began plans to put a leash on the uncontrollable forces inside you, make you their ace in the hole, and get rid of me."
"B-b-but I would never want to be a G.U.N. agent!" stuttered Miky as she tried to wrap her head around this new development.
"G.U.N. has ways of making you do things you normally wouldn't." Shadow replied as he began to get angrier, "And apparently, all of my hard work and dedication and time that I've given them are purely expendable! Well, I'm going to show them that NO ONE takes advantage of Shadow the Hedgehog!" With that Shadow dashed forward, ready to strike. Sonic and Miky jumped out of the way just in time as Shadow sped past. He turned on a dime and was charging back toward Miky again but Sonic tackled him aside. They rolled over again and again, punching and kicking and blocking. If the situation wasn't so serious, it would have comical. Miky gasped as the whole base began to rumble. She hopped away just before a chunk of flaming ceiling came crashing down. Light of the fire ravaging the floor above came streaming into the room followed by heat. The base was on its last legs and at any minute it could come down.
It looked like Sonic was gaining the upper hand as he pinned Shadow to the ground. The cerulean hero was panting and covered in sweat and bruises as he kept his adversary's face pressed into the ashy floor. Shadow, enraged and feeling utterly humiliated, found the strength to throw Sonic off and grab his bad arm.
"You've gotten in my way for the last time Sonic!" With a vicious twist, Sonic's arm made an awful crackly snap and his scream rang out through the room. Shadow than kicked him hard in the stomach so he went flying. Than with deadly precision, he whipped out his pistol and fired two shots, both hitting Sonic in the gut and spraying blood everywhere. Time seemed to slow down as Miky's eyes widened and welled with tears as the whole thing went down in a split second before her.
She ran to him screaming, "SONIC!" Before the injured hedgehog could land roughly, she caught him with her telekinesis and set him gently upon the ground. Miky knelt by Sonic, propping his head on her lap as tears ran down her face, "Sonic? Sonic no, don't die, you can't die!"
Sonic opened his eyes only slightly and looked up at her, forcing a weak smile as he managed to say, "Don't worry… it take a lot more than that to… ugh… bring me down…" Sonic's breathing was harsh and irregular as he grimaced from the pain. He glanced down at the two bullet holes in his gut before leaning back and saying, "Damn… Shadow got me good. Listen, Miky, I gotta tell you something. I-"
"Shhh." Urged Miky, "Save your strength we have to get you to Tails, he'll know what do, he can patch you up." CHI-CHINK! Miky gasped as she felt the muzzle of a pistol pressed to her head.
"Now it's your turn." Said Shadow as he prepared to pull the trigger. Miky whirled around and knocked the gun out his hand, anger burning in her eyes.
"YOU MONSTER!" she shouted, "Killing me to teach G.U.N. a lesson and not caring who else you hurt is the most cold, evil, and utterly selfish thing is the I've ever heard of!" Miky advanced on Shadow, her hands clenched into smoldering fists, "Well if you want to kill me, you're going to have to fight me first!" Shadow was stunned at first to see this sudden change but than he noticed Miky's tears evaporating from her cheeks and remembered the Seaside Cliff. The other side of Miky was coming out and it was ready to brawl.
Despite having seen what that other side was like and what it could do, Shadow was still confident he could win. After all, Miky was a failed prototype and he was the true Ultimate Lifeform. "Fine! If you wish to prolong the inevitable, that's alright with me! Just know either way you're going to die!" Shadow sped towards Miky and she easily side stepped the charge. She picked up several piles of debris lying around and began to throw them at Shadow with all her might.
The obsidian hedgehog dodged left and right using Chaos Control and warped behind Miky. Before she could react, he punched her as hard as he could, literally sending the raccoon spinning. She fell to the ground dizzy and Shadow raised his foot to kick her. With a shake of her head to clear it, Miky entangled Shadow's foot in her legs and twisted so he went toppling over.
She grinned at seeing the absolute rage in Shadow's eyes and remarked, "How do you like that!? Sonic taught me that trick!"
"Impressive but I guarantee he didn't teach you this!" growled Shadow as he revved up in a spin-dash and knocked Miky into the air, "Or this!" He slammed into her with a homing attack that flung Miky against the wall. The force made a more of the ceiling come down in fiery chunks and a heavy metal beam with some pieces of ceiling landed on Miky's leg, trapping her. She tried to lift the pile but it would slip and slide, crushing her leg more.