"You sound... as though we've met before."

Sonic found himself at a loss for words, realising quickly that he should have come up with some sort of plan before dashing ahead towards a confrontation.

Where did he go from here?

"Well, you see - we kind of have, uh-" Sonic responded to Shadow, eyes widening slightly as he realised nothing had caused time to reverse just then. He decided to push it. "It's an alternate timeline kind of deal-"

Purple smoke swelled the area. Of course.

"You sound... as though we've met before."

What was he supposed to say to that now? Could he pin this back on him somehow? "I dunno, you tell me - have we met?" Sonic said, with an undeniable sassy edge - the side of himself that was so easily provoked when Shadow was in proximity.

Shadow seemed to genuinely contemplate, his gaze drifting away as he lost himself in his thoughts. Sonic tapped his foot waiting for the other hedgehog to speak.

"I admit my memories falter sometimes... they're not all clear. More... foggy, faded. I am able to recall our meeting at the festival, at the very least. Yet... you sound as though there's more familiarity between us..." The black hedgehog looked like he was talking to himself more than the hedgehog in front of him. "But I can't have known you. You're much too young."

"Heh, compared to an old grandpa like you I certainly a-" Sonic cut himself off quickly, almost choking. He'd forgotten who he was talking to now - not the grumpy rival he had slowly befriended over time... or at least managed to find common ground with. No, Shadow didn't even know his name here. That hedgehog had one goal, one of utter destruction.

As usual, Shadow gave nothing away with his expression. "My patience is wearing thin." He informed him flatly. "For what reason are you speaking to me?"

Did he have anything to lose at this point? Should he just come out with it? Sonic straightened out his expression, meeting Shadow at eye level. "I know what you're trying to do." Sonic spoke calmly. "You're trying to find the Chaos Emeralds to activate the Eclipse Cannon at the Space Colony ARK - once that happens, you're going to trigger a secret doomsday program that will cause the ARK to hurtle down towards the planet - destroying the world."

For someone who had just had his entire plans laid bare, he remained remarkably apathetic. "You have one more chance to get to your point." The hedgehog said, beginning to slowly make his way closer to the other, gradually closing the gap between them.

"I'm going to stop you." Sonic said. "I want to stop this fight before it even begins - we don't need to be at odds Shadow, all you've gotta do is listen to me. I know this isn't really what you want-"

"Your words are foolish." Shadow interrupted, now standing right in front of Sonic - causing the blue hedgehogs fur to prickle. "You've come declaring you'll put an end to my goals, while simultaneously bearing an emerald that I won't hesitate to cut you down for."

Shit, the Chaos Emerald! Sonic did have that on his person, and Shadow could sense it thanks to his own powers. How had he not even thought about this? "Shadow-" Sonic began, a little helplessly - starting to doubt his position and actions thus far. "Please listen to me, you're a good guy - you're not the one who wants this! Your memories aren-!"

Sonic gasped as the tip of a chaos spear hovered in front of his neck. He could feel a sting against his skin each time the energy crackled. A spark of fury had been ignited within Shadow's eyes as he was pointing his spear at him, an inch from taking his life. His voice was dangerously soft when he spoke again. "Do not try to tell me what I do, and what I don't want."

"C-come on, man-" Sonic surprised himself when his voice came out as a quiver. "This isn't you..."

"What, or who, I am matters little." Shadow glared. "I am fulfilling a promise... So, if you're done rambling, I'm giving you a choice - relinquish your Chaos Emerald to me, and cling to the rest of your pitiful life you have left." A pause. "Or you can fight me - and I will remove your head from your shoulders and take the emerald myself."

"Or you can listen to me!" Sonic suddenly raised his voice, trying to reach the hedgehog he knew was inside - the hero, the one that would do anything it took to protect the world...


Sonic's limbs were shaking, but he broke out into a grin.

The most powerful chaos control he had ever performed - it saved the world. They did it! They stopped the ARK... The world was safe!

It was almost hard to believe, almost. Sonic stared in awe at the gap in space where the station had once been - gone, finally gone - away where it wouldn't harm anyone again. His friends... oh, he couldn't wait to see them! They were fine. Everyone was fine!

"We did it!" Sonic beamed, unable to contain his enthusiasm as he turned to his new companion.

"... Shadow?"

The glow surrounding the hedgehog was quickly fading, as was his pale golden hue. His breaths came out ragged, and he could no longer keep himself afloat.

He began to fall.

All remains of his super form was dissolved, and Shadow was nothing more than a limp body descending down towards the planet below. Sonic had never seen him look so small.

"Shadow!" Sonic cried out, flying down in pursuit of his partner at a relentless speed to catch up to him.

He got to a point where he was close enough to hear Shadow mumble to himself, his voice carrying through the stillness of space. Each word grew quieter, more feeble than the last.

"Maria... this is what you wanted, right? This is my promise I made to you..."

"SHADOW!" Sonic called to him again at the top of his lungs.

Shadow closed his eyes.

Sonic could feel the power of his own form beginning to slip away, if he were to try to continue reaching Shadow now - would they even make it out? There wasn't... there wasn't enough left in him. No! He couldn't just leave him-! Sonic pushed himself harder, he needed to go faster! He wasn't going to let things end like this!

Against his better judgement, Sonic suddenly stopped.

Shadow was smiling.

It was sincere, lacking in his typical smugness or scorn. It was gentle - yet at the same time, shone brighter than any star could.

It was the face of man... who'd finally found peace.

Before Sonic knew it, Shadow had fallen so far that he was no longer in Sonic's sight. The hedgehog straightened himself up, hovering in the dark, empty expanse. Uselessly, Sonic reached out his hand - as if hoping that somehow, miraculously, Shadow would grab onto it.

But Shadow was long gone.

Sonic grimaced painfully, his heart weighing down on his chest like a heavy stone. He didn't allow any tears to fall, clinging onto his composure - allowing his distress to build, but not release. There would be time for that - after everything had settled, once his friends were back home and safe. He needed to get back before his form-

Two objects - gold and glittering - floated down above the hedgehog's head. Sonic reached up and grabbed hold of them, biting his trembling lip as he now finding himself gazing upon Shadow's rings.

He sighed, and then slowly grinned.

"Thank you... Faker..."


"How do I get through to you?!" Sonic shuddered at both the memories, and the menacing face before him.

Shadow closed his eyes, letting out a small huff. "I see you're insistent on being idiotic. Very well-!" Shadow thrust his spear forward, intending to pierce through Sonic's neck.

Sonic dashed behind Shadow - kicking the hedgehog in the back, surprising the other with his speed. At least Shadow was no wild beast this time, his moves would be a little easier to predict.

The black hedgehog quickly turned and sent a brutal punch at Sonic's face. The hero stumbled backwards slightly, the metallic taste of blood lingering in his mouth - but no way he was going down like last time.

Sonic jumped up and tried to drop kick Shadow in the head, but the ultimate life form's reflexes allowed him to grab hold of Sonic's legs mid air and toss the hedgehog to the side - causing Sonic to crash into a nearby wall and splutter out a cough.

A chaos spear was thrown at him when he was vulnerable, but miraculously he recovered - pressing his hands against the ball and swinging his body around to avoid the projectile. Sonic landed back down on the ground and glared desperately at this opponent.

"Shadow, your memories aren't real! Gerald made-! Ugh-!" Sonic grunted as Shadow suddenly warped right in front of him and delivered an upper cut. Sonic gritted his teeth, refusing to let Shadow get the upperhand - thus sent a flurry of punches at Shadow's chest.

He could hear a small gasp of pain from the other hedgehog, but then he decided to teleport again onto a rooftop.

"I don't have time for your games!" Shadow spat.

Sonic, getting frustrated, temporarily forgot what he had approached Shadow for in the first place. "What's the matter?" Sonic asked him smugly. "Mad that the ultimate life form is getting bested?"

It was so easy to fall back into bad habits.


"Did he- did he just-" Tangle was pointing in the direction Sonic ran off in, blinking rapidly. "Ayo, he just ran off!" She exclaimed as it finally clicked. "Should we be worried...? I mean, he told us to just... wait here- huh."

Inexplicably, Tikal reached into the fluff on her chest - and then pulled out a white stick of sorts that Knuckles couldn't put a name to.

"Good thing I always have my emergency chalk!" Tangle announced brightly. "What game do you wanna play? Hopscotch? Tic-tac-toe?"

Knuckles shook his head, and began walking away. "No- No time for that, we've got to find Sonic."

She began walking up to him with a concerned expression "But he told us to-"

"I know what he said." Knuckles emphasized that last part with a little frustration, his eyes closed. "But he's currently alone with a Chaos Emerald, if someone realises that - they're going to jump on him. I'd rather we be there too when it happens so Sonic doesn't face a horde on his own."

"Fair points taken!" Tangle agreed, bounding the rest of the distance so that they were now side by side - and they picked up the pace, running across the rooftops and leaping between the gaps when need be. "But how are we-? Oh, you're tracking Sonic's chaos emerald?"

Knuckles nodded.

"Heh, thank goodness we have you here! Aye?" How did this girl have so much positivity in her? It was admirable to be certain, but a little overwhelming. He didn't know what to do with the praise except let out a grunt of achknowledgement.

They ran in relative silence after that - until they both skidded to a halt upon an unexpected sight.

Sitting on the edge of an apartment building roof was a bat, a very familiar face - one that he was sure neither he or Tangle had expected to see again so soon.

It was Rouge.

They both stared at Rouge in a stunned silence, and by judging her expression - she was just as taken aback as well.

"Ummm... heyyyyy, Rouge-" Tangle began, the awkwardness in the air was thick enough to be cut through with a knife."We were just- you know, passing through, heh-"

She wasn't about to let them pass by so easily, eyes narrowing. "How come you guys are in Central City?" She asked, not even bothering with a 'hello' back to them, not surprising Knuckles in the slightest.

"Well, you know - emerald hunting? Like we said we would be-" Tangle stuttered a little, Knuckles noted the unusual way her tail was almost vibrating - was that a display of her nerves?

Rouge rose a brow. "And you're searching... in Central City?"

"We're checking out everywhere we can, even major cities - if Eggman already has his hands on an emerald, then they've gotta be stored in some kind of facility somewhere - right?"

"Sure, I guess." She shrugged, sounding both disbelieving and disinterested.

Knuckles was eager to get moving in pursuit of Sonic, and not give the woman any attention - trust between them had been broken ever since she invaded his treasury, as far as he was concerned - and all she had been to her teammates was moody, rude, and downright mean sometimes. Tangle, for a reason he could not decipher, continued the conversation.

"So... I hope you're well." She smiled, although it faltered slightly. "We've uh- seen the billboard-"

"Impressive, right?" Rouge responded smugly.

What on Mobius was supposed to be impressive about it? She was on an enemy watch list. Tangle entertained her by quite obviously pretending she understood Rouge's enthusiasm in the situation. "Hm? Oh yeah, pssht - so impressive! You go, Queen! Slayyyy... girlboss- we love that, we love that-"

She might as well have been speaking an entirely different language - Knuckles was completely lost.

"Okay but like-" Tangle scratched the top of her head. "What are you doing here?"

"Eh, just chillin'. Waiting for my partner to come back. Such a sweetheart he is, offering to get the supplies I need." She smiled widely, seemingly getting lost in her thoughts.

"Your... partner?" Tangle asked. "You're working with someone?" It would seem she was a little skeptical too.

"Yep, you already know his face." Rouge lazily pointed back towards the billboard that was now displaying the image of the black and red hedgehog. The two heroes stared at it, baffled at the revelation.

"Ah-" Tangle spoke up again. "Yeah he seems... such a... sweetheart-"

"No he doesn't." Knuckles cut in.

"Yeah, no - he doesn't-" Tangle finally admitted with a shake of her head. "I look at his face and all I can hear is 2000s emo music-"

"Have you not noticed it?" Knuckles looked down at the bat. "How much he resembles the monster we fought back at the festival?"

"Oh, that? Ha! I'm way ahead of you, hon-" Rouge waved her hand dismissively. "They are in fact, the same guy. You could say he had a glow up."

"No kidding-" Tangle said with wonder. "But like, how did you two meet? How come he looks like that now? How come you're working together?"

"Well, there's no need for me to divulge all the details now..." Rouge tapped her chin as she figured out what was best to say and reveal. "Shadow here had some shit done to him by the Empire - but he managed to escape. He wants revenge against the Empire, just like I do. So naturally, we've made quite the team so far."

Knuckles and Tangle exchanged a look.

"Cool, cool-" Tangle began. "So things are coming along well with the whole - assassinating Eggman plot you're tryna do?"

"Ah - you suddenly care, do you?" He hated how condescenting she sounded. "Ha!" Rouge let out. "I thought I didn't stand a chance - that the will of the dead have claimed that Robotnik can not be killed without the magical rock candies-"

Tangle seemed to be avoiding a conflict as much as possible. "Look, um - we've been over this. We don't need to tread this topic again. You're doing your thing, we're doing ours-"

"It's funny, I do feel kind of sorry for you - choosing to parade around with two guys claiming to hear the voices of dead people telling them to search for mystical rocks."

Knuckles balled up his fists but he wasn't about to speak. She was wasting their time with useless taunting while Sonic had ran off to goodness knows where.

Tangle looked down for a split second, before meeting Rouge with her response steadily. "I'm believing in the people I wanna believe in."

For some reason, Tangle's words caused some kind of shift in Rouge's approach - something dark flashed within her eyes, and her face twisted into an undisguised frown. "Trust the guys you just met over the girl you've known for way longer, why don't you?" She spoke bitterly.

"We're done talking." Knuckles said quickly, a hot rage was building up underneath his skin, and the longer he was going to be in close proximity to Rouge - the greater chance it had of exploding. The bat was constantly trying to guilt the lemur and make her feel smaller in comparison - and that admittedly bugged him more than when she had stolen his treasure. There was something to like about Tangle - perhaps her unapologetic sincerity and enthusiasm. He could not say the same for the bat - she was arrogant, entitled, trying to bring those around her down.

She just wasn't worth the trouble. In a move that he would only percieve in hindsight as a little bold, he held onto Tangle's hand and begun to drag her away from Rouge. The lemur was surprised momentarily, but a brief smile of gratefulness flashed on her face.

Rouge, on the other hand, couldn't seem to fathom that the two had turned their backs to her - fully willing to ignore her. "What's the matter?!" She called after them incredulously. "Can't stand the fact I'm pointing out how crazy you all are?!"

"Oh, shut up! We don't have time to bother with your insecurities!" Knuckles growled back, still walking away. Would it have been better to say nothing at all? Absolutely - but his mouth moved before his brain could come to that realisation.

"Fine then! Go back to your stupid treasure hunt!" She told them."Go on your pointless quest. Listen to the dead people in your head! Maybe you'll die like the rest of your species, and get a happy reunion in the afterlife-!"

Knuckles suddenly paused stood agast at the escalation, as did Tangle. That... abhorrent woman! How dare she? Overwhelmed by a flare of his anger, energy surged through his veins - his eyes glowing involunatrily as his clenched fists now trembled.

The lemur abrutply whipped around to face Rouge, pointing at her with aggression. "Honestly, who do you think you are?! Don't you ever talk to Knuckles like that again!"

"Or what? You little-!"

Their confrontation was brought to a halt as the three heard a loud crash back down on the streets below, causing them all to run to the edge of the rooftop so they could peer down and witness the commotion.

Sonic's body, of all people, had crashed through a car, splitting the entire vehicle in two with how hard he managed to collide with it. Despite everything, all the other cars in the road simply drove around the commotion - as though they couldn't even see what was happening.

As yet another surprise, another hedgehog jumped onto to the roof a car a few paces away - and Knuckles was mystified as he realised he had recently come to know the face - Shadow the Hedgehog, the runaway on the billboard - Rouge's supposed partner.

Shadow formed a chaos spear in his hand before throwing it at the other hedgehog. It was fortunate that Sonic was suddenly able to leap up from having taken such a hard fall, avoiding the projectile and instead launching himself in a homing attack at Shadow.

Knuckles couldn't honestly say whether Sonic's attack had hit or not, as suddenly the two were moving so fast on the ground below - they appeared to just be red and blue streaks zipping around at a pace that he had no hope of catching up with.

"We've got to help him!" Tangle declared with worry, ready to leap down and join the altercation - if not for a sudden interruption.

Something Knuckles couldn't quite make out landed right near his feet - and the echidna soon found himself coughing and spluttering as pink smoke suddenly swarmed around him. With a start, Knuckels realised he couldn't see anything in front of him - not even his companion he had been standing right next to. Disorientated, he looked around himself helplessly.

A blow to his stomach knocked the wind entirely out of his lungs, and caused him to fall backwards. His back didn't make contact with anything - instead, he was falling from the building he had just been standing on.

Before even thinking about what he should do, he felt a mound of fur wrap around him - hoisting him back on top of the roof. Now all the pink in the air was beginning to vanish, and he could clearly make out Tangle and Rouge engaged in a fist fight - with Rouge gaining the upperhand as she landed a clean right hook to the other.

"Haha!" She laughed confidently, allowing herself to look towards Knuckles as Tangle recovered from her dazed state. "You seriously thought I was just gonna let you run off and help him? You have to get through me first, idiot!"

Knuckles cracked his namesakes. "I'm just glad I finally have an excuse to shut you up."

Both fueled by the flames of their fury, the echidna and bat charged towards one another - none of them willing to settle for anything less than a complete knockout.


Sonic was convinced by now that he and Shadow had been chasing each other all throughout the city. Sonic didn't have the slightest clue where he was right now, one moment ago he had been on a road - now they were in an alley of sorts. At least he no longer had to worry about getting run over-

As fast as he could, Sonic launched a punch at Shadow's chest. The other grunted painfully, and Sonic knew he had to take advantage of Shadow's fleeting moment of vulnerability.

The blue hedgehog ran circles around the other - building up such intense winds that Shadow was lifted off the ground. Sonic then jumped up and kicked Shadow down onto the ground below.

The concrete had cracked below where Shadow had landed - but ultimately, Sonic knew that Shadow was going to recover quickly. But while he was like this- "Shadow, you've been through a lot- I get it!"

For whatever reason, this exclamation only seemed to enrage the black hedgehog. Shadow suddenly fired a birrage of chaos energy arrows towards Sonic - causing the blue hedgehog to duck and weave around them.

Sonic sprinted towards Shadow, attempting another punch - but this time Shadow caught his fist, causing Shadow to then opt to kick Sonic in the stomach - sending the hedgehog flying back. Shadow might not look that particularly strong in regards to his build - but the strength he possessed shouldn't be underestimated.

Sonic brought himself to a halt by skidding - before his eyes widened with surprise as he saw Shadow picking up an entire large garbage can that was filled to the brim - and then suddenly hurl it towards him.

Sonic swiftly leapt to the side. He had to bite back a quip about littering, knowing if Shadow was going to listen to him - it would be wise not to get on his nerves.

Instead, Sonic sought to unleash a flurry of kicks onto Shadow - Shadow was able to swerve to avoid most of them, but Sonic eventually succeeded at a kick in the face. Shadow growled with a combination of anger and pain - before suddenly disappearing into thin air.

The blue hedgehog knew this wasn't a retreat, he kept constantly turning - fists raised, not wanting to let Shadow get the jump on him. Despite his efforts through, Shadow would find a way to surprise him. Shadow was fast enough to ram into him from behind - smashing Sonic's face into the concrete below. He held Sonic's face down against the ground, even with Sonic's feeble attempts to break out of it - Shadow was simply the stronger of the pair.

"This is your final warning! Hand over your Chaos Emerald, and leave my sight!" Shadow warned with fierceness, applying yet more pressure.

Sonic just barely managed to turn his head in a way so that his words wouldn't be muffled. His annoyed glare lingered, eyes darting around before, eventually, he decided to smirk. "Heh."

Shadow narrowed his eyes at Sonic's cockiness before a laser was fired at his face.

"Gah-!" He exclaimed as he landed on the ground and rolled from the sudden force he hadn't anticipated.

Now free from Shadow's grasp, Sonic stood - the cuts on his face stinging and bleeding, but it was hardly the worst he had ever endured. His new ally landed beside him, her weapon at the ready.

"Thanks for the save, Whisper."

"No need to thank me."

What was this now? The third time she had appeared out of nowhere? He wondered what she was even doing in Central City-

If only he had the luxury to ask, for now though - Shadow was still very much a problem. The other hedgehog had recovered, and was now charging up a homing attack - hurtling towards the new contender on the field.

Whisper met the attack by taking a different approach to using her weapon - pulling it back like a baseball bat, and then taking a swing at Shadow.

Sonic took advantage of this, as Shadow was flying back still in a ball - Sonic jumped up high to deliver a drop kick - sending Shadow straight back down towards the ground again.

Sonic landed back down beside Whisper. "All we're tryna make Shadow do is stand down, alright? I'm trying to get him to listen to me-"

After a pause, which he assumed was her internally debating, she nodded. Shadow was slowly standing - for once showing an emotion beside anger or apathy. With eyes that were wide, he stared down Sonic in a confused, almost peturbed manner. Sonic realised quick what was going on - Shadow was struggling to wrap his head around the idea that Sonic was even putting up a fight at all. The Ultimate Life Form... was struggling?

It was more likely than he realised. Plus, Sonic had at least two years experience fighting the guy - this version of Shadow didn't have as much experience, as honestly baffling that was to think about.

Sonic swallowed, knowing he had to get to the point - but not knowing how Shadow would end up handling it. "Revenge isn't going to bring them back, Shadow. What happened on the ARK 50 years ago, the massacre... destroying the world isn't going to avenge anyone that died! This wasn't the promise you made to Maria!"

Shadow gasped loudly - it was visceral. The hedgehog suddenly grasped hold of his head - bending down in a way as though he was struggling to stand upright. "Don't-!" Shadow pleaded, an exhausted, emotional pain brimming his words. "No-! Not her-!"

Oh God, what had he done? Sonic wanted to go over to help him, but Whisper tugged on his arm - causing him to look at her.. "We must retreat." She told him.

"You don't understand, Whis-!"

"No. Look!" She pointed back at Shadow, who was groaning loudly in agonizing pain. On one hald of Shadow's body, his fur was dissolving - giving way to dark, murky scales surrounding by a thick layer of purple ooze dripping down his body. The white of one of his eyes flashed to black.

He was turning... back into the beast! He couldn't let this happen!

"Sonic." Whisper said in an attempt to get Sonic to move. She was staying remarkably calm considering the situation.

"I'm not running away." He said to her. "I'm not failing him, not again-"

Shadow suddenly warped behind Whisper, scratching down her back with his newly found claws. The pain caused her to yelp and drop her own weapon - before he wrapped his arm around her neck in a chokehold.

"Whisper!" Sonic yelled for her.

"Hand over the emerald!" Shadow snarled - his voice distorted by an unusual effect. "Or the girl is dead!"


Knuckles' fist and Rouge's boot collided - creating a shockwave that shuddered through the air.

Both their limbs pushed against each other with equal force, unable to overpower the other.

They made eye contact - staring at each other in shock. This didn't make sense - how were they... exactly as strong as each other?!

They broke away from each other - surveying their opponent. Tangle had stood watching in awe, forgetting for a moment that she a part of this battle too.

"Not bad for a guy in a toga." She ackknowledged mockingly.

Knuckles decided he wouldn't dignify her comments with a response, instead he charged at her - throwing rapid punches with a yell. Infuriatingly, she swiftly dodged each and everyone by making small ducks and slight leans - she didn't break eye contact from him, and her smirk never wavered.

Knuckles decided he needed a new tactic - but it was this moment of hesitation she immediately took advantage of, slamming her own kick in his chest. He grunted, but for the most part - tanked it out.

Her leg suddenly swept underneath his feet, tripping him over.

Before Rouge could get another hit on him, Tangle's tail suddenly wrapped around her. The lemur used this opportunity to throw her to the other side of the roof - when she landed down, she just barely managed to avoid rolling off the side.

"2v1, huh? Don't ya think this is a bit unfair?" She asked the two of them as she stood up.

"Hey, you started this!" Tangle pointed out indignantly.

"You dug your grave, now you get to lie in it!" Knuckles glared.

"Yooo, that actually sounded so badass-" She gazed at him in awe, eyes shining.

Knuckles' cheeks flushed momentarily before he suddenly launched a punch at the ground beneath of his feet. It caused a crater, and no doubt a lot of damage to the things within the top few floors of the building. Most importantly, it created a tremour that left Rouge unsteady on her feet for just a moment.

Tangle swept Rouge up into her tail's grasp again. Rouge, unable to do much about her scenario, sighed as Tangle lifted her up - and brought Rouge close to her face. "Sonic wouldn't be fighting Shadow without a good reason!" She huffed. "So tell us what you two are really planning!"

"Look, I have no idea why Sonic and him are fighting either." She admitted dryly.

Tangle gave her a skeptical look, and then Rouge suddenly changed her tune. "Well, I suppose there is one thing-"

"Then you're gonna spit it out!" Tangle told her, frowning it deeply - doing her best to sound assertive, but not really succeeding. The lemur pulled Rouge dramatically close to her face.

Rouge smiled softly, and then kissed Tangle's lips.

The lemur was so stunned by the action that her tail immediately dropped Rouge - the bat wasted no time, sending a heavy kick at her opponent. Tangle flew far and landed harshly on a seperate rooftop entirely - her body lying limp.

Knuckles' mouth was slightly hung agape, so utterly dumbfounded by what he just witnessed - unable to get himself to move.

"What's the matter?" Rouge asked, seeing his face. "Jealous~?"

The remark brought Knuckles back to reality. "If you touch me like that - I will pound you into the ground." He warned her quickly.

Rouge's lips pursed. "Nope-" She said with a shake of her head. "There's a joke to made there, but I'm not gonna say it-"

Knuckles didn't understand what on Mobius she was on about, what was so funny about what he had just said? Ugh, did it matter? He didn't want to waste anymore time. Realising his combat partner had yet to get up, he realised he had to do this on his own.

"Just stop being weird and fight me already!" Knuckles shouted at her, growing impatient.

"If you so wish~" She told him, flying up into the sky. She suddenly threw down two balls onto the ground, and Knuckles' vision was swarmed with a thick, pink smoke again - and it was even denser before.

One of her boots thrusted against his back.

Another against his stomach.

Another at his back again.

Try as he might to catch her, the effort was fruitless - he could not see where she was coming from - still, he imagined to tough out each blow - only winching in pain for a moment.

As soon as the smoke began to clear, Knuckles caught a brief flash of Rouge's leg moving towards him - and this time, successfully caught onto it. He pulled his arm back, lifting her up as though she were nothing more than a feather - and tossed her away.

He heard her yell as she slammed into the ground, and didn't get up for a moment.

"Your fighting tactics are dishonourable!" He scolded her.

"Oh no- whatever shall I do?" She asked sarcastically while on the ground. Quickly after though, she stood once again - and her taunting had yet to cease. "Come on, aren't you supposed to be the Guardian? Put up a fight! You haven't used your weird powers yet once!"

"As if you're even worth using them on!" Knuckles folded his arms. "I can't believe you."

Rouge's brow furrowed, and the fight continued. She jumped in the air but instead of flying - she began to spin, feet pointed towards him - Knuckles watched in confusion as her speed kicked up and up.

She then flew straight towards him like a drill.

Knuckles leapt aside just in time - but wasn't prepared for Rouge suddenly untucking herself and kicking him in the back of his head. He stumbled over, catching himself with his hands and managing to catch her leg again as she went for another kick.

Enough of the games - he was going to end this.

Letting out a fierce yell, Knuckles threw her down against the ground.

He let her go as he saw blood begin to dribble from her mouth.

"You asked for it..." Knuckles sighed, looking down at her momentarily - before jumping over to the rooftop Tangle was laying on. She seemed to be regaining conciousness, to Knuckles' relief.

He bent down by her side. "You okay...?"

"No-" Tangle panted out. "That was... embarrassing- Gah! She used my weakness of being a gay disaster against me!" She exclaimed in frustration as Knuckles helped her sit up.

"Her methods were underhanded. Don't feel bad for your defeat." He told her. "If you're ready to get going, we need to catch up with Sonic."


Shadow squeezed tighter on Whisper's neck - and she gasped, gagged, and spluttered - desperate for an ounce of air in her lungs.

Sonic knew Shadow wasn't bluffing, especially as a monster was overtaking his body as well - to his dismay, he was left with no choice.

He held out the blue Chaos Emerald. "Let her go."

Shadow swiped it from Sonic's hand with his spare arm before he had the chance to back out, and then dropped Whisper. She fell to the ground, coughing - and Sonic ran over, kneeling beside her.

At least Shadow had been true to his word. Shadow stared at the emerald held within his clawed fingers, panting in exhuastion from his partial transformation. "One step-! One step... closer!" He heaved out. "The pain... it'll STOP!" Sonic shook as he heard the genuine anguish in his voice.

Shadow vanished from sight.

Sonic couldn't help but stare at the place Shadow had once been. How had it come to this? Eggman had really dared to conduct horrific experiments on Shadow to turn him into that thing- and now Shadow had that to suffer through on top of his trauma.

This stupid timeline... Shadow didn't deserve any of this. Sonic was going to do everything to ensure he was able to bring Shadow back to his senses - and keep him safe with the rest of them.

But, for now, they had lost a Chaos Emerald. Shit. Shadow was that much closer to fulfilling his plans. What was he supposed to do next?

"Whisper, you okay?"

"Better- My... apologies-"

"No need to apologise for that." He assured her.

"You lost the emerald because of me. You shouldn't have-"

"In no way was I going to let you die for an emerald, Whisper." Sonic frowned at her slightly, unsure as to why this was even a debate.

"You barely know me."

"So?" Sonic shrugged. "I'd do that for anyone."

Whisper fell silent, and the two were interrupted when they heard voices calling to them from above.

"Sonic!" Knuckles called to him, and Sonic felt a swell of relief.

"Good thing you guys ended up being so close, huh?" Tangle used her tail to lower herself down onto the ground from on top of the building, coming down slowly like Rapunzel. Once she was on the floor - she stretched out her tail and wrapped it around Knuckles - bringing him down on the ground as well. "Hey Whisper!" She then smiled. "Fancy seeeing you here, aye?"

"What happened?" As usual, Knuckles was quick to get to the point. "I don't... sense your emerald on you anymore."

"I-" Sonic was suddenly cut off by Whisper.

"Shadow made away with your emerald."

Sonic was about to explain what had genuinely happened - Shadow's threats and all, but Whisper offered up a much simpler explanation. Sonic realised Whisper felt the need to cover for him, to make sure he wasn't going to get in trouble for giving his emerald to the enemy.

Knuckles heaved a loud sigh in response to the news. Tangle looked down for a moment, before meeting their gazes with a smile. "You guys did your best - that's what counts!"

"This isn't over." Knuckles said. "I just need to relocate the signal of the emerald and we can pursue-"

"No." Sonic cut him off, as a new wave of tiredness over came him - his voice was almost as quiet as Whisper's. "We should avoid fights with Shadow... we need a different approach. I'll... I'll explain what I know to you all when we're able to rest up somewhere - okay?"

Knuckles and Tangle made eye contact with each other, both uncertain and by the looks of things - they were a little unwilling to follow Sonic's words, but they both decided to relent. Not that Knuckles in particular looked happy about it, folding his arms. "Let's hurry up and find a place to rest then. The sky's getting dark."


Shadow warped in the area he had left her, and found her atop a rooftop - sitting up, wiping off blood that was streaming down her face.

"Woah-!" She exclaimed upon seeing him. "Holy shit, are you okay?"

Shadow stumbled amd swayed side to side, gripping onto his monstrous arm with the other - growling and heaving loud breaths. The alien-hedgehog seemed to be trying to emulate the breathing techniques he had learned from her earlier, but was struggling significantly.

"It's okay. it's okay..." She offered up in an attempt to be soothing, trying to keep her voice soft. "Just breathe. There's no rush-"

Rouge's eyes drifted downwards - suddenly realising there was something blue and shining in his hands - dazzling with a radiant beauty. Was that... a Chaos Emerald?

Holy shit, it was pretty.

Questions would have to wait though, Shadow was finding a rythm - closing his eyes as he decided to sit down and utilise his breathing techniques. Yet again it proved to be useful, with the scalew and goo vanishing from sight as if they had never been there in the first place - his eye returning to normal as well. The only evidence that something unusual had occured with him was the now torn glove he wore - as the tips had been torn through by his potruding claws.

Now, he was just a normal hedgehog again.

"Better?" She asked with some hesitance.

Shadow nodded slowly. "I have... retrieved an emerald."

"Is that why you were fighting Sonic?" She asked him. "But... why? Why do we need it?"

"To power the ARK." He explained to her through gritted teeth. "The Eclipse Cannon needs the emeralds for the laser to fire-"

"Huh? So you're telling me I left my old team because I wasn't interested in an emerald treasure hunt, only to come to you and now you're telling me to do the exact same thing?"

Shadow stared at her with a frustrated bewilderment. "This is a problem now? Didn't you say you were a thief or something. why are you opposing this?"

"Because I have bigger shit that I'm trying to do right now! Like kill a dictator!" Her own irritation was seeping through.

"Whatever..." Shadow sighed, closing his eyes again and mulling over the news she had presented him with. In no way would he have thought to anticipate this was a problem for her, what an entitled princess-

"I suppose... there's a quicker alternative." Shadow finally said, burying his anger deep - fighting for self control. "Our plan is the same for now, we head to the ARK as there are things I need to see to. Once that is done, we shall pursue the Master Emerald - am I making myself clear now?" He glared at her. "Are we finally on the same page?"

Rouge pondered his suggestion for a moment - taking on everyone back on the island at once? She doubted that Knuckles was going to make that job easy at all - he'd hunt them down relentlessly.

Yet... Shadow had come out of a fight with Sonic... relatively unscathed, if you didn't count the whole monster thing - and he had managed to take his emerald from him. That was surely a testament to his skill - perhaps they did stand a chance.

Hunting for an emerald they already knew the location of, rather than seven gems that could be anywhere on the planet - sounded like a much better arrangement. "Yeah." Rouge said. "That's a plan I can get behind."


Showdowns baby! Fight scenes - and now Shadow and Rouge have a Chaos Emerald (oh dear), but turns out - they don't even want the chaos emeralds anymore! Now their sights are set on the Master Emerald mwahahhaha. Whisper joins the group yet again because home girl can't seem to get a break. These heroes just... don't have much luck, huh?

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Mostly fighting but I really hope I delivered on deliving the dynamic of our rivals - Sonic/Shadow, and Knuckles/Rouge - and I really hope this was enjoyable! Let me know what you thought :)

Next time! Finally finding out why Metal tossed Silver and Tikal in a black hole in the In-Between, catching up with Miles and Starline, finding out what Amy is up to, and witnessing our heroes figure out what the heck to do with themselves next. And more mwahahha!

Ya'll know the drill - I love ya'll, the support has been so amazing like aaaah. Let me know your thoughts and critiques in a review! I love reading them! I hope ya'll had a good week! :) But for now, see ya later!