Chapter 18

The black light of the attack illuminated Sonic's face and was about to make contact when Sonic's eyes suddenly snapped wide open. In a flash of red light, the hero disappeared as the Dark Chaos Nightmare destroyed the spot where he lay.

Shadow turned around slightly to see Sonic standing there, holding his right arm, which was bleeding heavily. Shadow smirked and disappeared in a black flash of light, reappearing behind Sonic. With the raise of his leg, Shadow delivered a powerful snap kick to Sonic's injured arm.

Sonic grimaced in pain slightly before turning around and throwing a punch at Shadow. The dark one easily blocked it with the back of his hand. He could see Sonic's attacks were slowing down. The black hedgehog threw the hand off and delivered a powerful kick right to Sonic's stomach.

The red hedgehog's eyes widened out of pain as Shadow drew his other fist back, connecting it with Sonic's cheek. A crack echoed through the air as Sonic fell to the ground, completely motionless.

Shadow smiled darkly and charged up a Dark Chaos Spear in his right hand, pointing it at Sonic. With a launching sound, mimicking that of a laser gun, Shadow shot the attack straight at Sonic's exposed back.

Before the black blast of energy could connect however, a small yellow blast of energy knocked it away, sending it into the ground and creating a large crater. Shadow looked to the side to see Knuckles standing before him. His body was slightly hunched over, still from exhaustion and he was breathing heavily.

Shadow smirked and turned his entire body to the echidna. Before Knuckles could move a single muscle, Shadow appeared before him in a flash and lifted him up by the neck. Knuckles wheezed as the air began to be cut off. His eyes slowly rolled back in his head as his body became limp.

Shadow smirked and tossed the red warrior to the side. The echidna landed with a heavy thud on the ground, his hands in front of him, and completely motionless. Shadow turned his body back to the spot where Sonic was only to find him gone.

The dark hedgehog looked around slightly before a loud "Hyaaaa" echoed through the air. Shadow looked up only to receive a horizontal chop to the head. The dark hedgehog stumbled slightly as Sonic landed before him.

Not wasting any time, the hero began charging up an attack in his left hand. A bright red ball of energy illuminated the area as waves of color rolled off the ball. Shadow managed to get back up and looked at Sonic, only to see him launch his attack at him.

"Hyper Blast!" Sonic bellowed as a large red beam of energy was fired from his extended hand, hitting Shadow right in the chest and pushing him back across the battle field. Sonic kept on the attack for a moment before he lowered his hand, the beam also disappearing.

There, laying a hundred feet from Sonic was the smoking body of Shadow. Some of his fur had been burned slightly and there were multiple bloody boils across his body. Sonic smirked confidently as he touched back onto the ground.

The hero's smirk disappeared though, as Shadow started moving. "No way!" Sonic screamed in disbelief as the black hedgehog wearily pushed his burned body up and stood to his full height, staring down upon Sonic.

Sonic lifted off the ground again and charged for Shadow, the dark hedgehog following suite. Both connected by the elbows before warping away, reappearing ten feet from one another about fifty feet in the air.

Shadow darted forward and charged for Sonic as the hero took a defensive stance. Shadow collided with his fist against Sonic's crossed arms, creating a huge crashing sound. The dark hedgehog leaped away and charged up a black ball of energy in his hand.

"Dark Chaos Nightmare!" Shadow shouted as he released his attack, sending it straight at Sonic. The hero managed to dodge the attack in time by warping to safety. Sonic reappeared right behind Shadow and before the dark one had a chance to look, kneed him right in the back with colossal force.

Shadow's entire body bent awkwardly as he let out a scream of pain. Sonic took the opportunity and charged up an attack, pointing his hand right at Shadow's exposed back. "Super Sonic Wind!" The hero shouted as he fired a small red gust of energy at Shadow, knocking him down a few feet and scorching his back slightly.

The dark hedgehog turned around with a growl and warped away, reappearing beside Sonic. Raising his hand aver his head, Shadow snapped his hand down upon Sonic's neck in a chopping position.

The blue wonder caught sight of the attack just in time and warped away, reappearing above Shadow. The dark hedgehog looked up as Sonic charged for him. Shadow also shot up as the two hedgehogs engaged in lighting fast combat.

This went on for several minutes before Sonic drew back and fired a small Super Sonic Wind at Shadow. The hedgehog merely swatted the attack away with the back of his hand and charged for Sonic again, delivering a powerful punch to his stomach.

Sonic's eyes shrank as he grabbed his stomach in pain and bent over. Shadow took the opportunity and fired a Dark Chaos Spear right on the top of Sonic's head at point blank range.

Sonic's head snapped back as Shadow darted forward and delivered an open hand chop to his throat. Sonic's eyes widened as he grasped his throat in pain and started making wheezing sounds.

Shadow smirked and jumped back slightly; pointing both his hands at the hedgehog in a bowl type form. "Dark Chaos Nightmare!" Shadow shouted as he released a giant ball of black Chaos energy right at Sonic, who was still holding his throat.

The attack made impact with the hero, sending him flying back. Shadow smirked as he clenched both of his fists, a dark aura surrounding him. Then, in the blink of an eye, the hedgehog's body once again transformed into a huge black flame.

With a burst of air, the flame charged for Sonic, who had yet to recover. The flame seemed to go straight through the hero as he screamed out in pain. The flame reeled around and charged for Sonic again. But this time, he was prepared.

When the flame was millimeters away, Sonic quickly warped to safety, reappearing ten feet away from it. The flame, mimicking a person, turned around and charged for Sonic, who again warped away, this time reappearing ten feet below it.

It reeled back around once again and charged downward towards sonic. Sonic smirked. For sure it would think he would warp again! How wrong it was…

When the flame was within distance, Sonic flung out his arm out and fired a colossal Chaos Wave right at it. The flame did not have time to dodge and was hit head on in a flash of light. It cleared to reveal the flame gone and Shadow in its place.

The dark hedgehog growled as he looked down at the smirking Sonic and charged again. Before Shadow could make impact though, Sonic quickly warped out of the way and reappeared behind him, delivering a swift chop to the back of his neck.

Shadow gasped out of pain slightly as Sonic performed a 180 and kicked Shadow right in the side, sending him spiraling downward. Shadow regained his composure by performing a simple flip to stop the momentum ha had.

Looking up, Shadow charged for Sonic again, glowing a hellish black color. Sonic's eyes widened as Shadow appeared right before him and released his devastating attack. "Dark Chaos Blast!"

A huge wave of spherical black Chaos energy shot from Shadow's body and consumed both hedgehogs. The light cleared to see Shadow still afloat but Sonic plummeting to the ground, completely motionless.

Shadow did not spare him though, as he charged down at incredible velocity, putting his elbow in front of him. With a loud boom, Shadow drove his elbow straight into Sonic's back.

This, of course, awakened the hero as he screamed out in pain. The hedgehog made impact with the ground, creating a huge crater. Shadow smirked as he landed beside the crater and pointed a hand down at the fallen Sonic.

His hand began to gather a small energy orb. "Dark Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted as he released the attack, firing it at the motionless Sonic.

The attack made impact, creating a huge black dome of energy. Before it cleared, Shadow raised his hand again and summoned on another attack.

"Dark Chaos Barrage!" Shadow bellowed as hundreds of small black chaos blasts flew from his hand. The blats flew into the huge black dome, feeding it and making it at least twice as big as before.

Shadow finally lowered his hand as the light cleared to reveal the crater completely empty. "Hmph, it seems like I have incinerated every last part of him."

The dark hedgehog turned his back to the crater and began to walk away when something burst from the bottom of it. The hedgehog looked over his shoulder to see the still very much alive Ultra Sonic floating there, a red orb of energy in hand and pointing it at him.

"You should learn to aim better!" Sonic shouted as he released his attack.

Shadow simply warped out of the way to avoid it as it crashed into the ground, completely destroying the spot where the dark hedgehog just stood. Shadow reappeared right in front of Sonic and jabbed him in the stomach.

Sonic's eyes widened out of pain as Shadow removed his fist. The dark hedgehog looked at the wheezing enemy in front of him with a look of disgust on his face. "Pathetic." He murmured before charging up a Dark Chaos Fury in his clenched fists.

With a loud battle cry, Shadow darted forward and began pounding against Sonic's chest and face. The hero didn't even have the strength left to try and dodge as he was hit with every single blow.

Shadow laughed maniacally and continued the onslaught until he backed up slightly and fired both orbs at Sonic. The red hedgehog was knocked back by the attack and landed on the ground, lying on his back.

Shadow smirked and charged for him. Faster than any eye could catch, Shadow dug his knee into Sonic's stomach. The hero screamed in pain as the middle of his body was forced down into the rocks slightly.

Shadow only smirked in sick, twisted pleasure and jumped back, aiming his hand straight at Sonic's face. "Dark Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted as he fired the attack, creating a small black dome of light.

It cleared to reveal to beaten Sonic lying there motionlessly, with his eyes closed. Shadow smirked again and lifted off into the air, attempting for another charge attack. The hedgehog darted down again, his right knee in front of him.

When Shadow was mere inches away, Sonic suddenly snapped his eyes open and rolled out of the way. Shadow's knee dug into the earth as Sonic performed a horizontal 180 and kicked Shadow straight in the face, sending him crashing to the ground.

Sonic darted up and got into a fighting pose as Shadow got back to his feet, his eyes showing anger but also, a hint of disbelief. How could someone in the Ultra form keep up with someone whose power level was equivalent to that of the Mega form?

Shadow shook the thought out of his mind and also got into a fighting stance. Then, with a burst of unnatural black air, Shadow kicked off the ground and charged for Sonic.