{SRK: I know the characters' fights have been brutal, but this chapter contains actual torture. If you're not ready for that, stop reading once you hit the word "devices". Search for the phrase "our ride" and continue there. I needed a dramatic ending.}
Sonic clutched his heavily bleeding chest and sat down on the floor, not fearing being shot again. Shadow smirked, although cheating to beat his rival. He set the handle of the gun in his mouth, put his hands together, and teleported behind Eggman, his legs wrapped around the doctor's neck.
He aimed at Silver's electric chair and fired. The first bullet hit the top screw in front of a wire panel. A second shot knocked down the second. A third bullet removed the panel, exposing the wires. Silver shut his eyes as Shadow fired the fourth. It hit the largest front wire, releasing his restraints. Silver was now free to go. Shadow once again smirked in self-confidence.
"Excellent shooting, Shadow! I'm pleased to have you serve as my new bodyguard." Eggman announced, showing him a board with far too many switches on it. "Now you get to choose who dies first." Shadow looked at the board and frowned at it in disgust. Eggman was obviously unaware of what he just did. Shadow shut off and threw the board at the ground.
Shadow placed the searing hot end of the revolver to Eggman's head, lightly burning his balding head. He winced in pain. "Silver!" Shadow shouted. "You and Sonic release the other guys." He looked down at Eggman. "Tell me; do any of your bots fear your death?" He said, holding Eggman as a hostage.
"There is one that does not." He replied, looking down at the ground. Shadow also looked, spotting Metal Sonic staring up at him. Shadow sighed in disappointment, and shot the glass between Metal Sonic's eyes. Electric currents flowed across the glass shards, and he fell back. Metal Sonic was down for good, before causing any trouble.
Eggman looked up at Shadow. "You're out of ammo." He laughed. "Cyrax! Sektor! Smoke! Get in here!" He yelled. Shadow leaned back, hyperextending Eggman's neck. He screamed in pain, and Shadow threw him out of the Eggmobile six feet to the concrete below. Eggman was also down, no longer capable of causing a threat.
Shadow hopped out of the Eggmobile, but not before sending it to the ceiling. It hit one of the wooden beams, and came crashing down on an already injured Eggman. Shadow laughed maniacally. He looked over to see three cyborgs, red, blue, and yellow, running out towards him.
"Allow me to introduce my assistants: Sektor and Smoke." They both placed their metal hands over their chests as Eggman announced them. "And Cyrax is the one in the back." He added, pointing to the yellow cyborg. {SRK: Yes, these are the cyborgs from Mortal Kombat 3. One of many Mortal Kombat references. Characters by Midway.}
Cyrax fired a bomb at Silver, who was untying Blaze from a stake. He had under a second from the time he untied her until the bomb detonated, sending wooden shards in all directions. They were both unharmed, and knocked down Cyrax, desperately releasing the other combatants along with Sonic.
Sonic managed to remove the rope from Vector, and Vector bit off Espio's restraints. Courtesy of Eggman, he had his own kunai, two extra kitchen knives, and an entire sword. With it, he cut off Sticks' restraints and the ropes that held Sally down.
Vector, Sonic, and the girls stood to face Cyrax. He fired a net from a panel in his chest, trapping all but Sonic, who ran straight into him, damaging the circuitry in its head. Cyrax fired another bomb, this time on the net holding the other three down. Sonic rushed to grab it, and threw it at Cyrax, which blew up its abdomen. Wires and metal parts were now visible. It exploded. Sonic breathed a sigh of relief. Until, he was kicked in the back of the head! Cyrax had reassembled itself on the other side.
Fortunately for Sonic, the net disappeared and the three other fighters were released. Sticks threw her boomerang at it, but it did nothing, dropping to the floor. Sally jumped into action, kicking Cyrax in the face. She threw a series of alternating jabs at its head, all of them successful. She threw a right cross at its neck, to close in on Cyrax's breaking point. Vector, from behind, bit Cyrax's left arm and tore it off! In a state of imminent death, Cyrax released a fourth bomb from its chest. He tossed it to Sonic, who tossed it back. They kept tossing it to each other, in a live game of hot potato. When Sonic threw it back for the seventh time, it exploded. Silver had launched Blaze's fire at the bomb, making it detonate prematurely. Cyrax's head was blown off, sending gears and bolts backwards.
During this time, Espio and his superior Shadow had been fighting Sektor. They both made extensive use of their teleportation powers. Sektor has launched missile after missile from its chest, none of which could hit the two of them. Eventually, Sektor prepared a missile which took longer than usual to fire. When it did, it traveled more quickly than the others. And most alarmingly of all, it aimed.
Shadow uselessly tried to dodge, but the missile took its course. Its endpoint was at Shadow's chest, causing him to be sent dozens of feet back, and causing additional blood loss. It aimed one at Espio as well, and he attempted to dodge it, but it did not stop traveling. Tails, now released, fired a few nails until he hit the missile. It detonated harmlessly in the air.
"Nice shot, Tails!" Shadow commended. "I take it I'm forgiven."
"No, but I don't wanna die either. You're our best hope."
Sektor opened a panel in its left shoulder, releasing a claw that grabbed Tails. He screamed as it threw him to the ground on his head. Espio threw a knife in its chest as it fired another guided missile. Espio threw the other knife at it, setting it off harmlessly. Its panel did not close. It fired one last missile, and Tails shot it before it could leave its station. He overloaded Sektor's open chest with nails, and it fell down, motionlessly burning.
That left Zooey, Mighty, and Knuckles to eliminate Smoke, the blue cyborg that remained. It looked at the ground, threw something, and then disappeared from their sight. Zooey lashed her whip in its direction, successfully wrapping it around Smoke. She used both arms to lift it above her, and throw it against the ground head first.
Smoke got up, and fired its rope trident at Zooey. She leaned to the side, getting clipped in the shoulder from it. Smoke retracted it, and fired at Knuckles. He was hit in the center of the chest, and dragged toward Smoke. It briefly fell under the ground before it landed an uppercut against Knuckles, sending him to the sky. Mighty leaped from behind, catching Knuckles before attacking Smoke.
He grabbed its neck and twisted it in all directions, loosening its head. It fired a trident at Zooey again, only for it to be blocked by Amy's hammer. "Got your back, Zooey." She told her. Zooey smiled back. Mighty held Smoke in place for Knuckles to destroy. He sent many straights and crosses at Smoke, each time indenting its metal head. Amy ran in, taking its head off with one powerful stroke of her hammer.
"Amy! Over here!" Blaze called. "I can use my fire, and you can use your hammer to break some of these chains."
The two girls worked at breaking chains and shackles to free Ash, Rouge, and Mina as the 11 others walked over to Eggman, despite all having some level of injury. Shadow grabbed Eggman's control board and examined it, activating the lever labeled "Sticks." Sure enough, the cyanide syringe was lowered and injected, but into nothing, since Sticks was freed. Shadow looked up in shock. He flipped Vector's switch, dropping the board he previously stood on. He flipped Mighty's lever, pushing the piston lower. He flipped Tails' lever, watching the roundsaw move forward. Shadow inactivated all the levers, still in a state of shock.
"You really would have killed us all." He charged, shivering at the thought of it. "And now, I'm gonna play with you a bit; torture you on your own devices."
"There's no need for that." Eggman reasoned. "You can get yourselves out of here. Just leave and never come back!"
Shadow reached in the debris of the Eggmobile, grabbing a radio and knocking the back off of it.
"Espio. Give me that." He commanded, receiving both of Espio's knives. Shadow carefully cut a few wires in the radio. "Tails. Need your belt."
"You'll be getting it alright." Tails threatened, clutching his belt, swinging it at Shadow. He grabbed it before it hit him. Tails gulped in fear.
"I'll be taking that." Shadow sassed him. He took tweezers out of it and adjusted some of the wire filaments to align with others. "This is our main channel." He explained to the 15 others. Shortly after, he received a signal. "Boss, you there?"
He received a faint response from the other side. "Yes, I understand. Get me an Aero to Eggman's base as soon as you can."
"10-4."
"We're gonna get out of here." Shadow announced. "Eggman, no one will save you. Let's finish him."
Mighty leaped over the others to face Shadow. "I detest that."
Shadow brandished Espio's knives. "Too bad."
Espio came over with the katana. "He is hopelessly evil, and must die."
Shadow was lashed on the right cheek. He looked up to see Zooey recoiling her whip. "I won't stand for this."
"Neither will I." Mina added.
"Then you can look away and cover your ears." Shadow looked over at them, then specifically at Mighty. "Ladies." He grabbed Eggman's jacket collar and tugged it, dragging Eggman along the concrete floor, a fate endured by some of his combatants. Shadow took him to the execution zone. "Hope you're ready for your punishment." He warned. The three who opposed him were being held back by the other 10, excluding Espio and Knuckles.
Shadow set Vector's rope around Eggman's neck, using his board to lower the platform. Eggman was suspended only by his neck, thrashing and grasping the rope, trying to escape Shadow's wrath. Shadow shut off the burners beneath the two tanks, leaving Espio to cut the rope when Eggman started to change colors.
They proceeded to set him up on Knuckles' execution. Once Shadow returned, he gave the signal for the beating to start. A half minute later, Eggman was screaming from the steel fists pounding him. They let it run for a few more seconds before shutting it down.
By this point, Zooey, Mina, and Mighty had stopped trying to spare Eggman. Shadow ran the show like an emperor for a gladiators' tournament. The spectators did want to see violence. He was taken to Ash's execution. The steel headphones were placed on his large head. Shadow spun the crank for each side to close. Eggman screamed in pain, his head being compressed. Shadow slowly increased the pressure using the crank, watching the doctor cry. Once he felt that he could kill Eggman, he stopped.
They took him to Mighty's execution and tied him in. Shadow had the hydraulic piston push down, bending Eggman's neck substantially. Shadow continued this torture until he understood Eggman could take no more.
"When does this end?" Knuckles asked Shadow.
"Only two more." He replied, opening the shackles for Silver's electric chair.
"I beg you! No more!" Eggman pleaded. Nothing he could say would change the others' minds. He tried to kill them, and would not be spared.
"I need to fix some of these wires." Shadow said. "In the meantime, take this." He threw the nail gun to Knuckles. "Let the others get some shots in."
Espio strapped Eggman into the electric chair. While Shadow repaired the damage he did, Tails, Knuckles, Espio, Vector, Sonic, Rouge, Sticks, and Ash all took turns sending nails at Eggman, ten each. After that, Shadow flipped the switch and quickly shut it off, briefly shocking Eggman. He repeated this three times more before releasing him, listening to Eggman scream.
Lastly, the three of them shoved Eggman into Mina's clear plastic firework box. He would be unable to get out of it on his own, not like he tried to. "Blaze, care to do the honors?" Shadow suggested.
Without hesitation, Blaze summoned her fire. Silver also stepped up. "Doctor Robotnik," He announced. "On behalf of the king of the Sol kingdom, I sentence you to death." He pushed the fire into the open box, igniting one of the boxes. He quickly forced the door shut, sealing Eggman's fate.
"Everyone, our ride is here." Shadow observed. One of the metal garage doors was opened remotely, and the helicopter was waiting for them as Eggman was breathing his last. "It's time to go. Get in."
He watched as most of them boarded. Vector and Espio leaned on each other, Knuckles carried Rouge, Ash held onto Mina, Zooey carried Tails, Silver held onto Blaze, and even Mighty and Sticks leaned on each other. The group was ended by Sally carrying Sonic. Shadow looked and saw Amy watching everyone else. Her focus shifted specifically to Sonic. For a guy who doesn't deal in emotions, Shadow felt bad for her.
He walked over to her and held his hand out. "Can I take you home?"
Amy looked up at him and saw the man who just saved her life. However, she looked over and knew he was the same who brutally killed Eggman. He was dead, murdered. "Yes." She blurted out before even making a decision. Shadow pulled her up and hugged her.
Her mind rebelled against what she had just said. "Wait, what? Why did I say that?"
"Shhh. It's gonna be okay. The others are waiting for us. Let's get out of this dump and get all of us the help we need."
Amy actually found herself trusting him. She let Shadow walk her out, sealing the door behind him. She noticed Shadow holding on to her hand even after they were seated. She set her other hand on top of his, causing him to blush a little. A faint smile appeared across his tan muzzle as he sat by her and set his arm around her. Amy found herself wondering; was she enjoying this? She leaned into him as the helicopter took off, leaving Eggman's death chamber, with all its bad memories, in the past.