Chapter Five

Escape From the Xenomorphs + Heartbreak

Despite worrying for her boyfriend's life, Rouge had to obey and flew off where Sonic and Amy went, back the way they came, just as the Xenomorphs lunged for Shadow and he opened fire, taking down as many as he could.

The ultimate life form randomly warped around the area, evading the aliens as best he could and trying not to let them badly injure him. He had to protect his companions, the woman he loved and as many lives as he possibly could.

Maria's voice echoed in the black hedgehog's mind as he did battle with the enemy, his long-gone friend begging with him to give everyone a chance to be happy. Gerald's ghost was talking now, telling Shadow the future of the universe depended on him.

Knowing full well he might not survive, that his weapon would be out of energy and he would exhaust his Chaos powers, Shadow kept going as memories surfaced: Meeting Sonic, helping in the fight against Eggman, falling in love with Rouge.

A Xenomorph got the drop on the dark hedgehog and clawed him, taking off his left ear and grazing the side of his face. Shadow pushed the alien off and warped near the exit, the aliens seemed to sense where he was and were coming for him.

Slightly battered, yet his will to fight still remained and Shadow was willing to sacrifice himself to save as many lives as he could, even if it meant he would never be with Rouge. But at least Shadow would be able to see Maria again,

As he fought hard, Shadow noticed that several Xenomorphs had gotten away and were going after Rouge, Sonic and Amy. 'No,' he thought, 'I will not fail to protect anyone again.' He removed his inhibitor rings and let loose with his Chaos powers.

Shadow annihilated the Xenomorphs in the area, burning several and spilling alien blood all over the cave grounds, before warping outside. Around the time he and the Xenomorphs were fighting, Sonic, Amy and Rouge had made it out of the cave and heading down the hill.

"C'mon!" Sonic shouted, "We gotta get back to the ship!" Amy was holding him tight and Rouge was close behind, a look of uncertainty and concern in her eyes. Shadow was on her mind right now, but the white bat just couldn't stand the thought of losing him.

She didn't want to lose Shadow again, it nearly tore her apart emotionally the first time it seemed he'd fallen. From when they first met, she was in love with him. When she found out he was alive, she was internally overjoyed.

If Shadow met his end here, who would love her, who would she be with and... who would raise the little one? As she followed Sonic and Amy through the village ruins, the white bat was tempted to run a hand over her flat stomach, feeling slightly nauseated.

Loud unearthly screeching echoed all over the surrounding area, carrying across the air and the trio stopped, looking at each other. Sonic prepared himself and the girls got combat ready, they knew that it belonged to more Xenomorphs.

The ones in the cave apparently weren't the only Xenomorphs on the planet, the one that Shadow had shot up earlier wasn't the only enemy alien occupying the village ruins. There were others, hiding somewhere in the ruins and underground.

A huge pack of Xenomorphs burst out of the ruins of a house, some emerging from underground and a few winged Xenomorphs landed out of the sky. The enemy surrounded Sonic, Amy and Rouge as the obstacle between them and safety.

In fact, the blue hedgehog could see the space lander just meters away, untouched and unharmed by the enemy for now, even though a few of the Xenomorphs seemed to be examining it and were sniffing a few familiar lifeless faces.

VOIP! Shadow teleported in, slightly wounded in a few spots, enveloped in chaos energy and his space gun blazing as he let the enemy have it, attempting to clear a path for the trio to get to the ship so they can escape to safety aboard the RSS Gerald above.

Sonic, Amy and Rouge joined in, beating up the Xenomorphs and trying not to get hurt despite the odds being severely stacked against them. Amy swung her hammer and smacked a Xenomorph, crushing its skull and sending it flying.

Rouge used her wings and flew around, smacking and kicking enemies left and right while fighting by Shadow's side, often using her own space gun to blast off as many Xenomorph heads as she could, drawing more blood from the enemy.

"CHAOS BLAST!" Shadow yelled with all the strength he had left. KA BOOOOOOOM! An enormous chaos explosion seemingly engulfed the area, devastating the ruins and taking down many Xenomorphs, incinerating almost all of them and leveling out the playing field.

With that, the way to the ship was clear even though there were still a handful of enemies in the area after the four heroes. Sonic, Shadow and the girls made their way towards the ship as the Xenomorphs there took notice and rushed in to attack.

At that point, Shadow barely had enough strength left, not only were his Chaos powers diminished, but his life force was running out too. All that he could do was jog a few meters, walk most of the way and shoot down the one group of Xenomorphs coming at them.

Just as they neared the ship, Sonic, Amy and Rouge all noticed the black hedgehog falling to the ground, dropping to his knees and falling flat before rolling over. His eyes closed and he succumbed to the injuries inflicted on him by the Xenomorphs.

"NO!" Rouge wailed, eyes streaked with tears, she ran forward and knelt down, cradling what was left of the man she'd loved dearest. They'd fought together and been through so much, this was it, it was over. Shadow was gone, for real this time.

Even if they had the Chaos Emeralds, there would be no bringing him back. The black hedgehog was seeing Maria again now, he'd done his part in protecting as many lives as possible and had fought to his final breath.

The creatures responsible for Shadow's definitive end caught up to Sonic, Amy and Rouge, roaring menacingly and ready to finish off what remained of the crew. Filled with grief and determination, Rouge picked up Shadow's gun and let loose.

Anger consumed her, these monsters had broken the bat's heart and she was going to make them regret what they did, regardless if they had no heart. Her attractive face was tear-stricken and contorted with anger, a scream breaking out from within Rouge.

Consumed by her sorrow and rage, the white bat almost failed to notice that one of the Xenomorphs was pouncing until Amy attacked with her hammer and joined in the fight and Sonic helping out as well.

The Xenomorphs, despite their numbers, were outmatched in the end and they all fell... even though there were probably many more on the way to help their brethren. Rouge carried Shadow to the ship and Sonic fist bumped Amy.

Just then, to Sonic's total horror, a Xenomorph that was still standing attacked and impaled the pink hedgehog from back to front with its barbed tail, piercing her heart while clawing her more. "AMY!" The speedy blue hedgehog screamed.

Amy dropped her hammer and fell to the ground, blood oozing from her wounds. Sonic picked it up, anger welling up as he yelled a fierce battle cry and attacked the Xenomorph, smashing its skull and taking it down.

Rouge, who'd managed to get Shadow's body inside the lander, came over to Sonic's side. She was even more terrified than ever, seeing one of her best friends badly hurt. Another life now about to be lost as well, first Rouge had lost her man and now this?

For years, Sonic had known Amy. She'd chased him, she'd loved him, Sonic had initially turned her away but accepted her and confessed his feelings for her. Now, after being together for so long, Sonic was now losing his woman...

With Rouge's help, the blue hedgehog carried his badly wounded girlfriend back to the ship while making sure what remained of Ann, Dyson and Francois were on board. They heard the battle cries of more Xenomorphs, they had to leave.

Once they were on board, Sonic closed the door as Rouge started up the engines and the ship took off for the RSS Gerald. Amy's life signs were weak, but she had enough strength left in her. "S-Sonic?" The hedgehog moaned, "Y-You're st-still h-here, r-r-right?"

"I'm here, Ames." Sonic said, tears filling his eyes as he held Amy's hand. She was breathing heavily and weakly, Rouge got some cloth and carefully wettened it with some water before tending to some of Amy's wounds, trying to soothe her.

"A-At least w-w-we made it." Amy coughed; her eyes were becoming half-lidded by the second. "S-Sonic, y-you and Rouge l-look *cough* after each other and the rest of our friends. Ne-Never forget me, I will always be with you, even... if you... can't see me."

With one last bit of strength, the pink hedgehog gave Sonic a kiss before her eyes fully closed and she was no more, leaving Sonic and Rouge as two of the only survivors. Tails being the third and almost not counting since he'd been on the RSS Gerald above.

The hedgehog stood, head lowered and tears pouring down. A tear-stricken Rouge, hugged Sonic, the two of them hugging each other for comfort and assuring one another that they had each other to look after, knowing that things would never be the same again...