Shadow's Odyssey 2: The Chaos Continues

Sonic's Super form had run out and he returned to the others. "I couldn't find him, but whatever he planned on doing, he's probably done it by now."

Bo-katan punched Eggman again. "You said this plan would work!"

"Give me a day or two and I'll come up with another one!"

"I think we've had enough of your plans, Eggman." Knuckles growled.

Ganodi tried to call Kalani. "It didn't work. We have no idea where he is now." She got no response from the other side. "Kalani? Are you there?" And then it hit her. "Guys, I think I know where Sidious went."

They saw the smoke cloud long before they got there. And when they did get there, it was even worse than they imagined. The city was devastated. Not a single building was left standing.

Ezra's heart sank to the deepest part of his stomach. "No. No, no, no!" Ezra dropped to his knees. "My parents…"

As everyone else stood in mournful silence, Eggman suddenly snapped, "What are you all just standing around for? We need to find Sidious before he gets his energy back!"

Sonic shot him a poisonous glare but loped off to do exactly that. He easily found him lying in the crater where the explosion had originated. Sonic found the inhibitor rings as well but didn't put them back on Shadow's wrists as that would help Sidious recover faster. He picked up the body and ran back to where everyone else was.

Eggman gestured at them. "See? It did work!"

Rex punched him this time.

"Ow! If everyone's done taking their frustrations out on me, can we finally kill Sidious?"

Ezra stood up and pulled out his lightsaber. "I'll do it."

The black hedgehog's eyes cracked open. "I wouldn't if I were you. You wouldn't want to kill Shadow now, would you?"

"What are you talking about?" Petro demanded. "You killed him. You killed him when you took his body."

"Oh no. Shadow's still here. If fact, I'll let him talk to you."

The evil smirk on Shadow's face suddenly dropped and he blinked in confusion. Then his eyes widened, and he shouted, "Kill me! Kill me now!"

Everyone stared in a mix of shock and confusion.

"I knew it." Sonic growled. "I knew he was still in there."

Painful hope seized Rouge's heart. Shadow was alive, was within reach even, and yet…

"Kill me now before- arghhh!"

Shadow's facial expression relaxed as Sidious re-took control. "Still want to kill me?"

"Yes!" Ezra responded, stepping forward and lifting his lightsaber.

"Ezra, no!" Petro grabbed Ezra's arm.

"Why not? We still need to kill him, don't we?"

"He's right." Eggman agreed. "We still need to kill him. This changes nothing."

Rouge glared at him. "Did you know he was still in there?"

"No, I did not."

Bo-katan could not let such dishonesty stand. "Yes, you did! You told me you overheard Sidious psychologically torturing him!"

Omega pointed his machine guns at Eggman. "You tried to trick us into killing Shadow!"

"I'm not trying to kill Shadow; I'm trying to kill Sidious. I just left out the part about Shadow being alive because I knew that would stop you from killing him. We still need to kill Sidious."

"We're not killing him!" Rouge asserted.

"And what do you suggest we do then? Just stand here until he regains his strength and blows us all up? You do realize how difficult it is to contain someone with Shadow's power, don't you?"

Petro tried to get some control over the situation. "Alright, it's obvious we need to make a decision quickly. So, let's put it to a vote."

Eggman rolled his eyes. "Seriously?"

"Yes, and it's obvious what your stance on the subject is."

"Well, I vote we don't kill him." Rouge declared.

Sonic and Tails also voted against killing Shadow. Bo-katan voted to kill Shadow. Boba voted to kill Shadow. Luke voted against killing Shadow. Rex voted against killing Shadow.

Omega was silent for a long moment.

"…I vote that we kill Shadow."

"Omega!" Rouge screeched.

"It was Shadow's request that we kill him. As his friend, I must honor that request."

Ezra voted for. Ganodi voted against. Knuckles voted against. Lando and L3 voted for. Petro voted against.

Seven votes to kill Shadow and eight against.

"It's settled then. We're gonna find another way." Petro announced.

Eggman groaned. "This is why democracy is stupid. So now what?"

"We'll take him back to the temple and you'll build something to contain him." Petro ordered.

"All right, fine! Get me his inhibitor rings and maybe I can work something out. But be warned, I never pass up an opportunity to say I told you so!"

Unknown to them, they were being watch by four Mandalorians

"They're taking him back to the temple, just as he predicted."

"I still don't understand what he thinks he's doing. What's the point in letting the Jedi capture him?"

"Our orders are to rescue him, not ask questions. Now let's move."

Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Ezra, and Luke stayed behind to search for any survivors. Everyone else went back to the temple.

"What do we do about them?" one of the Mandalorians asked, gesturing to the search party.

The one with binoculars zoomed in on them. "That's target: Beta. Ringo, go secure the target and kill the rest. We can't let the Jedi find out we're here."

Eggman was working on his device to contain Shadow when Boba walked over to him. "We have Sidious, now where's my payment?"

"He didn't have it with him when we captured him. I don't know where it is now."

"We had a deal."

"Yes, but I'm in the middle of something important right now."

"I spent five years in a Sarlacc Pit because of you. So, if you don't pay me with the Darksaber, you're going to pay me with your life."

Bo-katan, who was watching Eggman to make sure he didn't try to pull anything, glared at Boba. "That saber doesn't belong to you."

"I was promised the Darksaber in exchange for doing my job and I've completed my end. Therefore, it's mine."

"The Darksaber belongs to Mandalore and I'm not gonna let you take it." She put her hand on her holster.

"Before you two start your little shoot-out, might I remind you that the Darksaber isn't here?" Eggman interjected. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to complete work on the thing that's going to keep Sidious from escaping and killing us all!"

Boba and Bo-katan glared at each other.

"We'll settle this later." Bo-katan decided.

Eggman finished his device and went to put it on Shadow.

"Are you sure this will contain him?" Petro asked.

"No, I'm not sure! This is an experimental piece of technology that I slapped together over the course of a few hours. This is why my plan was to kill him!"

"We are not sacrificing Shadow to kill Sidious."

"Do you honestly think saving Shadow is a possibility?"

Petro remained firm. "Until we can determine that rescuing Shadow is 100% impossible, he stays alive."

Eggman shoved the device into Petro's hands. "I need a nap. Wake me when you're ready to make an intelligent decision."

Eggman's invention linked Shadow's inhibitor rings, turning them into handcuffs. Petro went to the room where they were keeping Shadow and where Omega stood guard. The droid was an ideal guard not only because he was able and willing to put the hedgehog down if it proved necessary, but he could also be trusted not to kill him when it wasn't necessary. Petro put the cuffs on Shadow's wrists.

Sidious did not seem bothered. He in fact smiled smugly. "You trust the doctor to build something to contain me, yet you refuse to listen to his advice. Every moment I'm left alive is a moment Shadow suffers. You realize this, don't you?"

Petro ignored him.

"Even now, Shadow begs you to kill him. He knows this is a terrible idea. And so do you."

"I'll find another way."

"Of course, go on, take your time. I'm sure Shadow won't mind waiting. He's been waiting for five years already, what's a little more time?"