(I do not own Sonic X, etc.)

Flip card 2:

Name: Armageddon Station

Description: Buried under Station Square for eons, this Behemoth is the ultimate destructive Weapon and is now in the hands of the Destroyer.

-

The smoke cleared and Krish was left standing alone. A large gorge had been carved in the earth before him where his opponent had been, a smoking rising from the long trail. Nazo had vanished altogether. The destroyer remained still for a moment, sensing the air to try and make sure he had actually accomplished his goal. After a while, when nothing happened he felt satisfied that he had destroyed the greatest threat to him on this planet. So much for the late Prof. Gerald's scheming. True, his efforts had born dangerous fruit, but ultimately it had all been for nothing.

Like the cowards he took them for, the Black Arm fleet had bid a hasty retreat; although in their current condition they had been forced to stop a short distance away instead of fleeing the planet. He could see their parked ships from here. They thought they were using the nearby mountain ridge for camouflage, but he could see them most clearly. He could go after them now and finish them off, but somehow that seemed too anti-climatic. After their long game of cat and mouse, the Black Arms deserved at least to go out with a bang.

A brief wave of pain past through him and he was forced to glance down to his left arm. The Destroyer saw that one of the spikes had been ripped off, taking a good deal of the skin and flesh along with it. Nazo had managed to hit him after all. The fire around his shoulders increased for a moment and a replacement spike shot out the flesh in a thin spray of blood, the skin instantly healing around it.

For a good couple of minutes, he took the time to savour the feeling of flesh and bone. Even in Nexus, he had been deprived of it. A simple essence, wilful but without any physical presence. Now all that had been changed and his body had been return to him.

But there was still one thing left to do before he set the ball rolling. Slowly, he lifted a hand and sent a blast of telekinetic energy down through the ground. The shockwave hit the earth and nothing happened.

Without warning the ground began to shake like a thousand earthquakes at once, the earth splitting open, cracks like spiders webs spreading out for miles. The entire wasteland that had once been Station Square cracked and separated into thousands of pieces before finally caving in as an object buried deep below rose up towards the light. First came colossal metal spires that lanced up into the clouds like teeth, piercing the sky. Then came the main bulk, a colossal vessel that made anything Doctor Eggman could conceive look like a joke. Towering walls of metal with no apparent end just kept rising, further and further up into the sky. Then finally, it cleared the ground; pieces of rocky debris falling free; whatever was using to hold the ground up gave way and all that was left was a massive canyon to the underworld. The Fleet watched from a distance as Krish arose the crashed station, buried for centuries by tones of earth and rubble. The thing was colossal, a giant was unrivalled proportions. The thing had to be at least the size of the ARK in orbit.

The Station had been badly damaged by the fall, a good half of it falling into complete ruin. The outer edge had been eroding over the centuries and was in desperate need of restoration. Krish floated down to it's underside to study the large protrusion that lanced directly downwards, the only object on the flat surface was a gigantic needle, about half a mile in length. Surrounding it was a protective scabbard, with a side of it burnt off by the atmosphere entry, revealing the damage down to the inside. At least the cannon was still here and it hadn't been blown off completely. But still, it would unfitting for a being such as himself to take use of a vessel that had been buried for uncountable years in the ground.

Trying to rebuilt it himself was within his own abilities, but not very practical, and he hadn't the patience for such an endeavour. Luckily, he didn't have to work himself. Outstretching a hand towards the top of the ship, he remotely activated another of the long dormant systems. With a loud groaning, a door long since rusted shut was pushed out of the way and thousands, literally thousands of drones came creeping out. Resembling insects, these were early attempts at Fesonian bio-engineering. A fusion of metal and flesh, striding over distances with long bi-pedal legs that supported a small body in the centre. These were not fighters like their modern Dragons, but rather a keep way to produce manual labour. They swarmed over the surface of the station a and when they came to any damaged areas a pair of long multi jointed arms unfolded from their backs and began working. First they picked away what could not be salvaged before getting to work on repairs. They worked hard and first, never tiring for an instant.

The repairs required however would take some time and a few updates to the outdated technology would take a while. But at least, Krish was now in possession of a suitable chariot. Not to mention a very potent weapon.

"Just what is that thing?" The President asked at an emergency meeting. The leaders from the Black Arm fleet, including commander Rikoye were present. The meeting was being held on the Giant Wing fortress, which now was resting on the side of a mountain with the rest of the fleet. Eventually they had managed to gain control of the landed Egg Fleet ships and had dragged them to their falling back position.

"It's the Armageddon." Rikoye replied, gazing out across the night sky to the colossal shadow in the distance. Hours were slowing ticking by and by now it was the middle of the night. The moon was high in the sky, allowing them all a prefect view of the situation. Although the place where Station Square had once stood was miles away, the giant there would easily be seen. Scouts were reporting work being done by strange constructs and they estimated, by how much damage was left, that the work would be completed by tomorrow morning. "A battle Station constructed by the Black Arm founders during the first war against the Confederacy Army." By now, the commander had already filled the G.U.N leaders in on various points in their people's history. The war for independence from the Confederates, their odyssey across space and their dark enemy, the entity known as the destroyer. Although admittedly, their knowledge of Krish was not exactly first rate. All they knew of him was his image and his power. They did not know what he was or where he came from, only that he had been chasing them right up until their scientists found a way to dissolve his physical form and banish his mental projection to the dimensional realm known as Nexus.

"This…Armageddon… what exactly does it do?" Chuck asked. The crew of the Blue Typhoon had joined up with the fleet a short time ago. Sonic and Shadow on the other hand were still missing. Neither of them had been seen since Nazo clashed with Krish and vanished. The President was holding out little hope they would be found at all.

"It destroys planets." Rikoye replied flatly. "It was the host vessel for a weapon of tremendous power. A laser beam generator that would act as the ultimate deterrent for the Confederates. It was dubbed…"

"The Eclipse Cannon." Chris stated suddenly, his eyes coming to light with realization. Something clicked into place in his mind and the truth was made clear to him in an instant. The alien commander cast a glance at him.

"How do you know it's name?" He asked, sounding genially surprised through his translator device.

"That's impossible." Sam stated, looking as amazed as Chris. "Prof. Gerald, he created the Eclipse Cannon, didn't he?" Chuck put a forefinger and thumb to his chin and began thinking, tapping his foot several times on the floor.

"Perhaps his cannon was based on technology he recovered from the crash sites." he began, musing out load. "It's possibly that, like Doctor Eggman, he uncovered various sources of technology from the downed Station. He must have discovered the Armageddon below Station Square, copied the design and rebuilt the weapon on ARK with the materials he already had." He let the theory hang in the air for a while. As if giving time for it to be digested by the others. "But this cannon, the first Eclipse Cannon, was made completely from Fesonian technology. And if my guess is right, it's twice as power as the good Prof.'s version." The Cannon they saw fired was capable of destroying this planet, if Chuck was right, and this one could easily wipe out an entire solar system. A brief image of the Earth, Mars and any other surroundings planets being vaporized in an instant flashed through their minds and all of them shuddered inwardly.

"We can not let that weapon fall into the hands of the destroyer." Rikoye stated suddenly. "It must be destroyed before it can be used."

"But sir, the Destroyer will kill us all if we attack." One of his subordinates told him. "We have to flee this planet and get away while we still can."

"And go where?" His commander snapped angrily. "We've run out of places to hide. The Destroyer will hunt as down and kill us, no matter where we go. If he so much as suspects us hiding on a planet, he won't hesitate but to destroy it and all the surrounding worlds. The Eclipse Cannon in his hands will be a disaster, not just for us, but for the entire galaxy." Rikoye shook his head. He didn't like what he was about to say, but it had to be said. "No, this time; we stop running."

-

"Sonic…SONIC!" Flashes of torch light and yelling voices broke the relative peace of the undergrowth as Amy lead her search party through the tall trees. All of them had torches, now and casting the light at the bushes on either side of the pass, searching for the either of the two missing hedgehogs. The dark of the night however was not helping them in their quest very much.

"Look, we all saw it!" Fang protested angrily after an hour of finding absolutely nothing. So far, they'd covered most of the wilderness around what used to be Station Square and found nothing. "That hedgehog's as dead as the dodo." Not so much as a squirrel had crossed their path. As if sensing Krish' presence, most of the wild life had abandoned the area and Fang was inclined to do the same. Especially with their current passenger.

Emerl, still at Cream's side was carrying the unconscious Metal Sonic on his shoulders. The robotic hedgehog was offline and one of his arms had suffered sufficient damage, the hand blown completely off and the forearm in utter ruin. Deep scars and other damages had been dealt to his royal blue armour. Being a good foot smaller than Metal Sonic, Emerl couldn't help but drag the robotic hedgehog's feet along the ground. Tikal was with them as well, but so far the female Echidna had kept deadly quiet. Her eyes met no one and she followed them mutely, as nothing in the world registered anymore.

"My advice to you." Vector began with a thick sneer letting at his teeth showing at once, turning around to confront the weasel. "Is to keep your mouth shut." Fang was no coward, but currently he was unarmed and if inclined, Vector could snap him in half with those jaws so he complied and said nothing after that.

Amy ignored their squabbling and kept looking, peering through the trees and shrubs with her torch. Every ounce of her being told her Sonic was still alive, waiting for here, somewhere close. It was a feeling she couldn't describe and she knew she could trust it. Besides, the very idea of his destruction was like poison inside her mind.

"Hey, look at this." She heard one of them say. Turning, she saw Espio and Rei kneeling down a little further away. Vanilla was peeking over their shoulders inquisitively trying to see what they were looking at. They were crouched at the side of the path, examining the ground before them. Espio rang a finger over the ground and then lifting it up into the torchlight to get a better look.

"Blood." The chameleon stated, rubbing his finger and thumb together. Cream cast her torch on the bushes nearby, finding the leaves stained dark red.

"This was recent." Rei told them brushing a gloved hand against the leaves. "Someone must have passed by here, probably no later than ten minutes ago." Vector brushed a few leaves aside to see the ground more clearly and found a series of foot prints, coated in blood leading off the side of the path and into the undergrowth. Whoever these footprints belonged to wore sneakers.

"Hey Sonic, are you in there?" Beck called out into the darkness, but got no reply. "Give me a torch." The human asked and Espio handed him his. Picking his way through the bushes slowly, Beck found that the ground sloped downwards quite a distance into a small ravine, the thick canopy above hardly letting any moonlight through. The torch cast its light down into the depths and Beck studied the twisting lengths of plant life for any signs of movement. Everything was very still. But the blood trail at his feet lead on, carrying down the slope and down into the ravine itself. "I'm going down." He told the others before slowly descending, trying not to misplace his foot in the dark and go tumbling down into the abyss.

"Hang on, I'm coming too." Rei announced, before sliding after him using his skin flaps to slow himself down. The both of them reached the bottom at the same time and found it riddled with bushes and shrubs that obstructed any view of the ground.

"Can you see anything?" Beck asked, shining his torch this way and that trying to catch a glimpse of the blood trail that lead them here. Rei remained silent for a moment, his pointed ears angled forwards; before he looked up and pointed off to their right.

"There's something breathing over there." He announced in a hushed whisper. Beck nodded and slowly went off in that directly, shining his light down through the bushes with Rei following close behind him.

A short distance later, they found what they were looking for. Lying on the ground, covering in mud where Sonic and Shadow. Both of them had serious looking cuts and bruises all over their bodies and blood running down their faces. Their quills were all out of shape and some even missing. Sonic, by the looks of it, had been carrying Shadow all this way, before collapsing of exhaustion himself.

"They're down here, we've found them both." Beck shouted up to the others. Tikal looked up in sudden surprise, before rushing with Amy down the side of the slope and over to them with the others following close behind. Sure enough, there were the two hedgehogs; badly injured but still alive. Before Tikal could stop it, a tear ran down her cheek.

"Sonic…Sonic, are you alright?" Amy asked, gently shaking the blue hedgehog's shoulders. After a brief moment of silence, his eyes opened and Sonic cast a glance out at her.

"Hey Amy." He managed weekly, his smile spoiled by the blood rushing out the side of his mouth. "How's it hanging?" Amy didn't reply, instead she looked him over for injuries. He'd sustained a great many and his gloves were stained with blood. "Don't worry; most of it isn't my own." The blue hedgehog stated, looking over at Shadow. He was completely unconscious and now with several dozen torches on him it was revealed just how hurt he actually was. His fur was scorched badly and cuts ran down the entire length of his body. He looked like he'd been hit by an intense blast of flames. "Shadow took the worst of it. After we separated from Nazo he put himself in harms way to keep the blast from hitting me. I tried to carry him somewhere, but my own strength gave out and we fell down here."

"He's loosing a lot of blood." Vector announced, gently lifting Shadow up in his arms. The black and red hedgehog was as limp as a rag doll.

"He's not the only one." Sonic replied as Amy helped him up to his feet. Slowly, the hedgehog raised his hand slowing what he was holding in it. It was a bony spike about an entire arm length long; a large lump of bloody flesh hanging off the blunt end, the short black fur slowly turning red.

-

"Extraordinary." Chuck exclaimed for the third time in the last five minutes, his eyes pressed hard against a microscope as he studied the tissue sample Sonic had brought him. Most of it had gone into cold storage so the flesh wouldn't decay, but a blood sample had been taken and pressed on a glass.

"Just what are you looking at?" Jailos asked, looking over his shoulder trying to get a glimpse of the sample he was studying.

"The cellular structure is unlike anything I've ever seen before." The scientist proclaimed, rubbing his eyes from lack of sleep. "Completely impervious to disease and cancerous mutation. The blood cells only have one type, that carries oxygen and combats infections at the same time and at a far accelerated rate than is possible by current medical laws." He backed away from the microscope and leaned back in the chair. "Krish must have exponential healing abilities." Jailos nearly pushed him aside to gaze through the looking device herself. It was crude compared to the most advanced forms of observation the Black Arms employed but it did show her a great deal. It took much for her to believe that she really was looking at the blood of the destroyer. Her people had believed him beyond bleeding and a hunk of him had just fallen right into their hands.

There was something in the cell genetics pattern that seemed out of place and she stood up slowly.

"I'm no scientist, but I think the genetic structure has been tampered with." Chuck flew back to the microscope to take another look but paused before he did.

"You can tell that?" He asked with a puzzled expressions.

"Basic Genetics is a compulsory subject for hatchlings to learn." Jailos replied sounding supplied at his question. "Isn't it on your planet?" Chuck would feel a little foolish if he told her he had trouble with mathematics as a child and so simply cleared his throat nervously and got back to work.

The hissing stopped as the mechanics, who were still sweating bullets, finshed the repairs and the welding tool reduced it's flame. The mechanic working backed off and lifted his face guard. A loud clank rang out across the Mech repair bay onboard the Giant Wing as Metal Sonic clenched his new fist, admiring the serrated talons on each finger. It looked as good as new and it had put him in a good humour, so much so he was willing to ignore the G.U.N. insignia engraved on the outer edge. At least for now.

"I do not you're not planning to kill us with that new hand." One of the mechanic's stated, being slightly bolder than the others; who stepped backwards quickly fearing a violent reaction. Metal Sonic fixed the human with a glare. It was the one who welded the hand onto his body and hadn't done too bad a job of it. He was barley 18 and had thick red hair and blue eyes, along with a dirty smudge on his cheek from working amongst and on Mechs' throughout the battle.

"Now that would be ironic." The robotic hedgehog stated, clipping his new cape from his shoulder pads and marching off, the purple fabric trailing after him. The mechanic's watched him go and once Metal Sonic was out of ear shot, breathed a loud sigh of relief and taking amongst themselves as to how close to death they'd all come. All apart from that young one, who kept his eyes on the robotic hedgehog until he'd vanished from sight.

"Ow ow ow OW!" Sonic almost screamed as the Amy wound the bandages around his ribs. He'd broken two of them and his arm had a fracture. As a mobian, he would heal quickly but not quickly enough to allow him complete comfort.

"Oh stop whining." The pink hedgehog muttered, before finally tying off the end, constricting Sonic's lung and forcing the beginnings of tears into his eyes. "There we go."

Sonic staggered off, arms twitching by his sides as the bandages were pushing his ribs back into place. It would help him heal faster, but that didn't stop it from hurting like hell.

"The Eclipse Cannon?" Shadow repeated looking stunned after he was filled in on the situation. "Another Eclipse Cannon, and in the hands of that maniac?" He shook his head and narrowed his eyes in frustration.

"That guys bad news even without that kind of firepower." Fang muttered. By now everyone had amassed at the Blue Typhoon and the present threat was finally being revealed in it's true light.

"Why the hell do you want to help us?" Sonic asked, giving the weasel a glare. He had not forgotten the first time they met, when the mercenary had kidnapped Tails to force Sonic out into the open.

"Because, funnily enough, I don't want to get blown up along with the planet." The weasel remarked back matching the hedgehog's stare.

"So that's it." The President started as Tails finished telling both him and the Black Arm Commander about Krish's sadistic little plan, who he had used all of them to aid in his revival. "We've all been duped from the beginning? Metal Sonic, the Black Arms and even myself? Krish was using all of us?"

"He's evil to the core." Rikoye remarked. "The tales we tell our children are nothing compared to how ruthless he really is."

"So this is the deal." Sonic began, addressing all those around him as they gathered on the bridge of the Blue Typhoon. Everyone was here, Tails, Amy, Chris, Chuck, Okida, Topaz, Omega, Rouge, Knuckles….even Cream, Cheese, Vanilla and their robot guardian Emerl. Chaotix stood there too, Vector refusing to leave Vanilla's side. Cosmo sat nearby, a forlorn and strained expression over her face. Shadow had a similar one on his face as he sat alone off from the rest of them. "That station'll be ready by noon tomorrow and if it dose have an Eclipse Cannon on board, then we're sunk. Game over…" He paused for a moment to judge the expressions on their faces. Right now, most of them remained pretty unreadable. All he was able to tell was they were hung on his words. "Krish won't hesitate a moment. To get the Black Arms, he'll blow up this entire solar system. He has to be stopped." A few of them cast glances off towards the Armageddon in the distance, a colossal giant hovering above the Earth like the blade of the guillotine ready to fall. "I'm not going to paint a rosy picture for you. Shadow and I threw everything we had at Krish and hardly managed to even scratch him." The vivid memories of that battle threw his mind. They elevated their powers to great heights and still the Destroyer outclassed them. He was insanely fast, strong and powerful. Sonic put those thoughts aside, it wasn't going to help any of them right now if he started thinking negatively. "But even so, we have to try. We've got everything to lose now. Krish is responsible for nearly everything tragic event that befell Earth or Mobius." He turned towards Knuckles. "It was because of him that your people were destroyed." The Echidna clenched and unclenched his fists, the left side of his face twitching in anger. Knuckles had seen the annihilation of his race and it all been because of their devotion to Krish. "It was his fault the ARK was invaded fifty years ago." Sonic added, giving Shadow a glance. The Black and red hedgehog did not return it. He remained still and utterly silent, even as others turned to stare. "His servants revived Metal Sonic to use him to gather the Chaos Emeralds. Krish has been waiting for centuries for Mobius and Earth to merge, to use the dimensional…whatever… to cross over from Nexus." Sonic jabbed a finger off toward Krish' ride off the Earth; another of his stern and determined expressions on his face. "Now I say we stick it to him once and for all!" He paused. "So…what's it going to be?" Sonic asked, leaving the question hang. Silence endured…no one dared to say anything, watching each other for a response.

"Battle mode set, ready for combat assignment." Omega stated, raising a large barrel shaped arm and spinning his hand around into machine gun mode suggestively.

"I'm dying for a chance to show Krish what I'm made off!" Knuckles told them, smashing a fist into an open palm.

"So am I." Rouge said, leaning on the Echidna's shoulder.

"As always, it's a pleasure to fight by your side." Okida announced with a large grin spreading over his lips, one fang descending through his mouth.

"Ditto." Topaz added.

"We're with you until the end." Cream laughed. Emerl nodded, before clenching his metal fists with a metallic ringing sound.

"When do we start?" Amy asked with a coy smile, her hammer balanced on one shoulder. Tails nodded a thick smile on his face.

"The Chaotix Agency is at your service." Vector told him. Espio sighed, before shoving his way forwards.

"That's it Vector, I've just about had enough." The chameleon stated, catching hold of the crocodiles golden chain and hanging from down to face level.

"What is it now?" Vector asked with an annoyed expression on his face.

"I'm sick of you getting us involved in dangerous jobs that could very well end with us getting killed. That's what." Espio replied flatly releasing his grip. "I think we should all get to say whether we fight or not." Vector crumbled something under his breath and folded his arms.

"Oh I'm so sorry; please…tell us what YOU want." He announced sarcastically, turning his head away as if sulking.

"That's better." Espio began. He was silent for a moment, before several shuriken papered in one and he held them in a very ninja-style pose. "And I say we kick the Destroyer's butt!" Vector grabbed him by the shoulder and began grinding his fist into the top of the chameleon's head.

"That goes for me too." Rei stated with a short grin. Beck nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, let's go fight the bad guys!" Charmee explained, thrusting a fist into the air.

"Whattaya say Froggy?" Big asked his amphibian friend. The frog gave a loud croak that caught everyone's attention. "We're in!"

"The planet's going to be destroyed? What choice do we have?" Hare asked with Bean and Bark at his side.

"I've been on every one of your adventures since you first arrived on Earth." Chris told Sonic. "I'm not about to back out of this one."

"You can't die before we've had another race! It'd ruin my career!" Sam Speed grinned inanely. "So I'm going to make sure you don't."

"And I'm not past my prime yet!" Chuck announced, flexing his arms in a 'Popeye' style. "Let's cut to the chase, we're all coming with you!" Sonic managed a large smile. Even in the face of over whelming odds, they were all prepared to follow him into battle. Sensing another presence, he turned to face the entrance of the bridge. Everyone suddenly grew silent, following his gaze. Standing in the doorway, his arms folded and eyes set hard against them, was Metal Sonic.

Nobody said anything, a few of their throats going so dry they wouldn't have been able to say anything even if they wanted to.

"Well Metal?" Sonic asked after that tense moment. "You in or not?"

"Just what am I supposed to think now Sonic?" Metal Sonic asked angrily. "For a long time all I thought about was destroying you. Even if that was all put in my head by Mishoal, I can't simply just let it go!" Sonic himself didn't reply. "Half of me still wants to see you burning and perhaps I'll indulge its desire after this business is finished." He turned to walk away. "Yes I'll be there." Metal Sonic added one last time before disappearing.

Shadow simply left the others planning and went off on his own as well.

The possibility that he was not the ultimate life form, a question that had been planted in his mind for some time was beginning to bear fruit. What if Krish was right, and Nazo had really been the fruit of Prof. Gerald's labours? That meant that Shadow himself was only half of the equation. That the Professor had created him as a means to an end, never a complete person. A being meant to find the decent of the genetic line he had been created from and to find a suitable host from that line and then merge with him.

Was Nazo the real ultimate life form? The questioning stung the inside of his head like a thousand bees until he could take it no longer. Leaving the company of the others, he strode outside to find some peace in the night air. Instead, all he got was a painful reminder of the struggle had quite literally been born into. Krish' space station was hovering there, the many drones onboard nearly finished in it's repairs. The thing was colossal. It had lain underneath Square for years, rivalling the city in it's sheer size; a graveyard for Black Arms who had sacrificed everything to keep the destroyer from following their comrades. For centuries it drifted, before finally landed on Earth. The survivors became known as gods to the primitive people, but eventually died off.

Everything had been leading up to this, every adventure Sonic or himself had gone through, all lead to this one battle. The Echidna's worshipped Krish and because of it, because of the contempt for other races he installed in them, they were destroyed. Later on, the Project Shadow had been funded by the Foundation organisation to make a new body for him to inhabit. Prof. Gerald got wise to the scheme and set about a plan that would fight against it. He never lived to see his work completed, and neither did Maria.

At the rate those machines were working, the station would be complete tomorrow morning. After that, who knows what would happen. But Shadow could bet that it wouldn't be good news.

Again his mind turned to his own personnel dilemma. Despite everything the others were going through even that loud mouth Sonic, they had a foot rooted firmly on the ground, they knew who they where and what they were fighting for.

Glancing to his side, the hedgehog saw that someone else had come out here for the same reasons he had. It was Tikal, sitting on the tip of the Blue Typhoon looked out across the water to the Mystic Ruins in the distance. She had her back to him and hadn't noticed the hedgehog's presence. She had a companion with her. At her side, his body transparent and hardly visible in the starlight was Chaos. Shadow had only seen the water demon on two occasions and both had been enough for him to recognise the features at once. The brain floating in the middle of a living pile of living water was a dead give away.

"Planning more assaults?" She asked as she heard Shadow's footsteps at her other side. Her gaze remained fixed on the landmass in the distance. Chaos cast a glance up at him, his green eyes emotionless. Shadow cast him a similar look, before sitting down beside her him; his legs dropping over the edge of the ship.

"The others are." He replied, before lying down on his back with his arms behind his head. "My hearts not in it." Chaos as usual said nothing. Instead he turned and gazed out at the far shore with the female Echidna. "I threw everything I had at him and nothing, not even a scratch." Tikal sighed out through her nose.

"And nothing will." She told him. Shadow didn't reply. Tikal had every reason to fear Krish and not just for the terrifying amount of power he displayed. Krish had been her god…or rather the god of her people; and she had watched them walk down a road to greed and territorialism.

It was not Krish's power she feared, but rather Krish himself.

"So this is the end of the world huh?" Tikal didn't answer. She sat there motionless, her watery companion forever at her side, equally as quiet. "Fine."

She looked back at him, her sea blue eyes fixed on his face.

"Fine?" Tikal asked a little in surprise. Chaos remained still. "You welcome it?" he opened an eye and fixed her with a stare. Her face reflected off his eyes and his off hers.

"Quiet frankly I just don't care anymore." He told her after a moment of stagnating silence. "I thought for a while I could live like Sonic does. But that's his life, not mine. My path ended a long time ago, I just didn't know when to give up." Tikal looked a little shocked. "At least when the end comes I can head after Maria at last." Tikal simply leaned over and slapped him hard on the cheek, almost slamming his head into the deck.

"Maria doesn't want to you die you stupid idiot!" Shadow shot up to a sitting position, an angry expression over his face.

"And just how would you know what Maria wants?" Tikal looked like she was going to reply, but thought better of it and closed her mouth. Shadow maintained his glare for a moment, before turning away and sitting over the edge of the ship with his arms balanced on his legs.

"What did she ask you to do?" She asked finally. The black and red hedgehog looked back over his shoulder. "What did Maria ask you to do for this world?" her words send memories unbidden through his mind. The ARK was in front of them and it had already entered the atmosphere. Despite their best efforts, Sonic and Shadow were having extreme difficultly from keeping it from crashing.

In that one moment of desperation, a door had been opened and Shadow had seen her face. Smiling gently, her eyes alight with youthful innocence. She had told him to help the planet, to help people realize their dreams and ambitions and they couldn't do that if they were destroyed. Tikal was trying to apply the same situation here, but Shadow was not about to have it. He was going to live for a very long time and was he expected to rush to the aid of a world that seemed to have an apocalypse warning every other week? Was he destined to continue Sonic's job for generations after he died? "Just what the heck would you fight for Shadow?"

"I don't know anymore." He replied promptly, pulling his knees up and balancing his folded arms on them. Tikal mused to herself that perhaps he had engineered this conversation to remove her from her own dilemma, but the serious expression on his face made her doubt it.

"Neither do I." She stated. Chaos, as if sensing something in her voice, turned into a less solid liquid and fades away through the cracks in the deck, leaving the two of them alone. "The world just seems so stale today." Shadow nodded in agreement. What either of them were feeling went way past being world weary. Right now, both of them were utterly sick of the sight of the world. "How many girls have you kissed Shadow?" The question came so suddenly that the hedgehog nearly tipped over the side of the ship. He stared at her with wide eyes, his face set in a confused expression. Her own was quite innocent. Her tone had been so depressed a minute ago, and then she came out with something like that. "Well?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"I..er.." He began, actually smattering uncharacteristically. "Well…none." Tikal blinked as if surprised.

"Not one?" She asked. Thinking about it seriously for a moment, Shadow realized that, no in fact he hadn't had the opportunity. Or if he was honest much motivation. The very notion of courting anyone hadn't even crossed his mind. "You plan on dying before you get at least one kiss from a girl?" She asked just as innocently. "Because I don't plan on dying before I kiss someone at least." Before he could add anything more, she leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips against his.

Shadow was left paralysed for a few moments, before hormones Gerald has failed to remove from his system took over and he kissed back. All of a sudden, the world didn't seem so stale to the taste anymore.

Tikal gently broke away and Shadow was left staring at her memorized. Her eyes sparkled like sapphires at him, shining brighter as her smile radiated up at him.

"Was that so I can die knowing what it was like?" He asked, regaining some of his dignity. But not enough top prevent a powerful blush spreading over his cheeks. Her smile faded, replaced by a flat expression.

"You can be as dumb as Sonic sometimes." She told him. Shadow managed to fade his blush to regain his usual cold look. "We're going to face The Destroyer together, we're going to win and then…" The female Echidna looked up towards the stars. "The sky's the limit."

"I thought the world was stale?"

"It just needed a little spice." She gently touched his cheek with her hand.

-

The Armageddon had taken on a lot of danger, all combined from the battles it had endured, the crash onto this insignificant little world and even the erosion of time. But it was nothing that the drones couldn't handle. Silently, the Destroyer waited on the top of the station as the bio-machines got to work. The moon was high in the sky and the night was wearing on. By now, half of the repairs had been finished.

The Armageddon was a magnificent vessel despite it's creators and worthy of his presence.

-

(In Chris' voice)

What chance do we have now? Even Nazo couldn't beat Krish! He must have some weakness right? If Krish isn't stopped, not only will the Earth be destroyed, but the entire Universes will fall under his iron fist. Dark squares of against light as Queen Illumina steps in to stop the destroyer. But even with aid from Maginaryworld, can such a being as Krish be put down? It's time to find out, next time on Sonic X; The Final Battle, part 1. Don't miss it!