{Author's Notes: Sorry for releasing this chapter so late. The next one will probably take even longer. I'm hoping I can keep up, given how busy I currently am.}
All present kept silent, including Eggman. At long last, Sonic and Shadow were let go. They met in the middle, shook hands, and took their stance. They turned to face Eggman.
"Oh, so you wish to face me?" Eggman laughed, then whistled. His three cyborgs, yellow, blue, and red, came out and lined up, facing Sonic and Shadow. "I'll give you five seconds, then it's time to pay."
"We don't need your time, dimwit!" Sonic shouted. Shadow teleported into the Eggmobile, behind Eggman. He punched him repeatedly as the evil doctor tried to fight back, causing his vehicle to shake. Sonic charged for a spin dash, but was prevented from moving further as the yellow one fired a net from its chest. Sonic was tangled with no way to get out. The red one fired a rocket at the Eggmobile, knocking Shadow off. Lastly, the blue one speared Shadow with a trident in its chest, and pulled him over to Sonic, who had just been released from the net.
"Care to try again?" Eggman taunted. He fired a laser from his vehicle at the ground between Sonic and Shadow. It exploded on the ground, sending them both flying in opposite directions. They were already bruised and beaten from their last three fights, and didn't want to continue. "I'll give you something to fight about." Eggman threatened.
He took out a board with a bunch of levers on it. "I had presumed the final battle would come to this. Which is why I built a feature for both of your executions." The lights over the fourteen defeated contenders went out, leaving the lights on over two large glass tanks. They both contained clear liquid, although one had a hinged lid, and the other had two ropes above it. "Sonic, the first tank is for you. I was going to have you drown. I know well how much you hate swimming. Shadow, the second tank is yours. You were supposed to dissolve in acid, since technically you can't die. However, due to this outcome, I will heat up the competition, if you get what I mean."
He flipped one of the levers, and fire appeared underneath both tanks, like a stove. "Now one of you will boil alive!" He laughed maniacally.
Sonic and Shadow looked over at each other, a rare expression of fear appearing on both of their faces. They returned to the center, and unexpectedly hugged each other. They couldn't attack Eggman; they were outnumbered greatly. They had to fight each other.
"Ugh." Shadow groaned. "I never did like you. In the past, I wanted to fight you. Now, I'm not so sure."
"Agreed." Sonic replied. "Given how I fared in my previous battles, I'm liking my chances."
"Your battles? You've fought three girls in a row. I've taken down a trained ninja, a heavyweight boxer, and a kid with a nail gun. I'm sorry, but you've got nothing on me."
"You seem to think a girl can't be strong. Besides, one had a whip, the second fire, and the third a hammer. I'm not dealing with your insults any longer."
"I am sorry to hear of your fate."
"Tell Maria I said hi."
For the first time in his life, Shadow was offended. "You went too far!" He snarled.
"Yes, I did just go there. Ah, that's too bad."
"Tails will be pleased to see Cosmo."
"Don't you dare talk like that to him!" Sonic yelled, stepping sideways to block
Shadow's view of Tails. He took his somewhat awkward stance, leaning backwards.
"Fighting me can't bring back your dead father!" Shadow shouted back, taking his stance as well.
"Quite a start!" Eggman cheered. "I'm impressed. Get ready kids, it's almost showtime. En garde. Engage."
And engage they did. Shadow led with a flying front kick, being pushed back by Sonic's scorpion kick. He quickly jumped to the side, and knocked Sonic down with a flying side kick. He didn't try to pin him, allowing him to get up. When he did, Sonic sent a left crescent kick against Shadow's head. Shadow grabbed his leg, spun him around, and threw him into the wall, nearly hitting Eggman in the process. Shadow ran after him.
Sonic stood up and instantly grabbed Shadow's hands, lying on his back to throw Shadow at the wall. The two quickly recovered, Sonic first. He reached his hands under Shadow's jaw, and like Mina had done, ran him along the ground, tearing his back. He left a trail of blood across the entire room. Shadow grunted while getting up.
"You seriously think you can hurt me?" He asked.
"I'm prepared to do far worse." Sonic shot back. Shadow desperately grabbed his ankle, pulling up on his leg to ram his head into his stomach, which was insufficient to take him down. They quickly faced each other again, Shadow powerfully punching Sonic's nose, rekindling his previous nosebleed. Sonic held his face, uselessly trying to stop the bleeding. Shadow grabbed his hands, pulling them down. Sonic held them in front of him, almost as if showing off the amount of blood he lost.
Shadow punched Sonic again, sending blood in all directions. Sonic stumbled backwards, trying his best to gain his balance. He did that, jumped very high, and kicked Shadow's jaw in on the way up. He hooked his leg around Shadow's head, landed behind him, and performed a suplex against him.
Shadow did a back handspring to get on his feet in under a second. Sonic had already cleared the distance and hit him with an axe kick from each foot, a turning side kick, and lastly a rising axe kick to send Shadow to the sky. He chased Shadow with a rising uppercut, but missed. After landing, Shadow quickly grabbed his legs before he could reach the ground, and threw him violently on his back.
Sonic stretched out on the floor after the impact. Unlike last time, Shadow threw a Chaos Spear at him, burning a hole in Sonic's shoulder. Sonic screamed in pain, his left shoulder having been seared. He got on his knees and pushed off the ground to get up, grimacing. Shadow rushed him, trying to push him over, but Sonic fought back. They pushed against each other, until Sonic dropped his left arm and rammed Shadow with his shoulder. Shadow tried to regain his balance, but Sonic punched him directly in the face.
Shadow instantaneously teleported behind Sonic, standing straight up. He jumped into Sonic, taking him down face first. Shadow wrapped his legs around Sonic and started pulling him into an arm bar. Sonic grunted in pain, loudening as Shadow damaged his arm until he dislocated his left shoulder. He grinned down at Sonic, satisfied. Sonic rolled backwards, easily taking his stance again.
"You seem to forget that I'm really good at kicks." Sonic bragged, hitting him with a shadowless kick, quick enough to not be seen. He followed his successful hit with a turning side kick to the jaw, and a turning left hammer punch to finish. Shadow clutched his head, now aching from the damage done. Sonic charged for a spin dash, but released a half second later. He still retained full force, and flipped Shadow forwards onto his face. He dashed back to Shadow and grabbed his wrists again.
"Don't." Sonic could hear Shadow say in a muffled whisper before he dragged Shadow's torso along the ground. Shadow shrieked and even cried in pain, still needing time to heal from being pierced by nails over 80 times. Sonic ran his head into the wall, hoping that was enough to finish him off. Shadow didn't get up, and lightly cried. Sonic smirked, thinking he was going to give up. Shadow quietly but rapidly stood up, undetected by Sonic.
He teleported behind Sonic and wrapped his arm around his throat, putting Sonic in the sleeper hold. All was going well, but Sonic put up more resistance than expected. He jammed a finger into Shadow's eye socket, causing enough danger to be let go.
"Eggman was right!" Shadow gasped. "You truly fight dirty, taekwondo no-show."
"This is my first kill, alright? Stop judging me!" Sonic shouted back.
"CHAOS SPEAR!" Shadow called out, ramming his fist into the floor. Sonic stopped and stared. This was unusual, since Chaos Spears were fired from his hand. He had a split second to think that before it came out of the floor and right into his jaw, singing that too. Shadow landed an uppercut, seriously aggravating the burns. Sonic shrieked in pain, making Shadow laugh sadistically at the only one who stood in his way.
Sonic was undeterred by Shadow's cheap move, just more wary. He approached Shadow, taking every precaution to not get hit by anything unexpected. Shadow brought his fist to the ground again, but Sonic blocked for nothing. Shadow launched a Chaos Spear right at Sonic's face, but it missed. Sonic smirked, egotistically confident in his victory. He charged for a spin dash, only releasing when Shadow moved. He hit Shadow's head directly, sending him flying at the concrete wall, and tearing his back even more sliding down. Shadow was now on his hands and knees, uncertain if he was going to get up.
"You can stand up by yourself, cry baby!" Sonic taunted, forcing Shadow to stand with an axe kick under his jaw. He grabbed Shadow's unprotected jaw, and threw him headfirst to the ground on the other side. He charged for yet another spin dash, taking his time. He picked his moment, and sent Shadow over 10 meters across the room and 3 meters in the air.
Shadow hit one of the side walls, the far wall, and landed in Sonic's boiling water tank. He immediately teleported out, shrieking and crying in pain, still on his knees. He looked up and saw Sally to his side, in place for her untimely death. Shadow got an idea. He grabbed the revolver out of her right hand and pointed it at Sonic, who stopped right where he stood.
"Shadow, be reasonable. You don't have to do this. You've got nothing to gain." Sonic reasoned. "You've put your life on the line; fight honorably."
"I need to finish the job. It's about time to bring the system crashing down." He replied. Shadow pulled the hammer back, and fired a shot in the center of Sonic's chest.