Cosmo gasped awake, her eyes wide. She had been dreaming about Shadow.
Blaze walked up to her in worry. "Cosmo, are you okay?" The female cat asked.
Cosmo turned to her. "Sorry, Blaze, I was dreaming."
"Was it about Shadow?" Blaze asked.
Cosmo looked down. "It was." She said. She and Blaze looked around the Blue Typhoon. Everyone had their eyes closed. Penny was sitting down next to Sonic, her head in her hands, going through a shock. The human girl still couldn't believe what had just happened.
"Sonic, Penny, Silver, and the others have been thinking about him ever since he reappeared and rescued Penny." Blaze said. "That girl's going through a shock right now."
Cosmo looked at them. "Why is Shadow the Hedgehog so important to you anyway?"
Blaze looked at her. "You see, Cosmo, they met Shadow when we were on Chris and Penny's planet. When Dr. Eggman found out that his grandfather had created the Ultimate Creature, he broke into a government lab and woke Shadow up from suspended animation! Shadow worked with Dr. Eggman to threaten Chris and Penny's planet, and he captured Penny as well and fought Sonic and Silver. But later Penny confronted Shadow and convinced him to join up with Sonic and Silver. Shadow sacrificed himself to save everyone. You know that gold ring Penny always wears around her wrist? That's Shadow's ring. She never took it off. We all thought he was lost forever!"
Cosmo looked troubled. "But we just saw him, so he must've survived."
"Yes." Blaze said.
Around the ship, everyone was having the same thoughts about Shadow. Deciding to pull everyone to their feet again, Sonic smiled and raised his hands. "Why are we wasting the day asking ourselves questions that we can't possibly answer? Next time he turns up, we'll just ask him what's going on!"
Everyone looked at Sonic.
"What did I say?" Sonic asked, confused. Penny finally stood up, though her eyes still shown signs of shock. The girl smiled and put her hand on Sonic's shoulder. "Nothing wrong." She smiled.
He smiled back.
...
At Eggman's ship, Shadow stared out the window, his arms crossed, his features looking thoughtful. His memory went back to the night before, how he rescued the strangely familiar girl from the falling aircraft. He felt that it was strange how the girl herself remembered him as well. They hadn't met before, have they? What was even more confusing was why he only recognized her but no one else.
"I don't understand how those strangers and the girl knew my name," Shadow mumbled. "They acted like they met me somewhere before. But when? And where?"
Decoe moved his chair up to Shadow. "When is easy!" He said. "It was back when you were in that other world!"
Bocoe moved his chair up to Decoe. "As for where it was on Space Colony Ark." He turned to Shadow. "You sure have a terrible memory."
"It might be better if Shadow's past stays forgotten," Eggman said, walking up to the black and red hedgehog. Shadow glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Eggman shrugged. "Nothing."
"If you're hiding something..." Shadow began, his arms still crossed as he glared at the doctor.
"Are you suggesting that I'm trying to deceive you?" Eggman asked. "Why, I've never been so insulted in all my life!"
Shadow's glare darkened at Eggman.
"Then I won't tell you anything!" Eggman concluded. Watching from above, Rouge frowned, crossing her arms. "Dr. Eggman needs to go back to Bad Guy school to brush up on his lying technique." She said, shaking her head.
Hearing beeping, she and Bokkun looked at the scanner. Something was coming at them, and it was big.
"Warp complete. My very target identified." The ship ahead of them droned eerily. "Launching attack!"
At the command, the ship fired its lasers at Eggman's floating base. Its passengers yelped as the ship rattled. Eggman looked frightened. "Who's that attacking us?!" He yelped.
Bokkun looked panicked. "It's a ship I've never seen before!" He cried. "It came out of nowhere!"
Eggman sweatdropped at the sight of the ship. "A Metarex!" He gasped.
The Metarex ship started attacking again, firing Eggman's ship with its lasers.
"Shields up!" Eggman ordered. However, even when the shields were up, his robots knew right away that the laser shield wouldn't hold up for long.
"Its laser cannons are too powerful!" Decoe whimpered, clinging to his chair.
"Our shields will not hold up for long!" Bocoe added.
Eggman growled. He turned to Shadow. "Go get him, Shadow! Destroy that ship and I will tell you everything about your past!"
That was all Shadow had to hear. He walked out to the deck of the ship and sped into the air, his expression determined.
"They're launching an encounter attack!" The Metarex growled. It shot its lasers at Shadow, though he was able to defeat the lasers shooting at him by turning into his ball form and smashing at them with high speed.
"Not bad." The Metarex said.
Shadow spun in the air at high speed and struck another blow at the Metarex.
"But it is useless." The Metarex said as Shadow finished his blow. Shadow frowned at the ship. "You think so?" He asked. He launched an attack again, but this time he kept hitting it rapidly.
"You cannot harm me!" The Metarex growled.
Shadow continued his rapid attacks, hitting the ship over and over.
"Well done, Shadow!" Eggman cheered. Decoe looked closely at Shadow's attacks, looking confused. "What kind of attack is that?!" He asked.
"I have no clue!" Bocoe said.
Eggman walked up behind them with a smirk, slamming two buckets on their heads. "Allow me to demonstrate!" He said. The doctor pulled out two hammers and started rapidly hammering the buckets on the robot's heads. When Eggman was finished, the bots fell to the floor, moaning in pain. "As you can see, a series of rapid strikes on the ship's hull will create an internally intense vibration! Which will shake the ship apart on the inside." Eggman explained.
Shadow continued his attacks, and when he drew back, he let out a determined yell and flew as hard as he could on the ship, using all of his power. Shadow managed to kick back the ship, however that punch had gotten him knocked out as well.
The Metarex ship chuckled, its purple eye-like windows glancing at Shadow's drifting unconscious body.
Eggman completely flipped out about that. "Shadow can't fight anymore because he used up all of his power!"
"He needs a jumpstart," Rouge noted.
Eggman started typing on his computer. "I'm going to have to bring him back." The doctor said. A claw shot out of the ship and grabbed Shadow, and slowly pulled him back into the ship.
"Your silly games are over." The Metarex said, firing its lasers at Eggman and CO again.
"Now what are we gonna do?!" Bokkun cried.
"Fire lasers now!" Eggman ordered, and the Metarex ship fired back. Eggman's missiles destroyed the upcoming ones, however, the Metarex ship destroyed Eggman's lasers, and Bokkun pointed that out in a panicky voice. "Oh, no, our lasers are destroyed!" He cried.
Eggman shrieked. "Launch all missiles immediately! Target that Meatarex!"
at command, Eggman's ship fired. With the Metarex's lasers being more powerful, Eggman's ship tilted. Rouge thought this was the best time to escape, so she helped herself to her ship and flew off, leaving her other comrades to their fate.
"Time to ship out." She chuckled as she flew off. "Bye!"
Eggman screamed as his ship rattled. "Hurry up and get us out of here!" He yelled at the robots.
"I am trying!" Bocoe wailed. "The engines have overheated, and they're not working!"
"A MISSILE'S COMING!" Bokkun screamed, looking at the scanner. "Our shields can't stop it!"
"Oh, no!" Everyone yelled at once.
The missile smashed right into Eggman's ship.
"Now I will exterminate that hedgehog." the Metarex ship growled.
...
Penny stared in shock at Rouge on the messenger screen. Was she hearing the female bat correctly? What about Shadow? She didn't know what to say. She felt Sonic squeeze her hand.
"What?!" Tails yelped. "A Metarex attacked Eggman?!"
"He didn't stand a chance, take a look," Rouge said, showing everyone on the Blue Typhoon the recording of Eggman's ship being destroyed. A second later, a strange yellow ship Penny never saw before entered on the screen.
Cosmo gasped in horror.
"Cosmo?" Cloud asked, his voice with worry.
"What's wrong?" Sonic asked.
Cosmo's eyes shrank with fear. "I know that ship!" She gasped. "That Metarex attacked me and my clan!" She shuddered at the memory, and sudden tears came to the Seedrian girl's eyes, and she broke into a sob. Penny walked over and gave Cosmo a comforting hug, which she returned. Whisper walked over as well and placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.
Amy looked down at Cosmo from her seat. "Cosmo, we'll stop that Metarex!" She vowed.
"Fat chance." Rouge frowned on the screen. "That thing was too powerful for even Shadow to defeat."
"Rouge... is Shadow... okay?" Penny whimpered, her eyes wide with fear for the ebony black hedgehog.
"I wish I knew, hon," Rouge said, sadly shaking her head.
"Whoa..." Kat mumbled at Chris's side. "It must be strong..."
"No kidding." Silver shook his head.
"I think we'd better retreat." Tails suddenly said.
"What?!" Tangle, Cloud, Hiro, Kat, Blaze, and Silver yelped together.
"Are you kidding?" Amy frowned at the fox. "We can't let it win!"
Tails looked up at her. "I just want to pull back temporarily." He explained. He closed his eyes. "I don't think we should take that thing on until we have a chance to analyze it and come up with a plan to blow it away!" He raised his hands at the last part.
Knuckles nodded. "I agree." He said, giving Amy a look. "We have to think this thing through."
Amy frowned at him. "That'll be a first!"
Knuckles glanced at her. "I'm only trying to use my head." He frowned, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. Amy sighed. "Then we might as well give up now." She said, standing up straight.
"She's right," Rouge said.
The call ended.
Knuckles growled at where Rouge was once seen and clenched his fists. Penny chuckled. Even though Rouge and Knuckles seemed to clash, deep down the human girl knew those two were perfect together. However, her thoughts drifted to Shadow, and her gaze turned to worry. "Shadow..." She whimpered. Sonic walked up to her and squeezed her hand again. "Don't worry, Pen." He smiled. "He's a survivor. Am I right?"
Penny smiled back at him. "I hope you're right." She smiled.
"Let's get going while we have the chance!" Knuckles said.
"I say we stay!" Amy said.
"Why don't we listen to Tails?" Tangle asked. "What's your plan, my two-tailed fox friend?"
Tails smiled at the lemur, then frowned at the screen seriously. "We'd better decide now, there's something big headed this way! It's coming from out of warp space!"
Tails was right. The ship that had launched its attack on Eggman appeared right in front of them.
Cosmo turned to Tails. "Tails! Get us out of here!" She called to him. The kitsune's eyes widened. Amy glanced at Cosmo. "But Cosmo, you're the last one here who should want to retreat!" Amy protested. "That Metarex is responsible for wiping out everybody you cared about, now's that chance for the ship to meet that pain and misery it caused you!"
"I can't." Cosmo whimpered. "I want to fight that thing alone, Amy." She bent down her head and began to sob. "I'm willing to risk my life to battle Metarex but not yours!"
"Sooner or later we'll have to face it," Sonic said. He looked at Cosmo with a smile. Silver nodded. "And there's no time like the present!" The white hedgehog said.
Cosmo looked stunned.
"All right then, it's settled!" Hiro said, punching his fist in his palm.
"I still think it's a longshot, but I'm willing to try it." Knuckles smiled. "Let's do it!"
Chris, Kat, and Penny nodded in determination.
"I'm glad you see it my way!" Amy smiled, causing Penny to frown at her.
"We can win!" Cream said.
"Chao!" Cheese said.
"Believe in us, Cosmo," Whisper said softly. "We'll be there for you."
Cosmo stood up, happy tears in her eyes. "This means so much to me." The girl said. "Thank you all."
Everyone shot her a thumbs up. Tails turned the Blue Typhoon towards the upcoming Metarex. "Rais all shields!" The kitsune ordered.
"Right!" Cream and Blaze nodded.
The shields rose up, surrounding the Blue Typhoon. The gang watched as laser after laser hit the shields of the Blue Typhoon, and the Blue Typhoon launched their own surprise attack... their own luggage! Penny smirked at the ship... this was a trick that the Metarex would not see coming!
"That debris is made to convince me. I destroy their ship but I haven't yet!" The Metarex growled, unleashing their weapons. "I will destroy that ship! I'll keep firing missiles until it is obliterated!"
Penny's eyes widened. That ship was being serious. "Sonic, hurry!" She whimpered. She felt Chris squeeze her hand. Her worries faded as she watched her friends junk up the Metarex's weapons. The Metarex sounded furious. "Enough of these games! I will fire all of my missiles at once! And wipe them out with one big bang!"
He would've done that if his lasers weren't stuffed with luggage! Penny smiled, Sonic, Blaze, Silver, Knuckles, Amy, Tangle, and Whisper did their job well. They completely clogged every missile they could with items from the ship.
"That Metarex is in a jam now! And for reals this time!" Kat giggled, and she and Penny gave each other high fives.
"I can blast right through it!" The Metarex growled, growing red.
"GUYS, GET OUT OF THERE!" Penny screamed, watching from the Blue Typhoon. Her eyes widened as the ship seemed to explode right through the clogs.
"Wow, that Metarex is starting to realize that it's a hard time to fire missiles when they're clogged up!" Kat giggled again. Penny just watched with fear in her eyes. Her eyes widened again as the Metarex ship seemed to fly towards it.
"It's gonna crash into us!" Penny cried. "Tails! Do something!"
Tails nodded. "Engines up!" He announced. He frowned. "We don't have enough power to get away in time!" He told Chris. Chris frowned. "Routing all power to the engines." He muttered.
The Metarex flew closer.
"It's no use!" Tails cried. "We're going to crash!"
"It's all over!" Chris yelled.
"Goodbye, world!" Kat yelled dramatically, flinging her hands in front of her as if thinking that would stop the crash. Penny, Cosmo, and Cream screamed together. However, just when they thought all hope was lost, a familiar red and black hedgehog smashed at the ship, protecting the Blue Typhoon from destruction.
Penny opened her eyes, and her blue eyes widened with shock.
Shadow the Hedgehog. He was standing on the glass window of the Typhoon, glancing back at Penny and the others. Penny's heart started pounding.
"Shadow!" She cried happily. Shadow glanced one last look at her before returning to fight the Metarex again. She watched in curiosity as the hedgehog rapidly smashed against the ship.
"How come Shadow wasn't destroyed with Dr. Eggman?" Kat asked curiously. Eggman appeared, answering her question. "I'm like a bad rash. You can't get rid of me! Metarex missed me!"
Eggman explained how he cleverly used the doors of his ship to let the missile fly in and out, and how he used a smokescreen to create the explosion. "As usual, I used my brains and showed that missile the door!"
"It's lucky for you you don't have to fit your head through there!" Knuckles called to Eggman. Penny giggled, actually relieved that the enemy survived. But she was mostly relieved for Shadow.
"Hey, where did Sonic, Silver, and Shadow go?" Penny asked, looking around.
"You're right!" Kat gasped. "They were just here, weren't they?"
...
"Something tells us we're thinking the same thing," Sonic told Silver and Shadow as they raced down the halls together. "If we destroy the engine room, this Metarex will be out of commission for good!"
Shadow glared at the two hedgehogs. "I didn't ask for your help, so stay out this!" He growled.
Silver shrugged. "Okay."
"I see you haven't lost any of your charm!" Sonic smirked as he ran. Shadow glanced at them. "You two certainly are persistent, strangers!"
"What do you mean strangers?" Silver looked confused. So did Sonic. "Don't you recognize us, Shadow?"
Shadow said nothing but ran into another room as Sonic and Silver continued to run ahead. The three started their attacks on the ship, and the ship roared in outrage.
...
"Wow, we really did it!" Tangle gasped, watching the ship burst into flames.
"What's your mission anyway?" Whisper asked the Metarex ship, raising her wispion in the air as she glared at the ship.
The Metarex answered her. "To destroy Sonic and Silver. Whatever it takes."
Cosmo's eyes widened with anxiety. Penny frowned in concern as the Metarex ship suddenly turned blue.
"What's it doing?!" Blaze yelped.
"That Metarex is trying to blow us all away by using self-destructing!" Eggman answered.
"Let's go, doctor!" Bokkun cried.
"It's too late to get away!" Eggman cried.
"What?" Penny yelped, her eyes widened with fear.
"What do we do?!" Sonic yelled.
"Shadow, what's your plan?!" Silver yelled.
"We need to buy some time!" Shadow answered. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the Chaos Emerald. He let out a determined yell, and to Penny's surprise, the Metarex ship stopped moving.
"What?!" Penny gasped in shock.
"What'd you do?" Knuckles asked.
"I stopped time from advancing around the ship," Shadow answered, looking down at the echidna. "We have 90 seconds!"
At that, Eggman raised his fist. "All right, now count down with me!" He and his robots started counting down. "88, 87, 86..."
Shadow turned to Sonic and the others. "If you want to disarm it, you better hurry!"
"Right!" Sonic nodded. He opened his communicator. "Come in, Tails!"
"We'll use the Sonic Power Cannon!" Tails answered. "Come to the ship as fast as you can!
Chris looked at Tails. "That Metarex's armor is strong."
"Yeah, I know, Chris, but we can use a warp field to make it weaker!"
"Tails, that's brilliant!" Blaze grinned, and he laughed cheekily.
"Right." Chris nodded at Tails and began typing. "Warp field driver is all set, Tails!"
"Prepared to send out a warp field to surround the Metarex!" Tails announced.
"Roger!" Chris nodded, moving the controls. Penny watched as a bright ball of energy hit a part of space and created a warp field to fire at the Metarex. Tails pressed the fire button, and the warp field landed directly at the Metarex.
"Direct hit!" Penny yelped.
Tails then got the Sonic Power Cannon ready. "Round all energy to the power cannon!"
"We have full power!" Chris announced. "Sonic, Silver, get set for launch!"
"Ready!" The two hedgehogs announced, and they started spinning in the canon.
Tails looked determined. "Fire the cannon at my command!" He ordered. "Targeting at the Metarex! Sonic Power Cannon FIRE!" He yelled, pressing the fire button.
Penny watched as her two friends zoomed towards the warped Metarex, and she smiled in relief as Sonic and Silver pushed back the ship with all the power they had. And soon, the Metarex ship was gone.
Once the battle was over, Eggman and his buddies left, followed by Rouge and Shadow. "Thanks for saving us, Sonic!" Eggman smirked. "You'll regret it!"
Penny found herself staring at Shadow as Eggman's ship vanished. She smiled at him, feeling happy that he was back.
"I finally got even with the Metarex who wiped out my clan." Cosmo thought. "I wish I could be at peace now, but there are more Metarex out there, and more planets in danger! I have to keep fighting until the Galaxy is safe again!"
