52 - Are You Ready?

'Damn it, Hyper.

My body's even worse now, everything feels numb.

I'm in so much pain, why won't you give me energy? I already have everything I-

...

...What?

What do you mean?

Shadow's already proven himself countless of times! He's the one for me, I know he-

Don't try and lecture me. I know exactly what I want! I don't need you dictating it for me. I'm not a damn child, I know he's the one I want. I love him, and I know he loves me. I don't care how people might react to us, and I don't care that he's not a "real" Mobian, whatever the hell that means. I just want him, I just want to be with him. I want to defeat Scourge so I can be done with this and live with him.

This...This is true love.

I know it is, and I know you do too.

Otherwise, you wouldn't have given me the ability to activate your power. So what gives? Why won't you let me access it now? I could before. I-

You want me to do what?

Listen...To his heart?

...

Fine.

Whatever.

Just, when we finally do this for real and end it, you better give me one hundred percent control. Got it?

Good.

Then, I'll do it.'

Peach lips lightly pressed against tan.

Shadow's eyes flickered, what was Sonic doing? He was kissing the side of his muzzle. No physical contact was probably the best thing for him right now. He was going to try and stop him, tell him that not only did they not have time for this right now, but he didn't need to kiss his cheek to show his affection after all he's been through. The biohog placed his hands onto his shoulders, and tried to push him back gently, until he felt it. A spark, something from the kiss on his muzzle, it was nearly electrifying. It felt, energizing. It was his chaos energy, coursing through his body. It was just like Sonic did before when he spread his energy throughout the walls and floors, he was doing the same thing now, but reverse. Instead of spreading it, he was taking it Shadow's. But he wasn't just stealing it, it was more like he was borrowing it.

Every second that passed, he was taking in a chunk of Shadow's, shaved off a few embers, and sent the majority of it back. Still, that meant he was taking in very little. However, that was all Sonic needed. A multicolored aura formed around their figures, and that's when Shadow realized what it was. That was the same energy Sonic used in No Zone, and it felt powerful. With every small amount of energy Sonic took, the aura only super charged it and made it grow bigger. It was as if Shadow's energy was only the seed of his rejuvenation, while this aura was the fertilizer. If this is what Sonic needed to get better, Shadow wouldn't object. So, he gently tapped his shoulder blade, indicating that he needed to say something.

Sonic ceased the kiss and leaned back. "Yeah...?"

"I know what you're doing. Just, let me make this better for you." The ultimate life form replied. He scooted backwards until his bottom reached one of the pillows against the headboard, then leaned back. He rested his arms and hands in his lap, and nodded for Sonic to continue. "Okay, go ahead."

The hero made a smile, before crawling over to his mate. He was struggling a bit, as he was still hurt. Shadow flinched and was going to move and help him, but Sonic held up a hand. "Don't worry about it, I can do it." He said quietly. He reached Shadow after a minute or so, and crawled on top of him. Shadow embraced him in a warm and welcoming hug. Sonic liked this even more, his weak smile growing larger. He hugged Shadow back, making small sounds of satisfaction and affection as they cuddled. He leaned closer towards him, before closing his eyes and pressing another small kiss onto the bottom of his muzzle this time, near his chin. Shadow figured that holding him in such a way would only help boost his power even more. After all, sex didn't equal love. Hugging and cuddling was just as loving and way more pure.

With every couple of minutes that passed, Sonic would frequently change where he kissed Shadow. He'd kiss his other cheek, his forehead, his nose, both sides of his mouth, even his eyelids. Shadow couldn't lie and say he didn't like the attention, he just didn't know why he kept changing the location of where he was borrowing energy. With his muzzle slightly changing color, Shadow cleared his throat and tried to ask. "Is it working?" He asked softly, almost not wanting to break the silence. Another kiss was planted on his cheek again, making him advert his eyes almost bashfully. "...If this is how you gain your power back, I'm not objecting to it but-" A finger was placed onto his lips. Shadow steadily looked upwards into Sonic's eyes, and saw that he looked a lot better. "S-" He tried to say his name, but he shushed him.

"Don't say anything," Sonic gently instructed. "I know what I'm doing. Just," He tilted his head and took his finger off. He then leaned his face against his chest, diving it into his white fur. "Keep talking. Please." Please? Well if he had to ask like that, he didn't want to keep him waiting. But, was this really the best thing to do right now? Scourge could try and take advantage of- "Don't worry about Scourge right now. Something tells me that he knew this would happen. But it doesn't matter, I'm gonna beat him anyway. So," He hugged him tighter. "Don't be afraid, just keep talking to me. It's just us right now."

So, this was how to activate Hyper without sexual means? Made sense, if his power was activated through true love like Scourge said. The biohog nodded and placed a hand behind Sonic's head, careful of his spines to press him closer to his body. He stared up at the ceiling, and thought of their many times together. "I, I don't know what else to say." He admitted. "I just, I just want to keep feeling this way." He whispered. "I thought I could never feel stuff like this before. I only ever felt anything with Maria and Rouge, and I never understood it anyway. But with you, everything just changed." He massaged his fingers through his fur, making Sonic hum in delight above him. "I found you so annoying at first and now, I don't ever want you away from me. After everything that's happened, I just want to keep you to myself so nothing like this can ever happen again." He used his other hand to rub his back, and he could feel Sonic purr this time. "I don't blame you for anything that's happened, you didn't ask for this. You didn't ask to be born, you didn't ask to be part of some God-like tyrannical race of bastards. No matter what happens," He said before glancing at the hedgehog above him with a steady gaze that shined with passion. "I refuse to leave your side, I'll stand beside you every step of the way. Because even if you were to strike me dead right now,"

Sonic opened his eyes as he listened.

"I wouldn't ever regret my time with you, and I'd do it all again."

He wasn't just saying this orally, he could hear the wavelength of his heart beat beeping into with his words.

This was the truth of his heart.

...

...Yes, good.

That, that was it.

That's all he needed to hear, and that was all the energy he needed to borrow.

Green legs crossed, as he sat atop his ruined throne.

He watched for about an hour how all the spirits were just rushing all inside to return back to their hiding place: The shrine beneath it, inside of the hidden room. Heh, he remembered how he sat here to charge himself up with anarchy beryl. Of course he'd be using that in this fight to keep Fleetway charged up, but other than that, he didn't care. He didn't care about the repercussions, he didn't care about the consequences. He knew he could do this, he knew he could finally do the one thing that he could proudly say, he did right. This would be the one good thing he'd ever do in his life, the one good thing that would save other lives. He spilled a lot of blood to get here, but in the end, he knew it'd be worth it.

Even if he failed, even if he couldn't do it somehow, this would be worth it.

He knew it would.

It just had to be.

Scourge closed his eyes, and leaned back.

It wouldn't take the two long to appear before him. All he had to do was wait just a tad bit longer. In just a small while, he and Sonic would finally have their grand fight. The death battle that would finally put an end to this scroll of a story.

And it was gonna be fuckin' awesome.

No, it was gonna be legendary.

"Heh, hahaha..."

'Hyper, it's time.'

...

...Indeed.

A gentle wind brushed passed the two hedgehogs, the multicolor aura faded away as Sonic's eyes momentarily flashed a hot pink. He made a warm smile, and sat up from Shadow's figure. He held a hand against his chest where his heart was, and deepened his smile. "I feel so much better," He slowly gazed into Shadow's eyes, his expression nearly too emotional. "Thank you, thank you so much." He nearly whispered. "I can't tell you how amazing this feels. Now I see why Hyper couldn't let me access his power again, because he wanted it to be stronger. And the only way to do that was through you, Shadow." He leaned down and pressed one last kiss against his cheek before crawling off of the bed. He bent down to pick up his shoes and didn't waste any time slipping them on and buckling them down.

Shadow slowly sat up and watched his mate adjust his gloves and socks, before lightly kicking his shoes to make sure they still fit just right. He then stretched, cracked a few bones and made a steady sigh. His face looked more than determined, he was finally ready. No longer was he weak or hurt, struggling to fight against death itself, Sonic was ready. Shadow nearly blushed, it was as if he was seeing him in a new light after everything that's happened. Hell, his fur was practically glowing. Err, wait, was it? Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him after the chaos energy borrowing. He got out of the bed as well, and noticed that he too felt amazing. Despite getting attacked with Scourge's electricity earlier, it felt as if it never happened. Sure Sonic took the brunt of the attack, but Shadow was still effected as well. However, he felt like he just got out of a hot shower. He felt so refreshed. Was that the result of Sonic's power from Hyper?

He walked towards his lover, and placed a hand on his peach shoulder. "Are you ready?" He frowned. "Once we walk out that door together, there's no turning back." He reminded him. "I could die. You could die. We both could die, or you may become a killer today." He slightly tightened his hold. "Are you truly ready for that, Sonic?"

The hero nodded without hesitation. "Yes." He said adamantly. "This needs to stop, and I don't plan on losing." He turned to Shadow, and made a smile. "I've got way too much to lose and," His smile faltered. "We've already lost so much anyway. We can't let this continue, Shadow." He placed his hand on top of Shadow's, the one that held his shoulder, and rested it there. "I'm not scared anymore, I'm not afraid of what might happen to us, or what I might do. I just need to do my job, and if that involves doing the one thing I always vowed not to do, then so be it. I'm not gonna let people die for that." He stepped forward closer. "And one of us isn't dying. Either we survive or we go down together, got it?" He asked roughly.

Shadow smirked and chuckled under his breath. He nodded and leaned closer to press a kiss onto his forehead. "I'm with you until the end."

"Same here." Sonic replied with a softer tone. "So, you got a plan?"

Shadow blinked. "...Err-"

Sonic grinned confidently. "Don't worry," He placed his hands on his hips with a familiar cocky expression. "'Cause I've got one. Is Maria okay?"

What a peculiar question. "After being forced to fuse again, she was a little rattled but, I can feel that she's fine now. Yes."

"Good, 'cause we're gonna need her help."

Decades ago, there was once a small young blue hedgehog. The young one was tasked with one of the most important jobs in the multiverse: To be an overseer of all of the many Sonics that existed. But his number one priority in this job, was to watch over the Divine Spirits' precious child. That person, was Sonic. The original, the best of the very best, the most important. The young hedgehog would have to watch Sonic every single day for a few hours, before moving on to watch the other for shorter time frames. At first, he hated this job. It was boring, and why would any child have to waste their time babysitting another child across space and time? He didn't know him, and he probably never would, why should he care? He was just a child himself after all.

But as the young hedgehog grew, he grew along with Sonic. Watching him become a hero, watching him make friends, watching him defeat Robotnik constantly. He realized, that Sonic was a very sweet person. He was kind, merciful, compassionate, empathetic, and had a powerful sense of justice. He was just a great kid, so he finally understood why the Divine ones labeled him as so important. Not to mention he was heir to God-like power that he would soon possess and use to conquer anything in his wake. With his good heart though, he didn't doubt that the multiverse would be rather thankful of his rule.

Then, both hedgehogs became teens. The overseer began to realize that he was genuinely starting to care for a person he's never physically met. Sometimes when things got too drastic, he would use a warp ring to pop in and skewer things in Sonic's favor. He would get rid of or weaken enemies he couldn't handle, he would speak to certain people, and he would do anything he could to help Sonic get the upper hand in his battles if it proved to be too much for him. Sonic would never know that in all his years of fighting, someone who he never knew was helping him the entire time. It was a thankless job sure, but the overseer didn't mind. After all, he cared about him.

Then, they finally met years later.

He was just a sweet as he thought he'd be, and to think they met by the overseer arresting him on sight through a misunderstanding. They became great friends, aiding each other in a grand war that could have plagued No Zone with destruction. And then, he met him once more during all this Scourge madness. He made it official by telling him, that he thought of Sonic as a brother, and that he would care for him as such. He was his brother, his family.

Zonic opened his eyes slowly, and then he smiled.

He felt great.

And then, he sat up in his hospital bed. It was time to get back to work. His destination?

Mobius Prime.

A rumble occurred from the doors to his throne room.

And then they both burst open at once with a loud bang.

Two silhouettes stepped within the large room, their shadows growing as they moved. An aura followed them as they inched closer, radiating off of their figures with pride. Their fists were closed tight, their muscles relaxed but on guard. After taking a few more steps, they abruptly stopped and stood together to gaze at the person before them. The green hedgehog that was slouched against his throne, was giving them an all-knowing smirk. He chuckled while slowly shaking his head back and forth. He knew they'd use those forms. Scourge crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head with a small laugh.

"Hahaha..." He chuckled. "Well, well, well..." He began. "Here we are." He announced while raising his hands in the air, as if presenting a new invention to the world. The room was so quiet, that his voice echoed off the throne room walls with great acoustics. "Now see, y'all can't fool me that easily. I know Blue was able to activate Hyper for realsies this time. You're just keeping him hidden as your trump card, so y'all must have stopped bitching and got him to work in the end." He leaned back in his seat, leaning his elbow on the broken arm of his throne with his fist sitting underneath his chin. "Guess y'all just wanna size me up with your Super forms first. Fair enough, and I'll happily oblige in just a moment." With a small grunt, he hopped down from the throne and stretched his arms above his head. Then, he put his arms behind his back and began pacing to the side of the room.

The couple watched their adversary closely, their matching amber irises never leaving his figure.

Scourge made a small sigh while staring up at the tattered walls. "It's funny, ya know?" He said. "How we got here, and how you could have avoided all this misery. Look, I get it, okay?" Scourge's voice became softer as he turned around to face the other fellow hedgehogs. "You don't wanna die, you wanna fix things. The world may not survive without their hero. And you know what?" He shrugged. "That's okay to feel that way, it's human. Feeling that way is going back to our roots when Mobians were once pink fleshed weirdos with squishy meatbag bodies. And you know what? Dying's scary. Like I said, I do understand." He said with a small chuckle. He stuck his hands in his leather pockets and he had a calm expression on his muzzle. "But that's also very selfish." He suddenly added.

This made Sonic furrow his brows with his amber eyes glinting in suspicion at his sudden change in tone.

"You are a damn hero," He went on as black aura began to arise from his fur like a visible foul stench. "Your job, your very existence rides on you being selfless, doing what's ultimately best for the greater good. And if you still don't have the balls to save the world alongside me," The black aura quickly spread across the large room, darkening the entire atmosphere. The lights flickered, the already ruined carpet was shriveling up. "Then I don't need your help."

Once he uttered that, everything turned pitch black. Both super hedgehogs flinched, as now only their auras and eyes were visible through the dark. They darted their irises around to try and find where Scourge went. They could still feel his repulsive presence. Sonic silently sighed as he readied his body for whatever may come in the next instance. They could feel it, now was the time to fight. Without speaking a word to each other, both Shadow and Sonic stood parallel beside each other and their auras grew. They could feel him moving, but he wasn't coming closer. No, something was getting bigger. More stronger. They both flinched, was that Scourge?

Suddenly, a light emitted from the throne. A bright indigo purple light, illuminated the area within the shrouded darkness. Neither of the two lovers could recognize that type of energy, as they've never seen purple of all colors. That's when Sonic's eyes flickered with familiarity, no he did know what this power was. It's been so long, but he has seen it before. Shadow could feel in his wavelength that he knew what this was, and no longer felt intimated. This was indeed Scourge's power, Super Scourge's power. That purple light grew bigger as a shape began to form a silhouette within the beam. With a dark and heavy snicker that sounded unearthly, a figure stepped out from within the light. Quills were raised in the air, eyes were inverted to black and red, and fur was no longer green, but purple. A disgusting dark purple essence matched the figure with it's aura, surrounding their body like a colored phantom.

An almost pleasured sigh blew from between his lips, as he announced who he was.

"Heyah Blue..." He said. "It's been a minute, did ya miss me? Super Scourge?" He strutted across the floor with a proud demeanor, a pep in his step with an arrogant stride. The room was still very dark, with only their auras giving it any source of light. He swished his hips around and made a few poses, his last one ending with his arms behind his neck and his body outstretched in a rather sensual manner. "Hot damn," He growled almost sexually. "I feel amazing~! It's been way too long since I adorned this form, ya know? It's like that one outfit you love so much but keep forgetting to wear cause there's never a right time for it? But you know you gotta wear it sometime 'cause it was hellah expensive, yeah? Heh," He chuckled. "Yeah...You could dig it, I bet that's how it felt when you turned into Hyper."

Shadow continued to share a glower with the now super anti along with his mate, and he then asked something rather peculiar. "The slides," He suddenly brought up out of seemingly no where, making the now Super Scourge pause with a frown. "Even if they were unimportant, why make me read your own diary? Why make us go in that room with those spirits haunting the place? You knew they would give away what you were hiding, so why go through all that trouble even if you were just trying to make us waste our time?"

That's when Scourge rose a brow. "Um, yeah I wanted you to find the slides but," He shook his head with a snicker. "I never said there were any spirits down there."

Shadow's eyes dilated. "...What?"

"Nah, all my folks should have been roaming random hallways, not the library of all places. I wanted you to waste your time in there, why would I try and scare you off with my ancestors fuckin' with ya? Hell, the library should have been a safe room for you."

Again, what? That place was littered with spirits! Sure they weren't as hostile as Scourge's parents, but they were still meddlesome. And Scourge seemed as if he genuinely didn't know what Shadow was talking about. But if that was the case, why were they so guarded? And even if the anti-Sonic betrayed them, he seemed very adamant on Shadow finding those slides. Why would he want him to find them so bad if they're so unimportant? Something wasn't right here. But now wasn't the time for speculating, there were in enemy territory now. Shadow rid his mind of those thoughts, and focused his attention on the situation at hand. "Sonic," He called to his partner.

"Yeah." Sonic answered back.

"Aww, you're both up and ready to come at me together? As a loving couple? Ride or die? Just for lil' ol' me?" Scourge made an oh-so-delighted expression and cupped his leather gloved hands together while swooning mockingly. "That's soooo adorbs! Why," He slowly lowered his arms and opened his palms. "I'm so fucking FLATTERED!" He roared as purple aura shot off into the ceiling. "You've got some balls fightin' me like this, Blue! If you wanna do this the hard way, then let's stop fuckin' around! Come at me already! You and your fake-ass hubby!" He outstretched his fingers in Shadow's direction and bellowed something neither of them anticipated. "Chaos Pull!" By command of his words, both Sonic and Shadow were yanked towards the purple hedgehog in alarming speeds by some invisible force. Before they made it to their destination, Scourge uttered the words, "Chaos Katar." Large daggers made of pure purple chaos energy concentrated into his fists in an instant, and created a strange pair of blades. Scourge then made a swipe at the golden duo, who only had seconds to react.

The battle had begun.

Sonic chaos control behind Scourge while Shadow dodged the attack instead, with a single strand of his auric fur flying off of his shoulder blade. That was too close. But the ultimate life form didn't falter, as he thought quick and threw a punch at the anti. Scourge chuckled as he dodged left and right from Shadow's swings, not knowing the upcoming attack he would receive from behind. Sonic grunted as he swung a hard and powerful kick into Scourge's back, who took both that blow and Shadow's fist. However, he only sneered at the two as he made his blades disappear and grasped their arms simultaneously. With startled yelps, the two were both swung into a whirling stomach churning circle, before being tossed across the room against the wall. Cracks grew along the surface, but the two couldn't stay down.

With an angered growl, they both got back on their feet and prepared to charge forward with a chaos blast brewing in their palms. Scourge grinned and formed himself into a ball, revving up and spin dashing towards the two with enlarging sharpened spikes. Sonic and Shadow jumped out of the way while blasting the anti full force with a combined chaotic blast. It made contact, but to their shock, Scourge just ricocheted off of the wall and shot directly through the energy of their blasts. It didn't even phase him, not in the slightest bit. Before Scourge could nail them with his spin dash, the duo ascended in the air and kept off the ground thanks to their ability of flight to stay clear of him. The purple ball of spikes continued to bounce from wall to wall, all while leaving an energized streak behind it. It didn't fade away either.

Soon, Scourge rolled into a stop and uncurled himself with a laugh. He then jumped up into the air to ascend and darted for Shadow. He swung his fists and made some kicks, but thankfully none landed. Shadow dodged as fast as he could, and if he lagged even for a second, he'd receive a painful punishment. Sonic tried to intervene by getting in the middle of them, thus interrupting Scourge's attacks and throwing a sucker punch to his anti instead. Scourge chaos controlled from behind Shadow and seized the striped hedgehog by his wrists. He then held him up and swung him directly down into Sonic. With a groan of pain, they both fell down like shooting stars down into the floor. When Shadow sat up first to get up, he realized they literally fell right into Scourge's trap. That trail of power he left all over the room before flying up to fight them was still down here, and they scarily resembled the lasers you'd find in an Eggman base.

With a smirk, Scourge continued float in the air with his legs kicked up as he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the trails of chaotic power began to spark, and electrified the golden duo. Now screaming in pain, they both collapsed onto the floor once the lasers had finished their jobs. The trails of energy finally faded away into purple embers, and Scourge slowly descended down onto the now cracked floor to walk in front of the two. "You get it now?" He taunted. "It's useless fighting me in those forms. Even with two of you going up against me, you ain't shit compared to me. Now, if Big Blue had used Hyper like I said-"

Shadow abruptly shot his hand out directly in Scourge's direction. "Chaos Lance!"

A golden lance-shaped projectile had penetrated through Scourge's chest, knocking the anti back a few feet away and landing onto his back. Shadow got up, and helped Sonic onto his feet. They both were hurt, but they weren't out yet. It would take a lot more than that to get them down. With a snarl, Scourge gradually stood back up with an irritated glower. He then grasped the lance sticking out of his chest, yanked it out, and shattered it into millions of embers with a firm grip. He then chaos blasted from behind himself to help him boost towards the couple with a ball of energy fusing into his other hand. He was going to attack. Sonic then got down on one knee in a track runner's position and narrowed his eyes at the upcoming attack.

Shadow could read his wavelength, telling him to get back and go along with the rest of his plan. The ultimate life form chaos controlled away and appeared in the air to watch from below, his arms crossed as he surveyed what would happen next. Golden aura rose and formed around the hero's body, before he bolted towards Scourge to meet him halfway. That is, until he made a slight turn towards the left, just barely missing a potential collision. Instead, his hand was outstretched and grazed the sleeve of Scourge's jacket, and the tips of his fingers had nothing but pure chaotic force hidden within them. "Chaos," He whispered just before he passed him. "Deflect!"

They both passed each other. Scourge skidded to a stop to turn around and release his power, until a purple explosion ruptured from below him. His own power turned on him and he ended up blasting himself. Sonic made it to the other side of the wall and kicked flipped off of it's surface to soar into the air and meet Scourge in ascension as he flew up from the radius of his own explosion. Sonic then ax-kicked his anti right in the stomach and then chaos blasted him for good measure as he fell down. Scourge was barely hurt by the attack, but it still annoyed him. So before he landed, he made a blast as well that collided with Sonic's, that easily overpowered it and ate through. It then made a hit onto the hero, who yelled in pain as he also fell along with his anti. They both landed on the ruined floor with loud thuds.

Sonic got back up with a struggle, but he was still raring to go. Scourge was already on his feet, marching towards him with a tightened fist. Suddenly, he chaos controlled in front of Sonic to sucker punch him, but Sonic just managed to catch his hands into his own to stop him. They began a match of endurance, one that Sonic was slowly losing. Scourge was pushing back against him, and it wouldn't be long before he landed a blow onto him. Just then, a storm of golden spears rained down upon them. Sonic smirked before kicking Scourge in the stomach and teleporting to Shadow's side. Thousands of golden spears struck the purple hedgehog, and Shadow continuously spawned more and more to shoot down. Sonic joined him, spawning and sending down multiple golden chaotic spears to smite Scourge where he stood.

The purple anti was shoved and tossed back and forth thanks to the force of the spears, but he still wasn't hurt, just exasperated. He then held up his hands in the air as he was cut up and slashed, and an indigo force field loomed over him. He then made it expand, growing into a ginormous size to engulf the entire throne room. The more it grew, the more it swallowed up the spears, forcing them all into golden embers that would soon fade away. It grew over Sonic and Shadow, repulsing them with it's rancid aura. It was so foul, that it disrupted their flight and made them fall to the ground, like gnats landing against a bug zapper. Scourge then spawned a series of his own blades, his Chaos Katars, and sent them down upon the golden duo.

The daggers landed in seconds and slashed their flesh and fur. Their legs were sliced, their arms cut, their faces grazed, their abdomen gashed. While groaning in lingering pain, they struggled to get up as they bled. However, it was okay, because they would slowly regenerate-

...Why weren't they regenerating?

No, no that wasn't good! If they couldn't heal, Scourge would surely kill them! In a small panic, they both tried performing a Chaos Heal on themselves, but that didn't work either. No, did Scourge temporarily damage their powers? How could he even do that if he was just in his super form? Then again, if he was still fused with Fleetway, he was probably tapping from some of his power as well. After all, only a deity could perform a feat like that. But they couldn't give up, not yet. They shared a loving glance towards each other, this wasn't the end yet. They could do this, they still had time. They gave their attention back to Scourge and took on their fighting stances. Scourge just made a maniacal laughter, shaking his head as he watched the two struggle and bleed with their wounds.

"Man, you two just don't learn." He teased. "No matter what you do, I can't go down. You're too weak. Give it up already." The anti made a daunting leer and wiggled his brows. "Come on~ Don't ya wanna use the power of loooove to beat me? Huh? I know you want to."

"Shadow," Sonic murmured to his lover. "Not yet, we can't give up yet."

The striped hedgehog nodded in agreement. "I know, our chance is almost here. We can't miss it. Just a little more."

"Right." The hero said.

'It's only a matter of time.'

The doors to the Reality Room opened, alerting Zhadow and making him whip his head at the entrance of the room with a growl. This was a private room, no one, not even the general could enter here. Who had the nerve to come in here and interrupt his work? Whomever it was would get fired on the spot for their insolence. "Whoever that is, I advise you to turn back before I have your badge!" He barked. "This is a restricted area, no one except for second lieutenant general Zonic and I are allowed in this room!" He announced as he turned away from the destroyed monitors and marched towards the door, ready to give a stern talking to the bastard who dared ignored his orders.

Then, he stopped.

His eyes slowly dilated as he saw who was standing in the doorway. Adorned in their No Zone military combat uniform stood the Overseer of Chaos Born, Zonic, his love. He looked healthy, active and even happy to be awake. His helmet was in his hand, his uniform was perfectly fitted on his figure, and he made a small smile at his superior. "I already gave up my badge to General Zobotnik days ago, so technically, I don't work here anymore. But," He saluted his first lieutenant general with pride. "If allowed sir, I'd like to aid you in helping Sonic prime one last time as your second lieutenant general."

Zhadow was speechless, and his eyes trembled as he watched his rookie share his gaze with his green irises. "...Zonic?"

"Reporting, sir-" Without another word, Zhadow seized the collar of Zonic's top and captured his lips with a kiss. Zonic dropped his helmet, but soon wrapped his arms around his superior with a longing moan. The first lieutenant broke the chaste kiss, despite how strong and heated it was, and began trailing more pecks against his muzzle. Zonic stifled a chuckle, but made a gasp as Zhadow lifted him up into his arms. He continued to plant kisses against his face and neck, causing redness to spread throughout Zonic's cheeks. "F-First lieutenant-" He interrupted himself as he moaned from another surprise kiss against his neck. "Commander Z-Zhadow please, we need to-"

"Damn you," His superior cursed. "Damn you, damn you, damn you..." He repeated lowly as he held him closely, ceasing his onslaught of kisses. "I thought," He hesitated. "I almost thought I lost you."

Zonic's face was beet red, but he still couldn't help but smile a little. "I almost thought that too." He admitted. "But Sonic prime is still in trouble, and he needs help from both of us. I can feel it." He was let down gently out of his superior's arms, and he softly placed his hand against his tan muzzle. "Get me up to speed with what's happened at Mobius prime, and then we can follow through with a plan."

Zhadow blinked as he rested his own hand against Zonic's. "A plan? Zonic you just got out of bed, and you were bed written from a seizure. Not to mention your mental state is in question, you need to get more rest-"

"Please," Zonic cut him off with a pleading tone. "Let me do this. I have a plan, and we don't have much time." He narrowed his eyes. "Please, Zhadow. Permission to take charge on this mission."

The striped lieutenant general frowned, but sighed and closed his eyes in defeat.

"As you wish rookie, permission granted."

"Get fucked you phony-ass hedgehog!" Scourge hollered as he uppercut Shadow with a mean jab. The force of the punch was so strong, Shadow was thrown into the ceiling of the room, and was almost stuck in the structure of the cracked wall. Sonic appeared behind Scourge with elbow to the back, and a knee to the back of his head. He finished this attack with a swift kick to the spine once more, watching as Scourge got knocked back from the blows. Sonic flew in the air and charged forwards with a flying punch, nailing Scourge directly in the face. He grunted in anger, and gave a punch to his golden twin right back. But as the two exchanged blows, Shadow chaos controlled below the anti and seized his ankle. He yanked him down and threw him onto the floor.

Both golden hedgehogs plummeted down with their feet first, landing the soles of their shoes right into Scourge's abdomen. The force of their joined stomps made the floor rumble and crumble, and Scourge soon fell through the floor with a crater now created into the structure. Their ears flicked at the sound of several thuds that were being made as Scourge continuously fell through several floors of the castle. As he fell while screaming curses, the couple glanced at each other. They were bleeding, panting and pretty tired. It hasn't even been two hours and they were already at their wit's end. Scourge was right, there was no way they could fight him like this.

Shadow clenched his teeth. "We don't have time, we have to do it now!"

"Are you sure? If this doesn't work-"

"It has to, Sonic. There's no way he'd be able to see passed it, we can do this."

Sonic grimaced. "Okay, but are you absolutely sure you want to do this? I've never done it before, and anything could happen. You could die, too."

"I know, but it's for you and everyone back at home. I'm willing to die for that, and you know it." He held out his hands to Sonic. "I'm ready."

The hero silently sighed, they had no choice. He grasped Shadow's wrists, and clipped off his inhibitor rings. They fell and disappeared into embers, and he never took his eyes off of Shadow as he did this. "I promise I'll end it for good."

Shadow placed a kiss onto Sonic's nose. "I know you will." He replied back with a softer tone.

...

...And then, red appeared onto his lips. Blood dripped from his mouth, and the ultimate life form suddenly coughed. He hacked a few more times, with blood splattering onto Sonic as his knees wobbled. Sonic's eyes shrunk, and his mouth was agape in shock. A chaotic katar blade was ripped right through Shadow's chest, right where his heart was. Blood quickly pooled around his legs, and drooled from his lips. He lost his balance, and he fell backwards. Sonic gasped in fear and quickly caught him in midair, before slowly descending down onto a part of the floor that was still intact.

"S-Shadow!" Sonic yelled. "Shadow!" He cried as he held his striped lover in his arms. "Shadow come on, not now! Don't do this!"

"..." He couldn't even speak back, the light in his amber eyes were draining.

Tears welled up in the corners of Sonic's eyes, and he held in a sob. They had let their guard down for just a minute, and that was all it took to end the ultimate life form. Sonic just laid his face against his chest fur, letting his tears fall onto his body as he felt his energy slowly leave his body. "Shadow...No..." He whispered.

Purple aura spread throughout the room as a matching colored hedgehog floated in front of the two. Scourge made a dark chuckle as he tapped his fingers against his scarred face. "See? I told you this would happen. Ride or die, am I right?" He floated around them and landed behind Sonic. He placed his hands behind his back and tilted his head. "I could have kept Stripes alive for you as a mind slave, that way he wouldn't be in the way and he would have lived. He wouldn't have had to die, Blue. We could have shared ya." He shrugged. "But nope, you just had to make this harder than it had to be. You took the hard way out. Him? I gave him an easy way out, dying in an instant. I could have tortured the fucker, but for your sake, I ended it quickly so he wouldn't suffer for long. In a few more seconds, he should be in a better place: Oblivion."

Sonic wouldn't respond, he just continued to sob over his body.

Scourge rose a brow and landed so he could walk over towards them. "Oh Blue, we're not done yet. Ditch that corpse and turn into Hyper already." He bent down and got a little closer to pluck one of Sonic's risen golden quills. "Bluuuue~? I'm talkin' to ya here. Come on already-"

And then, Sonic turned around.

But what stopped Scourge speaking wasn't the hero, but the anti-hero.

Shadow was gripping Scourge's wrist painfully tight, his expression full of rage. And all he uttered was one single thing:

"Gotcha."

Sonic snarled and tackled Scourge down. "Chaos Bind!" Golden ropes bound the anti against the crumbling floor, wrapping around his limbs and neck to keep him still. Then, the hero moved away, and Shadow made a war cry as he shoved his hand against Scourge's forehead. Wind picked up and blew violently all around the throne room, whirling and twisting towards the three hedgehogs. A large amount of auric energy rose into the air and surrounded the room as the two chaos users announced their move, the final phase in their plan.

"Chaos-" Shadow began.

"Control!" Sonic finished.

Scourge kicked and cursed as that golden power seemingly had a mind of it's own, and swooped down directly towards him. However, it wasn't acting as a blast, nor was it acting as an attack at all. It was all going directly to Scourge's head, penetrating through and absorbing into his cranium. The pain was unbearable, and it felt like a flesh eating virus quickly advancing it's way inside of his skull. Purging everything in it's wake, it dived into the depths of his body, acting as a pathogen that began to travel from the head-down.

Scourge could only reply in excruciating and utter agony.

A bright white light enveloped their visions.

END - 52

They're almost here.

This battle is far from over.