I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the characters.
War
Shadow sped past the Black Arms in a blur, flipping over his shorter doppelganger's tentacles, slashing at him as he fell, only for the doppelganger to knock his arm away, sending the sword spinning into a Black Arm's face. Shadow spun instantly, slamming a punch into the general's face and knocking him back a step before the taller one appeared beside him, moving to kick him, only for Zeta to crash into his side, launching him away. Shadow ducked as the general he was facing swiped at him with two of his tentacles again, then launched himself forward in a ball, crashing into him and knocking him away before uncurling and firing a barrage of Chaos Spears after him. The general flipped, spinning out of the way of the blasts before launching himself at Shadow with his tentacles. Shadow ducked under the general, spinning around the tentacles, then shot after him, grabbing his sword on the way past and slashing the general's tentacles off. The general spun, kicking him in the head and launching him before his tentacles regrew.
"You won't be able to beat me that easily," he warned him. "I'm a Black Arms General. I'm not so weak as to be unable to regenerate my primary means of attack."
Shadow huffed, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip before launching himself forward again.
Zeta Spun away from the taller Shadow doppelganger's fist as it swung down at her, cracking the ground. Then, she launched ionized energy from her left elbow, her fist swinging up into the general's face, sending him staggering away. She leapt after him, slamming a reverse spinning kick into his head and throwing him, only for his tail to lash out at her. She ducked under it and launched herself forward with her blue flames, pulling her fist back, only for the general's foot to slam into her chest, launching her away. She bounced off the ground, then spun upside down, both hands flattening into blades before she slashed a handful of Black Arms that were waiting to catch her, flipping onto her feet before turning and speeding back at the general again.
The general huffed, exploding forward faster than her and slammed a fist into her gut, lifting her off the ground up to level with his head. She slashed both arms across her body at him, but he leaned back out of the way, then flipped, kicking her and sending her exploding through the Black Arms.
Silver swiped a hand, hurling a ball of crushed-together Black Aliens at the general he was fighting, then shot forward behind it. As with everything else he'd hurled at the general, the general swiped a hand, his own powers deflecting the projectile to the side. However, as soon as it was out of the way, Silver crashed into the general, curled into a ball, then uncurled and slashed at him, only for the general to spin out of the way. silver spun in a clockwise circle, slashing at the general, only for the general to flip over it, his foot's claws tilting downward before he kicked Silver, sending him exploding into the ground. Silver pushed himself up, looking around for his sword, only to flip backward as the general exploded into the ground. Both swung a hand toward each other, chunks of the ground ripping free and crashing into each other. Silver moved to leap over the boulders, only for the general to flip up in front of him, kicking him and sending him exploding back into the ground. Silver flipped backward onto his feet just in time for the general to slam a kick into the right side of his head, throwing him sideways. He bounced and rolled along for a moment before rolling to his feet and skidding to a stop.
"You're stronger than I expected," Silver growled.
"You cannot defeat the Black Arms," the general said. "We are more powerful than a lower lifeform like you could ever comprehend."
"We'll just see about that," Silver snarled, exploding forward, along with a wall of debris.
He stopped short, swiping his hands and sent his dozens of projectiles flying at the general, who swung his hands outward and cleared it all. Then, before he could react, Silver exploded into the general's torso, sending him exploding into the ground hard enough to fracture it, his extra power coming from having thrown himself with his powers. The general stood, dusting himself off and nodded.
"Just as I'd expect from an alternate version of my favorite host," the general said. "Now allow me to show you the true power of a Black Arms General."
Suddenly, the ground below Silver exploded. Silver deflected the debris as it shot up toward him, but it surrounded him, then all shot back inward. Silver shouted in effort, forming a barrier of his powers around him. The debris all shattered against it and Silver sighed, letting the barrier fade, only for the last boulder to crash into his back, then flip, streaking down into the ground and exploding into the ground, shattering Silver's ribs before the general hurled it away, leaving Silver lying in the crater the boulder had formed.
Knuckles bounced off the ground hard, his helmet spinning away, then launched himself at the general, swinging his two axes, only for the general to backhand both of Knuckles' arms, sending the axes spinning away, then punch him in the gut, his spikes once again leaning outward just before impact, allowing him to punch knuckles without stabbing him. Knuckles bounced off the ground, then flipped, crashing down on his back and groaned, holding his gut where he'd been punched more times than he'd been able to keep track of.
"You're not nearly as great a fighter as you believe," the general said. "You're a treasure hunter, not a warrior. How can you hope to defeat me?"
"Oh, you know," Knuckles said, pushing himself to his feet slowly. "I'm just not going to lose to some cheap alien knockoff version of me. I'm the real Knuckles, so there's no way I'm losing this fight."
"Could have fooled me," the general snorted. "Listen, rodent. You may be the real Knuckles of your universe, but my host is the real Knuckles of this universe. And he has been improved by me. His muscles are stronger, his reaction time is enhanced, and his speed has increased. A pathetic thing like you has no hope of defeating me."
Knuckles waved a hand. "I've been told I can't win before."
"Then come and allow me to prove to you what a real warrior is capable of," the general said, his knuckle spikes tilting forward again. "The next time I punch you will be the last."
Knuckles smirked, streaking forward. As the general moved to punch him, Knuckles stopped on a dime, spinning away from the general and moving to his other side before drilling his own fist into the general's side. Then, as he moved to punch him again, the general twisted, his punch continuing into Knuckles' gut, his spikes sticking out of Knuckles' back.
"Foolish," the general said, pulling his spikes free and allowing Knuckles to collapse. "I know your every move before you can make it. I've already defeated one Knuckles. Defeating you was far easier."
Knuckles tried to stand, but the general kicked him, sending him crashing into the Black Arms. Then, he turned, looking around for a more worthy opponent, eyes settling on Blaze and Rouge, who were fighting the Black Arms together, covering each other's backs. He smirked.
"Those two might be able to provide me with more of a challenge," the general said, then began to walk toward them, the Black Arms parting for him.
Sonic and his general bounced off of each other. The general landed first and shot forward, slashing the Black Arms sword he was wielding down at Sonic, only for Sonic to deflect it with Caliburn. He slashed at the general, but the general flipped over it, slashing at Sonic's back, only for Sonic to appear off in the distance in a blue flash, smirking.
"Nice try," Sonic said. "But I'm not going to lose to the likes of you. I came prepared."
The Chaos Emeralds floated up around him before floating back down and disappearing behind him. The general nodded approvingly.
"Then maybe you'll be more of a challenge than the others are proving to be," the general said.
"The others?" Sonic asked.
"Silver and Knuckles are both finished," the general said. "Shadow is holding his own, as is to be expected of the former ultimate lifeform, and Zeta is doing admirably, also to be expected of the former ultimate weapon, who was created by the former ultimate lifeform. However, it is only a matter of time before they, too, fall before us."
"That's not going to happen," Sonic said. "If I know anything about Shadow, it's that he's got double the power that the original Shadow has. And as soon as he realizes that, this battle will be over."
"We shall see," the general said. "Come."
They both shot forward, streaking past each other several times, their swords clashing again and again. Finally, the general's blade shattered and he instantly flipped, kicking Sonic's forearm from below as Sonic moved to slash, sending Caliburn spinning past the general into the ground. Sonic didn't miss a beat and flipped, kicking the general in the side of the head before landing and instantly launching himself into the general's side like a cannon ball. The general flipped and landed on his feet just as blue energy raced over Sonic as he again launched himself at the general. Blood red energy shone from the general as he met Sonic's homing attack with his own, the energy exploding and throwing them both away. Sonic landed beside Caliburn and ripped it free of the ground just as the general took another sword from one of the Black Arms. Sonic grinned and both shot forward, their blades once again beginning to clash rapidly.
Shadow deflected the general's tentacles rapidly, waiting for an opening. As soon as he found it, he sent a Chaos Spear at the general. As the general leapt to his right, Shadow shot around the circle in a blur, avoiding the general's tentacles before moving to slash him. Instead, the taller Shadow doppelganger's foot crashed into his side, sending him crashing through the Black Arms. Shadow flipped, stabbing his blade into a Black Assassin to stop himself as the taller general tossed Zeta to the ground, her suit ripped apart and bruises and gashes covering her. Shadow raced forward instantly, lifting her gently and she winced before smiling.
"Sorry," Zeta said. "He's as fast as you and has more reach."
Shadow nodded, helping her up carefully. She swayed for a moment before steadying herself as Shadow pulled his blade free of the ground. However, before he could move, a icy dagger stabbed into his heart and his eyes widened. He spun instantly, swiping his free hand and sending a Chaos Blast ripping through the Black Arms toward where Rouge and Blaze were. He took off before the blast had even ended, leaping over the aliens at the end of the blast, Zeta just behind him, and saw what he'd sensed. Rouge was on the ground with a bloody gash in her side, and Blaze was just barely fending off the Knuckles general. As Shadow and Zeta launched themselves at the general, he deflected Blaze's sword and moved to drive his spikes into her. Then, Shadow and Zeta's feet crashed into the general and sent him bouncing along the ground. Shadow turned to the girls as Blaze began to bandage Rouge's side with one of her sleeves.
"Are you alright?" Shadow asked.
"I'll be okay," Rouge said. "It's not as bad as it looks. I don't think Knuckles is okay, though."
"Probably not," Shadow agreed, just as the Black Arms began to back way, clearing a huge area and leaving both the Knuckles and Silver generals, the two Shadow generals landing opposite the other two, surrounding the four of them. Shadow looked around at the four generals in silence for a few seconds before squaring his shoulders and gripping his sword tightly. "Zeta, get them out of here."
"What!?" Blaze demanded. "You're insane! There's no way we're letting you fight them alone!"
Before Shadow could respond, Zeta threw Blaze over her right shoulder, Rouge over her left, and took off, flying away from the impending battle. Shadow sighed, then took a slow breath, preparing himself for the inevitable. He heard the general with the tentacles move first and spun, launching himself at the general, deflecting the for tentacles before slashing them off, then slashed at the general as he passed. The general spun out of the way, but Shadow doubled over, slamming his free fist into the ground, setting off a massive expulsion of Chaos Energy, launching all four away. He launched himself after the taller Shadow, ducking under his kick and slashed at him, missing by an inch before the general's leg slashed back around, slamming a windmill kick into his back. As soon as Shadow hit the ground, he set off a Chaos Blast, launching the general again, the general roaring in frustration and anger.
"How is this vermin able to wield such power without the Chaos Emeralds!?" the general snapped.
"It doesn't matter!" the Knuckles general said, punching at Shadow, only for the spikes to skip off his blade.
"You're right," Shadow said, then slashed in a blur, splitting the general across the torso. "Because either way you'll die."
He spun just as a black maggot-like worm the size of his finger burst out of the back of the general's head, only for him to split it in half with his sword. Then, the Silver general slammed a kick into him, launching him at the Shadow generals. Both slammed a kick into Shadow's face, breaking his snout and flipping him backward before the shorter of the two drove his tentacles down through Shadow's torso, stabbing him into the ground. He coughed up blood and grit his teeth, focusing. However, as with when he was stung by the scorpions inside Black Bull, his Chaos Energy wasn't responding.
"Like it?" the smaller Shadow asked. "It's a special kind of toxin created by Lord Doom. One that cancels all Chaos Powers. You won't be healing from this."
Shadow closed his eyes, focusing. He just needed a little. Just enough to stem the bleeding. He didn't mind dying if he could just kill the generals first. Sonic could handle Doom once he got the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow just needed to stop the generals first. He groaned as he felt the tentacles beginning to impale him over and over. He focused harder. Just a little. Suddenly, an image of a gold Chaos Emerald appeared in his mind, but he somehow knew it wasn't the normal one. For some reason, his mind tried to tell him that it was the Master Emerald, despite the Master Emerald being green. Not that it mattered. The moment the image appeared in his mind, Chaos Energy flooded his body and a golden Chaos Blast erupted off of him, blasting the general's tentacles into paste and hurling him away as Shadow's wounds healed. He rose to his feet, turning as the other Shadow general and the Silver general returned from having been going after Zeta and the others. They stood beside the shorter general as he regenerated his tentacles as the gold energy faded to red.
"What is this!?" the shorter general demanded. "Where is that power coming from?"
Shadow held a hand to his chest, where he could feel the energy radiating from. His core. His eyes widened slowly. Zeta had a piece of her dimension's Master Emerald, so maybe he did too. It would explain why he had so much power without a Chaos Emerald. He smirked, looking up at the three generals.
"Where were we?" he asked.
"You were about to die!" the taller one snarled, pulling the gold rings off his wrists.
Suddenly, pitch black energy began to explode off of him and he roared, his knee exploding into Shadow's snout, crushing it again, before Shadow could react. Shadow bounced once before the smaller general leapt into the air off to the right and spun, his tentacles flashing out and slashing Shadow repeatedly, spinning him, before the ground erupted, dozens of boulders exploding into Shadow, courtesy of the silver general. Then, the taller Shadow exploded down onto his back. Shadow set off a Chaos Blast, but it met a pitch black one from the general and was overpowered instantly, the general's blast cratering the ground and shattering Shadow's bones. Shadow's vision slowly faded in and out as he struggled to remain conscious.
"Is that it?" the general asked, then spat on the side of Shadow's head. "Pathetic. After all that power you showed for a second, I was expecting you to be able to keep up. Oh well. I'll tell those whores you were trying to protect that you say hello."
Shadow's eyes slid closed as darkness claimed him.
Leave a review.