Sonic's Ultimate Adventure

by RSC-390

After Death Egg is destroyed, Robotnik retreats to a far away planet, building up his forces by taking over planets. Because there was no Sonic to stop him, he became Emeperor for life of six planets in a nearby galaxy! With the Death Egg to control his e

Chapter I

The Dark Power

Carefully, he pushed aside the vines. There lay a red Echidna, a familiar face indeed. The Echidna slept quietly, not making a sound. Day was arriving, so he knew he must leave. Revenge would have to wait ...

Knuckles awoke very sleepy, just as the birds started their morning song. Life was good, just the way it meant to be. No troubles, no worries, and no dangers whatsoever! However... he did miss the great fun he had when Dr. Robotnik was alive and his life was much more interesting. Sonic and Tails haven't been near mushroom hill for weeks now! I wonder where they are... Just when he thought things couldn't get more boring, he thought he saw a blue blur fly by. Suddenly he woke up to the thought that they might me back. "Could it be?" thought Knuckles. In minutes he was at full speed and breezing past the trees. The chances of him catching up to a hedgehog like Sonic was about a hundred to zero. He knew he could only hope that Sonic would stop for a moment. He came to a cliff and saw Sonic super spinning on a lower elevated large crevasse. This was his chance to catch up. Knuckles jumped off the cliff and started gliding forward. Just before landing, Sonic came down and stopped at the sight of Knuckles. I can't believe it! It... is... him...! Why does he look so confused. Sonic stared into Knuckles' eyes. Something is different about him. he thought. Obviously they were happy to see each other and did the "secret hand shake". "Where's Tails?" Knuckles asked curiously. "He's flying his plane down by the beach." Sonic exclaimed. "He told us to meet him there!". Sonic and Knuckles began speeding towards the beach. The world around them became a blur. If it weren't for their amazing reaction speed, they probably would have hit a tree. At the same time, they became a blur to the rest of the world. The wind had a hard time keeping up with them. Sonic suddenly said, "I'll see you there." "Sure whatever" yelled Knuckles. Knuckles didn't have time to say goodbye, see ya, or even wave! Sonic was just too fast. Sonic could barely see everything in his path. He just sort of 'felt' his way around the trees. When Knuckles arrived at the beach, Sonic was already there watching Tails pilot his plane. A long time ago, before Sonic met Tails or Knuckles, he had an enemy named Robotnik. Dr. Robotnik was a genius. He used his great mind and technology to try to take over the world. Robotnik had machines that added robotic parts to innocent animals and turned them evil. Sonic had to turn them back to normal in each area and defeat Robotnik. Every time the two fought, Robotnik had a better machine. When Robotnik's Mega Crusher was destroyed, he ran for it. Sonic became a hero, and once again he could run around with all his friends. Life was great until the next adventure he was forced to go on. This time he made a best friend, a mechanic named Miles "Tails" Prower. Only together were they able to defeat Robotnik's new and more powerful machines. Sonic and Tails had to go through forests, hills, an oil platform, a fortress in the sky, and even a whole space base named Death Egg. This time, Robotnik's final machine was a giant robot, of himself! Tails couldn't help in this battle because he was forced to fly the plane. Sonic fought alone. He jumped onto the head of the robot and constantly punched the metal piece of junk. Eventually, Robotnik gave in to the damage, and the Robot of Robotnik was destroyed. Robotnik once again escaped, activating the self-destruct system for Death Egg. Sonic jumped out of the space ship and escaped in time. And Tails saved him. Robotnik went to work at rebuilding Death Egg. This time, it was to be over three times the size of the original! Robotnik had to build a humongous base, with Robotic guards guarding every part of it. Robotnik knew the only way to stop Sonic from ruining his plans for Death Egg was to keep him occupied. He sent robot warriors to Angel Island, to destroy the forests. Sonic fought, but the robots lit a huge fire. Planes flew and bombed innocent animals! Sonic had no choice but to destroy them all. Tails helped in this adventure too. Robotnik knew that he would have to stop Sonic himself with his "Fire ball machine!" It had the latest technology in cloaking, and was unseen when shooting deadly fire at Sonic. As usual, Sonic and Tails were the victors. Robotnik retreated to his launch base and awaited the arrivals of his enemies. The construction on Death Egg was making great progress! To reach Launch Base however, Sonic had to leave the island and cross a huge mountain range on mainland. Robotnik set up his Ice Cap base there. Sonic breezed through it on his snowboard, and arrived at Launch Base at last. Dr. Robotnik was just putting on the finishing touches when he found out that Sonic has entered the Base. The two split up and destroyed the guards and enemies in the base while avoiding traps. The eventually found Robotnik and fought him together! Together only were Sonic and Tails able to defeat Robotnik's devastating Crusher Ball machine! To finish the machine off, Tails picked up Sonic and threw him at the cockpit of the machine. The Crusher Ball flew into one of the rockets of Death Egg, which was currently taking off. The rocket was destroyed, and so was the Crusher Ball, however Robotnik escaped and went to the safety of his space base. The space base soon started to fall, and hit a huge empty space in Angel Island, damaging the earth's crust. All rejoiced, for they thought that Robotnik's plans were once again thwarted. However, they were wrong. Robotnik now built a base in the hot magma mantel of the earth. Tails piloted as good as he always has, with amazing speed. When Tails landed, the three talked about the old times, and had great day. That night, they camped out on the beach. Knuckles and Tails were fast asleep. However, Sonic just lay there looking at the stars How beautiful they were. Sparkling ever so magnificently. One day, Sonic new he would go up there and travel the stars. When? He had no clue. He just wished he would go before he passed away. Fortunately, he was young and had a long while till his time. He knew he would one day fulfill his dream. He wondered what type of creatures he would meet out there. What would they be like? Only time can tell. Another thing that troubled Sonic was the fact that Dr. Robotnik, or Dr. Eggman escaped alive, although without the Master Emerald. This may have troubled Sonic, but it also left him excited. What kind of adventure would he have next? From this island, you could see every star in the sky. He also believed that somewhere up there, the gods were watching. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what they could be thinking? About him... About the creatures in this universe... About the universe they created... "Oh well" thought Sonic. "I guess not any of my business anyway." Suddenly, a light breeze went by, and he heard the sound of bushes rustling. "Maybe I'll go take a walk." thought Sonic. He got up, and started walking down the shore. It was the middle of the night, and it was very dark. The sound of the bushes rustling was heard once more. He stopped. Sonic continued, but this time suspiciously. He started to speed up and he heard the rustling noise. That did it. He was getting annoyed. He started to run as fast as he could. Maybe if he took one lap around the island he could fall asleep! Sonic ran as fast as possible, the wind breezed by. Once again, the world became a blur, in its familiar way. About 2 minutes later, when he was about three quarters around Angel Island, he heard the rustling noise. Someone was following him. But how did he or she keep up?! Sonic screeched to a stop. Just then the rustling stopped. Sonic decided to take a look and find out what was going on. He walked into the forest and started to look around. Unfortunately, it would be hard to spot someone in the darkness. A black blur zoomed right by Sonic all of a sudden. The pure darkness started to scare him. He didn't want to show whoever it was that he was afraid. Trying his best to keep a straight face, a sudden chill of realization struck Sonic at once. Who could have possibly be this fast??? He decided to look around for some clues. He was the fastest on the planet. At least that's what he thought. There has got to be some secret. he thought. That's when he saw some sparks flash by in the distance. It provided enough light for Sonic to notice that a black figure was using some sort of device to move so fast. Sonic's relief was very short-lived. What has this mysterious creature come upon Angel Island for??? Then there was the faint sound of a helicopter up above. Sonic arched his neck and looked up into the sky. He saw the shape of a fox with his two tails spinning rapidly to fly up above. Sonic wondered what Tails was doing. "You should run while you can..." said a strange voice, which suddenly freaked out Sonic. The black figure appeared in front of him. The strange creature seemed to be some sort of hedgehog! "Perhaps I should introduce myself." said the hedgehog. "I am none other than Shadow the Hedgehog. I have come in search of the seven Chaos Emeralds!" Shadow explained. "Perhaps YOU could be of some assistance." Shadow suddenly realized. He pushed Sonic into a tree than grabbed him by the neck. "Now, I won't give you any mercy until you tell me everything you know about the Chaos Emeralds and their locations! NOW!" Shadow shouted angrily, slamming Sonic into the tree once again. "Never" Sonic replied right before kicking Shadow in the face. This got Shadow off of him and gave Sonic a chance to escape. Sonic ran faster than ever, eager to reach Tails and Knuckles for help. However, Shadow caught up to him!!! Shadow used these special shoes with jets on the back which allowed him to "skate" as fast as Sonic could run! "I am quite astonished by your speed" Shadow laughed. "Fool, you can't outrun me." Sonic didn't reply, and sped ahead of the black hedgehog once again. Shadow was now even more surprised. He stopped, letting Sonic get a real lead. The world around Shadow returned to normal, and he crouched down, smiling... Smoke and flame erupted from the jet shoes. Suddenly, he sped forwards, easily catching up to Sonic. He rocketed straight towards Sonic then turned at the last second, amazingly surpassing the blue hedgehog's speed. When enough ahead, Shadow slowed then stopped, waiting for the enemy. As Sonic caught up, he noticed Shadow holding something green in his hand. One of the seven Chaos Emeralds...

The emerald glowed brightly, just before the sudden outburst. Power escaped the emerald and flowed into Shadow's body. He could feel the energy flowing within him. To Sonic, he was there, and then he disappeared mysteriously, and then reappeared directly ahead of him. Foot first. Shadow's kick sent Sonic flying in the opposite direction in which he was moving. Even with all that speed, Sonic was defeated. He slid across the sand into a rock. When Sonic awoke and looked up, there was Shadow, standing there and frowning. "It seems your friends have achieved the same fate. Knuckles and Tails were thrown into the rock on each side of him. They were both unconscious. Two figures appeared besides Shadow. One looked similar to Tails, except he had an all black body, and the other was the same only resembling Knuckles. Their eyes opened, red as the depths of hell. Shadow's eyes gleamed in hatred, all though they were normal unlike the other two. When Knuckles and Tails finally awoke, the black Knuckles smiled. "Perhaps we shall introduce ourselves more thoroughly." Shadow laughed. "I am Shadow, the dark hedgehog. These are my partners, Etheria and Void. Our power is much more than that of you three." Etheria, the black Knuckles suddenly interrupted Shadow, "Why don't we just jump to the point Shadow." "Very well" he replied. "We came here in search of the Master Emerald." he explained. "We already know that its protector is none other than Knuckles here." "I know nothing of the Master Emerald. And even if I did I would never give it to you." Knuckles said. "Fool, do not lie to me." Shadow frowned. "Show me its location, and you will live. This is a nice and very beautiful island, and we don't want to destroy all its inhabitants in order to find it. Once we have it, we will simply leave you and your other friends in a healthy condition." Sonic turned towards Knuckles. He already knew what he would say. "Never!" Knuckles exclaimed. "It seems you have made the more foolish choice, however that is typical for fools like you." Shadow scowled. "Fine then, prepare to see your beautiful island in ruins. We've decided that we shall let you live until the island is completely destroyed as a punishment. We will bring you along you to torture you by killing your loved ones." Sonic jumped up, but was pushed down in an instant. Suddenly, Shadow revealed the green Chaos Emerald and squeezed it tight. Fire surrounded it and his arm. Suddenly he stretched his arm backwards, and hurled it towards a large tree. The tree caught on fire instantly, and it set other trees on fire one by one. Shadow quickly retrieved the Chaos Emerald and the six of them watched the forest burn. Innocent animals were dying by the dozen. "I think a forest fire is a good way to start, don't you think Etheria?" asked Shadow. "Definitely" he agreed. Tails started to wonder what would happen to his family, his friends, and him. He began to cry, but stopped himself trying to be brave. Sonic stared, the thought of revenge raced through his mind. "Maybe now you will tell us where the Master Emerald is Knuckles" Shadow said, smiling. "Or do we have to kill your fellow Echidna's and get it anyway. Its your choice. Protect the island and give up the Master Emerald, or sacrifice everything you have. Think about it." Knuckles looked hopeless, and he was defeated. He had no choice. Slowly rising upwards, Knuckles said "Follow me." "Good choice Knuckles." Shadow thought aloud. "Now we can finally complete our mission. Knuckles walked slowly and sadly, so they didn't reach till dawn. They entered the secret passage. All of a sudden, Sonic nodded to Knuckles and the Echidna turned around and punched Shadow. He was surprised by the sudden reaction, and flew into the wall off guard. Tails took on Void, and Etheria punched Knuckles. Sonic raced ahead, and went through a secret hatch in the secret entrance's hallway and took a short cut. He raced through the narrow pipe but soon came to an opening, which lead to Hidden Palace. He stopped and turned around just to see Shadow racing down the pipe behind him. Sonic gulped, then quickly started running. He knew his way around the palace, so he had the advantage. Sonic took a sharp turn and the Master Emerald stood still in its container. It powered the whole palace, and all its equipment. Sonic jumped onto the large gem, and it started glow. Energy flowed through Sonic's body. He could feel the power building up in side of him. It was preparing to burst. Shadow had gotten lost, but probably was now following the power he felt coming from the Master Emerald. Sonic's hair began to fly upwards with all the power and to the side. Outwards basically. Electricity shot through his veins and arteries, and he could feel the Master Emerald scorching his feet. Just when he had enough power he leaped into the air above and screamed loudly. He spread out his arms and started floating. There was a blinding flash, and Sonic was now Super Sonic. Shadow witnessed the end of the transformation and his mouth hung open in awe. Shadow was doomed, or that's just what Sonic thought. Shadow's eyes shrunk, and the evil look came back. He smiled and pointed the Chaos Emerald towards Sonic. "Chaos Control" Shadow yelled. And suddenly time slowed down so much that Shadow was able to move as fast as Sonic even in his Superior form. Suddenly Sonic screamed "Chaos control", and suddenly was able to move even faster than Shadow. He kicked Shadow in the face, and time returned to normal. Shadow flew through three steel walls. And then Sonic shot a ball of energy towards him. Shadow dodged it, but was hit by one of Sonic's punches. This sent him flying into a computer, completely smashing it. Etheria and Void entered the scene, but were soon out cold. They just couldn't stand Super Sonic's power. Knuckles and Tails than came through the pipe, and saw the two enemies lying on the ground unconscious. Shadow put up a fight, but still lost to Sonic badly. Sonic blasted him through a marble pillar, and Shadow gave up. Shadow slowly lifted himself up and stuck his hand out towards the emerald. It flew into his hand. He jumped towards Void and Etheria, and let the emerald float in the air. Sonic was back in his original form, and was rushing towards Shadow. Knuckles and Tails just watched in amazement. Shadow smiled and put a hand on each of their heads, disappearing.















Chapter II The Search Begins

Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails were worried. They spent hours silently. Everyone felt as if they were in danger. They decided it would be best not to let out the news that a new enemy has come. But who was Shadow? How did he know that the Master Emerald is here. Where did his power come from? These unanswered questions lingered in the front of their minds. Two nights later, Sonic was skipping rock against his favorite lake. He remember that as a child he used to try to run across the lake on top of the water. Sonic would start from a distant starting place, always the same, and pick up speed rapidly. He picked his starting place so he would reach top speed just as he reached the lake. When he was twelve years old, his record was halfway before sinking. Then, one day when he was skipping rocks when he was sixteen years old, he suddenly spontaneously felt ready. Next, Sonic rushed back to his starting point. He took off, and the world seemed to speed up around him. He has been the fastest animal in the forest since very young, however this wasn't exactly the easiest goal to accomplish, regarding his speed. He zoomed and eventually slowed down, but cleared the river!! Now Sonic is twenty-two and skimming a lake is a breeze. Remembering those joyful memories made him happy and content once again. All his nightmares of Shadow, Etheria, and Void came to an end that day. Still, he was haunted by the mere fact that the evil trio was still alive, and would probably strike again to steal the Master Emerald. Knuckles slowly walked by Sonic and looked into the lake, watching his and Sonic's reflection. He smiled, and Sonic stopped skimming to look and smiled as well. Knuckles suddenly brightened up lighter than a light bulb! "What if... we went on a search for the Chaos Emeralds?" Knuckles thought aloud. Sonic's eyes lit up like a flame. Knuckles you're a genius! he thought. "Maybe we can learn how to do those cool things that Shadow can do with them." he realized. "Plus, if we get his, we can REALLY go super!" Knuckles smiled. "You know, you only smile when you think of a good idea." said Sonic, grinning. "That could be why you're always so serious and boring." "Oh be quiet." Knuckles said. Just then, Tails entered the scene. "You know looking for the emeralds will be a lot easier now that I have this!" Tails exclaimed, opening his hands and revealing the gadget that lay in his palms. "We should start tomorrow!" Sonic said excitedly. The three heroes slept well that night and thought about the wonderful and non boring adventures that lie ahead. The next morning, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails packed their things and loaded them onto the plane. The gadget that Tails held in his hands the previous night was a Chaos Radar. It picked up any sort of signal that had chaos power in it. The Chaos Emeralds, and the Master Emerald give off chaos power at all times. Also, when someone turns super nearby, The chaos power signal waves expand and go overboard. This explosion of energy is caused by the amount of chaos power it takes to transform and stay in the superior form. Afterwards, they took off and waited for any sort of signal. They were flying for three hours straight when suddenly, "Look, there's a signal!!!" Knuckles yelled over the noise of the plane while Tails flew and Sonic looked at the scenery below. "Let's go" shouted Tails, starting to let the plane dive to a lower altitude. What they didn't know was that their adventure was only starting. * * *

Shadow raced through the forests with Void and Etheria following close behind. The quicker they get to the emerald, the closer they get to the Master Emerald. Shadow knew he couldn't just walk in and steal the Master Emerald while Sonic, Knuckles and Tails were guarding it. So he developed a plan, they would search for the Chaos Emerald, turn Super and squash Sonic and his friends like bugs. Shadow was eager to reach his goal. Originally he planned to steal the Master Emerald and from there get the Chaos Emeralds. However, now he had no choice but to switch everything around. Once all seven emeralds were collected (including the Master Emerald) Shadow will finally achieve his perfect form in which he was destined to become. He didn't know what this could lead him too. The black hedgehog stopped to let the other two catch up. They came, sweating like pigs. "You slowpokes, we cannot go on like this!" Shadow claimed. "That is why I have came up with an idea. We can split up and each go for a separate emerald. That way we can find them in our own paces. When one of us finds the emerald, we must immediately search for the others and help them find their assigned emeralds. Etheria, you take this emerald. It shouldn't be to far up ahead." "Void, you will get the emerald somewhere in that direction." Shadow said pointing in the opposite direction that they were previously traveling. "And I shall go my own way." he said, turning right and skating to where he predicted would be another emerald. Shadow had been skating for about fifteen minutes now. Swiftly avoiding the trees and keeping his slow dance of speed. He wasn't moving too quickly, however he still out sped any other creature in the forest. Shadow came to a clearing and stopped. He felt some sort of presence, but he wasn't sure what it was. Definitely not an emerald. Suddenly, a laser shot by him, followed by others. Shadow turned around but was hit. The shock flowed through his veins like fire. It burned and Shadow wasn't used to getting hurt. He quickly frowned and his emerald appeared. The emerald was grabbed out of the air by Shadow's right hand and he stuck it in the enemies direction. "Chaos Power!" he screamed. More lasers were shot after that however they were pulled into the Chaos Emerald and turned into energy. The green emerald glowed brightly, and the enemy could get a hit. Eventually they stopped shooting when they realized it was useless. Shadow took this pause to his advantage and threw the emerald towards the enemies. It flew and when near enough to them there was an explosion of electricity, causing the deaths of all four of them. Shadow skated forward and caught the emerald before it hit the ground, then skidded to a stop. The four enemies turned out to be, Eggmen. Shadow was confused at the sight of the Robotic Robotniks. However, he could tell that they were intelligent robots, and their power was enormous! He had no clue what they were, but decided to find out. He started to skate in the direction they most likely came from. He skated with great speed this time, eager to find the answer to this mystery. As he skated he discovered that there were more of the Eggmen. Each was equipped with a laser gun as far as he knew. What other weapons might they have had? How many are there? Even more importantly, who can be behind this?? Shadow continued to skate, always on the guard when suddenly, he was punched so hard by something that he flew into a tree and it fell down on top of him. With his Super Sonic strength he busted the tree completely and saw what he couldn't believe. Impossible! Knuckles? How is he strong enough to do this to me. I guess I was just off guard, but wait! It's not Knuckles, its some sort of... of... "Greetings hedgehog." said Robo-Knuckles. "I have come in search of Sonic the Hedgehog and his pathetic friends." "Sonic...?" said Shadow. He couldn't believe it. Someone had obviously built a robotic version of Knuckles. But what in the world was going on. First, those strange egg-shaped robots, than, Robo-Knuckles. Suddenly, Shadow realized something. "If you are a robotic version of Knuckles and your reason for being created was to destroy him, than is there also a Robo- Sonic and a Robo-Tails?" asked Shadow, wondering who could be behind all this madness. "You are correct." Robo-Knuckles said. "Who is behind all this??" asked Shadow. "Who is your creator!!!!". "My creator is Emperor Robotnik. He will soon be the ruler of this planey, as well as the other six planets he already owns." Robo-Knuckles explained. "Why has he come here?" Shadow asked, excited to find out more. "You ask too many questions, weakling." Robo-Knuckles complained. "I can't waste my time with you. I should probably kill you now." "That is the part where you are mistaken!" Shadow exclaimed. "You must understand, I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultimate life form." he explained. "I cannot be defeated" said Shadow, stepping back and shifting to a fighting stance. Robo-Knuckles shook his fists at Shadow, when suddenly sharp metal knuckles took the place of the original ones. Shadow's eyes widened, and Robo-Knuckles took a swing. The fight had just begun. Shadow ducked under the swing and attempted to trip the robot. Robo- Knuckles skipped over Shadow's leg and tried to slash his chest. Shadow dodged this swing as well, springing up and kicking him in the jaw. Robo- Knuckles dropped back then swung once more at his feet. Shadow simply dodged the swing with a short back flip. Then he jumped back and started to let the skates take control of the battle. Shadow swiftly sped away, and then towards, picking up speed every second. While flying at amazing speeds towards his enemy, he dodged trees and developed a strategy. At the last second he jumped over another of Robo-Knuckles's swings and sprung of the tree behind him, kicking him in the face as he turned around. Robo-Knuckles flew across the grass and into a tree, knocking it down. "You know the funny is that I've not used the Chaos Emerald I currently have in my possession!" Shadow laughed. "I could have defeated you in seconds!" he shouted. "Wrong." Robo-Knuckles said, smiling. Shadow frowned at the sight of his smile and looked around, suddenly realizing the amount of Eggmen that surrounded him, each armed with a laser gun. Shadow put his hands up in fear. "I want you die slowly." Robo-Knuckles said. He retracted his sharp claws and replaced them with the normal hard knuckles. He punched Shadow in the face so hard that all the blood seemed to fly out of his head. The he punched him to the ground, and continued to punch him until his face was bloody. Robo-Knuckles picked him up by the neck, jumped into the air and then threw him against ground. It felt to Shadow as if all his bones were shattered. Then Robo-Knuckles flew high into the sky using his built in jet pack. Then he charged downwards, shoving Shadow head first into the ground. Knuckles picked him up once more and just kept punching. Nonstop. The pain was enormous. All over, Shadow's body ached. Robo-Knuckles dropped Shadow onto the ground and said "You pathetic fool!". "I've decided to let you live. You won't be giving me any trouble anyway. Shadow revealed the Chaos Emerald after Robo-Knuckles had turned around. It floated into the air, and Shadow grabbed it, squeezing it tight. His muscles regained their strength. Hope built up like a skyscraper! Shadow used the Chaos Emerald for support and slowly pulled himself up. After a beating like that, he was still standing. Shadow let go of the emerald, letting it float again. Next, he screamed "Chaos Power!!!!" Just as Chaos power activated, Robo-Knuckles realized that the source of Shadow's amazing power was the Chaos Emerald! "Fire!!!" Robo-Knuckles ordered. Shadow smiled crouched down. All the laser beams fired were absorbed by the emerald. Shadow looked up at Robo-Knuckles, laughing at the angry look on his face. He rushed towards Shadow and punched Shadow into a tree. It fell down very hard, but Shadow stood right back up. "You're... you're... some sort of demon!" Robo-Knuckles exclaimed in fear. "How come Sonic can't do all this fancy stuff with the Chaos Emerald?" he asked, getting more and more confused by the second. "I have to kill you, now!" He kept punching Shadow, very hard also. However, every time Shadow was knocked down, he came right back up. The Eggmen stopped shooting at this point and stared at the glowing emerald. There was an explosion of electricity and all of the Eggmen were destroyed. Shadow couldn't attack at all. He was too weak. Plus, he didn't have enough energy to dodge the punches. "This ends... now!" said the angry Robo- Knuckles as the metal claws flew out of his knuckles. He shook them fiercely at Shadow then started to walk towards him. Suddenly, Shadow let out his hands and the emerald flew straight into his palms. He stuck out the emerald shouting "Chaos Control!!" Time slowed down for Shadow, however he still moved at normal speed. This caused him to move super fast in the real world. Now, he just kept dodging the punches. Robo-Knuckles gave up, and machine guns emerged from his knuckles! He kept shooting, however Shadow ducked behind a tree when he saw him about to pull the trigger. Robo-Knuckles stopped, and switched back to the metal claws. Time returned to normal at that point, and Shadow leaned against the tree, panting crazily. He had to continue the battle, it was his only chance. Shadow squeezed the emerald in his hands as hard as possible, and shouted "Flame!!" Fire surrounded his fist and the emerald produced heat. Shadow revealed himself from behind the tree, only to find that Robo-Knuckles wasn't there. A hard kick struck his back that sent him flying! Shadow threw the emerald while still in the air, then hit a tree. The flaming emerald, hit Robo-Knuckles really hard, and the heat damaged his current status. When Shadow stood up once more, he held up his hand, opened. The emerald flew into his hands once more, but was still aflame! Shadow ran instead of skating towards Robo- Knuckles. He leaped into the air and brought down a flaming punch, right in Robo-Knuckles' face! Robo- Knuckles skimmed the ground in his almost endless flight, and didn't stop until he hit a tree! "There..." said Shadow. The hedgehog started skating towards his destination once more, when he was stopped by Robo-Sonic. Robo-Sonic was guarded by about thirty more Eggmen. Shadow frowned and lifted up his emerald once more. "Just wait a second!" said Robo-Sonic. "You may become useful to Emperor Robotnik!" he thought aloud. "Just as he may be useful to you.". "And just why would this Robotnik guy be of any use to me?" Shadow asked. "He can help you find the Chaos Emeralds!" Robo-Sonic answered. "Think about it. Emperor Robotnik is the owner of six planets and soon to be seven. He is a technological genius! He created me and my friend! You may have defeated him however he is only machine!". "I must say, that the two of you are absolutely amazing robots!" Shadow said. "And if he's an emperor than he can probably send his armies for them!". "That's right" said Robo-Sonic. "I bet he can also make some sort of Chaos Emerald Radar!" said Shadow, getting excited. "Wait a second. What's the catch?" asked Shadow. "YOU have to kill Sonic, Knuckles, and of course Tails." Robo-Sonic replied. "Then it's a deal!" Shadow said, shaking his hands with the robot. "Follow me, and I will take you to my leader." Robo-Sonic said, satisfied with his decision. "Just one thing, when I lead you to Emperor Robotnik, you have to keep up with me!" "Oh, don't you worry about that you metal piece of junk!" said Shadow. The two started racing. Shadow was disappointed because he was hoping to travel a little faster than this. Suddenly, Robo-Sonic screeched to a stop, and rockets opened up in his back! He sped past the astonished Shadow and took the lead. Shadow skated extremely fast but could not keep up with him. Then he went top speed, and eventually, arrived behind the robot. "I am quite astonished by your speed!" said Robo-Sonic, realizing that Shadow could skate as fast he can fly. The rest of the journey from there was silent, besides the soft skating and the powerful rocket. Eventually, Shadow started to get tired. He couldn't keep up with the robot for this long. Slowly, he dropped even more and more behind. Luckily, Robo- Sonic stopped at a clearing just before he left Shadow's eye sight. He reached a bit later and greeted Robo-Sonic with nothing but panting. The two waited for a while, when Shadow suddenly started to get impatient. "What are we waiting for?" asked Shadow. "This is ridiculous!" Robo-Sonic made a small gesture with his head suggesting to look up. Shadow looked up at Robo-Sonic's suggestion, and saw a humongous space ship coming towards them. The Spaceship was long and round, and it was about 100 yards long!!!When it landed, it had to destroy about another one-hundred trees just so it had enough space to land! "What sort of spaceship... is that?" Shadow asked, looking up in fear. "That, is just a transport ship."Robo-Sonic replied. The transport ship landed softly. Ramps lowered from the sides of the ship, and hundreds of Eggmen poured out. Shadow froze at the sight of such a humongous army. What scared him even more was that this was just a transport ship, and the sight of it scared him. "Follow me." said Robo- Sonic. "We can board the ship now if you'd like." Shadow slowly followed Shadow up the boarding ramp into the ship. Some Eggmen were sent out to explore the area and check up for any danger. The ride was dull and silent. All Shadow could listen to was himself and the sounds of the Eggmen. It was very uneventful from his point of view. Robo-Sonic sat patiently, not making a sound. They were waiting in a room with metal walls. One of the walls was pure glass, and they could see the countless rows of Eggmen, and most of them were turned off. The small room was pretty empty except for the two metal benches and a door that was almost camouflaged with the wall. The only thing that kept Shadow from falling asleep was staring at the amazing Robo-Sonic. His complex structure was outstanding. The curvature in his shiny metal was perfect, and the pretty shade of blue which was a little dimmer than the sky made his metal look brand new. What a genius Emperor Robotnik must be! With the technology the used to make Robo-Sonic, they can easily keep him non rusty. Robo-Sonic's blank didn't change when they felt the spaceship leave the atmosphere. In seconds, a large spaceship came into sight. It was a long narrow black space ship, with rounded edges and large guns hanging from the bottom. In comparison, the spaceship was about a hundred times the size of the spaceship they were riding in. Shadow couldn't believe his eyes. Earth was doomed, and Sonic couldn't change that. Or at least that's what he thought.

* * *

The plane landed loudly nearby a pond. It was very cool, and everywhere they looked, the beauty of the forest was always there. From watching dot- sized bugs crawl up small leaves coated with drops of rain. It was the perfect temperature, not chilly but not too hot either. It gave the threesome a comforting feeling. Knuckles gave the Chao Radar to Tails because he was the mastermind behind all the little gadgets they used. Which also meant he could use them better. He focused on what they thought might be the Chaos Emerald and zoomed in on it. "Why, it appears as if it were moving!" Tails said excitedly. "That must mean someone must already have it!" Sonic suddenly realized. "We've got to catch them!". All three of them started running in the direction that the radar directed them to. Sonic had to keep the same speed as Tails because the emerald was moving, and they had to turn every once in a while. They ran past the trees, and Tails eventually started using his tail to pick up speed. Sonic smiled and caught up with Tails immediately. "He's going pretty fast, but I think we'll get him any second now!" said Tails. "Sonic, you go catch him while we still have the chance!". "No prob Tails!" said Sonic, speeding ahead of the others. He ran as fast as he could, confident he would easily catch the emerald holder. Shortly, he caught up to... Etheria. "Where's the emerald!" Sonic shouted as he over took the dark echidna and stopped him. Tails and Knuckles caught up just then. "It seems that the Chao power is actually coming from... him!" Tails exclaimed. Etheria was surrounded, but suddenly jumped into the tree tops above, taking advantage of their shock. Just then they realized what happened and began searching for the Dark Echidna. "Both of you are wasting your time." Knuckles voice boomed like the sound of a drum. "Let me handle this!" he said, grinning in contentment. Suddenly, he jumped into the tree tops after Etheria. Knuckles looked through, and climbed to the top of a tree. Luckily, it was a large tree and after working through all of those tiny branches he was able to see Etheria through the top of one of the smaller trees. "I'm too good for you Etheria, you lucked out last time!" Knuckles said too himself softly. He flew as fast as he could, over the trees, and he eventually caught up to the Dark Echidna. Just then, he Drill Clawed downwards just ahead of him. The timing was absolutely perfect, and he brought Etheria to the ground through the branches, drilling him constantly into the ground deeper and deeper. Eventually Knuckles held back and jumped off of the helpless creature. However, the Dark Echidna wasn't as helpless as it seemed... Etheria jumped up from the ground and gave Knuckles an uppercut right to his chin! Sonic and Tails finally noticed what had happened and were already running to help their friend. Knuckles was knocked back by the punch but tried to return it with a punch to the stomach. However the attack was diminished when he was punched in the face once again, only this time to the side which caused Knuckles to fly into a tree. As Knuckles' face burned in pain, his hair seemed to shift to the right because the force of the punch too the side was so fast. Sonic reached the battle scene and entered with a flying kick. Surprisingly, Etheria blocked it while keeping an eye on Knuckles, almost as if he was waiting just for Sonic's attack! Etheria caught Sonic's foot and used his momentum to throw him into the tree behind him with one hand! The other hand was holding Knuckles down. He turned away when he threw Sonic and suddenly heard the sound of Tails' double electro pistols! Etheria grabbed Knuckles off the ground but before he could throw him at Tails he was hit by both shots, shocked, but still alive. Sonic was unconscious after hitting the tree face first, and Knuckles was hurt more from the punch. Tails spun the guns around his pointer fingers by the trigger, as if the star of a wild west movie. Etheria's body ached so badly that every time he moved a single muscles they would sting like a scorpion! Tails slowly walked toward the Dark Echidna. He tightened the grip on his double electro pistols more every step. Etheria thought that he was about to die. Tails reached him and his rather short body seemed to tower over him like the stairway to heaven. However, he knew he would probably end up in hell though. Tails suddenly pointed his electro pistols at Etheria. Although the quick movement was faster than the wing of a hummingbird, to Etheria it seemed like Tails was having trouble lifting his arms! Tails smiled and looked straight into Etheria's eyes for a tenth of second before Etheria closed them tightly in fear, ready for anything. Who would have thought that his last sight would be Sonic's orange colored sidekick? This was it...

* * *

One of the docking bays opened up and there were many other transport ships that were currently docked. As Shadow continuously looked out the small window, Robo-Sonic rolled his robotic eyes. There was a loud boom when the space ship landed, and Shadow finally had his face out of the window. The two walked through the gigantic spaceship to the boarding ramp. Shadow gulped, afraid of what was coming next. Slowly, the boarding ramp lowered, and Shadow's eyes saw yet another astounding sight. Hundreds of Eggmen were lined up perfectly in order, completely equipped with their guns and other gadgets. There was eight rows, and twenty-four Eggemen in each. One-hundred and ninety-two dangerous robots under the command of one ruler. Robo-Sonic made a gesture, and the gigantic group of Eggmen split into two equal groups, creating a path for Shadow and Robo-Sonic to walk down. It was as if Robo-Sonic was Moses and had parted the red sea with his hand instead of a staff. Slowly, they walked down the boarding ramp slowly, each foot synchronized with the other. Shadow tried to look grand and powerful, however he was nervous because there were currently over a hundred robots facing towards him, each armed with dangerous weapons. One slip and he would die almost instantly. In front of them was a giant glass tube, with a door to a small capsule inside it, like an elevator. The doors opened fast, and they walked in. There were seats all around the inside of the capsule with large seatbelts and all sorts of cuffs to keep you in placed. When Robo-Sonic sat he fastened every single one of them. Shadow decided to be cautious and did the same. The doors shut just as quickly as it opened, and suddenly there was a loud noise of a machine. It got to a point where it was almost deafening, when suddenly it stopped. Robotnik must not worry about busted eardrums because all of his servants and army are robots. Not a single living creature. How sad. It doesn't take a genius to realize that living creatures could not be dominated by robots made of inanimate objects. However, it is easier to create a robot than a living creature, so mass production is not a difficult goal to reach. Still, Robo-Sonic never told me if Robotnik was a human, so I wonder what it... After two seconds of silence, there speed of the capsule's movement went from zero miles power to what seemed like the speed of light. The glass wall of the capsule allowed to see what they were going through. But this wasn't very useful because at the speed they were going, everything was just a blur of light. Shadow's dark skin started to curl upwards because of the immense force. He knew he wouldn't be able to stay like this for another second. When Shadow was ready to implode, the capsule stopped suddenly which caused him to almost fly out of the seat. The capsule must not be meant for living creatures. Shadow felt like throwing up! Robo-Sonic had to get up and unbuckle the belts for him! The capsule door slid opened, and they entered a humongous room. Unlike the other dull and boring rooms in Robotnik's bases, this room was decorated with soft silk carpets, golden walls, and even paintings on the marble ceiling! Each fuzz and hair was congruent to the other on the carpet, and everything was clean enough to eat off of! There were balconies with golden lions all around it. Two gigantic pure solid gold lions sat beside very large golden doors, like the guardians of what lay ahead. As they walked, Shadow and Robo-Sonic drew much attention to the many robots. The depth of the room's beauty was too deep for Shadow to swim through and he couldn't remove his eyes from the magnificent sights. Everyone around could easily tell how astonished he was by the look on his face. If he walked much longer, Shadow would have walked straight into the large golden doors if it weren't for Robo-Sonic grabbing his arm to remove him from the reverie, rolling his eyes in the process. The doors slowly opened away from them and in front of them was a room almost as large as the room covered with all the riches. Strangely however, there was no decorations in this room. Nothing but a large round glass window at the very end with a large throne which can spin around like a chair. However, the red silk carpet did seem to continue into this room, however it was but one narrow pathway, to the great emperor who was seated in his chair. All around the metal walls of the room was blue, and it was the same for the floors. "I have been awaiting for your arrival, hedgehog..." Emperor Robotnik said as the throne began to spin around. Shadow held his breath as the great ruler came into sight. Robotnik looked the same basically, with a few minor difference. Instead of weak, tiny little arms, Robotnik had large, well-developed arms. His muscles were pretty big. There was a large red cape around him and golden shoulder pads that stretch outwards. Robotnik had the same red and black clothing he always had, except the occasional yellow in his outfit was replaced with gold. He looked as if he the king of the universe! Robotnik had pure black gloves, with machinery emerging from its openings and traveling down his arms to the elbows. The machinery was probably complex, but hard to spot clearly because it was covered mostly by black metal plates. "I hear you will agree to destroy Sonic and his pathetic friends if I provide you all seven Chaos Emeralds." Robotnik boomed. "Six..." Shadow corrected, holding up the emerald in his possession. "Very well." Robotnik said in contentment. "Let me show you something." said Robotnik, pressing a button. A large thin screen appeared behind Shadow that hung from the ceiling. Shadow turned around, and a picture of a large green base that floated in the sky appeared on the screen. "This, is sky sanctuary..."

* * *

Etheria looked around in confusion. This can't be heaven... he thought. then he realized that he was still alive and Tails didn't shoot. "We didn't come here to kill you, we only came to find the emeralds." said Tails. "This is obviously for protection." Tails smashed the guns together and they magically disappeared. Etheria blinked his eyes in astonishment. His heart was filled with relief and joy. Just then there was a shot Tails was shot in the legs by a electro gun. He looked to see an Eggman, pointing his gun straight towards them. Tails froze in confusion, completely forgetting the pain. Robotnik!!! he thought.





































Chapter III The Battle for Sky Sanctuary

Tails whacked Etheria in the face and said "Don't try anything funny!". Tails had no choice but to wait for Sonic and Knuckles to wake up. He sat down, his mind racing furiously with Sky Sanctuary. Sky Sanctuary is a gigantic green sanctuary in the sky. It has a high technology cloaking shield. Also, the people who created it made a artificial cloud that always keeps them out of sight. Sky Sanctuary is basically a place to keep citizens safe. It also keeps crime down and makes sure everything on Angel Island goes well. When something powerful is on the loose, all the creatures of the forest flee to Sky Sanctuary. It has been previously destroyed by Dr. Robotnik, but repaired and made much better. If Dr. Robotnik is really back, all would flee to Sky Sanctuary. Except there is one thing with Robotnik. With the technology he has after all these years, he could probably find Sky Sanctuary just as easy as he did before. This is what troubled Tails. Suddenly, Tails realized that he didn't destroy the Eggman yet! He drew his guns and shot so quick that the flying robot did not have a chance. Sonic's weary eyes opened slowly and the first thing he saw was Tails smiling with guns in his hands. He quickly put them away, and turned around, realizing that Sonic had awaken. The smile turned into frown almost immediately, for he remembered why he was waiting for them to awaken. "Sonic!" Tails screamed in fear. "What do you want?" he replied. "Dr. Robotnik is back, and he's probably going for Sky Sanctuary right now!!" Tails shouted. Sonic's weary eyes widened at the sound of their enemy's name, and Knuckles awoke right when the name was spoken. "Robotnik..." said the angry Knuckles. "We've got to go save Sky Sanctuary!" Sonic said. "To Hidden Palace!" ordered Knuckles. The three ran like the wind, faster than they have ran in a long time! After a short time of running, they reached the red airplane and Tails jumped inside. Sonic strapped his feet to the top of one wing and Knuckles to the other. The plane's engines roared as it ascended towards the sky. Tails was flying full speed, because now he wasn't looking for the emeralds! After a short ride with no talking whatsoever, the plane landed on the beach of Angel Island nearby Hidden Palace. Knuckles and Sonic already had their straps off and they jumped off immediately to reach the palace. Racing against the wind, Sonic and Knuckles busted into Hidden palace and jumped straight onto the transporter. A blue beam made them disappear and reappear, in Sky Sanctuary. Tails soon appeared right after them. Right when the blue beam was not present, Knuckles rammed his fist into the transporter. And it was busted. "No is going near my emerald!" Knuckles said triumphantly, watching some of the crew take the remains of the machine away. "We can build a new one when its all over anyway." Sonic said, glancing back at the busted machine. "Uh, guys?" said a familiar voice. A rabbit named Hop ran Sky Sanctuary for most of the time. He was very short compared to the heroes, however many of the animals were. "Uh, look..." he said pointing to a radar and showing a Unidentified Flying Object. "Flying Battery" said Sonic, stepping back. The giant airship was filled with Eggmen and fighter jets. It was flying by the base and Eggmen were searching everywhere! An Eggman flew towards the base and hit its cloaking shield, uncloaking it for the time it touched it. It flew back to Flying Battery, and the giant airship's movement stopped there. "Surrender while you can." said a voice over a speaker phone. "This is Robo-Knuckles." said the voice. "Surrender now or be destroyed!" yelled Robo-Knuckles as hundreds of guns emerged from the outside of the airship. "Holy Shit..." said Knuckles, looking up at the armed battleship in horror. Suddenly the guns started shooting at the cloaking force field, revealing the base. Suddenly the cloud around it disappeared. "If this keeps up, the shield will be gone in no time!" said Tails. "I'm going into that thing to bring it down." said Knuckles, shaking his fist at the flying death machine. "I'm afraid you won't be doing that Knuckles..." said Hop. "The city of Echidna's on Mushroom hill is being attacked by another Flying Battery. Go now before its too late!" said Hop. "No!" said Knuckles, getting into a plane and taking off. "Okay Sonic, you go and destroy Flying Battery from the inside and I'll protect Sky Sanctuary..." Tails ordered. Sonic ran away and went straight to work. "...using these yummy high-tech weapons." Tails said, smiling in the process. Sonic was looking around for something to do when suddenly the cloaking force field was destroyed. "Oh shit..." said Sonic, noticing hundreds of fighter jets burst out of the docking bays. The fighter looked like black metal in the shape of a crescent with laser guns on each end. There were no pilots for the crescent fighters, so they must have been programmed in the past. They flew over the open top of Sky Sanctuary, diving down to blast innocent animals and pulling up to fight to turn around and dive again. The people of the sanctuary were doomed. There was nothing they could do. Hope was very little when suddenly fighter jets with trained pilots burst out of Sky Sanctuary. It was to be a long battle. Sonic saw a crescent fighter dive down and shoot its machine gun at him. Sonic ran just ahead of the fire then jumped into the air, letting the plane fly into him. Sonic held on for dear life as the crescent fighter flipped and rolled, as if eager to get him off. Sonic leaned to try to get it to go back to base. It did, eventually, but only when one of its wings was accidentally hit by a fellow crescent fighter! Sonic started to super spin on top of the crescent fighter, as if flew towards the docking bay. With the added speed of the crescent fighter, Sonic flew forward and rolled through the air, shattering the window he hit. The window led to a control room, and Sonic stopped when he hit the metal wall. Hundreds of Eggmen were being activated and sent to Sky Sanctuary to cause more destruction. Sonic quickly kicked one of the control robots into another, both of them flying into a computer and destroying it. He ran through the open door and down the narrow hallway with metal walls, ceiling and floor. Sonic didn't stop until he reached a door and busted the door open. Ironically, there were about a hundred Eggmen waiting for him, already on. The room they were in was a giant room with machines constantly in motion and there were gigantic boilers and containers of hot magma. To top it off, there was a humongous machine that assembled the parts of an Eggmen. Hundreds of Eggmen were produced and sent on conveyor belts to their destination. The Eggmen currently in front of him lifted their guns up and let them charge up a blast. Sonic quickly did a Super Spin and flew through a bunch of Eggmen, destroying them all. The Eggmen shot at each other, not able to hit the zooming hedgehog. Eventually, all the Eggmen had killed each other and Sonic began his journey to the mechanical room. Before destroying the main generator of the flying battery, he would have to stop the production of the Eggmen. He quickly jumped from the metal bridge onto a conveyor belt, and ran against the direction it was going, still making excellent progress because of his fantastic speed. At the end of the conveyor belt was a mechanical arm that put parts of the Eggmen onto it. Sonic jumped onto the arm and climbed up, then jumped to a moving gear to the left of him, grabbing its ridges. The gear moved clockwise, away from the metal wall and machinery and then towards it. Sonic jumped off the gear and caught on to a motionless pipe, pulling himself atop of it. The pipe rumbled every few seconds. Sonic jumped high into the air, kicked off the wall and then did a ball bounce downwards, bending the pipe. He jumped into the air once again, curled into a ball and slammed the pipe again! The pipe was so weak that the liquid metal inside burst through a small hole. Sonic stomped his foot down and the pipe broke in two, liquid metal splatering all over him. He grabbed onto a lower pipe and pulled himself up, watching the liquid metal fall all over the gears and machinery below him. Then he saw some mechanical arms and tools screwing an arm onto an Eggman on a conveyor belt above him. He ball bounced against the pipe below him, bringing him higher and allowing him to just reach the edge of the conveyor belt. He pulled himself on top of it. He grabbed the Eggman before it fell into a chute, and used it to walk backwards into the machine, following the opposite direction of the conveyor belt and pushing other Eggmen the way he was going. They all got clogged up and began to push Sonic back in the right direction. Sonic couldn't hold the Eggmen back on his own, so he grabbed a pipe from the machinery around him and placed it in front of him, which held the Eggmen for now. Then he ran away back to the opening of the machine, and watched the Eggmen explode. This caused a chain reaction. Gears jammed and pipes burst. More and more machinery collapsed onto each other. Everything got clogged up and eventually, blew. Pieces of metal flew everywhere, and the machine was no longer capable of producing Eggmen. Sonic jumped off the conveyor belt and landed back on the metal grated bridge, turning around to watch the conveyor bel fall into the chutes and burning magma below. He ran on as the pressure in one of the gas pipes raced to an incredible height, exploding itself and everything the rest of the machine. Sonic burst through the next door, when the alarm suddenly went off. When Sonic went through the door, it led to the core of the flying battery. Two huge pipes emerged from each of the four walls, and went into the machinery of the core. Below was nothing but lava and the pipes. In front of him were four pipes with a metal rod going around it and upwards, with so much electricity flowing through it that it streaked from pipe to pipe. The rods went around the pipes like a spring, and the whole core was surrounded by a force field. "Do you actually believe you can defeat Emperor Robotnik?" said a voice, evil ringing within the tone of each syllable. Robo-Knuckles fell down from an open chute above. The opening closed, and the two fighters were alone. Robo-Knuckles jumped into the air, allowing the jets on his shoes make him fly. The spikes on his knuckles retracted, and the ends of missiles came out of each hole where a spike was previously. The missiles shot into the metal grating floor, and everything shook. The floor started to fall, and Sonic jumped onto one of the large pipes below. "I think you're too afraid to fight me without flying. You know you can't win otherwise!" Sonic said, smiling. "I am no coward!" yelled the robot in anger. He landed on the orange pipe with a thud. Robo-Knuckles then warned, "Try not to fall in the hot magma below, burning to death is much more unpleasant than you can imagine!" "Your parts will be melting along with my bones, if anything." Sonic replied. Robo-Knuckles answered that with a punch. The spikes returned to his knuckles. Sonic dodged every punch, but could not hurt the robot as well! Sonic ran towards the wall and jumped on to it, springing toward Robo- Knuckles foot first. The red robot ducked under the flying kick and punched Sonic in the air. Sonic flew towards the generator, still on the pipe although. Robo-Knuckles suddenly ran towards the wall, stopped then bent down, getting ready to sprint towards the famous hero. The jets emerged from his shoes once more and Knuckles zoomed down the pipe towards the hedgehog. He jumped into the air and started to fly about halfway there. The jets boomed and he sped almost twice as fast as before. Sonic looked back and saw nothing but the force field of the core generator. He then turned back towards Robo-Knuckles and noticed the sharp metal claws that emerged from his knuckles! Sonic fell backwards onto the ground and kicked upwards as Robo-Knuckles flew above him. Robo-Knuckles flew into the air, flipped over and landed on the other side of Sonic, still facing him and standing up. Sonic kicked himself up and turned around, getting ready for a punch. Robo-Knuckles slashed and slashed with his shiny metal claws, but he couldn't touch Sonic! He advanced forward while punching, nearing to the wall every step. Suddenly, Sonic realized that a wall took the place of the thin air behind him. He had nowhere to go, and one slash could easily end his adventurous life.

* * *

Tails found a gigantic laser blaster with a seat behind it for control. He sat down and took control of the gun. Turning around constantly, he brought down around thirty ships before the gun was hit, and he had to find another one. The next one was destroyed before he could get to it, and the others immediately after that one. He had no way to protect the innocent animals of Sky Sanctuary. Suddenly, Hop made a hand gesture which obviously meant to come to him. He was hiding under small roof held up by pillars. Tails ran up to him, and found out wonderful news. "I am happy to say that the spider-bot is complete and up is running. You may take control of it and protect Sky Sanctuary!" Hop said excitedly. Tails followed him through a few doors and into a tinted room with a magnificent robot. It was a giant spider! It was so big that each metallic leg must have weighed at least two tons! The head of the spider was the cockpit and had a clear glass window. Tails climbed up a small ladder and entered the robot. "Now, before you begin, I must read you the instructions on how to work it..." Hop said just before he was pushed out the door of the cockpit. "I've got this situation under control, man!" Tails shouted so that Hop could hear him. The roof opened and Tails activated the robot. He was able to make the robot stand straight with no problems, than jump out onto the roof were the battle was going on. Tails soon discovered that the red lever to the right shot a large yellow ball of energy, which could diminish several crescent fighters at once. Tails took control of the battle, shooting every single enemy possible. No one could hit him, and his aim and timing were perfect. In no time, the amount of Freedom Fighter jets doubled that of the crescent fighters. Tails' job was now done so he piloted the spider-bot over to the edge of the sanctuary. The spider-bot bent its legs and jumped onto the flying battery at Tails' command. Climbing on the top of the flying battery, Tails' spider-bot blasted through the roof every now and then as it walked. Eventually, it came to the middle of the flying battery. He blasted through the ceiling a few times. Just then he saw Sonic struggling to dodge Robo-Knuckles' claws.

Sonic was at the wall, and there was no where to go. Robo-Knuckles still moved towards him as he slashed. Suddenly, Robo-Knuckles retracted the claws! Out came the original spikes he had earlier. "I want you to die painfully..." Robo-Knuckles explained, punching Sonic rapidly all over. Sonic's muscles were becoming fatigued, and he couldn't take any more punches. He was getting weaker by the second. However, Tails shot a energy ball at the core just in time! It simply hit the force field, and there was no effect. "What the hell!" shouted Robo-Knuckles, turning around to see what happened. Using this short amount of time, Sonic punched Robo-Knuckles straight across the face and off the pipe. Quickly, the jets on his shoes activated and he was flying in the air. The spiked knuckles were retracted and out came the missiles. Sonic couldn't run anywhere. He shot with one hand one end of the pipe, and the other hand at the other. The pipe would surely break and fall into the hot magma below. Tails however switched immediately to the mini-gun by pulling one lever back and pushing another one forward. Bullets hit Robo-Knuckles at amazing speed, and he couldn't aim the missiles, which is why he stopped shooting. Unfortunately for him, the mini- gun was slowly pushing him more towards the hot magma below. Sonic ran towards the generator, and looked for a way to get up to the spider-bot. There was nothing to grab onto, except for a hot force field which would have been useless. Tails nodded to Sonic, the door of the Spider-bot opened, and a robe ladder came tumbling out! Sonic jumped and could reach only the very bottom of the rope. He let go then did the ball bounce to try to get higher, when suddenly the pipe broke at the wall! One side of the pipe fell into the magma, dragging the rest of it into the pipe as well. Something blew up in the core, and the force field was destroyed! Sonic jumped to the platform where the four electronic pipes were, and made a long jump onto the ladder! Sonic climbed up, took in the rope ladder and shut the door behind him. Tails stopped gunfire and lifted up immediately. Climbing out of the core room through a large hole wasn't too difficult. The spider-bot jumped out at the end, than started to run along the top of the flying battery. Robo-Knuckles flew straight out of the giant hole in the ceiling, and shot missiles at the legs. Tails made the spider-bot jump high into the air, easily dodging the bullets, and landed facing Robo-Knuckles. Tails shot his own missile, which passed Robo- Knuckles and the core generator in the quadruple pipe area! Tails shot another one, but it was blown up before it could reach its destination by one of Robo-Knuckles' missiles. Sonic rook control of the mini gun and shot Robo-Knuckles back, way back! Tails advanced, and pulled back a lever to charge up an energy ball in the process. When the spider-bot reached the hole, Robo-Knuckles was far enough so that Tails could push that same lever forward again. A direct hit! The core generator exploded and flame flew everywhere, which included a giant fireball that erupted upwards out of the hole! The spider- bot made a long jump towards Sky Sanctuary, the flying battery blowing up right behind it. It landed just on the edge of the flying base, and turned around in time to see the flaming battery fall towards the ground way below. It ended up landing on a baron wasteland below, causing a large red explosion that lasted for miles and miles. All the crescent fighters were destroyed, and everyone was waiting for the arrival of the heroes. The minute they jumped out, there was cheers of joy and happiness. They saved the day once again!

* * *

Shadow and Robotnik watched the whole thing on the video screen. They witnessed the fight starting from Knuckles leaving the battle scene and the Flying Battery exploding. "This is exactly why I need your help." Robotnik explained with a frown. "I see what you are saying." said Shadow. "The problem is that you're warriors are too weak. I'll bet you that Sonic and Tails were not even at their full potential!" he said hopefully. "If they were, than defeating them shall be child's play! "If you really believe that you can beat them so easily, than you may go, I'll send a message to the docking bay that you will be coming and they should direct you to a ship unless they want to be destroyed." said Robotnik with a little uncertainty. "It will be my pleasure to murder those annoying pests." Shadow said delightfully, his grin growing rapidly. Shadow was a bit annoyed because he would have to take the capsule thingamajig for transport again. He didn't like the immense force and how hard it was to stay still. The doors opened on his arrival. Shadow sat down in a seat, fastening all of his seatbelts and this time even tightening them as much as possible! The deafening noise came back again, but this time Shadow just calmly covered his ears. The noise stopped, and the tube zoomed. Actually, Shadow realized that the blur of lights looked beautiful! The capsule came to a sudden stop after a few seconds, and the doors opened immediately. A bunch of Eggmen waited for Shadow to walk out, and they rushed in right after. The door closed behind him and he walked to a robot at a desk. "Greetings Shadow. This is your plane," it said pointing at a small ship only ten feet away. "The ship is on auto-pilot so there will be no work involved for now." Shadow followed its instructions and climbed into the back seat. Immediately, the glass window closed and the ship moved to the runner-way. It stopped when it reached it, and turned onto it, picking up its speed rapidly. The plane lifted up and flew through space towards the earth. Sonic and Tails were relaxing, and Sonic was telling everyone about his fight with Robo-Knuckles and every little detail that interested them. Just as Tails suspected, Sonic started to stretch the truth about his fight. He decided to interrupt Sonic and tell the rest of the story the right way. Sonic got all the fame and praise, even after Tails corrected them by telling that he saved Sonic from death. He sulked, as usual, in much frustration. Sonic took control of the story once again, when suddenly the talking was interrupted by a strange silence. Sonic paused in confusion, and turned to see what they were looking at. A very familiar black hedgehog stood at the edge of Sky Sanctuary, the green Chaos Emerald in his right hand. Shadow frowned as his hair blew swiftly in the wind. Quickly and spontaneously, the frown turned into a grin and he tightened his grip on the emerald and the wind around the area started to pick up. "Let me and Tails handle this everyone, its too dangerous for you!" Sonic stated, sounding much braver and unafraid than he really was. The last time they fought, as he recalled, he was defeated and on the ground in a matter of seconds. However, that was before Sonic and Tails knew what Shadow was capable of doing with Chaos Emeralds. The dark hedgehog lifted up his right arm and faced it towards them in a fist. Suddenly, the emerald was on fire! The blue fire lit up his pure black body, adding much color to him. He pulled back his arm and through the emerald towards them! At a hand gesture, it turned and flew TROUGH all the legs of the spider-bot. This caused the spider-bot to fall flat. For a second Tails thought he could get to it and save Sonic again. The emerald flew back to Shadow's hand, but not before flying into the center of the robot and revealing all its energy. The spider-bot blew up more magnificently and much quicker than the flying battery. Now in his hand, the emerald than lost its flaming characteristics. "I have been sent by Emperor Robotnik," said Shadow, still smiling just as much. Sonic could feel the Chaos Power involved. Just then, Tails brightened up like a light bulb. "If Etheria produces his own chaos power, I wonder how much Shadow can produce by himself!" said Tails, believing that he had discovered an interesting experiment to perform on his spare time. Sonic couldn't believe what Tails was thinking, and wondered why he would care at this time. The wind picked up and slowed down again, like in a Wild West movie. Sonic's eyes turned to a more serious look as he shifted to a battle position. "Perhaps you would like to hear the deal he and I have made!" he laughed. Sonic's eyes widened at the sound of that. "He agreed that if I kill you three, than I will be rewarded with the Chaos Emeralds!" he shouted in triumph and content. Both Sonic and Tails' mouths hung open in great fear. "What Robotnik doesn't know however," Shadow said, adding more to his evil grin. "is that I will achieve my perfect form when all of the Chaos Emeralds AND the Master Emerald is in my possession!" he shouted, his happiness at its max. Sonic grew angry and rushed towards Shadow with great fury. "You won't be killing US anytime soon!" he shouted angrily. Shadow held out the Chaos Emerald and yelled "Chaos Power!" really loud. The emerald began to float in the air and glow. As Sonic ran towards the enemy, Shadow spoke once more. "Every time you feel pain, the Chaos Emerald will absorb it and use your pain to produce energy!" The black hedgehog jumped before Sonic could reach him, forcing Sonic to skid trying to slow down. Shadow landed on the other side of Sonic and kicked him in the face. Sonic flew back a few feet, but he kicked himself up and kicked Shadow in the face as well. He ran away from Shadow and then towards him again, ramming him off the edge of Sky Sanctuary. Shadow magically just flew back up, landing on the edge! He skated towards Sonic, skated out of the way before he hit him, and than swerved into him from the back! Sonic flew forward onto the ground face first, but used his hands to push himself to his feet once more. The two ran away from each other, than towards each other at the same time. Sonic jumped just before they made contact and kicked Shadow in the back of the head. With the momentum Shadow already had, the kick caused him to fly quite a distance! "You're not experiencing as much pain as you're supposed to!" he shouted in anger. "I guess you underestimated me and only now do you realize how much better I am than you!" Sonic stated triumphantly. "Without your precious emerald to help you do all those fancy tricks, you're as useless as a fly compared to me!" "I think we should bring the battle up a notch." said Shadow. "Fine!" Sonic agreed. "I bet I can defeat you without even touching the emerald!" thought Shadow aloud. He ran towards Sonic and started punching furiously. Sonic simply blocked each punch with his arm, when suddenly Shadow gave him a clean uppercut! He followed it up with a punch in the face, another in the stomach and than a powerful kick to the side. Sonic flew straight into the wall of a building. Fighting on Sky Sanctuary with all the open space was STILL hard when fighting Shadow. He got up slowly, but was sent back down by another kick to the left. Shadow skated over to where Sonic had landed and picked him up by the back. Shadow skated far away from the wall Sonic hit when he was kicked. Then, Shadow skated towards it with incredible speed. Tails took out his electro pistols and finally took action! He shot at Shadow's shoes as he skated. Fortunately for him, Shadow was fast enough on his shoes to dodge every electro beam! He held out Sonic as he neared the wall, threw Sonic into it and turned sharply away from it! Sonic hit the wall so hard that he went through it! Plus, it was metal! Tails continued to shoot at Shadow, who was now coming for him but could not hit the fast hedgehog. He turned sharply once again when he reached Tails to the right and tripped him with his left foot as he turned and continued to skate. Shadow skidded to a stop and then held out his hand. The emerald flew towards him, glowing extremely bright. Shadow jumped into the air and yelled "Chaos Explosion!!!" at the top of his lungs! The Chaos Emerald suddenly glowed even brighter and electricity emerged from it to electrocute Tails. The fox was shocked so badly that he fell to the ground, his hair standing on ends and black all over. He fell, looking as if he were dead. Shadow picked up the weary fox, and threw him off the flying sanctuary! Shadow skated over to Sonic and brought him over to the edge. "You bitch..." he said softly, his whole body aching as it moved. "...you hit Tails, and you go down..." he said weakly. "Shut up" Shadow interrupted, slapping Sonic across the face consistently. Shadow let go of the weary blue hedgehog, and kicked him off of Sky Sanctuary, watching him fall down. "Farewell, weakling..." he said, disappointed in Sonic's skill in fighting. "If only I could find a more worthy opponent..." Shadow turned around, and realized how big Sky Sanctuary actually was. The bigger it is, the more magnificent the explosion! The evil hedgehog skated towards the center of the space ship. Apparently, there was nothing but a small hole. I'll just have to fix that! Shadow jumped upwards and threw the emerald into the floor, watching it collapse. He jumped through the whole and noticed that the whole widened here. Shadow jumped through the wide hole and fell, fell, and fell. Eventually, Shadow saw nothing but a giant core generator and lots of electricity below him besides the green walls. Shadow through the emerald downwards, and let it do its work. The emerald flew back into Shadow's hands seconds later, and he used the power of the emerald to fly out of the hole. Shadow landed on the top of Sky Sanctuary once again! He skated towards the edge and jumped off! He fell backwards purposely, so he could watch Sky Sanctuary explode and transform into nothing but dust. How he wished he could see the look on the animals' faces when they realized that their heroes were defeated and they were about to die. The explosion was extremely big, and there was not a sole survivor.

















Chapter IV Knuckles' Invasion

Shadow continued to fall down. Now however, they were coincidently over an ocean, which meant that Sonic and Tails have a good chance of surviving! Oh well. That just makes it a little bit more challenging for me! He revealed the Chaos Emerald and held it tightly in his hand. It glowed brightly and beautifully, very magnificently. Suddenly, Shadow turned over, facing the ground and stuck out the emerald towards it, squeezing it tightly. The speed of his fall began to diminish and slow down. Then, Shadow activated his skates in mid-air! Now that he was falling at such a slow speed, Shadow hit the surface of the water and stated there thanks to the skates! He skated along the water, looking around for where Sonic and Tails might be. If they were dead than he would want to see there bodies. They may still be alive so I should probably finish them off while I can! Eventually, Shadow reached a beach, but wasn't sure where he was. However, something told him that this search will take long time. After skating around the beach for a while, much longer than he imagined, he came to a light house on a high cliff above. Shadow simply went around the cliff to a non-steep and grassy slope where he skated up than skated to the lighthouse. "What the hell?!" yelled a man from a high window in the lighthouse. "Have you seen a blue hedgehog or a yellow fox?" Shadow asked. "Is there a particular reason you want these strange creatures?" the man asked back. He was a white man with a long gray beard and bushy hair around the age of sixty-five. His arms were very well developed and he looked as if he worked all his life. By looking at him, it was quite easy to tell that he worked all his life. The old man's honest look brought love into the hearts of others. "Yes, I have to have a little chat with them plus if you don't bring them to me, you must suffer the consequences!" Shadow replied, eager to find what he needed and not waste his time with pathetic humans. "However I have not seen these characters for at least half an hour now! I'm sorry I can't help you. "Well I'm sorry I can't let you live..." Shadow said, turning away disgustedly. "Excuse me?!" said the frightened old man. Sonic and Tails were resting along the beach only about half a mile away from the light house. I'll though a bit tired, they were fully recovered from the injuries they received while fighting Shadow. "What a pretty lighthouse!" said Tails, just before the lighthouse exploded! "What the..." said Sonic beginning to rise to his feet. "Shadow?!" he asked to himself. Shadow watched the lighthouse burn and fall into pieces. The Chaos Emerald was in his right hand and he was holding it loosely. Suddenly, Shadow tightened his grip on the emerald, bent down and zoomed through the burning ruins of the light house, off the cliff. Shadow stopped moving after he flew off the cliff. Falling fast but gracefully. Although he moved so fast, he landed without a sound, and turned towards Sonic and Tails... Shadow's eyes shifted from an evil careless look to a serious evil look. Sonic's eyes widened in fear, but soon shifted, looking as if ready for anything. The dark hedgehog started skating at full speed down the beach towards Sonic. Sonic ran towards Shadow, trying his best to overtake Shadow's speed. At the last second. Sonic charged and Shadow simply dodged, letting Sonic fly across the soft sand for a short moment. This gave Shadow some time to play around with Tails. "Suffer the wrath of Shadow the hedgehog, you weak fox!" Shadow ordered triumphantly. "Defeating you will be nothing but child's play!" Shadow charged at Tails but the young fox was able to jump out of the way in time. Tails turned around immediately, shooting his electro pistols at Shadow. The dark hedgehog gracefully dodged the blasts of the electro pistols, skating one way and then another. Tails flew up into the air and continued shooting at Shadow, but no contact was made! Shadow gave up on the two heroes and skated deep into the forest, secretly hoping that the two of them would follow. "How are we going to catch him when we don't even know what direction he's moving in?" Sonic asked. "I've got that problem figured out before you even realized it existed!" Tails said, holding up the Chaos Radar. There were many chaos energy waves being produced by Shadow, so they would easily be able to catch up! "Let me handle this one!" Sonic said, quickly grabbing the Chaos Radar and running after Shadow. Sonic ran and ran, but couldn't catch up to Shadow. In fact, Shadow kept getting farther and farther as he ran! Suddenly, Shadow stopped, waiting for Sonic to arrive. In the middle of the forest was a lake. There is an island in the middle of the large lake where Shadow was waiting. It is a special lake, because from the bottom of the lake, trees grow! Instead of being able to see across the whole lake, you see a bunch of magnificently tall beautiful trees in front of you, like a rainforest. To Shadow, it was none other than the perfect battlefield. On the island, there was not a single tree! There was nothing but pure green, perfectly cut green grass! Sonic arrived at the shore of the lake just then. He stopped short, than ran back a bit. Sonic knew that he could run across many lakes, but not one this size with trees in the way. He would simply have to climb among the trees! However, the branches did not emerge from the trunks of the trees until way, way up. He would most likely have to wait for Tails. After waiting for about four minutes, Tails arrived, panting because of exhaustion. "Tails, I know you can easily cross this lake because you can fly from tree branch to tree branch! I however, can't even make it to the first branch! Would you mind lending me a hand?" he asked. "No problem Sonic, you can count on me!" Tails replied. The two of them made quite a team, Sonic did most of the running and catching up, Tails did most of the finding, technology problems and flying. Tails carried Sonic from tree branch to tree branch with no problem whatsoever! Shadow was the only problem. When they got to the second to last branch, they spotted Shadow, and the flaming Chaos Emerald flying straight towards them! It hit Tails, knocking him into the water unconscious, and it flew back into Shadow's hand. Shadow actually intended to hit Sonic, but he missed and Tails was good enough. Plus, it would be more challenging to fight Sonic! Sonic jumped off the branch and onto the island. The blue hedgehog was angry, and he shifted to his regular battle position. "Fool. Fighting me is a waste of time, in case you don't remember our previous fight!" Shadow reminded him. "You're all emerald and no skill." Sonic replied. "Without the Chaos Emerald, I can crush you like the little helpless insect you are!" "Do you want to prove it?" asked Shadow, letting the emerald float in the air and disappear. "Fine!" agreed Sonic, a smile stretching across his face. The real test of martial arts skill was only beginning. Shadow skated over to Sonic and skated out of the way at the last second, but then he skated towards the blue hedgehog once more! Sonic began running towards the fast moving Shadow, jumped and did a flying kick! Sadly, Shadow did none other than the same thing, with his right foot as well. They ended up kicking each other in the face extremely hard then falling to the ground and kicking themselves up at the same time! Shadow punched at Sonic, but Sonic took the defensive and blocked the attack with no sweat, blocking the next punch as well. Shadow kept punching, and Sonic kept blocking with his arms. Shadow changed his pattern spontaneously and kicked Sonic in the shin and following it up to a punch in the stomach. Sonic grabbed Shadow's arm that punched him, and threw Shadow over his head into the deep water behind him. Shortly, the wet hedgehog swam to the surface and jumped out, mad and frustrated. He landed on the island than tripped Sonic while the jets on his shoes were on! Sonic's feet burned in pain, and it took a while for him to stand up again, only to be knocked onto the ground immediately by another punch. Swiftly, the dark hedgehog skated backwards and stopped slowly. He smiled, and took out the emerald. Shadow held the Chaos Emerald tightly in his fist and yelled "Chaos Flame!" which caused the emerald to burst into burning flames. He jumped high into the air, flipping several times, and planned to land a flaming punch directly onto Sonic! After rising for a short moment, Shadow began to descend towards the blue hedgehog, lifting up his arm in preparation. Just in time, Sonic kicked himself up onto his feet and jumped forward, letting Shadow bring down the punch right behind him! As Shadow rose up to turn, Sonic quickly kicked Shadow stomach as he turned, which caused Shadow to fly into a tree! The kick was so hard that the tree actually fell down! It brought down several other trees with it. Sonic laughed in triumph. "Hah, even with the Chaos Emerald you can't compare to me!" said Sonic. Suddenly, Shadow, who was currently underwater, burst out of it wet and angry, clenched his fists and stretched his arms backwards yelling very loud. Just then, white fire with a little blue here and there smothered Shadow, as if he was a torch! With the fire surrounding him, he looked more evil, more merciless and much more powerful. Shadow landed on the grassy island and frowned. He lifted up his right arm and faced his palm towards Sonic. A white fireball flew out of his hand and scorched Sonic in the rib. Sonic fell onto the ground, grabbing his side in much pain and anger. Shadow walked slowly up to the blue hedgehog, and looked straight into his eyes. Sonic couldn't bare it, and flipped back up, ready to continue the fight! Sonic punched, kicked and charged, but Shadow blocked everything with his lightning fast reflexes! Also, whenever he blocked one of Sonic's attacks, he would hit him into a tree and let them both fall down. Shadow was practically indestructible, and Sonic didn't have a chance! What amazed Sonic was that Shadow couldn't have gone super or anything like that because he only had one emerald, which meant that he could perform this technique without the emerald! Sonic swam to the surface of the water and swam to shore. He was tired, weak and couldn't bare the harsh beating. "Mercy..." he begged. Unfortunately for Sonic, Shadow was nowhere near merciful. The dark hedgehog bluntly answered Sonic's plea with a punch to the ground. Sonic just could not bare the pain! His muscles were tired and worn out, and his body was cut, torn, scratched and bruised all over! It was a disappointing sight. Sonic lay on the ground, still conscious but too weak to even move. There was blood emerging from his body in various places, and he couldn't stand the pain. His life was ending here, in the hands of another hedgehog...

* * *

Knuckles landed the plane he was piloting on a cliff right above the city occupied with echidnas. Just as Hop had said, there was a large flying battery hovering only about 300 feet in the air. What made Knuckles shiver in fear and sadness was the sight of hundreds of Eggmen causing the suffering of many Echidnas. Echidnas died by the dozen, and things weren't looking good for them. Laser's constantly erupted from the guns, and they innocent echidnas had nothing to defend themselves with. Luckily, most knew martial arts because of the elders. However, their fighting skills is no match for Robotnik's technology. Knuckles jumped off the small cliff and landed nearby the center of the battlefield. All the Echidna's stopped and cheered but shortly the battle continued. Eggmen lined up in rows and shot all at once, taking out several Echidnas at a time. The Eggmen outnumbered them, but Knuckles was about to take care of that. Immediately, he somersaulted over a flip and kicked a robot into a wall, allowing it to explode in an instant. Others focused on Knuckles but each only needed one punch. Finally, the guns were brought into the open and handed out to the Echidnas. They could now fight fire with fire. It took a while to realize that the Eggmen were actually being produced from the Flying Battery. They were only at the foot of Mushroom Hill, and from the top Knuckles could easily enter the Flying Battery. Charging through all in his way, Knuckles started up the grassy hill at a very fast pace. In no time, he was at the peak of the hill and was looking at the Flying Battery from above. It was an impossible jump, but Echidnas have the great advantage of being able to glide for long periods at a time. Knuckles leaped into the air and started to glide fist first. It was quite a flight because it was not long before laser guns branching off the rectangular air ship began to fire at him! Knuckles twisted and rolled over and under the many shots and landed safely on the roof of the airship. He jumped upwards and drilled through the roof of where he was currently standing. Broken pieces and metal fell down into the hallway where Knuckles landed. All around him, Robot workers stopped their movement and flew away while the alarm went off. Knuckles didn't really mind the alarm because he like a good challenge anyway. Eggmen started to fly towards him on both sides to make it seem as if there was nowhere to run. Mess with the best, die like the rest! Knuckles ran towards the robots that he was facing and slid under them like a baseball player sliding for home base. Instead, Knuckles held up his arm and let his spike-like knuckles tear through each robot. The Eggmen who were coming towards his back stopped but was hit by the burning pieces of junk anyway. Knuckles had gotten home safe now and was heading for the cockpit of the air ship. Knuckles noticed a large metal door at the end of the hallway which very possibly could have led to the cockpit since it was in the direction of the front of the ship. Knuckles began to ran and picked up speed rapidly. He held his fists in front of his head in order to break through the door. When he reached his nearby destination, Knuckles busted through the door with all of his strength. The door was sent flying through the windshield of the cock-pit room which he now realized he was in. Robots suddenly turned around and he was mysteriously pushed off of the ledge he was standing on to the cold bear metal floor. Knuckles looked up to see Robo-Tails looking down smiling unusually large. He jumped onto the floor which Knuckles was lying down on and drew two pistols.

* * *

Shadow laughed as he watched Sonic struggle to resist the pain. "Will you look at that"? Sonic, weak as he was, knew there had to be a way. He had to get the emerald away from Shadow, and maybe he could even use it for himself! Suddenly, Sonic realized that there was a way as he located a rock on the ground. Trying his best not to let Shadow notice, Sonic placed his bloody hand over the rock. Shadow smiled and began to spin his Chaos Emerald on his pointer finger. Sonic threw the rock with such aim and skill so that the emerald was knocked out of Shadow's hand onto the grass. Sonic tripped Shadow before he could react and grabbed the Chaos Emerald, scrambling away. Sonic suddenly pushed himself to his feet with much effort and jumped onto a tree. He sat on a large branch that hung over the perfectly clear lake. Shadow flipped himself up with ease and growled when he realized he could not locate the blue hedgehog. Sonic rested, holding the Chaos Emerald in his hand. Sonic had no clue that the Chaos Emerald was healing him and giving him energy and stamina. He felt his energetic self return to his fast paced body. Torn and worn out muscles were refreshed! The relief was better than when he had jumped into the icy cold lake on Angel Island during the hottest day of the year! Sonic stood up on the branch and was about to launch a surprise attack, when Shadow suddenly realized where the blue hedgehog was hiding. "Give me back the Chaos Emerald you ignorant fool!" yelled Shadow in anger. His voice boomed like a large drum. Sonic wanted to give him the Chaos Emerald in flames, but he figured it would be easier to try the Chaos Control. "CHAOS CONTROL!!!!" Sonic shouted as he grasped the green emerald with all his might. Suddenly, the world around Sonic slowed down to a such a slow speed and everything was sort of blurry. As he expected, he could move as if there was no difference in the speed of time. Shadow skated towards the tree Sonic hid in, but to Sonic it seemed as if he was doing as slowly and leisurely as possible! Sonic jumped back onto the pure grassy island, and ran around Shadow, sliding than charging towards Shadow's back! Time returned to normal, and Sonic's elbow sent Shadow flying face first into a tree. Unfortunately, Sonic now knows that there is one major disadvantage to performing this previously believed extremely amazing technique. His energy was drastically drained! He was more tired and worn out, so it must take a lot of stamina to be able to move like Shadow does after he performs the Chaos Control technique. Sonic had an idea although, that kick was more than enough for a lead in the race for beating the opponent. Sonic didn't want to use the Chaos Emerald but obviously couldn't let Shadow get his hands on it. Shadow climbed ashore and stood up, wet and weaker. Sonic threw Chaos Emerald at Shadow full speed, than ran after it! Shadow used his quick reflexes to catch the emerald, but Sonic's charge that immediately followed the catch knocked him into another tree. The tree fell onto a stronger tree that held it up in a slanted position. Shadow walked up the trunk of the slanted tree that emerged from the lake floor. Just then, Shadow turned on his hover skates and hovered along the water, circling around the island and taunting Sonic the hedgehog. Sonic then realized that Shadow could grab the emerald any second because when Sonic hit him the emerald went flying somewhere unseen. To the horror of Sonic, Shadow held the up the Chaos Emerald which was in his right hand and stabbed him self with the pointy end. When the emerald made contact with Shadow it glowed brightly and disappeared into his dark black body. Shadow was once again engulfed in a white and blue flame. Sonic stared as Shadow grabbed one of the standing trees and uprooted it! Sonic gasped just when Shadow threw the giant tree right onto the island. Shadow began to skate again and Sonic realized that the only way he could successfully attack Shadow was to walk on the water himself. But for someone his speed, this is not necessarily impossible! Sonic jumped onto the slanted trunk and scrambled to the highest area before the leaves got thick. Next, Sonic ran knelt down and ran down the trunk of the tree towards the clear perfect water. As he hoped he would succeed in doing, Sonic ran so fast that he ran atop the water towards Shadow who was not paying attention whatsoever! Sonic charged into Shadow and rammed into a tree, all three falling into the water. The emerald left Shadow's body and sunk to the bottom of the lake. Sonic, who was unhurt, swam to the bottom and picked it up. When Sonic began to swim upwards, his foot got caught under a root. With much effort, Sonic attempted to free his foot from the root but did not succeed in doing so! He was running out of air and couldn't stay submerged in the water much longer. Even worse, a fish bit his hand and he lost hold of the Chaos Emerald! Only now did Sonic realize that he could perform the Chaos Control technique to help him free his foot. The emerald sat on the lake floor only a few feet away from Sonic. He reached and stretched, and Sonic was able to grab the Chaos Emerald with seconds to spare. "CHAOS CONTROL" he burbled underwater. All of a sudden, time around him slowed down and he was moving extremely fast! With the extra speed given to Sonic, he pulled the root so fast and hard that it snapped, freeing his foot at last! Sonic sprung off the lake floor to the surface, and noticed Shadow's body washed up onto the island. Sonic watched Shadow lie there completely motionless. Getting a bit impatient waiting for the Dark Hedgehog to awaken, Sonic decided to study Shadow's SOAP shoes. They were really quite remarkable and well made with many different complicated parts. If Sonic could make shoes like that, then Shadow would have been history LONG ago!

Just then, Shadow awoke, and saw Sonic staring at him. "That is what happens when you go one on one with Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic bragged. Shadow frowned and flipped up to a fighting position. Sonic was to shocked to move, his mouth hanging open. Taking this extra time as an advantage, Shadow closed Sonic's open mouth with a kick in the jaw. Sonic flew back in pain and landed in the water with a splash.

Shadow laughed as he picked up the fallen emerald. Suddenly, There was a splash and Sonic leaped out of the water, angry and wet. He somersaulted than landed behind Shadow, ready to fight in his normal battle position. Shadow turned around, and noticed Sonic running towards him at full speed. Tired of fighting, he leaped into the air onto a far away branch and laughed once more.

"Until another day, blue hedgehog!" he shouted, and disappeared with the glowing emerald.



* * *

"I could beat up Tails if I wanted, so it should be no difficulty dealing with a bucket of bolts like you." Knuckles threatened. "Strange how the bucket of bolts is better than you!" the orange robot replied. Knuckles now stood, and he shook his fist at Robo-Tails shouting with anger.

Irritated, Tails shot Knuckles with his electronic pistol. The energy ball electrocuted him and Knuckles fell once more, although he quickly flipped back up. Suddenly, Robo-Tails took to the air with his helicopter tails and kept shooting at Knuckles. As long as he kept running, Knuckles would not get hit. This would spare him enough time to think up of a plan. All of a sudden Robo-Tails threw away from the pistols, and shot four missiles at the echidna out of his chest! Knuckles quickly flipped into the air, but was hit by three of the four missiles. As Knuckles fell painfully to the ground, Robo-Tails sizzled his back with his helicopter like tails! Knuckles couldn't take the pain, and he almost fainted. Robo-Tails called on eight Eggmen and ordered them loudly to finish off the red echidna. Knuckles had to stay alive! His people were in danger!

Slowly, the Eggmen powered up their highly lethal PEBs (Plasmatic Electronic Blaster) and aimed it right at Knuckles' body! With milliseconds to spare, Knuckles leaped into the air, dodging the fire and landing behind one of the Eggmen! Before the Eggmen could turn around, it had already flown into another Eggmen, and the other Eggmen only then started shooting at Knuckles. Fast as he was, the Eggmen couldn't hit him at all and Knuckles defeated each of them with a single punch! Robo-Tails growled with anger and drew his dual plasma rifles and rocket launchers! Knuckles ran for his life, and Robo-Tails hit the computers that piloted the Flying Battery, causing alarms and sirens to go off. Everyone started to evacuate, but Knuckles wasn't finished yet. He made quick turn towards the Robotic clone of Tails and kicked him straight through the glass of the cockpit! Now that that was taken care of, Knuckles used the remaining backup pilot computers and started to fly the Flying Battery towards a large mountain, and he would've succeed if he wasn't kicked by a black shadow- like figure into the navigational computer. Shadow laughed as Knuckles slowly pulled himself up to a fighting position.

"You were lucky last time, all three of us weren't warmed up and you had your two partners with you." Knuckles scowled. "Yes but last time I was not even trying!" Shadow replied, smiling his famous evil smile. "I don't care what you say, but I will punch you all the way to another universe! So get ready for the true Knuckles!" "I'm ready, do not fear."

"First I gotta take care of your emerald." Knuckles shouted. Shadow rolled his eyes, positive that he would not even get near his emerald. Knuckles answered that with a quick punch to the left with his right fist. Shadow didn't expect such pain and wasn't ready for the next punch either! This was proved when he flew into a computer, groaning in pain. Knuckles quickly grabbed the emerald and threw it out of the ship. Shadow, furious like never before, gave Knuckles a quick kick to the stomach and then, a roundhouse kick into the wall. Knuckles recovered, jumped into the air and drilled the Dark Hedgehog! "This is what pain really is Shadow! Can you feel it? Huh?"

By the time Knuckles relieved Shadow from the immense pain, Shadow was already beaten down to a point that he never imagined he could reach. Knuckles, using the time he now had, steered the Flying Battery towards the mountain once more and put the rockets on full power. He climbed up the wall quickly as the rockets powered up and prepared to blast, then he burst through the roof and jumped off for his life! With luck, he landed in time to witness the Flying Battery crash into a large mountain!

Shadow was finally rid of, and so was Robo-Tails. However, they were only two of the seven superior enemies. Void, Etheria, Robo-Sonic, Robo- Knuckles, and Dr. Robotnik still lived! We may have won the battle but we haven't won the war.











































Chapter V

Robotic Chaos

Sonic stood up to Shadow and would have won if it weren't for his quick escape. Instead, he and the now awake Tails decided to look for civilization. They would have to get a plane and fly to Knuckles' tribe to help him. But which way was the quickest way, neither of them had a clue.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Tails' head! "Let's check the Chaos Radar!" said Tails.

"Good thinking Tails!" Sonic replied. Tails checked the radar, only to frown. "What's wrong.?" Sonic asked curiously. He looked on and his mouth hung open as well. Void and Etheria were to the northeast only a few miles away and they were getting closer to the yellow Chaos Emerald which both Tails and Sonic knew was in a large city. That meant there would be much destruction. According to the scale, Void had a Chaos Power of 2.68 and Etheria a power of 2.53. That was quite high since they didn't have a Chaos Emerald with them. Like all other Chaos Emeralds that aren't in use, the yellow Chaos Emerlad was exactly 15. Tails now focused on three numbers in one area. This was even more frightening. There was one number that was -50. Tails and Sonic didn't have to worry about that because that was the Master Emerald, which has the power to deactivate Chaos Emeralds. Unlike any other, Knuckles has the power to change the size of the Master Emerald and store it in his glove! So they knew that Knuckles was still safe. What frightened them was the other two numbers. This was 3.54 and 15, which was the green Chaos Emerald. This meant that Shadow must be with Knuckles in a battle. What confused them was that Shadow couldn't have been using his emerald because the emerald's power was 15. The red Chaos Emerald was in the volcano it is always in, but the rest were altogether and were moving towards the volcano slowly! Unfortunately, all Sonic and Tails could do was stop Void and Etheria from obtaining the yellow Chaos Emerald in Sonic city (A large city obviously named after the famous hero).

The two partners ran as fast as possible, and reached the city in 4 minutes giving them much time to spare. It wasn't hard to find Void and Etheria because of the Chaos Emerald and the loads of screaming and destruction. A building nearby where Sonic and Tails were walking collapsed, and the villains walked through the dusty ruins, greeting our heroes with lots of curses. Sonic and Tails were ready to fight them this time, so any problem would be avoided. Immediately, the battle began with a flying start, literally. Both Tails and Void took to the air, battling each other with hands and feet. Void's evil eyes were red with fury, but that wasn't to important since his eyes were always red. Etheria lifted a large chunk of concrete from the ruins of the previously existing office building, chucking it straight at Sonic. The blue hedgehog ran swiftly out of the way, avoiding every little chance of receiving injury. The Dark Echidna frowned, running towards Sonic fists first. Sonic ran towards Etheria too, only much faster. With only a millisecond to spare, Sonic slid and caused the clumsy echidna to fly straight into a car, he jumped up to his feet, only to see Sonic for another fraction of a second as he rammed Etheria into a truck from the left side. The truck contained acid, which poured all over Etheria! There were screams of pain, then silence. Sonic checked the radar, and then looked at Void. Etheria was gone, and took all of the punches Tails gave. Void flew down to check if Etheria was alive, but there was nothing to see but small melting pieces of bone. A tear went down his cheek, and Void flew away without a word but with sniffles. However it did sound as if he swore to kill Sonic in his mumbles. Tails looked at Sonic, who had a bit of acid on his left shoulder. It burned a lot, but eventually ran out. Suddenly, there was an extremely loud boom!