Chapter 15: The war begins: Part 2 of 2…
It was all up to Shadow now, to stop Aerick. Could he hold Aerick off?
"Last time we fought, I only toyed with you…" Aerick said. "You'll die today, I swear it…" Shadow said. Aerick lunged at Shadow, who then lunged at Aerick, and the fight immediately raged into a duel of two swords. Shadow, looking for an open spot to hit Aerick, as they clashed swords again and again, until Aerick kicked Shadow, and reached for a gun, lying on the ground, and picked it up to fire, but to his surprise, Shadow put a force field around him, and the bullet only bounced off. "Good reflexes… you are truly a royal blood…" Aerick said. He dropped the gun and swung at Shadow. "Why, at least tell me why you killed Maria?" Shadow asked. "I did what had to be done, to bring the anger out of you… believe me… there will be a time were you shall turn on your friends, and then once you've betrayed them, killing you alone will be easy." Aerick said. "LIAR!" Shadow said, charging a chaos ball in his hand. He threw a wave of energy into Aerick, who only put a force field around him. "You are powerful with the emeralds… but I am more powerful!" He said.
----In the woods, where Sonic and Tails are----
"Come on Tails, we're almost to that glass dome!" Sonic said. They were running through the woods, to reach Eggman's dome. They weren't far now, only about a mile away. With Sonic's speed, they would be there in no time. In a few minutes, there was a clearing, and over a large cliff, was a glass dome, just as it was when they had been captured. "If that nuke is launched and starts a nuclear war, life on Mobius will become uninhabitable." Tails said. "Then let's stop it!" Sonic replied. Tails suddenly stopped to think. "Wait… if I were Eggman, where would I put a warhead?... duh! At the top of the dome, where the launch pad is!" Tails said. "We have to go all the way to the top floor?" Sonic asked. "That's most likely where he has his nuke!" Tails said. The two headed for the door, which didn't open. So, Tails had his ways to open it… by hacking into the security system. Once he had bypassed the access code, he opened the door, and headed down the hall, to the other end. Once they entered the dome, they headed to an elevator, right to the end of the room, the room was very large, and there was another room next to it, and more next to that one. They quickly boarded the elevator. Tails looked at the buttons. "We'll have to enter another code to get to the top floor!" Tails said. "What are you waiting for? Start hacking into the system!" Sonic yelled.
----Back at the temple----
"Your friends will never stop the nuke, at the top of the dome, where the launch pad is, is an ambush. 50 robots await their arrival, and they won't be able to escape from the top floor of the dome." Aerick said. Shadow only sneered and jumped back into action with his sword. Aerick started to grow bored of this game. He put a force field around him. Shadow stopped before hitting Aerick, he knew what that force field was capable of. Aerick started to approach Shadow, as Shadow backed up. Mare-rith suddenly spoke to Shadow, lying on the ground. "A strong enough chaos energy ball will bust that barrier." He said. Shadow charged an energy ball in his hand. He threw it into the shield. The shield suddenly exploded. Aerick stumbled backwards, as Shadow suddenly saw his chance to attack. He leaped forward at god speed, and kicked Aerick right in the chest. Aerick fell back, and fell to his knees. Shadow approached Aerick, and yanked the sword from Aerick's hand. Aerick started to cough violently. He fell over. Shadow lifted his sword up. He would swing the sword into Aerick's neck, and kill him. Shadow was about to swing when he felled a wave of energy hit him and push him back into the temple wall. Aerick stood up suddenly, as if he had been faking it. "Did you really think it would be that easy?" He asked. He stepped towards Shadow, who was lying on the ground, moaning. That force push did a number on him. Aerick looked down at him, in pity. "I actually feel sorry for all of you fools. I can't be beaten. You aren't even one of these fools. You are their enemy. You should know now… about the lies that have been told to you." Aerick said. "No!" Mare-rith yelled. "Oh yes… here is where the fun begins!" Aerick replied.
----Back inside the dome, where Sonic and Tails are----
Sonic and Tails were still waiting inside the elevator, awaiting it to reach the top. "Sonic, we're about to reach the top floor, so go ahead and keep your guard up." Tails said. "Hey, all of the robots are at the temple fighting, there is nothing to worry about." Sonic replied. The door slowly opened. They stepped out onto a launch pad, with no roof. It was outside, at the very tip of the dome. Suddenly, tons of robots sprang into the middle of the launch pad, each, guarding the missile. Sonic and Tails looked stunned. How would they get through all of these robots? Sonic quickly put a barrier around him and Tails. The robots started to shoot at the shield. "Tails! My barrier won't last long, it's going to give out soon with all of the things bombarding it!" Sonic said. "I'm thinking!" Tails said, but to him, it looked hopeless. They only had one option: Sonic using his chaos blast. "Sonic, you have to use your chaos blast to destroy the robots!" Tails said. "But, what if it hits the missile?" Sonic said. "Just do it!" Tails replied. "CHAOS BLAST!" Sonic yelled. A big stream of colors came rushing out of his palm, and many robots started to run around in panic, but were all soon decinigrated. Tails and Sonic left behind the shield, and approached the missile. "Whoa, my blast barely missed it… I feel so weak, and every thing is blurry." Sonic said. "Just sit down and rest, I'll fix the missile, and shut it down." Tails said.
----Back at the temple----
"So… I sense those robots weren't able to hold off your friends… I'm not surprised… after all, they do have Hedgusst blood… the very blood your family seeked to destroy." Aerick said. "What are you saying that my family and Sonic's were enemies?" Shadow asked, lying against what was left of the temple wall, gripping his chest. "Yes… they were allies. But it wasn't long until they turned on each other… you are very strong Shadow… you aren't like normal people. You can reach a further distance… you belong with me—"Aerick was interrupted, "I will never help you, you ripped apart my past, and killed my only happiness." Shadow said. "Shadow… your family joined forces with the Hedgusst. Then the Hedgehog were seduced by the greed of the emeralds. They knew with its power, they could easily destroy the Echidna, and take it as their own. They saw Hedgusst as foolish people. They would never harness the dark side of the emeralds. They only used it for good. So they ambushed the leader, and he attacked back. They two sides killed each other, just as the Echidnas attacked. They overthrew what was left of the rest of the two side's armies. So you see, you really have no allies. And you are living a lie. Because of your little friends, Mare-rith and Tikal." Aerick said, "But I will deal with you later… I must make sure that your friends don't succeed in stopping that nuke, not like you'll do anything. More strong or not, your internals are damaged… and you are paralyzed… see you later…" Aerick sped off. "Shadow, I am sorry… half of my hedgehogs are also part of the Hedgehog clan, and have, just like you, been lied to." Mare-rith said. "Why did you lie to them and the echidna?" Shadow asked. "We just couldn't stand it! We had to stay allies. Hate and greed is what killed your family and Sonic's own. If we fight each other again, Aerick will still win. So we must remain friends and allies. For we cannot get rid of his evil without each other… this is what Tikal has been trying to tell everyone… for greed is what killed her father too. That is why she remains on my side. She has seen what greed did to her people… she must stop it. But no one understands her… but deep down, this is the lesson she is trying to teach everyone!" Mare-rith said. Shadow started to stand up, but his legs were starting to shake, and they felt numb. "I see… but I have to get to Sonic and Tails…" Shadow said. "Go Shadow, I know you can stop Aerick!" Mare-rith said.
----On the launch pad, at the top of the dome---
Tails was messing with the computer next to the missile, trying to shut down the operation. "This is hard, but I've almost shut it down, all I have to do is… oh no…" Tails said. "What?" Sonic asked. "I have to somehow remove the emerald that is stuck in the nuke, and take out its power supply. But if I do the wrong thing, the nuke could explode right here!" Tails said. "You have to try and open that hatch right there!" Sonic said, pointing at the nuke. He was right, attached to the jet packs on the nuke, was a small lid. But it was nailed shut, and needed proper equipment to open it. "The emerald is in there Tails, I can sense it with what is left of my powers, you'll just have to kick that thing open!" Sonic said. "Alright!" Tails said, started to kick at the hatch. Sonic grabbed a piece of one of the destroyed robots, and also started hitting it. But there was a loud bang, as Sonic looked to his right, as the elevator door opened, and Aerick stepped out. "So, you have found out how to stop the nuke… impressive, but I'll be killing you both now…" Aerick said. Tails looked at Sonic. "I can't do anything! My chaos force is drained." Sonic said. But suddenly, behind Aerick came Shadow and Knuckles, both looked tired. But both ready for battle. "So, Mare-rith and Tikal used their power to heal each of you… but it will not be enough… I will kill all four of you." Aerick said. "You guys get that emerald out of the hatch, Shadow and I can take this guy!" Knuckles said. Sonic and Tails did as told, as Shadow and Knuckles got ready, both were armless. All they had now was the power of the emeralds at their command. Aerick did his same old routine, he summoned a force shield around him. "Knuckles, Mare-rith said a strong enough chaos control ball with break that shield!" Shadow said, as the two summoned a chaos ball in their hands, and threw it at the shield, and the shield broke all of a sudden. It worked. But Aerick still had a lot of tricks up his sleeve. "Hey, Tails, how does this thing launch?... isn't there usually a timer somewhere?" Sonic asked. "Uh oh… how do we know when it launches?" Tails asked. They both looked at the computer monitor next to the rocket, and Tails jumped onto it. He pulled up a page, and it did have a timer: 2:56:98.
"We've got about three minutes! Hit the hatch harder!" Tails said. "Yeah, and I don't want to be up here to get fried when this rocket launches!" Sonic said. "What? We've gotta get off this launch pad!" Shadow said, heading for the elevator door. Aerick suddenly casted a force field to the door. Knuckles punched it with his fists. "We're trapped!" He said. Sonic and Tails were really using all of their strength now, but there was no avail. "It's welded shut, we should just get off of this pad now!" Sonic said. "Sonic, we have to try!" Tails said. "We have less than a minute!" Sonic said. "No use in staying to get killed, I'm out of here, enjoy being slowly decinigrated!" Aerick said, as he disappeared, into what seemed thin air. "We thirty seconds left!" Tails said. "We have to teleport back to the temple now!" Sonic said. "We can't! Millions of people will die!" Tails said. "Guys, we have 20 seconds left!" Shadow said. Knuckles started bashing the hatch with his fists. "Sonic is right, there is nothing we can do!" Knuckles said. "10 seconds!" Shadow said. Each of them grabbed hands and yelled; "CHAOS CONTROL!" In one last second they were gone. At the temple. They all watched in shame, as they had failed, as the rocket left a big tail of smoke behind, as it launched.
"I… have failed…" Shadow said, as he looked around the Mystic Ruins, to see it all lying in ruins. Everywhere were hedgehog and echidna warriors on the Hedgusst side, still standing. Although Mare-rith had won, and his army was left with none dead, countless innocents would be slaughtered. Shadow turned to face Mare-rith, who didn't look happy, but neither mad at him. "Let's go back to the guild, we have much to discuss." Mare-rith said.
END CHAPTER
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