Author's Note: This story takes place a while after Sonic Heroes. Sonic and Shadow are once again deadly rivals. Then one night, the supposed final showdown begins. So without further ado...

Dark Metal Engage

1

The rain lashed down like bullets from a machine gun. The two figures faced each other, glaring through slitted eyes. Their soggy fur clung to their bodies, like fluff to velcro. In between them, spread over the damp, wet ground, were seven jewels, sparkling emeralds. "So what's it gonna be, Sonic?" the black and red hedgehog spoke. "Will you give up the Chaos Emeralds, and submit to me as your superior, or will you continue to be stubborn, and end up with me ending your pitiful life?" "Shut up, Shadow. You know you can't beat me." "What? Such insolence..." "Hehehe..." Sonic suddenly leapt, grabbing up the Chaos Emeralds. As they circled around him, his arms crossed over his chest and he was engulfed with golden fire. Slowly, the flames died down, and Sonic reappeared, only now, he was glowing, his fur had turned a golden colour, and he was no longer wet. "So who's stronger now, eh Shadow? With the power of the Chaos Emeralds turning me into Super Sonic, there's no way you can beat me!" "Oh yeah? Bring it on!" Sonic launched a light speed homing attack into Shadow. It was impossible to evade, and Shadow was thrown away like a rag doll. "No! I... won't let you... beat me! ARRRGGGHHH!" The Emeralds on Shadow's belt rose into the air and encircled Shadow, enclosing him in a blast of fiery red flame. The flames slowly retracted, and there was Shadow, his fur now a silvery colour, but the blood-red streaks remained. "There! Now I will finish you, Sonic! This is the end of the line for you!" Sonic stared. Shadow had become even more exponentially powerful. His power was... equal to that of his own. This was gonna be hard. The rivals roared, and sped at each other. On both sides of the narrow street, windows shattered. The sonic boom rippled across the city. They collided. Another shockwave boomed, bringing down the tall buildings all around. Sonic and Shadow flew up into the clouded, watery sky. "This is it, Sonic. This is where I finish you. This is the end!" yelled Shadow. "No way! Never!" retorted Sonic. "You'll never beat me!" The hedgehogs cried, "CHAOS! CONTROL!" Time slowed to a stop all around. Sonic and Shadow blurred as the repeatedly attacked each other. Both were tired, but neither was going to let up. Both wanted to gain the upper hand, but they were so evenly matched that neither was ever going to. As time slowly returned to its normal pace, so did Sonic and Shadow. Both breathing heavily, they descended to the ground. "Face it, Shadow, it's useless. Neither of us are gonna win. We're too evenly matched. I don't want to have to fight you, but you're forcing me to. Listen, we'd be better off working together to defeat Eggman and Metal Sonic, and all those other crazy freaks bent on ruling the world. Shadow tensed up, clenching his muscles, gritting his teeth. Then he relaxed. "You're right. As much as I hate to have to say it, you're right." "Good, you're getting somewhere now." "Ha. That's a laugh." "Whoa, Knuckles, what're you doing here?" Sonic said, surprised to see his old buddy again so soon. "Heh, nice to see you too. And Shadow." "That dosen't answer the question, Red. What you here for?" said Shadow hostilely. "It's Eggman," replied Knuckles. "He's back, and he's finally got Metal Sonic under his control. Or so he says. But what's more is, he's created Metal Versions of me, Tails and Shadow to go with it. Now he wants to take over the world. Again! Needless to say, he's got an even better chance this time. But we'll still stop him, right?" "Yeah, right on!" exclaimed Sonic. "Okay. Let's get rid of that demented freak, this time for good!" said Shadow.

Author's Note: Okay! There's chapter 1 for you lot. I'm currently working on 2. Please send any comments etc. to dark_jonny_2004@hotmail.com