"Are you sure about this Sonic?" Shadow asked.

"Yep,"

"Do you have a plan?"

"Nope,"

"I always knew you'd get us killed eventually," Shadow gave a tired laugh. "I still can't think of a place I'd rather be. How sad is that?"

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Sonic chuckled.

The darkling still looked confused by the sudden exit of Sonic's teammates, but recognized Sonic once he approached. The blue hedgehog pointed a thumb at himself.

"I'm Sonic the Scythe meister. What's your name?"

The uncertainty on Eclipse's face faded. He suddenly became serious.

"Eclipse the Demon Swordsman,"

"Alright Eclipse, I'm looking for a rematch after our last fight. I don't plan on losing,"

Eclipse nodded, readying his sword.

The two began their fight with three cautious blows that made their weapons collide. Sonic experienced the newfound weight behind Eclipse's hits from the size increase of his blood sword. He focused on his opponent's movements to find ways of handling the attacks without meeting them head on.

Eclipse took advantage of the lack of pressure by attacking to box Sonic in. Once the blue hedgehog was nearing a pillar, Eclipse brought out a wide swing. If Sonic tried to back away, he'd be caught by the pillar and get hit. If he moved drastically to reposition himself, Eclipse would attack his reeling opponent. Directly blocking a heavy attack like this wouldn't end well either, so Eclipse felt like the battle might end early.

Sonic pressed his scythe against the ground to vault into the air. Eclipse's heavy swing knocked Shadow's scythe form aside like Sonic had planned. He used the force to reposition his weapon midair, then send it back out. The blunt edge of the scythe smacked Eclipse in the face and he stumbled back a step. Before he fully rebalanced himself, the darkling felt something sharp press into his back now that Sonic had landed.

"Good work," Shadow said.

A punch landed square into Eclipse's jaw. Sonic trapped his opponent against Shadow's blade with a rapid series of punches that stunned Eclipse. The darkling sputtered as the hits came. Although Sonic was glad he'd turned the tables, each additional punch he threw out sapped his confidence. Eclipse's body felt unnervingly solid thanks to his black blood. Punching him was almost like punching a brick wall, so it was difficult to tell how much damage he was really doing. He kept the hits coming, but the darkling was regaining himself.

Eclipse pushed the scythe blade away from his body and drug his palm across the sharp edge as it went. Black blood began pouring out of his hand. Sonic figured out what his opponent was planning just in time. He jumped out of the way before a black spike formed from the stream of blood. The makeshift weapon tore into Sonic's cloak instead of hitting directly.

Sonic tried thinking of what to do now that Eclipse had two weapons, but he was interrupted by a swift series of followup attacks. He spun his scythe as fast as he could to bat away each hit. One weapon in each hand meant the hits were easier to block, but the attacks were relentless and Sonic was struggling to keep up. He focused on the blows then predicted Eclipse's next strike. Shadow's blade crashed into Eclipse's sword, bringing it into the spike on his other hand. After both blood weapons were brought to the ground, they collided. The sharper broadsword chopped the spike in two. The pointed end melted back into liquid form.

Eclipse returned both hands to re-balance his primary weapon, but Sonic didn't give him the chance. He slammed the heel of his scythe into Eclipse's chest and knocked him back. Sonic spun his weapon and brought it around again to knock Eclipse even farther now that his balance was thrown off.

"Let's go, Shadow!"

"Soul resonance!"

The air around them shimmered; the power between their souls became intense. Shadow's weapon form began glowing, and his blade expanded into a crescent moon.

"Witch hunter!"

Eclipse brought up his sword to block, but his balance was still off. Sonic knocked the broadsword sideways using the top of the witch hunter's glowing blade, then carried the momentum of his powered up weapon back around until it reached Eclipse's side. Sparks flew from the collision. Eclipse was pushed back a short distance. Then, he stopped suddenly. Sonic jerked forward when the momentum disappeared. The darkling stood in place with the glowing blade jutting out of his torso. He looked at Sonic with annoyance.

"That's it?"

Sonic withdrew his weapon so he could spin it with intensity. A series of energy slashes hit Eclipse before the final, heaviest hit came.

"Figure-eight hunt!"

Eclipse was knocked backward, and Shadow's witch hunter transformation faded. Sonic growled when he noticed Eclipse get up off the ground calmly. Aside from some superficial cuts to the darkling's clothes none of the damage had stuck.

"Why did you do this? Why did you want to fight me when you're so weak?"

"I'm done running away. That's all,"

Eclipse looked over Sonic's face, hoping to better understand his answer, but couldn't. The darkling decided to resonate with the monster inside of him, instead. A dark miasma surrounded him while his power bloomed. His black broadsword began shimmering with a violet glow, then it's form liquified slightly.

"Screech gamma!"

Eclipse sent his weapon forward like some kind of whip. Once Sonic blocked the first attack, a metallic scrape came. He felt vibrations cutting into him. Despite behaving like a whip, the weapon still had the crushing weight of the broadsword along with disruptive soul waves. Sonic maintained his resonance with Shadow, but the attacks were speeding up now. Eclipse's weapon warped and wound through the air unpredictably. The subsequent blocks from Sonic were desperate. His guard eventually broke, and he was sent flying. The blue hedgehog managed to avoid the worst of the damage, but he'd dropped his weapon after hitting the ground.

The scythe skidded across the floor away from his meister. A voice came to him.

"Shadow…"

It was Mephiles. Shadow ignored him.

Sonic ran to retrieve his weapon. Eclipse responded by whipping his distorted blade forward. The thinned blade sliced the ground between Sonic and Shadow. Sonic didn't hesitate so that he could continue toward Shadow. His cloak was torn further when the attack nearly hit him. He grabbed his weapon off the ground so he could block the black blood after it redirected from it's first attempt. Eclipse's resonance then wore off; his weapon became a solid broadsword once again.

"Witch hunter didn't work. Now what?"

"We'll find another opening. A second witch hunter has to be enough,"

Eclipse was near again, throwing out more heavy sword swings. Sonic's blocks were well timed, but they were much weaker now. He tried to continue bludgeoning his opponent using the blunt portions of his weapon and additional hand to hand strikes, but they felt inconsequential. The growing desperation in Sonic's attacks rattled Shadow. The voice in his mind only became clearer.

"He's going to die, Shadow,"

"Shut up!"

Shadow tried resisting, but the fight had drained him. His mind was pulled away from the crypt. He was back in the familiar room of his dreams. Mephiles lingered in front of him, looking impatient.

"What are you waiting for? Let loose already!"

"I won't lose control. Sonic can handle this,"

"As if you both had some well calculated strategy to begin with! This situation is crazy as it is, so go mad. Discard your sanity, then you'll have all the power you need. Embrace the power of chaos. You've done it once before. You've saved Sonic once before. That power; you experienced it. It was the chaos power inside you that saved Sonic that day. Embrace it. Save him again,"

"Shut up!

Mephiles and Shadow glared at each other. Both released their anger in a shouting match. Their voices were loud and frantic, cutting in and drowning the other out.

"Shut up Mephiles! You freak! You want to kill Sonic! I'm done listening to you! Get out of my head and go to hell!"

"Idiot! I'm not the problem. You'd rather stand by while Sonic dies because you're a coward. Don't blame me because you're weak!"

"Bastard!"

"Bastard!"

They sat in motionless silence. Staring at each other with contempt, as if it would sway the argument one way or another. Mephiles leaned his head back, letting out a long sigh.

"We're really not going to get anywhere like this are we? We're both too stubborn and handsome for our own good," Mephiles held up his hands after shrugging.

Shadow saw a glint of cunning enter the demon's eyes, then watched him stroll over to a pair of curtains. Had those been there before? They seemed to be hiding some other space or doorway. Mephiles grabbed onto a rope connected to the curtains overhead.

"Luckily, there's someone else who can help us break this stalemate. A special guest I invited just for you,"

If the demon had a mouth, he'd be smiling a most treacherous smile. He pulled the rope and the curtains parted. A hedgehog was revealed to Shadow, one he knew all too well. He wore a black suit with a neatly tucked undershirt of the same color. One crooked blue tie stuck out against all the dark clothing to match his quills. A pair of ungloved hands reached up and adjusted it.

"Is this the after party?" Sonic grinned.