Chapter Eleven – Curveball

Sonic had felt the earthquakes that signified his brother's arrival. Up until now he'd stayed out of sight. But by doing so, he had no idea what was going on in the centre of the clearing. He saw Manic explode out in the middle of the clearing. He instinctively ran out there, shouting, when he got knocked out, amidst the screaming.

"Don't move, Hedgehog!" An extremely cold voice rang out, so cold that it immediately silenced both the crowd and the prisoners in the cages. He stood over Manic with a fully loaded gun to his forehead, with a extremely evil but emotionless look on his face. The face of a killer.

Shadow!

The mighty black Hedgehog was standing proud over Manic. He'd knocked him out and now he was going to blow his brains out. Sonic was stunned and now extremely fearful for his bother's life. He stayed put, and overheard someone from behind him from one of the cages, shout about how Shadow had double-crossed them. Now in the centre of the clearing, he looked around. All of his friends that had any significant powers were all on ground, apparently lifeless. Knuckles, Vector, Blaze and Silver. Sonic had no idea if they were alive or dead, and had no time to check. Shadow was staring at him, and Sonic thought he saw a split microsecond frown of confusion on him before it rapidly disappeared. He was about to enquire when someone else got his attention.

An equally ice cold voice spoke from behind him, that immediately changed everything.

"Thank you." He hissed. "You have done well!" He leered. Sonic immediately recognised the voice and turned around.

It was Eggman. He was sat on the ground, in his Egg Mobile, a large metallic flying pod, that he travels everywhere in. He was looking extremely pleased, his egg-shaped body lounging back in its red, black and yellow clothing, his pince-nez sunglasses on his large red nose gleaming and his large moustache curled. He stroked it.

Still extremely stunned, Sonic was not paying attention to behind him, when Shadow ran up and grabbed him. Straight into an arm lock, forcing him to his knees, a gun to his chin. Sonic desperately tried to fight him off, but realised that it was no use against Shadow's Chaos Strength. Only now did Sonic finally realise how physically strong his black rival really was. He swore at him, throwing several extremely strong expletive deleted at him. Shadow smirked, taking them completely as a compliment.

He immediately locked down any resistance from Sonic and turns to Eggman.

"I am a Hedgehog of my word." He spat, unimpressed that Eggman was even considering anything otherwise.

Shadow.

Sonic growled. He should have seen it. To declare war on all Hedgehogs was not that straightforwards. You had to take into account, arguably, the strongest of them. The most powerful of them. The most cunning of them and by far, the most evil. Sonic knew from his own experience that Shadow was not easy to take down. In fact, it was impossible, with him being an immortal. He looked back at Shadow, still seeing that cold emotionless look, still unable to read him. Which was extremely unusual. Sonic had always been able to read Shadow for years. In fact, he was the only person who could. He completely and utterly believed that Shadow's loyalties were with him and his friends, not Eggman. He very much wondered, what the human had offered to make his black counterpart switch sides. That is, assuming he'd ever switched in the first place, considering that in the beginning, Shadow used to work Eggman.

A spy, possibly.

Sonic shook himself.

No!

He never believed that for a minute. He did switch sides, Sonic very distinctly remembered, but considering how painfully Shadow was now holding him, he was beginning to wonder. Eggman laughed.

"I've finally got you, Hedgehog!" He spat, so coldly, that it silenced the chattering crowd.

The entire clearing was surrounded by people, all brandishing various weapons and clubs, all eager to the end of Sonic and his kind. They were now chanting for Eggman. He raised his hand. He quietened them.

"Interesting that it took one of your own, to finally take you out." He hissed. Sonic spat at Eggman, Shadow's betrayal ran extremely deep. Now Sonic understood, why Capital City. The reason for his one singular visit last time was to drag Shadow's rear end out of it, for a mission. But that was years ago and he guessed that Capital City was now one of Shadow's favourite haunts. He looked at the human.

"What?" He growled. "As a friend or a Hedgehog?" He hissed and felt Shadow's grip strengthened, but was still emotionless. Eggman smirked.

"Both!" He hissed. "I couldn't take you down directly, your just too..." He swore. "Powerful!" He added. Sonic smirked, seeing Eggman this frustrated was always fun to watch. He glared at the Blue Blur.

"I needed someone on the inside." He leering, smirking evilly. But Sonic was confused.

"But why?" He asked, hastily. He genuinely wanted to know. Anger swelled up inside Eggman.

"You broke the Treaty!" He spat. "That Treaty cost me hell to put together and you broke it, like you didn't care, just like your father." He leered. Sonic's own anger flared, fighting against Shadow's grip.

"I am NOT my father!" He shouted, incredibly insulted. Eggman folded his arm and spat back.

"Well, I am not my father either!" He sighed. "I could have destroyed this planet, looking for you, just like him, but that wouldn't have achieved anything. Then I realised that the people could here could be very forgiving if you gave them a reason. It seems like this planet was very much ready for new leader." He hissed, smirking again.

Sonic stared. World domination, not by physical means but political. It was genius, and something no one would have expected. But there was one major stumbling block.

Sonic.

Eggman could couldn't achieve his plan of political domination with the Blue Blur still alive. With the last Chaos Sorcerer gone, he could finally prove to the people of Mobius that he was a man of his word and to be believed. To be the person who finally rid the planet of the Magic that had plagued it for so long. To have peace reign once and for all. Sonic growled. A peace very much in Eggman's control.

Sonic had no intention of going down without a fight, and his anger flared still further under Shadow grip. Sonic knew that it if his anger flared enough, he could potentially break free of him, hence why he didn't hold back. Eggman saw this as well, and hastily moved on.

"Shadow!" He spat. "Kill him!" He leered, extremely coldly. The black hedgehog looked up from his quarry, and gave an extremely cold smirk. He grabbed Sonic by the throat and put a gun to his head. Shadow seemed to flinch but Sonic was panicking. He had good reason too. Shadow was a killer, a cold-hearted, cold-blooded killer. He was a professional assassin, an expert, with a licence to kill. He very much wasn't afraid to use it. His eyes glazed over as his killer instincts kicked in as he loomed over Sonic. The Blue Blur had seen him kill before and very much wished to never be on the other end of gun for real. Yes, he'd played dodge bullet with the black hedgehog loads of time in the past, and it reminded Sonic of something.

"Shadow, please!" He gasps for air. "Does our friendship mean nothing to you?" He pleaded.

The black hedgehog faulted for barely a microsecond, but then he threw Sonic to the ground, between himself and Eggman. Sonic instantly got to his feet, Eggman directly behind him. Shadow growled.

"Don't move, Hedgehog!" He said again, coldly.

The two Hedgehogs stared at each other, Shadow's gun, pointing to the floor. His eyes were still emotionless. Sonic could hear Eggman evil laugher from behind him, cheering from the crowd, crying from the cages. But he ignored all of it. Shadow's eyes were captivating him. He just couldn't read them and it was blowing him away. He knew Shadow, there was more going on here. He'd been trying to figure it out ever since his arrival into the clearing.

'Come on. Shadow.' He thought. 'Give me something! Anything!' He pleaded. He continued to stared deep into those eyes, when for a moment, time seemed to stand still.

Then he saw it.

It was there, for only one millionth of the nanosecond. It happened so fast, that no one else would have seen it. Except someone with the power and more specifically, the Super-speed to match mighty black Hedgehog himself.

A sparkle.

It was absolutely tiny, only present in one eye and it persuaded Sonic to fight every instinct he had to move. Shadow concentrated, gritted his teeth and ran forwards. He raised his gun, incredibly quickly and fired.

Bang!

The sound was deafening, but Sonic wasn't concentrating on that. It looked liked to everyone watching that Shadow had just simply raise his gun and fired. But to the Blue Blur, it was different. With his powers of Super-speed, anything high speed appears slowed down, and that included Shadow himself. He didn't fire the gun when it was motionless, he was moving it very fast from right to left, holding it sideways. It was in his right hand, when he fired it, while he was quickly moving forwards. He watched the bullet fly towards him, in slow motion, still fighting every instinct to move. Normally the bullet would have hit him, but he noticed the bullet had a very distinctive spin on it.

It was a spin he'd never seen before on a bullet. A slightly slower then normal clockwise spin that seemed to send the bullet curving towards Sonic's left shoulder. Keeping as still as he could, he watched the bullet get closer and closer, desperately trying not to panic. He felt it brush past the fur on his cheek, feeling the breeze from it. He closed his eyes. The bullet then curved back round and hit, directly on target.

Suddenly, he heard a single, extremely short, sharp cry from directly behind him, causing Sonic to whirl around. Opening his eyes, he saw Eggman slouched back in his Egg Mobile, completely lifeless, a black and red bullet hole in his forehead, right between the eyes. A perfect hit.

He was dead.

Sonic swore very loudly.

A mixture of emotions completely overwhelmed him, panic, relief, amazement, and shear disbelieve, at what Shadow had just done. To shoot at Sonic, but hit Eggman, directly behind him. It took some serious skill. Shadow was an incredible marksman. Potentially, the best in the world. Silence filled the entire clearing, as everyone desperately tried to process what had just happened. Sonic looked back at Shadow. He was extremely pleased with himself, the emotionless gone from his eyes.

"Got him!" He said, smugly, smirking valiantly.

Sonic was incredibly relieved. He was panting, seriously out of breath from the emotional overload. Shadow was on his side. He always had been. Always will be. His quarry had been Eggman, not him. How could he have ever doubted him? He walked up the black hedgehog, rubbing his face, running his fingers through his quills on his head.

"You had me there for a minute." He admitted. Shadow huffed but he curled his lip.

"I think you'll find it was longer then a minute." He hissed, quietly into Sonic's ear. But Sonic was still heaving.

"You curved the ball!" He gasped, still trying to process it all. Sonic didn't even think that that was even possible. It definitely defied the laws of physics. Shadow smirk broadened. Oh, yes, and now he was incredibly full of himself about it. Sonic had got his signal. A signal that only a fellow speedster could have seen. Sonic looked around at his friends, especially those still lying on the ground.

"But what about them?" He asked the black Hedgehog. But Shadow brushed him off.

"Sleeping draughts." He shrugged. "They will be fine." He added. Sonic sighed, again relieved. Looking around, it looked like Shadow had fooled absolutely everyone, not just him. Then he heard grumbling from the far end of the clearing. His brother was coming too. He slowing got to his feet, rubbing his head. It was throbbing. It didn't take him long to figure out who hit him. He saw Shadow and immediately went for him.

Sonic instantly moved between them to major objections from Manic. Even after what Shadow had just done, he still had Sonic's loyalty, and was very taken aback by it. As far as Sonic was concerned, he was still on his side, and that was good enough for him. He stood there rigid, refusing to budge.

"Move!" Manic spat. But Sonic stood his ground.

"No!" He growled. "Shadow wasn't out to kill me, he was out to kill Eggman. It was a double-bluff." He panted. Shadow nodded in agreement from behind him. "Look!" Sonic added, pointing to the human, who was still lying where he fell.

Manic stopped and stared, gobsmacked. He was very frightened. He'd never seen anyone dead before and to learn that Shadow had just killed, was overwhelming to him. Sonic sighed, he'd seen Shadow kill way too many times before. It didn't bother him, anymore. He tried to reassure his brother.

"Sorry about the thwack to the back of head." He said and then turned to Shadow. "I'm guessing that Eggman had to believe you." He asked. Shadow hissed, spat and shuddered.

"In order to get close enough to kill him, Eggman had to completely believe." He hissed, coldly. "You have no idea of the trials, hoops and contests be made me jump through to prove my loyalty." He growled. It sounded incredibly grotesque and there was one thing for certain, he was never doing it again.

The crowd around them was getting restless. Many were still reeling from the fact that Shadow had just actually killed. Many had never seen someone die before. The shock of what had happened was now sinking in and the were not happy. Suddenly, the three Hedgehogs found themselves surrounded. Eggman may have been dead, but they still wanted blood. The anti-Magic, anti-Hedgehog campaign was still in full swing. They braced themselves for a fight, when suddenly someone from the back, tried desperately to call a halt. He was a wolf, obviously working for the Authorities, from the uniform he was wearing. He was waving his hands and shouting, trying to get everyones attention.

But he failed. The crowd was just too rowdy. Sonic could still hear crying coming from the cages. The noise was deafening, but not as much as what happened next.

Bang!

The second gunshot ricocheted all around the clearing, to much screaming and panic. Shadow had spotted the wolf, had pointed his gun into the air and fired. He was smirking. The bullet whined harmlessly into the sky. Sonic who had no idea it was coming, and had jumped a absolute mile. He rounded on Shadow, panting.

"Please!" He gasped. "Don't do that!" He shouted, going absolutely mad. Shadow's smirk broadened. He found Sonic reaction's incredibly amusing. He then suddenly walked forward, past Sonic, towards the crowd, and put his foot down. They very quickly silenced. He was now very much in command. Everyone was watching him. Everyone now feared him. Even Manic, who was shaking. Everyone except Sonic.

It was simple. He knew Shadow. After years of cooperation, he knew him and could now read him. No more emotionless nonsense. Shadow very rarely spoke with his mouth, but said everything you needed to know with his eyes. Through a range of emotions, gestures and looks. Sonic had memorised them all over the years. He quickly learned from him, with a simple look, that he'd fired the gun and silenced the crowd for a reason. He looked around. Sonic knew that Shadow never did anything without a reason, and quickly spotted the wolf. He was extremely frightened of Shadow. With a quick glance to Shadow and a responding nod, Sonic invited the wolf towards them. Shadow had just given Sonic permission to do the talking for him. He often did that, as it took the emphasis off of him.

The wolf nervously approached them and it was only with Sonic's reassurance that Shadow wasn't going to hurt him, did he finally speak.

"We need your help!" He panted. More specifically the Authorities needed the Hedgehog's help. There was murmurings from all around the clearing.

Shadow scoffed, immediately overruling Sonic.

"You declare war on us, and now you want us to help you." He hissed. "No!" He spat. He folded his arms. It was said so coldly that neither of the two brothers argued. All three Hedgehogs stood their ground, united. His eyes narrowed. "Call a truce, and we'll consider it!" He leered. Silence followed.

The wolf went white.

"I can't do that." He panicked. "I don't have the authority." He argued. Shadow walked forwards and nearly grabbed the wolf. He growled.

"Well, find someone who does." He hissed, incredibly coldly. Gulping, the wolf promptly disappeared to find a phone. The Hedgehogs all looked at each other. Was this really an opportunity to end the war? To call a truce? Would the Authorities agree? What was so desperate that they would ask for their help? It was a lot of questions and within minutes the wolf was back. He was reeling, severely angry.

"My superiors have reluctantly agreed. You have your dam truce." He spat. "This gathering is now illegal." He added. "Now help us!" He growled.

Sonic and Manic were very surprised they had agreed so quickly but satisfied, Shadow stood back, allowing the Blue Blur to take the lead. Sonic nodded.

"What's going on?" He asked. The wolf was panting.

"It the High-Speed Sonic Express!" He heaved. The wolf didn't need to explain further. Everyone had heard of it. It was the super-fast high-speed train, named after the Blue Blur himself. It ran from Robotropolis, half way around the planet to rolled his eyes, opening it was very embarrassing. But Manic pressed ahead.

"What about it?" He asked, eager to find out more. The wolf was still panting.

"It's runaway!" He panicked. "It's brakes have failed." He heaved. It explained everything. The huge sense of urgency, the sudden agreement to a truce. The wolf grabbed Sonic's hands. He flinched, again to Sonic's confusion. But there was no time to ask. The wolf hurried on.

"Please!" He begged. "It's full of people, and hurtling straight towards Robotropolis. If it hits, it will destroy the city, killing thousands." He panted. The wolf was not over-exaggerating. The super-fast high-speed train traveled well in excess of Mach One. If it hit the terminal station at Robotropolis, at that speed, the resulting explosion and fireball would completely devastate the city. The wolf gulped again, sweating profusely.

"Please!" He said, again, pleading at Sonic. "Your the only one on the entire planet fast enough to catch it." There was silence. Sonic now himself gulped. The wolf was absolutely desperate. The Authorities were desperate. But it wasn't the wolf who persuaded the Blue Blur to agree. It was Manic. He was really panicking, he had friends in Robotropolis and was eager to get moving. He stared at his brother. Catching the train was one thing, but stopping it was quite another. Sonic just didn't have the strength to do that. He stared at Manic, and then he had an idea.

"If I get you on that train, can you stop it?" he hastily asked. Manic grinned, with his powers of Metal Bending, yes.

It was decided. But Shadow growled at them.

"Go!" He spat, very loudly. Both the brothers stared at him. Sonic frowned.

"But what about you?" He asked. Shadow hissed. As far as he was concerned his job was done. Eggman was dead and he'd got his truce. He folded his arms.

"Don't worry about me!" He hissed. What happened to him next was not any of the Blue Blur's concern. He sighed. "And as to your friends, I'll deal with it." He smirked. Now Sonic really frowned. It was incredibly unusual for the black Hedgehog to be so accommodating. Shadow huffed, he gritted his teeth, frustrated at the sometimes very stubborn blue Hedgehog.

"Go!" He spat again, now sounding somewhat urgent. There was a pause and then he smirked, again.

"You have a train to catch!"