Sorry about the gap between updates. I have this annoyance called 'college' that keeps waking me up in the morning and all...

Disclaimer: Chiwizard does not own Sonic

Claimer: Chiwizard owns Raven, da Fount of Light, and that big-blueish-black-thing...ah, you know what I mean.

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Shadow skated like he had never skated before. Even though he was tired and bruised from what had gone on already, he still managed to pull off his top speed and then some as he zoomed down the corridors.

Nothing like a bloodthirsty monster snapping at your tail for motivation.

Eclipse - as Shadow had decided to start calling the monster in question - was apparently so interested in snapping his hedgehog target in half that he'd forgotten to slim down his body for quicker traveling through the narrow corridors. Instead, he was severely damaging the walls, ceiling, AND floor by shoving his Biolizard-sized body into the obstacles full-force.

Worse, he was actually gaining.

"Go kill someone else, you nasty slime-ball!" Shadow yelled over his shoulder, just before executing a brutal right-angle turn into another corridor.

Eclipse, unable to slow his momentum, rammed the wall head-first. Unfortunately, he was only stunned, and that was only for a few moments. Then he shifted his oozing body structure to suck in his head and neck, and then extend them out facing Shadow's new direction before pumping his legs and giving chase.

"Oh, I will kill the others," Eclipse hissed, "But you will be the one to die first!"

"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is, booger-monster!"

A blue ball of spinning spikes ripped its way through Eclipse from behind, smashing right through the monster's head. Shadow skidded to a stop as the shapeless mass collapsed and Sonic landed deftly right beside him.

"Hey Shadow, the next time you start a race, wait for me!" Sonic grinned.

"…You are steadily climbing the list of who I desire to eat, blue annoyance," Eclipse growled, pulling himself back together.

"And this is the point where we start running!" Shadow snapped, taking his own advice as he spoke.

Sonic was running beside him momentarily.

"So, where are we going?" he asked.

Shadow rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Even so, he lead Sonic and Eclipse exactly where he had been heading from the first moment the monster appeared on his tail - to an innocent-seeming room on the very edge of the ARK. This was one of the rooms that Shadow knew opened directly into near-vacuum, as well as being an access to…something else.

Unless his suspicions ended up being wrong…which would mean he and Sonic were going to be eaten instead of escaping.

When he entered the room, Shadow was permitted one millisecond to look around - thus confirming his theory - before he threw himself to the side of the doorway, dragging a very confused Sonic with him.

Eclipse, as before, was not able to slow himself down in time to prevent hitting the far wall. Which was with more than enough force to smash it open. The pressure-loss failsafe activated instantly, sealing the main door to minimize air loss to the station while everything still in the room was seized by the powerful suction.

Being the one who made the hole, Eclipse was already fighting to keep himself from being dragged out into space.

And having planned for this to happen, Shadow had already activated the emergency controls that were right by the door.

Another of the special planning measures Gerald had designed, the 'escape tubes' would allow people caught in these sorts of situations to get to safety before they died from exposure to vacuum or were sucked out into space.

In reality, the warping tubes were really only good as a method for certain experiments to move from one part of the ARK to another without attracting the attention of whatever government observers there might be on board.

But in this case, the tubes served both purposes. The hatchway panel rose out of the floor, before yawning open.

Sonic, who had not been informed of any of this, looked particularly bug-eyed as he clung to Shadow for dear life. His yelping as the black hedgehog shoved him into the tube head-first was amusing. Shadow immediately threw himself in to follow, palming the hatch shut as he went.

Then it was just a wild ride, being sucked through the twisting, turning tube system, until Shadow was spat out again. This was more uncomfortable, since he landed on the dazed and confused Sonic who hadn't had enough time to get out of the way.

"Get off, Shadow," Sonic groaned, "You weigh a ton!"

"I almost impaled myself on your spikes, you know," Shadow grumbled, getting to his feet and helping Sonic to do the same.

"…So, does this mean the booger-lizard monster is finally gone?" the blue hedgehog asked.

From inside the warping tube they had just exited, there was a faint roar of annoyance.

"…Guess not then," Sonic sighed, "Stubborn, ain't he?"

"Hey, where'ya going?" he added, seeing Shadow was walking out the door.

"Where I was originally headed. The control room," Shadow explained.

"Why'ya going there?" Sonic inquired, trotting along behind the other.

"…A thought I had," Shadow replied, "Right now, the Fount of Light is presenting itself in the form of the ARK."

"Yeah?"

"And no doubt you've noticed how certain…benefits, have faded?"

"How could I not?" Sonic muttered sarcastically.

"Well, my thought was that if the Fount of Light is acting like the ARK, it means the whole place has really turned into the ARK. Therefore, if I access the control room, I should be able to control this entire dimension."

"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed, "Now THAT'S the best idea I've heard all day! You just lead the way, Faker!"

There was a pause in the conversation. Then…

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

"Nope."

"…Jerk."