Chapter 14

Shadow, mow back in his original form, collided with the freezing water with a loud splash. His eyes were firmly shut and his body hung limb as he sank deeper and deeper into the water.

With Rouge

Rouge looked up from Sonic's body to be met with the horrible sight of Shadow taking the Chaos Bomb for her and getting knocked into the rocky, water filled crater.

"Nooo!"

At that point, Knuckles and Tails also made their way through the storm and towards the group.

"What happened to Sonic?" Tails asked.

He was met by teary emerald eyes.

"Amber knocked him out."

Knuckles looked around for a minute and spotted Amber and Eclipse hovering over them, both in their super forms.

"Where's Shadow?"

Rouge turned around and pointed a trembling finger at the rocky crater.

"Oh no."

Knuckles started speeding towards the crater. He pushed hard off the ground and dived into the murky rain water. Parting the water in front of him, Knuckles made his way deeper and deeper into the abyss of water.

He was getting towards the bottom now and luckily spotted an unconscious black and red hedgehog on the rocky bottom. In one swift move, Knuckles shot his hand forth and grabbed Shadow's wrist.

He then kicked off of the rocky ground and swam back up. He had to hurry. He could feel his lungs tighten and was almost out of air. Above him, he could spot a faint bolt of light.

'The surface.'

Knuckles erupted out of the water, now holding Shadow by his neck. He looked at Tails.

"Tails, fly above me and catch Shadow!"

Tails nodded and spun his tails, taking to the stormy sky. He made his way above Knuckles and hovered there. In one motion, Knuckles threw Shadow above him and out of the water. Tails caught him, although sinking down a little because of his weight.

Knuckles had already swam to the edge and was getting out of the water. Tails was just about to fly back as well when suddenly, he felt lighter. The fox looked back and saw Super Eclipse hovering near him, holding the unconscious Shadow around the waist with Shadow's body being horizontal to his.

Eclipse smirked.

"I don't think so. This rat is going to die and there is nothing you can do about it."

Eclipse stretched his free arm towards Tails.

"Chaos Sword!"

The silver attack hit the stunned Tails right in the stomach, sending him flying back to the ground where Rouge, Sonic, and Knuckles were.

Amber also hovered down to Eclipse. Rouge faced her.

"Please, don't let him do this!"

Amber shook her head.

"It is his destiny."

Rouge shook her head.

"Please, this has gone on long enough!"

Amber's eyes widened. Another memory hit her.

FLASHBACK

Shadow stood over the golden hedgehog.

"I though you were stronger."

Shadow's frown then turned into a smile and he stuck his hand forth.

"Thanks Shadow."

"No problem. You can always depend on me."

Amber jerked away from her brother and got into a fighting pose.

"Let's keep going."

Shadow shook his head.

"This has gone on long enough and besides, I don't want to hurt you."

Amber smiled and got out of her fighting pose.

END FLASHBACK

Amber looked over at the unconscious Shadow in Eclipse's grip.

'He never hurt me. He kept me safe.'

Her gaze traveled to Eclipse's face.

'HE is the enemy!'

In a flash, Amber chaos controlled behind Eclipse and stuck her hand into his back.

"Chaos Arrow!"

The yellow bolt made a hole in Eclipse's chest as the white hedgehog coughed up blood and released his grip on Shadow. In a swift motion, Amber scooped him up as Eclipse fell into the water.

She slowly lowered them to the group and laid Shadow besides Sonic.

"I-Is he alive?" Rouge quivered.

Amber nodded. She looked over at Knuckles and Tails who were both in a fighting pose.

"I do not mean you harm. I am sorry for the trouble I've caused."

Her quills fell back down and her fur returned to normal as her super form faded away.

Knuckles and Tails got out of their fighting poses.

All of a sudden, there was a loud boom as water splashed from the crater. Flying out came an extremely angry hedgehog. He stopped and hovered over the crater.

"Amber you TRAITOR!"

Amber huffed.

"The only betrayal I made was fighting Shadow."

"Very well, if that's the way you want it, you'll die along with him."

"I don't think so" A deep voice interrupted.

Everyone turned to face Shadow, who was laying on the ground, in Rouge's arms.

He slowly stood up, all though a little shaky. Rouge supported him with her arm.

He slowly raised his arm and took her hand away from him. Then, he tensed up his muscles. In a flash, Shadow's fur turned gold and an energy barrier surrounded him.

He slowly floated up towards the stunned Eclipse.

"Why won't you die?" He asked through gritted teeth.

Shadow floated closer and reeled his arm back.

"Because, I AM THE ULTIMATE LIFE-FORM!"

Shadow swung his arm and his Eclipse square in the face. The evil hedgehog flew off with a burst of air. Then, Shadow floated back down to the group.

"That will buy us some time."

Exhausted, Shadow took a knee and his super form faded.

Sky

Eclipse flew through the stormy sky and crash landed into a rocky mountain. The mountain completely shattered. He stepped forth out of the rubble.

"Why that little"-

He cut himself off as something caught his eye. He couldn't believe it.

"The Chaos Emeralds!"

Indeed, lying there, in the wet dirt, were the seven mystical gems.

Eclipse threw his head back and laughed hysterically.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha, this is TOO perfect."

He raised his hands and the gems floated up and around his head.

"Time to put an end to this."

And in a flash of dark light, he was gone.