UlTrRa SiK pRoDuCtIoNs pReSeNtZ:

LoVe'S bUrN

By: UlTrAa ShAdDow

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Sega's characters….but I'd be a very happy guy if I did!

-Fasten your seatbelts Ladies and Gents! We're drawing to our conclusion and enjoy the super helping of the second-to-last chapter of Love's Burn…It's guaranteed to be a ride…

"Love's Burn: The unfathomable ocean of sorrow that taints one heart's when true love is lost…"

Third POV….

"Hi, my name's Achilles, what's yours?"

Shadow's breath caught in his chest at the sight of the golden hedgehog. Of course it was appalling to find the room littered with the battered, almost lifeless bodies of his friends, but the thing that made Shadow's stomach lurch was that the new stranger had greeted him amiably. It seemed to matter little to the new hedgehog that in one hand he was straining the life from Sonic and in the other; he was waving to them, almost happily.

But behind the perfect, crest-white smile, and the amazing ocean-blue eyes, Shadow sensed a hidden, withdrawn disturbance; like the way the presence of a ghost touched a medium, the lunacy of the gold hedgehog haunted the ultimate life form.

Vaguely Shadow had forgotten that the gold hedgehog had asked them a question. It seemed as if he had been analyzing the new threat for hours, when in truth, only seconds had passed.

Knuckles glared at the stranger firmly as Tikal stared at him wide-eyed. Knuckles' eyes seemed to scorch as furiously as wildfire when he stepped forward, "You. Release. Sonic. Now."

"Oh this blue fool?" Achilles glimpsed at Sonic momentarily and smiled, "Make me."

His grin widened with a ruthful malice when his hand tightened around Sonic's neck. The blue hedgehog screamed weakly, feeling a new hot pulse of pain surge through his body. Knuckles jumped into action immediately as Tikal gasped, disbelieving the cruelness of Achilles' actions.

'Truly,' Tikal wondered, 'what has the terrible doctor created?"

Tikal was hurled out of her thoughts as soon as a hand came down upon her shoulder; it was Shadow, "You must heal the others as you have done Knuckles." The echidna heiress nodded her head, "You must help Knuckles…I couldn't…please help him!"

"No," Shadow replied, his red eyes trailed off somewhere else, gazing at something from the corners of his eyes, "…I think I know someone else who could help us much more." Knuckles charged at Achilles, ignoring the growing grin on his face. The guardian narrowed his eyes and took to the air, gliding at the golden hedgehog.

"Hmm," Achilles hummed thoughtfully, "At first glance, I thought you were a girl with all that hair! But what a disappointment that turned out to be!"

"Well, we'll see if you're still talking like that by the time I'm through with you!" Knuckles hissed.

Achilles shrugged and hurled Sonic at an incoming Knuckles. Surprise lit up Knuckles' face as he found himself involuntarily catching his long time blue friend and rival; the catch was a reflex.

The flaxen hedgehog took the opportunity to ambush the red guardian when his hands were full; literally. The golden hedgehog jarred Knuckles in the stomach with a blow that brought the red guardian to his knees.

Knuckles grimaced slightly as he recoiled and sat Sonic off at a safe distance. He looked at his blue friend before he sped off to be right in Achilles' face again. Tikal landed beside a woozy Daisy. She looked to the Heavens as she summoned the strength to remove the heavy piano from the little girl hedgehog, "…Please, lend me your strength father…"

Gold rivulets of light spilled on the echidna princess. With a vicious shriek, she tossed the table off of Daisy. Finally, now that the main obstacle had been moved, Tikal would be able to heal. The monarch closed her eyes, took a deep breath and placed bright, glowing sapphire hands on the yellow hedgehog.

"Uh…"

Daisy slowly opened her eyes but only now,they were no longer opaque and numbed from pain. She quickly sat up as Tikal moved away from her, "…Wow, I feel better…" The princess smiled, "That is pleasant news to my ears. But now I must take care of the others. It would be wise for you to stay out of the gold hedgehog's warpath."

The little hedgehog watched Tikal ascend higher into the air until she came across a black and silver hedgehog. At first glance, the echidna princess was unsure whether or not the unfriendly antihero was alive.

But sure enough, he still had an aura, as all living things had; but an aura was an aura, even as faint as his was. But what surprised Tikal the most was the fact that Scythe's aura was no longer a dark gray but a warm rose. And instead of his normal bitter, dangerous glare, he looked at her with soft silver eyes, "…Am I in Heaven? I don't deserve this…"

The angelic being hovering before him smiled with aqua eyes shinning, "No, you still live, now rest as I heal your wounds…This is going to take awhile."

Knuckles panted as beads of sweat rolled down his face; the only thing that was saving him from having his rear handed to him on a silver platter were the pseudo upgrades Eggman had given him.

And the more Knuckles fought the experiment, the less he liked him; once during their fight, he had hit the yellow freak once; his first lick he had gotten in on his powerful foe and that sent Achilles into hysterics.

The hedgehog went ape-wild; blue eyes wide and furious, roaring savagely, and throwing a barrage of punches a mile a minute and trying to kick the head right off of his shoulders.

He wasn't surprised at all that this was the creature who almost finished Sonic. But now that Knuckles wore a couple of decent gashes, it seemed that Achilles had settled back into his arrogant, smiling self again.

"…I admit echidna, you are actually a challenge," Achilles smiled, "You're putting up a fight, like my brother."

The guardian grimaced, hoping that Achilles didn't really just refer to Scythe as his brother; his brother who he strung up to a wall by thick shards of glass. That act wasn't what Knuckles considered to be brotherly.

"But like him, you shall find out that I am out of your league," Achilles stated.

"Says who, bitch!?"

A black and silver hedgehog appeared beside Knuckles; a renewed black and silver hedgehog. His silver eyes glinted icily as his smile was acidic. Achilles' smile disappeared, "…How?" But Scythe didn't even allow him to finish his sentence before he charged his brother, with Knuckles in tow. They both exchanged smiles and charged the stunned gold menace.

"…This experiment…is insane," Rouge hissed to herself, "If he's willing to turn on his creator…And knowing that the only thing saving me from such demise is a few of the Doctor's words… that's none too promising…"

The huntress had wisely hidden herself behind a crevice in one of the newly smashed-in walls. She sat, with her knees curled in front of her as she bit one of her nails in thought. She furrowed her brows and marred her attractive face with worry as she thought of a plan.

"Maybe I'll have too--"

"You'll do no more, you evil woman!"

Rouge looked up to see a gloved palm no more than two inches away from her face. Behind the slender hand was an angry echidna female. Rouge scoffed, "And just what are you planning to do? Preach me to death?"

Tikal narrowed her eyes as Rouge rose to her feet to meet her eye-level. Just as Rouge turned to spin on her heel and leave, Tikal moved, "Do not move!"

Rouge turned to face Tikal with a sneer. Only this time, the huntress decided to deal with her much more cautiously when she noticed that the echidna's palm was glowing pink as were her eyes.

"Even with your pretty, sparkling powers," Rouge snickered, "You're still no match for me."

"Perhaps, but what about me?"

Rouge spun around to be face-to face with a tall black and red hedgehog. His gleaming red eyes seemed amused as Rouge stumbled back blindly, shocked from such a close encounter. Tikal hoisted Rouge into the air from a coarse grip around the neck and glared at her. Shadow stood beside Tikal and smirked slightly as he watched Rouge struggle in her unorthodox savage grip.

"…Now we can do this two ways. Either we do it my way…or you can answer to her."

Shadow hiked a thumb at Tikal who snarled and tightened her grip upon the bat's neck, "Si vos operor non dico nos qua Vinco Emerald est , tunc EGO mos ligamen vos ut a parietis per vestri innards…that means, if you do not tell us where the Master Emerald is, then I will string you to a wall with your innards."

Shadow stepped away from Tikal, in slight anxiety, "…The choice is yours."

Rouge's smiled turned shark-like, "Fine then, but call off your tribal-pixie friend."

Tikal's eyes sparked and she dropped Rouge un-ceremonially, and the huntress landed on her rear with her legs splayed; a very unlady-like way to be positioned in a dress. And had Tikal not been standing in front of Rouge, Shadow would have gotten a very nice view. Emphasize on very nice.

Rouge rose to her feet, "Fine then, but are you sure you even have enough power to awaken the Emerald, twiggy?"

Tikal's eyes narrowed as Rouge twirled on her heel and began heading to another cove in the room. The second Rouge turned her back, Tikal roared and fired a flare of fuchsia energy. The attack was only deflected by the Shadow's inference. Tikal's eyes were still glowing furiously as she struggled in his grip, "That foul woman!"

Shadow held Tikal's wrist in his hand as he glared at her incredulously, "I never thought I'd be saying this to you of all people, but get a grip!" With a deep sigh, Tikal closed her eyes and recomposed herself, "If your woman does not return to her normal self, then know that I will be willing to flog it out of her."

Both Shadow and Tikal followed Rouge until she stopped before an air-locked door. The treasure huntress growled in frustration then turned to face her two followers, "It's locked! I can't access it."

"Sure you can."

Shadow moved before the door, and with two furious kicks wrenched the door off its track and busted it in half. Rouge gaped wordlessly as Shadow and Tikal enter the door. The black hedgehog had just bust down a pure titanium door with two menial kicks!

Rouge slowly slinked into the room after Shadow. She stopped beside him and stared at him intensely, "…Are you sure you do not wish to join me?"

"Tikal, the emerald," Shadow replied, as if Rouge hadn't even asked the question.

Tikal glided over to an obsidian pillar and gazed at the Master Emerald. The emerald was jet-black and cold, unlike its usual self where it was green and pulsated with power. The echidna monarch placed a hand upon the emerald and smiled, "I am so glad to see you friend."

A wicker of green flashed briefly through the emerald in response to the girl's touch. Shadow and Rouge leaned forward slightly, silently captivated by scene before them. They watched Tikal and the great emerald with established interest.

"You are safe now," Tikal closed her eyes, "I ask you dear friend, please release your power, so we may be subject to them."

The room was enveloped in a bright green glow as the Master Emerald flared to life. The jewel itself was the pinnacle of the radiance. The new light grew to the intensity that both Shadow and Rouge had to shield their eyes.

The glowing emerald also brought a new rising warmth to the cold room; as if the Master Emerald had blanketed them all in a warm, mantle of energy. Shadow slowly lowered his arms from his impeded view and peered at the beaming emerald. The flare of the bright light reflected brilliantly in his irises.

Tikal floated in midair beside the jewel, looking at him blissfully. If he didn't know any better, he thought that he had spied tears on her face, "My friend, he is good of heart. And I believe that he will use your powers wisely. Lend the black hedgehog your powers and see!"

Both Knuckles and Scythe had enough wit to know that their only shot of defeating the potent hedgehog was to double-team the jerk. They both attacked Achilles simultaneously, sending blows at him left and right.

But the only thing Achilles seemed to be getting out of the fight was entertainment. He looked nowhere close to fighting them seriously. And half of the time, he didn't attack. He glided, dodging their attacks effortlessly, smiling and laughing the entire way.

"I'm so sick of this bastard," Scythe hissed.

"That makes two of us then," Knuckles growled.

"Come on fellas," Achilles smiled, "I'm starting to get bored. Jeez, will I get a better fight out of the girls?"

Scythe's face distorted and gave into rage, "…You lousy bastard! You won't get the chance to get near Daisy…AGAIN!" Scythe bolted and flew at Achilles like a bullet. Knuckles saw the utter rage etched on his features and snapped his head to look at him, "Scythe! Get back here!"

But Scythe was beyond the control of words, even when Daisy yelled at him, he did not listen. Something had snapped inside the silver and black hedgehog's mind; maybe it was due to the fact that he had witnessed Achilles smashing a table threw Daisy's sternum.

And that the only thing he could do was watch helplessly as he was welded to the wall. Whatever the reason for his sudden vicious outburst, it closed him off completely to the outside world.

Scythe reached for his brother, but found only air. Achilles smiled as his brother threw multiple punches at him. The dark hedgehog's fists found only emptiness. Achilles retaliated with a remark, "Oh brother, I can't decide which one is your greater folly. Your sheer rage, or your adoration for our pseudo-sister."

The silver and black coated hedgehog narrowed his eyes and attempted a kick and missed his target completely. Achilles smiled at him as he watched his brother soar past him. When he saw Scythe's uncovered front, Achilles hit him with a blow that had a sickening crack.

Scythe's irises shrank to the size of pinpoints and he hit the floor with a thud. Daisy screamed as Knuckles ran to the hedgehog's aid. But Knuckles halted abruptly when he felt a tight grip on his quills. The guardian snarled and swung at Achilles, but with a nice tug on the quills, Knuckles stopped immediately with his head being jerked backwards. Within a matter of seconds, the great warrior was rendered helpless.

Achilles bent over Knuckles and smiled, "That blow I dealt to brother wasn't fatal, I just broke a couple of his ribs…But when I snap your neck, you shall die."

The golden hedgehog smiled terribly as he squeezed the red guardian's neck. Knuckles clenched his eyes tightly as he bit back the urge to scream out. He could feel Achilles' hands manipulating the bones in his neck and bending them to his will. A crushing, hot pain began to rise in the guardian's throat; his vision began to blur as the burning pressure slowly increased.

But Knuckles was dropped to the floor suddenly, as air rushed into his lungs sweetly. Knuckles coughed as he looked up, trying to figure out just what had caused Achilles to spare his life.

But then he blanched when he saw Tikal staring dead at him. Her hand was embellished in a glowing rose light. Achilles stared at the smoking scorch mark in the wall beside his head, then turned to look at her blankly.

"You will not touch him!" Tikal hissed, eyes burning dangerously.

"…Who are you?" Achilles asked as his set upon the slender tawny echidna. Another blitz of pink energy was flung at the gold hedgehog, this time missing him by mere centimeters, "Whoa…" Achilles looked at her with a dark smile, "Wanna fight?"

Tikal glowered, 'I hope this will buy you enough time to absorb the powers of the Master Emerald, dark hedgehog…'

At first, Shadow was completely adverse to the idea of taking the energy of the Master Emerald. He had used the Chaos Emeralds and was familiar with their workings, but the Master Emerald was a different entity of its own.

Tikal easily pointed out that using the power of the Master Emerald would be twice as powerful as the use of the Chaos Emeralds. But Shadow was sure that the Master Emerald, just like the Chaos Emeralds had its own set of weaknesses. With the Chaos Emeralds, the user of the ability had only a limited amount of time to use the super-charged abilities before time faded.

The princess promised that the only flaw with using the Master Emerald was that the user's emotions were much more powerful, and influenced the power of the Emerald. And as emotional as Shadow was…the power of the Master Emerald was in good hands. Shadow finally accepted the idea of relying on the Emerald's power when Tikal reminded him of how abysmal the others were doing against the insane, gold hedgehog.

With his hands on the Emerald, Shadow floated in the room as gallons of energy poured into him. He appeared meditative; eyes closed with a tranquil expression on his face. From a corner of the room, Rouge watched him as she rested against a nearby wall.

A cool, calculating façade was washed over the bat's face as she studied him intently. Instead of gauging him like an opponent, as she had been doing all this time, she was now thinking of him romantically; there was little doubt in her mind that the black hedgehog harbored strong feelings for her. Even although he began to hide it from her when she first sided with Eggman, she could still see it in his eyes.

But how did she feel about him? A surface thought came to mind, "…He's cute…"

Then, unexpectedly, a cascade of memories struck Rouge like a flare of white lightning; a simple thought triggered the following onslaught of memories to flow from her mind endlessly. She gasped as random images appeared before her. Each one held the night-hued hedgehog and herself.

…Shadow walking in a park with her…Shadow tickling her playfully… Shadow sleeping, exhausted and splayed almost comically on a couch…even a rather steamy, risqué memory of the black hedgehog stole her mind. In this vision she even got a snipet of an audio. The hedgehog stared at her with intense, passionate eyes.

"…Do you like it when I touch you like that, pretty lady? You're gorgeous mi amore…"

Rouge shook her head, trying to jar such a filthy thought from her head. But at the same time, she fought back an urge to blush. One last image popped up before her, it was the same black hedgehog with a sincere, loving smile.

"I love you Rouge, you're beautiful, amazing, fascinating…you're the only person I shall adore full heartedly."

Finally, the last memory faded away, scattering quickly, leaving Rouge staring blankly into the present. Gray eyes stared at the hedgehog before her. She watched him deeply, "…Who are you?"

It seemed that today, Achilles had learned a lot. The first thing he picked up about the echidna princess, was the fact that she attacked him at quite an incredible distance. Her style was flinging bolts of radical energy.

Achilles darted and zipped through the hail of energy bursts. He looked up at the hovering monarch, "Why do you attack at a distance, pretty one? Too weak to throw your own blows? If this keeps up, then I'll have to come up there."

Tikal narrowed her eyes, "Try that and we shall see what shall become of you shortly."

"You're inviting me up there?" Achilles wicked smile made her shudder, "I'm on my way, pretty one."

Instead of heading her threatening words, the gold hedgehog plunged forward, heading straight for her. An icy fear numbed Tikal as she saw the approaching foe. If she didn't do something fast, Achilles would have her right in his hands.

It was time to summon her strongest attack, her very own ace in the hole. Tikal closed her aquiline turquoise eyes as she prepared for her final move. It was either crush or be crushed. A light wisp of pale blue energy swirled around Tikl as she gathered courage as she summoned, "Heaven's Justice!"

The attack swept the floor with myriads of sky-blue beams. Clouds of dark smoke curled in the air as Tikal's eyes scanned the thick haze. She spotted Knuckles, who peered up at her, then she turned to see Daisy huddled beside Scythe. Amy was beside Sonic, looking at him worriedly.

There was absolutely no sign of the gold demon. And even if he was hiding, Tikal would still be able to detect his aura. Then, she spotted him right beneath her, looking up at her with odd sky-blue eyes. A small, wisp of smoke rose from a reddened wound on his shoulder. Tikal felt herself go cold; by the time she would try to summon another attack, it would be far too late.

"…You hit me," he deadpanned, face completely void.

Without a second thought, he picked up a broken scrap of metal from one of the nearby busted machines, and hurled it at the echidna princess. Tikal managed to whirl around just enough to take the blow in the clavicle.

The tribal princess yelped as she hit the floor. Her senses seemed to be numbing from the new bubbling pain as her gaze blurred and her hearing flickered in and out, like a static filled radio. Had she been feeling any better, Tikal would have picked up the furious, yet panicked howls of her fiancée.

Tikal's numb aquamarine eyes fixed on an approaching Achilles. A large toothy grin seized his face as sky blue irises blazed. If Tikal's vision wasn't failing her, she would have been submerged in fear at the raging lunacy approaching her. He was just a mere, golden blur.

The gold hedgehog narrowed his eyes and smiled chillingly. He had finally caught his prey that was helpless at his feet. All the fire and fight in her was doused as she could barely breathe without trouble. This one; this slender, long-quilled, pretty echinda...he'd enjoy finding ways to bring her pain and...

A crackle of green energy flew past the gold hedgehog, exploding violently on the wall in front of him. Had Achilles not been as fast as he was, he would have been a headless being. Respectively, Achilles stopped in his stride and turned blue eyes narrowed dangerously.

His sight landed on a black hedgehog standing across the room with an outstretched arm. Behind him Rouge stood at a considerably safe distance, her arms crossed and her brows furrowed, as if she was in deep pondering.

"This ends now Achilles," Shadow growled, "Since you like to know everyone's names, me let me start by introducing myself; I'm Shadow, the person who will bring you to your knees."

The gold hedgehog's glare lightened considerably, "Shadow...As in the project from ark about half a century ago? You look a tad different then I expected."

Achilles took in Shadow's new appearance with slight interest; in place of his infamous red streaks, bright green streaks were slashed on his fur, and likewise, in place of his searing crimson eyes were intense, jade-hued irises.

" I thought--Oh…" A smile of realization dawned on the gold hedgehog's face, "I get it. You absorbed the power of the Master Emerald, didn't you? That explains your new radical energy levels, and the new pretty green eyes. Oh, I'm so excited."

Shadow cracked his knuckles as he stared down the golden hedgehog, "…Over what? There is only pain and misery in your future."

He smiled gleefully at the glaring hedgehog, "You are the ultimate life form. Or so they say… Perhaps, unlike all these other weak creatures, you can quench my thirst. I lust for a good fight."

Shadow turned to look behind him and caught Rouge's line of vision, "…You best take cover…and no matter what, don't come out, even in my aid…"

Rouge sneered, "Oh, you can bet on that…"

The newly green-eyed hedgehog gazed at her a moment longer. Although they were meters apart, and Rouge's cold bitterness seemed to add an extra barrier between them, Shadow raised his hand out towards her. He did not miss the way she flinched and backed way when he did so. The black hedgehog sighed before his war face resurfaced and he spun and charged at Achilles.

The second he left, Rouge's gray eyes softened, "…Good luck…you're gonna need it…"

Tails stood behind a glowing monitor, watching and reading each detailed, lengthy file with a professional interest. Cream stood by his side quietly, gazing at the screen as well. She wrung her hands unconsciously; she had no idea what the long, thick paragraphs were saying, but she sure hoped that Tails was understanding everything.

With a sigh, the small rabbit rubbed out a wrinkle in her black and orange uniform. Tails' voice finally broke her out her semi despondent and bored state, "…Got it…"

Cream turned coffee eyes upon him, "Well, what is it?" He looked at Cream briefly before he picked up the radio, "I gotta tell the others about project Achilles before this…thing tears our friends limb from limb."

The little tan rabbit looked skyward and sighed, "I certainly hope they're okay…"

Amy held Sonic as he reclined on his back. With a hand held to his heart, he puffed out deep, labored breaths. Sonic grimaced as he tried to steady himself on the back of his elbows, but Amy scolded him, "Sonic, please, you don't have the strength to fight him."

" Ames, I gotta try…if I don't stop that thing…then…" Sonic shook his head, refusing to continue the thought.

"I don't care, you can't fight…" Amy replied, "…And besides, Shadow's taking care of everything."

A stale, uncomfortable silence floated between the two hedgehogs. Sonic broke the prickly atmosphere with a comment, "Dammit…this guy Ames, he's outta control…what in the hell did Eggman create? If it weren't for Tikal, we'd all probably be goners."

Amy shook her head sadly, '…He's right, if it wasn't for Tikal…we'd…it's just too horrible to think about…But now what? She can't even heal anymore…never the less fight…none of us can...So how is this story gonna end for us all?'

A tweak of static broke the crushing silence, "This is Tails…does anyone read me?"

Amy gasped and turned her head toward the sound. It appeared that the sound had come from the small radio device in the small yellow hedgehog's hand. Daisy sniffled as she lifted the walkie-talkie to her lips, "…Yes, we hear you Tails…"

"I've got some good news guys," Tails began light-heartedly, "There's a way to defeat him!"

Tails' words took Daisy's breath away, "…How?"

"…Remember how Scythe told us that he was half machine? And remember how he told us all about his mind being a database? Loaded with information and such that Eggman had programmed into him."

"…Yeah?"

"Like wise, the same applies to the project Achilles, where he has countless files and programs installed in his mind."

Frustrated, Daisy threw her hands in the air, "Well what does that have to do with anything?"

"Plenty," Tails replied, "Along with the information he's given his creation. He's also uploaded a few security mechanisms just incase something went wrong…"

"…You mean, in the event his creation went crazy and decided to kill him?"

Tails laughed bitterly, "Well, yeah…According to the data I'm finding, the project should have never revolted against Eggman."

"He didn't just 'revolt' he massacred his own creator, Tails! He beheaded the bastard!"

"…Which even makes my point that much more valid," Tails said, "As I said, according to these documents the project should have been under complete submission to Eggman. But this data also tells me that he was released way too early; Five hours, fifty-two minutes too soon…"

"…What?"

"Daisy," Tails said in a concerned voice, "Eggman released him when he was only seventy-five percent done! Of course he'd act like a lunatic…he's cognitive thinking, his reason is completely shot!"

"…Oh damn…"

"Yeah…But anyway, like I said earlier; Eggman uploaded tons of programs in both Scythe and Achilles."

"But how do we stop this….half-baked psycho?" Daisy roared impatiently, "Stop beating around the bush!"

"…Well, Eggman's not as stupid as Sonic gives him credit for; he installed a kind of 'fail-safe' in project 0012496. If Achilles was opened before he was one hundred percent done, then he'd automatically fall into hibernation a few minutes after he was released."

Hope sparked on Daisy's face, "…So we just have to hold on…until he falls asleep, is that what you're saying?"

"Yeah, he'll…umm.. 'shut down' fifteen minutes after his release."

"Oh Tails!" Daisy cried happily, "We still have a fighting chance! It's been awhile since that menace had been awake!"

" …Ten minutes and thirty-five seconds to be precise."

"Five minutes? That's all until he's done!" Daisy cried happily.

"…Just be careful until then…"

"Yeah, thank you!" Daisy closed the communication line between them and turned to look at a slow-breathing Scythe.

She rubbed his head affectionately, "…Don't worry Scythe….we'll pull through this…just be strong for a couple seconds more…" With a new, but small strength, Daisy leapt up and hobbled over to Sonic and Amy. Both hedgehogs were instantly greeted with a bright, sunny smile, "…Guys, guess what?"

Torrents and streams of punches were thrown at the ultimate life form. He avoided them pretty simply, with his customary frown in place. He had to admit, his foe was good, but then again, he was the ultimate life form, so he was better. That was Shadow's reasoning.

Shadow side-stepped one of Achilles fast jabs and grabbed the gold hedgehog by his wounded shoulder. Achilles winced in pain as he shot through the air, only to be caught in the ceiling of the lab.

The green-eyed hedgehog glared up at his foe as he hung from his hole in the ceiling. And just when Shadow was starting to get comfortable, he heard a deep laughter. Achilles pulled himself from the hole in the ceiling and hung from a broken pipe, all the while smiling insidiously at him.

Achilles swung from the ceiling and launched himself at the black and green hedgehog with the steel pipe in hand. With a furious cry, Achilles swung at Shadow, hitting nothing but glassy, obsidian floor.

The flaxen hedgehog struck at Shadow once more, swinging the pipe with the precision and follow-through of a professional baseball swing. However, Shadow countered the masterful attack, and slid, right between the pocket of his foe's legs and positioned him behind Achilles.

Shadow felt a surge of power course through his body as he summoned his attack, "Chaos Spear!"

An adrenaline rush flooded Shadow's body as he watched his golden foe being blown away by both the velocity and the power of his attack. Achilles flew into a stack of humming machinery, and when he plowed through them mercilessly, they died instantly. The lights in the laboratory faded as well, plunging the laboratory into complete darkness.

The emerald-streaked hedgehog heard someone gasp; his new, superior vision enabled him to see that the soft noise had came from Amy; she held her hand over her mouth. With the vision his new power granted him, the shocked, pink hedgehog stood out from the darkness, along with the others near her, in a soft shade of green.

He glanced briefly from Sonic, Amy, and Daisy over to Knuckles and Tikal, who were huddled together, peering around the room frantically. He glanced at Scythe who laid on the room, breathing shallowly. The final figure he left his eyes rest upon was Rouge…who was staring straight at him.

It made sense, seeing how she was gifted with exceptional night vision. For a second, he thought he had seen a soft gaze on her face, but then, just as fast as he had seen that flicker, she reverted back into the cold, spiteful shell and curled her lip at him unpleasantly. 'Right back at ya.'

A few lights sprang on, lighting the large room dimly. But even as poor as the lighting was, it enabled the others the ability to see. The others looked at the black and green hedgehog hopefully. The first to speak was Daisy, "Shadow!"

"?" Shadow finally took his gaze from Rouge's, "What?"

"I just got in contact with Tails, and he had wonderful news," Daisy smiled.

"Well?" Shadow began, "What is it?"

After a cough, Sonic smiled, "Shad, even though you're beating the crap outta that jerk…there's an easier way to beat him! He's gonna go into an involuntary sleep-spell!"

"What?" Shadow asked, eyes widening.

Amy smiled, "In about five minutes! Eggman put a mechanism in him that would trigger him to fall asleep!"

Shadow turned his back to the others and fell silent, thinking over these words; then that meant that he had his work cut out for him. He spun back to face them, "…How sure are you that this is true?"

"Pretty sure," Sonic replied with a hack, "…Right Shortcake?"

Daisy nodded happily, "Yes! I heard it from Tails himself!"

Shadow felt his heart leap; so there was a chance for them after all, maybe things truly could return back to normal, and maybe they could even win Rouge back. The warm, comfortable relief that was starting to build within Shadow was destroyed when he heard loud booms…

…From the area that Achilles had plowed into. Shadow slowly turned to face the golden hedgehog. Crawling from beneath sparking, broken machinery, Achilles appeared. He slowly wreathed, twisted and bent his frame like a zombie returning from beyond the grave. The sight of the zombie-like movements wasn't what made Shadow blanch; it was the sight of Achilles' phantom smile that was plastered to his face with matching dead eyes.

A leak of red fluid streamed down his face and dripped past his chin as he continued to crawl his way from the now burning stack of equipment. The wild, sky-blue irises were locked dead-on Shadow's frozen form. And even though droplets of blood dripped into his eyes, his large smile never faltered and his eyes never blinked. If Shadow didn't know any better, he'd think that the freak was getting euphoria from this…

Still crawling, Achilles growled happily, ignoring the thick, red ribbons running down his face, "Now this is what I'm talkin' about! A real fight…Oh, how I shall enjoy destroying you, Shadow the Hedgehog! You have spilt my blood, and when I bring your death, you shall see much blood!"

With a feral grin in place, Achilles sprung, cat-like off of the floor and dove into a somersault. Shadow barely noticed that the gold hedgehog had flung a metal, burning shard at him. With a hiss of both annoyance and shock, Shadow kicked the lab equipment piece away.

Smiling, the wounded golden hedgehog stopped before the still form of his brother. Shadow felt his body ice over viciously; that couldn't be a good thing. Achilles shook his head with a devious smile and hopped into the air, using his brother as a stepping-stone in the process. Scythe hissed as his younger sibling propelled himself into the air and landed beside a shocked Knuckles.

Immediately, Achilles put the red guardian in a choke hold. Blue eyes slowly traveled from the struggling echidna to the glaring black and green hedgehog, "Mmm, now what a messy predicament this is…."

"Knuckles!" Tikal cried fiercely, "Release him you vandal!"

"Let him go!" Amy cried.

"Leave him alone!" Daisy cried.

"Bastard!" Sonic spat, "Your fight is with Shadow, not him!"

"Perhaps, Sonic," Achilles replied calmly, "But remember, he did challenge me too…and lost. However, something you guys said had really sparked my interest…"

Shadow stared at the gold hedgehog sternly; he was dealing with a loose canon here, it would be best to remain calm, "…And what was that?"

"You said you had a way to defeat me? "Achilles grinned evilly, "I wish I could have heard what it was…but either way, I have something enlightening to share with all of you."

Sonic hissed angrily, "Quit playing games with us and tell us then you freak!"

"…When Shadow smacked me into all those lovely devices over there, he just totally fried the base's power supply."

"As if we're going to believe that!" Amy snarled.

Achilles shrugged, "Well…whatever; this is the red room, and for some reason my creator decided to stock all the really important such in it…like my capsule for instance…But anyway, the base is running on a pretty weak back-up generator right now and with the last of the generator's power…it's going to seal all the doors to this place."

Everyone fell silent in the room, as a dripping dread pricked the back of their necks, but Achilles remained smiling, "…And when this place does seal for good…you're going to be locked in here with me…and I promise I'll make each and every one of your deaths horrific. So let's start with this big red guy."

Achilles tightened his grip on Knuckles neck as he grimaced in pain, "…So tell me Shadow…should he die first, or what? My database tells me that you two don't like each other, because of Rouge."

He jerked his head toward the silent bat. At the mention of her name, she furled deeper in the corner of the room. When Shadow turned to look at Rouge, returning her blank stare, a blur in the corner of his vision moved, "Don't you hurt him!"

Tikal, even with the wound, sprung at Achilles only to receive a boot to the stomach. Tikal crumbled to the floor as Shadow and Sonic roared angrily. Achilles looked up at Shadow and smiled.

The echidna princess stiffened as she felt a hand run through her longs quills; it was Achilles, "…Personally, I think you made the wrong choice. Pretty one here is the better pick between the two."

His foot found its way on her back, and applied pressure followed, "…Or perhaps, I'll finish the lady echidna first. She's an angel already, but I'll be the one to really give her wings."

Shadow growled angrily, "Your fight is with me you coward! If there is anyone to strike at, then fight me!" Achilles shrugged as his face went from blank, to sinister in the flick of a switch, "…Sure…"

The echidna princess was flung effortlessly across the room. With a yelp, she crash landed painfully, sliding to a stop. The others, including Shadow, turned with concern to attend the fallen sovereign.

Achilles' eyes flared dangerously as a single thought floated in his head: Shadow had turned his back to him. The dark hedgehog had dropped his guard for only a second when he barely caught sight of a glint of silver flying toward him and he saw it impale him---straight across his chest. Vaguely, he heard the soft noise of wet tissue being torn apart.

Fate had been kind enough to allow the dark hedgehog only a few seconds of the tremendous, scorching pain that lanced through his chest before he dropped to his knees and finally collapsed on the floor, with his last image being that of a grinning Achilles.

A shriek rose from both Amy and Daisy as they saw the dark hedgehog collapse to the floor lifelessly. Both girls ran over to Shadow as he lay motionless. Sonic, who was too weak to move from his current shock, stared on with his mouth agape in silent horror.

"Shadow! Shadow!" Daisy cried furiously, shaking the unresponsive hedgehog, "Please wake up!"

"Shadow…Oh…," With cloudy eyes, Amy looked up skyward, "…Oh please don't leave us!"

Daisy's eyes contorted as tears poured from her eyes freely, "Oh no! This can't be! He can't be gone!"

"Don't leave us!" Amy cried, tears streaming from her eyes.

"…No," Sonic whispered quietly, "…This isn't…"

Tikal released a sad cry, "….Impossible…"

From the isolated corner of the room, Rouge watched helplessly. At the sight of the impalement, Rouge's face remained strangely blank. As if in a trance, her eyes never left the lifeless hedgehog. She watched wordlessly as dark red fluid flowed in unhealthy doses from the perilous deep wound from his chest.

Rouge began to feel numb as a thought hit her with an icy finality, '…He's gone…'

The wails of Amy and Daisy began to fade as ideas began to swarm in the huntress's head eccentrically. All at once she felt both hot and cold, alert and numb; it seemed as if the world was spinning rapidly around her in hazy, colorful blurs.

It took incredible will, and inner strength on her part to fight against the searing emotions threatening to explode within her; but the more her stone heart fought against the powerful emotions, the harder she found it to control herself.

These welling emotions weren't coming from the snide, blackhearted Rouge; for she was trying to fight against the senseless sentiments. But the hidden, inner light within herself was beginning to burn holes through her dark will.

Thousands, if not millions of images of the black and red hedgehog cascaded into her mind, flooding her subconscious. The smiles, the laughs, the frowns---every image of Shadow appeared before her.

The icy, cold shell within Rouge was crushed as she finally realized a burning truth, "He's gone!" A shrill, heartbroken cry jarred Sonic, Amy, and Daisy from their mourning, "Shadow! Don't you leave me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

All were shocked to see a weeping Rouge tearing through the room blindly, rushing at her fallen love. She ran, ignoring her awkward strides in her heels, and her running mascara as her tears poured. Tears flowed freely from warm, crystalline blue eyes.

"I love you! Please don't leave me here all by myself! You're all I have left!"

"…Don't cry, you should all be concerned about your own lives," Achilles ushered, "You'll all be joining him soon…so let's start with you pseudo-sister!"

Daisy blanched as Achilles picked up a thick, shard of fiberglass. She began to tremble, holding up Shadow in her lap. She had no strength to fight, and once she locked eyes with the insane creature, she couldn't break eye contact.

"Sayonara, pseudo-sister," Achilles smiled wickedly, "Say hello to Shadow for me…"

With that quip, he hurled the large glass shard at the paralyzed yellow hedgehog. Her throat went dry just as her eyes widened; death was coming straight at her, and yet she had no strength, or will to turn away and run.

Achilles' smile faded instantly when a wailing white bat pulled into his line of fire and collapsed instantly when the large fiberglass flew straight through her chest. She fell the moment it carved through her torso.

And she lay motionless on the floor…

…With a broken heart.

Another arch of silence filled the room with deep, disbelieving stares. Even Achilles, himself, seemed to have been blown away by the situation. Everyone was frozen in shock, looking at the perfect, yet lifeless form of the white bat.

"Oh…Chaos…" Knuckles croaked roughly, tears threatening his voice, "…She's…"

"…Shadow…now Rouge…" Amy trembled tearfully, "Oh…At least their together…I hope they're happy…"

Tikal burst out into a fit of tears as Knuckles fought the cold, solid lump in his throat. Amy looked skyward, shaking her head miserably, tears falling silently. Daisy opted to a full-out wailing cry.

The gold hedgehog took a step backward, "…She wasn't supposed to die…"

"Damn you!"

Achilles turned to look at Sonic. The blue hero was trying to shakily rise to his feet. But despite his lack of strength, his eyes burned furiously, "…You're going to pay for this! I swear it on my life! Shadow and Rouge's deaths will not go unavenged!"

A blank, humorless expression was set on the gold hedgehog's face, "…Shut up, you can't even walk and you're threatening me…Her death was unfortun--"

"Someone give me the Chaos Emeralds or something!" Sonic hissed, " 'Cause I'm going to--"

"No! You will not take her from me!"

"…Huh?"

Rouge slowly opened her eyes. Remembering that she was in the middle of a war with a psychotic gold hedgehog, Rouge quickly sat up with a jolt, "Shadow! Oh, I'm so sorry! Forgive me I--"

She paused suddenly as she noticed something. She felt no pain; in fact, she felt incredible, like she had just awoken from a great slumber. But how was that possible, especially after the fact that she was cleaved with a thick painful glass shard.

Rouge gazed at her midriff; nothing, no shard, no bloody wound. Gasping, she rose to her feet; yep she was sure, no wound whatsoever. To say the least, she was appalled.

"…So, this is the darling Rouge I've been hearing so much about, eh?"

Rouge snapped around to the sound of the voice. Standing before her was a little girl, who had soft, charming blue eyes and waves of gold hair. Her smile was pleasant and warm, as she folded her arms behind her back; all and all, the girl was an adorable being.

"Now I see why he was so madly in love with you," the girl giggled light-heartedly, " You're as lovely as he says you are!"

"…Who are you?" Rouge replied softly.

The girl winked at her, "Take a guess Rouge. You know the answer already."

Half of Rouge's mind didn't want to believe the words that rolled off of her tongue, but the other half knew the full hearted truth, "Maria…"

Maria smiled, "That's correct."

"So does that mean…" Rouge paused and looked away.

Fortuitously, Rouge's eyes peered toward the ground, and she saw her still, lifeless shell. If not for the blood pooled around her, Rouge could have easily been mistaken for a person in the middle of a comfort nap.

"You've finished that path of your life," Maria replied with a smile, "It's time to embark on your newest journey, here."

Rouge looked up sadly, as Maria continued, "Oh, don't be sad Rouge! Of course your isolated from your friends, but soon, they shall join us as well. You have nothing to fear any longer…"

"No, it's not that Maria," Rouge replied, "…My child's going to die without me…"

"Oh," Maria blinked, "I forgot that you and Shadow conceived a child!" she scratched the back of her head, "…Grandpa never told me just how babies were made…"

Rouge blushed, "…Um, since you're…an angel or something…you weren't watching? …Not that I'm suggesting that you should watch everything that goes on at Earth…"

Maria laughed, "Oh, no! It's not like we watch your lives on a big TV all day! We have stuff to do here too you know! And besides, we only get to hear the stuff you want us to. Shadow pretty much talks to me everyday. But anyways, trust me…your daughter is safe.Or she's going to be."

"Daughter?" Rouge asked breathlessly.

Maria nodded her head, "Yup! Oh, and by the way…I think a couple has been thinking of their daughter as well…"

The flaxen-haired girl swept her hand and pointed to a couple. Rouge blanched, "…Mom…Dad?" With a shriek she rushed over toward her mother and father and cradled herself in their arms. She cried happily as she was reunited with her loving parents she had long-lost.

Maria watched the family reunion happily, then slowly her face saddened. Maria turned from Rouge and closed her eyes cheerlessly, "…I'm glad Rouge that you have something to be happy for…because you're really not going to want to see what's about to happen…"

"No! You will not take her from me!"

The deep, venomous snarl broke everyone out of their sad haze. Everyone fell into a sheer, state of shock as the seemingly lifeless Shadow bolted up right and rose to his feet effortlessly. He rose from a puddle of his blood easily, appearing as if his fatal wound was nothing.

A sheer, agonizing fury was etched into the black hedgehog's face as he stared malignantly at the gold hedgehog. Achilles took a step away from the furiously hedgehog. It wasn't the searing-furious gaze upon Shadow's face that scared the lights out of Achilles, it was the fact that Shadow had rose from such a life-threatening wound easily.

"After all these years of finally trying to realign myself in this world," Shadow growled, "I find the one person that I can love…the one person that I can give my heart to securely…Then you have the audacity to harm her? The one person I found I have been searching for…for more than half a century?"

Shadow's normally placid, intuitive eyes were storms of raging, feral wildfire. His mouth was held in a terrible grimace as he ignored the river of tears that cascaded down his face.

Achilles jumped away as Shadow approached him ominously; with his head lowered like a bull, he stared at the gold hedgehog with unfathomable, murderous eyes. Achilles threw nearby sharps of metal at the advancing hedgehog. But all attempts were thwarted by a garnet-red aura that sparked; Shadow never had to break his stride once.

This time, Achilles decided to attack him face-to-face. He appeared before Shadow and threw a jab. With the dim lightning hiding his furious eyes, Shadow caught Achilles' hand fluently and proceeded to back-hand the gold hedgehog rapidly.

The gold hedgehog's head was swimming; he couldn't even see straight half-way through Shadow's assault. Just as Achilles felt himself beginning to become light-headed, he felt Shadow throw him into a wall.

The creation slumped to the floor as he cringed in pain. When he opened his eyes, Shadow was in front of him. Before Achilles could make a move to defend himself, Shadow wretched Achilles by the arm, and slammed him into the titanium wall again, and again, and again.

It was only when Shadow broke the gold hedgehog's arm that he released him, and followed through with a kick to the spine. Achilles collapsed with a scream. He turned away from Shadow and began to flee from him.

Just as Achilles was starting to put a distance between them, he collapsed to the floor when he felt a searing pain in his calf. He looked to see that his leg had been impaled with a shard of glass. Karma certainly was a busybody today.

After looking at his oozing, bloody leg, and his broken, mangled arm, Achilles turned to look at Shadow. For the first time in his life, Achilles experienced fear, and likewise, for the first time ever, he decided that he wanted to flee from a battle.

No longer being able to walk, Achilles began to crawl away from Shadow. The gold hedgehog didn't care that he was inching toward Shadow's friends; anything was better from being anywhere near him.

And even the dark hedgehog's friends were freaked; joy, and happiness for the revival of their previously lifeless friend was far from their minds. Whatever had snapped in Shadow's mind had turned him into a raging, hell-bent demon. It also didn't help that he looked the part too.

They all watched wordlessly as Achilles crawled away weakly, as Shadow advanced slowly. On his way to stalking Achilles, in one hand he picked up another shard of metal.

As Achilles scooted away from Shadow, his vision went black as his eyes closed involuntarily. If he was bumbling around before, it was twice as bad now, "What's happening to me?"

"…He's shutting down…" Amy said numbly.

Achilles staggered around blindly, refusing to believe that he lost the will to control his own eyes, "…Of all the times!?--"

But Shadow continued his stroll, looking as ominously as the grim reaper himself, "…For too long I have searched for a way to heal these aches in my heart…And Rouge was that remedy…But I vow to you, you poisonous, pathetic psychopath, if I lost my Rouge…not even the fires of Hell itself will mirror anything close to the anguish you shall feel at my hands!"

His eyes were swept into a dark, impenetrable shadow as a flare of deep red energy flared all around him.

To be continued…

Chapter Twenty nine Theme: "Wake up"- Alicia Keys