Chapter 13

Shadow looked at his monstrous brother and gave him a glare as he spoke those words. "Not really."

Eclipse's smirk grew. "OH WELL, I GUESS SOME PEOPLE ARE NEVER PLEASED."

Shadow shook his head at Eclipse and took a step forward. "This ends right here, right now Eclipse!"

Shadow looked back at Knuckles and Sonic. "I'll distract him while you two transform into your Hyper forms, got it?" Shadow whispered, making sure Eclipse would not hear him. The two nodded at him and Shadow pointed his hand at the two, causing the emeralds to float over to them.

Shadow looked back towards Eclipse. The dark hedgehog closed his eyes and curled his fists together as golden flames started dancing around his body. His fur blinked golden a few times as his quills stood on end. Finally, with one golden flash, Shadow's fur turned permanently gold as he entered his Super form.

The hedgehog opened his eyes and looked back at Eclipse. He pushed himself off the ground and hovered towards the silver monster. "W cannot fight here Eclipse."

The monster tilted his head slightly. "AND WHY NOT?" But as soon as those words past his lips the beast realized why. "OH, SO YOU DON'T WANT INNOCENTS TO BE HURT, DO YOU? YOU'RE SO PATHETIC SHADOW!"

"Listen, we will fight somewhere else, got it?" Shadow snapped.

Eclipse shook his giant head playfully. "WHY SHOULD WE GO TO ANOTHER BATTLEGROUND WHEN I CAN MAKE ONE RIGHT HERE?"

Shadow gave Eclipse a confused look. "What do you"- Before Shadow could finish his sentence however, the monstrous form of Eclipse raised both of his hands as the entire ground down below began to shake. Rocks and concrete started cracking as streets, parking lots, and entire fields were forcefully ripped out of the ground.

Shadow's eyes widened at this as the huge chunks of land floated up over the two hedgehogs and beyond the clouds. Shadow looked down and saw the destruction left behind. Buildings were on the brink of collapsing and rain water quickly filled the giant holes and rips in the earth that were left behind.

Fearing the worst, Shadow looked down to check on Rouge's mansion to find it still very much in tact. The hedgehog mentally sighed and turned his attention back towards Eclipse who smirked at him.

"FOLLOW ME!" Eclipse ordered as his wings pounded more furiously as he took higher altitude. Shadow also began ascending when he felt two power surges. He looked down to see the eight emeralds spinning around a blue and red figure. Shadow smiled as he flew upward through the turbulent clouds.

Shadow kept going through the lighting and rain filled clouds when he suddenly reached his destination. The golden hedgehog looked around to see all the parts that Eclipse ripped from the ground hovering around in. They were all stationary and barely moved up and down. All the separate pieces of land were apart as they created what looked like a set of small islands, with the sky representing the sea.

The sun shone brightly on all the land and the super powered hedgehog. Shadow turned to his side to find Eclipse standing on a large chink of flat concrete with his wings folded behind his back.

The evil hedgehog smirked at him. "YOU READY?"

Shadow did not respond, but instead charged at Eclipse. A golden burst of energy was left behind from his charge as Shadow sped towards Eclipse. The silver hedgehog had not yet made any attempt to dodge the attack or even move his body as he just stood there with a large smirk plastered on his face.

Shadow finally reached Eclipse and threw one pf his super powered fists at the monstrous hedgehog. The fist made impact with a loud boom as everything got awkwardly still. Shadow looked up and was shocked to see Eclipse still standing in his exact same position smirking at the small hedgehog that had his fist burrowed in his stomach.

Eclipse tensed his body up a little as a strong gust of energy came forth and knocked Shadow away. The golden hedgehog soon recovered however and floated above a small portion of a broken road while staring at the monstrous Eclipse.

Shadow's eyes widened to see Eclipse show no signs of pain or even feeling anything. Eclipse enjoyed every moment of the whole ordeal as he spoke. "AS YOU CAN SEE SHADOW, THINGS ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT NOW!"

Shadow swallowed a dry lump in his throat and responded. "But…how are you…able to…stand up to that?"

Eclipse threw his giant head back and laughed. "STILL SO NAÏVE BROTHER? WELL, LET ME EXPLAIN TO YOU EXACTLY WHAT HAS CHANGED: AS YOU CAN SEE, I AM WAY MORE POWERFUL THAN I WAS AT OUR LAST ENCOUNTER. WHY YOU MIGHT ASK?" Eclipse's amused facial expression turned to a serious one. "YOU SEE, AFTER OUR LAST ENCOUNTER, I REALIZED I COULD NOT YET FULLY CONTROL MY POWER, AND SINCE I HAD TO GET OUT OF THAT BATTLE ALIVE TO TRAIN, I DECIDED TO USE YOUR LITTLE GIRLFRIEND TO ESCAPE. EVER SINCE THEN, I HAVE BEEN TRAINING AND I MUST SAY…" Eclipse momentarily cut himself off as he pointed a giant clawed hand towards a large chunk of soil. A large silver orb formed within his claw and he released it, totally destroying the piece of land. "…IT FEELS PRETTY DAMN GOOD!" Eclipse continued while smirking.

Shadow, even though he would never admit it, was truly timid about facing Eclipse. Now that he was at least ten times stronger, how could he stand a chance. But then, a thought struck the hedgehog. 'Yes that's it! The Ultra form! That should be enough to bring him down. I just hope Sonic and Knuckles would hurry up!'

On cue, two white and pink streaks burst through the dark clouds before the two combatants as Sonic and Knuckles both appeared, in their Hyper forms. "That Calvary is here!" Sonic shouted to Shadow.

Before the two headed over to him, Shadow caught Knuckles putting down eight gray objects on a grassy, bumpy, chunk of land. 'The Chaos and Master Emeralds!'

Shadow knew they did not yet regain their power though so transforming now was not an option. Sonic and Knuckles flew over to Shadow and the three faced Eclipse, who was still on that same piece of land, only now his giant arms were crossed over his chest. "THREE ON ONE, EH? WELL I SUPPOSE IT'LL MAKE IT MORE INTERESTING. HERE I COME!"

As those words left his lips, Eclipse's wings unfolded as he charged for the three heroes. Eclipse turned to the left and struck his first attack against Knuckles, who was totally caught off guard by the monster's new speed and was forcefully knocked back. Eclipse then did a 180 and launched a side kick towards Sonic, who ducked just in time. Next, Eclipse's tail lashed out towards Shadow who was whipped in the stomach by it.

Bending over in pain, a small amount of blood escaped his lips as a large bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. Sonic used this opportunity and launched himself over Shadow and delivered a straight kick towards Eclipse's face. The monster got hit head on and was surprised that it actually hurt.

Sonic did not stop there though as he formed his hands into what looked like a bowl, with his fingers curled at the ends. A white energy orb formed within as Sonic released his attack. "EAT THIS! HYPER BLAST!"

A large white energy blast erupted from Sonic's hands and headed straight for Eclipse. The hedgehog put his hands up and caught the orb, he was struggling however, to keep it back. Knuckles, who had since recovered also, formed an energy orb in one hand. "THUNDER ARROW!" The bolt of energy flew towards Eclipse and connected with Sonic's attack, making the orb Eclipse was trying to hold back even bigger.

Shadow had also recovered and also formed his own attack within his hands. "CHAOS SPEAR!" The yellow energy bolt flew towards Eclipse and also formed with Sonic's attack, creating an orb almost as large as Eclipse himself.

Meanwhile, Eclipse was still struggling to hold back the attack. The heroes however, did not intend on giving the beast a breather as Sonic moved himself to a horizontal base and Shadow and Knuckles each took hold of one of his feet with both of their hands.

With one powerful thrust, they launched the pink and white hedgehog forward. The hedgehog came at Eclipse with blazing speed and put one of his fists in front of him. Sonic made contact with a large white energy spark and dug at the attack, trying to push it into Eclipse.

The added strength was too much for the monster as his arms gave way to its negative force. The attack made a loud impact with Eclipse as a neck bristling scream filled the air. Sonic did a summersault and flew back to his companions. The white smoke cleared to reveal the gruesome sight.

There was a large bloody hole in Eclipse's stomach and chest; both of his arms were blown off as well of half of his left leg. The monster released another scream before glowing silver and reforming its body parts.

The large hedgehog cracked his knuckles as his claws coiled into fists. With one beat of his wings, the monster charged once again. Eclipse came at Sonic first and lashed his tail out towards the Hyper hedgehog. Sonic was too quick however, as he ducked under the attack.

Sonic countered by shooting a Super Sonic Wind at the menace. Eclipse raised his arms up as the attack bounced harmlessly off his arms. Shadow came at him next with a round house kick that hit Eclipse right in his jaw. The giant monster wavered for a moment but this was enough for Knuckles to shoot a Thunder Arrow right in his left eye.

Eclipse released an ear piercing scream as he raised his hands to cover the damaged eye. The heroes were not done though, as all three of them launched a small energy blast towards him. With his one good eye barely open, Eclipse saw the attack coming and warped out of the way, reappearing in the same spot after the attacks had passed.

His eye glowed before he removed his hands from it and squinted it open again. The giant hedgehog glared at his three opponents and raised one of his claws, pointed it at the three. "IV'E HAD ENOUGH OF YOU PESTS!"

When he bellowed those words, a giant Chaos Bomb was launched from his claw towards the group. Shadow got in front of Sonic and Knuckles and began to glow a devilish red. "CHAOS BLAST!" Shadow shouted as the giant red energy wave consumed his and the oncoming attack.

The blast cleared as all three heroes were unfazed. Eclipse growled. 'I HAVE TO TAKE DOWN SHADOW FIRST!' The monster thought before launching himself at the three again. All three got into defensive position as Eclipse reeled back to deliver a blow to Knuckles. But right before his fist made impact, the monstrous hedgehog disappeared.

A split second later, Eclipse reappeared behind Shadow and delivered a vicious punch to the back of his head. Shadow's red irises shrank as his entire body was sent downward towards a large grassy piece of land.

With a loud boom and a huge cloud of dirt, the super hedgehog made impact as he just lay there, motionless. Knuckles and Sonic quickly turned around and spotted Eclipse, who had a smirk plastered on his face. "ONE DOWN TWO TO GO!"

Eclipse once again charged at the two and sent one of his muscular legs towards Sonic. The hedgehog was hit with full force and was sent flying backwards. Knuckles then threw one of his fists against the evil hedgehog but Eclipse caught him by the wrist with his tail. Eclipse started whirling his tail around and sent Knuckles flying higher into the air.

A flash of light illuminated the area as Eclipse warped over Knuckles and hit him back down with a monstrous kick. Knuckles' body fell completely lifeless towards a piece of concrete. The Echidna made impact as his Hyper form burned away.

Eclipse smirked as he directed his attention back towards Sonic, who was coming back at him. Sonic's eyes widened when he saw Knuckles laying on the floating piece of concrete. "Knuckles!"

Eclipse smirked. "I THINK YOU SHOULD WORRY ABOUT YOURSELF FIRST, HERO!" And with those words spoken, Eclipse charged for Sonic.

With Shadow

Ruby red eyes slowly blinked open as Shadow regained consciousness. The hedgehog's super form had already burned away due to his lack of concentration as the black hedgehog pushed himself off the ground.

Shadow's eyes darted upwards when a loud explosion shook the skies. He looked p to see a giant silver beast and a Hyper hedgehog collide with their elbows. 'But…where is Knuckles?' The dark hedgehog thought. The Echidna was nowhere in sight and Shadow was beginning to get worried.

He quickly shook those thoughts out of his head however, when he once again looked up at the two fighters. The dark hedgehog rose to his full height as his black fur blinked back to golden as his quills stood on end.

Shadow was about to fly back towards Eclipse when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Looking back, Shadow spotted the Chaos and Master emeralds lying there in the wet grass, their color and power fully restored.

Shadow smiled as he flew back down towards the ground and landed by the emeralds. With one wave of his hand, the emeralds lifted off the ground and formed a circle around the hedgehog.

Shadow closed his eyes and curled his hands into fists as the eight emeralds started spinning. Soon, the emeralds became nothing more than a rainbow colored line as energy crackled around them and into the dark hedgehog.

Shadow's fur blinked from golden to silver as he entered his Hyper form. He did not stop there however, as his fur changed from silver to ice blue. In an instant, the emeralds stopped spinning and fell to the ground in a dull gray color.

Above them stood the transformed Shadow. The hedgehog opened his eyes which were now the same color as his fur, icy blue. The now transformed Shadow slowly lifted off the ground and shot towards the battle.

With Sonic

Sonic took another hard kick from Eclipse as a large red strip was formed across his stomach. The hedgehog coughed for a moment before his Hyper form faded away and he fell towards the ground.

Eclipse smirked as he watched the hedgehog fall but his smirk soon disappeared when a blue blur caught Sonic. Ultra Shadow now floated below Eclipse, staring at the monster with Sonic over his shoulder.

Shadow's gaze left Eclipse as he floated down to where he had spotted Knuckles was laying and put the sea blue hedgehog right beside him. Shadow then flew back up and came to the same level as Eclipse.

Eclipse smirked at Shadow. "AH, THE ULTRA FORM! I HAVE TO SAY I WAS AMAZED THE FIRST TIME I SAW YOU LIKE THIS BUT NOW…….YOU AREN'T EVEN IN THE SAME LEAGUE AS I!"

Shadow smirked at him. "Is that so? Well then, I guess we'll just have to see for ourselves."

Eclipse got into a fighting stance. "INDEED WE WILL!"

Shadow's smirk disappeared as he charged for Eclipse, leaving a bright blue energy burst behind him.

Author's Note: Remember to subscribe to the C2 I am in, Tales of an Ultimate.