I stared at Karo, the now winged lizard. Karo had just eaten one of the Chaos Emeralds. How were we going to get it back? We didn't have time to wonder about the consequences though, because Knuckles came rushing in. He nearly tripped on Karo as he scrambled into the kitchen.
"You've got to see the news! There's more of him, and they're not friendly!" Knuckles halfway shouted.
Everyone scrambled from his or her seats to get into the living room. On the TV was a scene of downtown Metropolis being burned to the ground. It was akin to the invasion of the Black Arms several years ago. The news station that was capturing the scene of downtown Metropolis was using a helicopter instead of a ground crew, but that didn't save it.
The camera shook violently and the people screamed. A hideous blue creature only too familiar came through the helicopter door from off of the top. The helicopter blades could be heard malfunctioning as another creature joined the first in attacking the helicopter's occupants. The camera dropped out of the helicopter, presumably with the cameraman because his screams could still be heard as he fell. The camera turned towards the sky and a creature following the cameraman out of the helicopter.
I couldn't watch anymore. Before I could really think, my feet were carrying me towards and out the door. I heard Sonic shouting for me to wait up and he quickly caught up to me. Knuckles was right behind us, he could keep up with Sonic and me to a certain point. The city was coming up quickly as the three of us weren't wasting any time. I heard an odd sound as we approached the burning city, a sort of whistling. I looked at Sonic and he glanced over to meet my gaze, but Knuckles saw it.
"Look out!" Knuckles shouted and he tackled Sonic and swung at me, knocking us all out of the way of a bazooka missile.
The missile had been following a flying creature, who was just as ugly as Karo used to be. Tails must have been right about eating causing the "beauty shedding." This winged lizard was twice as big as Karo, but, with the exception of being absolutely hideous, it looked just like him. Perhaps Karo was the runt of a litter, maybe that's why he had been travelling with his dead friend in Tails' lab.
The lizard made a hideous screeching sound that was somewhat akin to laughter as the bazooka missile nearly hit us. Knuckles promptly chased the screeching lizard and socked it in the jaw. If it had been half as intelligent as Karo, it wouldn't have been flying so low, or at least not staying still while gloating.
I heard an angry cry like that of a velociraptor and I looked up. Another flying lizard was heading straight for me at a dive. I picked up what was closest to me, which just so happened to be a stop sign, and swung it as hard as I could. The creature made a sort of roar-squawk as the sign hit it square in the side. I could feel the creature's weight at the end of the sign and the sign bent slightly with the force of my swing against its weight. The creature landed with a thud and Knuckles crushed it with a broken piece of building.
Sonic was nearby, making great sport of riding a wingless one. The creature was shrieking and was desperately trying to throw him off, but Sonic had hold of the horns on its head. Normally I would have scowled at him, but I simply shook my head and smiled in exasperation. There was nothing to be done about his instinctive need to find something silly to do in a dire situation. He laughed as the creature ran, twisted, and bucked.
Knuckles was having great fun releasing some pent-up rage. He released a laugh as he roared at a wingless creature and scared it off. When one tried to sneak-up behind him, I tossed the stop sign at it. The sign hit it behind the neck, under its horns and stunned it. I jumped on the creature, grabbed its horns, and broke its neck. Knuckles turned around as soon as I had grabbed the creature. His features were grave as he thanked me with a silent nod.
"OUCH!" Sonic shouted as he was finally thrown. Knuckles and I turned to see him knock a piece of falling architecture onto two creatures.
Sonic waved and sped off to find more of the ugly things.
"Guess we're splitting up." Knuckles said quietly. I shrugged and we parted.
I ran through the city, killing as I went. One had tackled me from the shadows while I was trying to kill another. Apparently, they all hunted in pairs. As I came closer to the center of the city, the creatures were getting bigger. Perhaps whatever was ordering them around was in the center.
I rounded one corner after killing a large winged creature when I ran into another. I stopped dead in my tracks lest I smash into it. It stopped too and regarded me warily. The creature stood on two legs, unlike most of the others who either went about on all four or did the funny lope-hop that Karo did with their front limbs close to the floor in case they got tired. This one stood like a dinosaur and reminded me greatly of Ambient the organoid from Zoids: Chaotic Century. He was a darker blue than the others, who were colored like Chaos. He was colored like a sapphire and was twice my height.
"You don't live here." The creature said to me. I hadn't expected it to talk and I felt my ears go up in surprise.
"I do live here. Not in the city, but this is my home." I said cautiously.
"No, you don't belong here. You shine like a star. The normal ones glow, but you shine with brilliance." The creature said. Talking to it so plainly after listening to Karo's primitive speech was nerve-racking for some reason.
"What do you mean? I was born here, created here. It's you who doesn't belong here." I said. The creature was moving in a wide arc and I moved with it. I wasn't going to let it get close and I kept a careful eye on my surroundings.
"You are right, we don't belong here. What is your name star creature?" It said. The creature had a slightly serpentine speech and its voice was pleasant to the ears, nothing like the screech of the others or the hatchling chirp of Karo.
"Shadow, and yours?" I said without thinking. What was this thing trying to do?
"Lirias. My name is Lirias. I am a general in the army of my people." The creature said after some thought. The creature stretched wings that I hadn't noticed, that was how tightly folded and perfectly camouflaged they were. This was what Karo could become?
"And your people would be?" I said carefully. I had the subtle feeling that I was being surrounded.
"Our name is not pronounceable in your speech. We thrive on the life force of things. We like fresh meat every now and then. Most sentient creatures want to know our purpose and that is why I tell you." Lirias said as he scratched his neck.
"How exactly do you know 'our speech'?" I said. I saw a quick tail in a nearby alley. I was being surrounded.
"I don't think that's really important to answer right now, wouldn't you agree? I know many speeches, but that will not matter if I kill you." Lirias said, as he looked into the alley that I had seen a flicker of tail in.
I resisted the urge to correct him and tell him that the word was languages. I was starting to pick up that habit from Amy. Lirias barked out some noise like a velociraptor at the alley and I heard a scuttle as the hidden creature fled. I wondered if Lirias was letting me live or was simply trying to save me for himself.
"Why don't you just give up Shadow?" Lirias said pronouncing my name fully. "It would go much easier. You aren't even like the others. You have your own power. Why bother trying to save the rest of them? What do they do for you?"
I growled and my ears flattened in annoyance. What did he care? Perhaps he was afraid of fighting me and that was why he was saying these things. Or maybe he could just see inside my head. Generals were chosen for military prowess; maybe his strength was seeing his enemies' weaknesses.
"I don't give up easily, I'm not a quitter. If I was, I would have been dead a long time ago. As far as saving the rest? I have family; surely, that means something to you. I have a baby from your people; he can't even say my name. He tried to kill me just because I had killed his friend." I said vehemently.
Lirias' eyes widened and he ruffled his wings.
"You have a child? What is his name?" Lirias asked, rather desperately. His sudden change in demeanor made me confused. I knew they cared for each other, but his reaction seemed a little off.
"Why?" I asked simply.
"Tell me!" He said forcefully, enough to make me jump.
"Did you lose a baby? You shouldn't let young ones travel about by themselves if you're so concerned." I said matter-of-factly.
Lirias growled and started drooling heavily. Crap that now meant the hunt was on. I turned tail and ran as fast as I could through the destruction. Karo had to be related to Lirias for him to react this way. That wasn't going to be a good thing later and I knew it. G.U.N. was bringing in artillery and a few airplanes now, making it even harder for me to flee the enraged creature behind me.
I didn't have to worry about Lirias for much longer though. I heard a car alarm, turned to look, and was promptly smacked across the road by a car. It nearly crushed me, but thankfully, it bounced before it hit me. I was slammed into an upturned piece of road and it rolled as it hit me. Thanks to durable bones, I was heartily bruised, but nothing broke.
I looked up, choking in pain, and saw that Lirias had backed off. Of course then I saw why. There was a huge dragon in front of me. It was almost as dark as I was and it breathed heavily. It had huge wings and it was as tall as a 23-story building. Very few times have I ever been struck with fear or panic. This was one of those few times.
I faintly heard my name being called, but I couldn't drag my attention away from the monstrous beast in front of me. I could see its eyes from where I was, they were red like mine, as red as blood and they held me where I was. A hand on my arm and the dragon's deafening roar snapped me from the trance as the dragon's tail came down with a shockwave. If Sonic hadn't grabbed me just then I would have been a part of the road.
I immediately snapped into focus when I saw Knuckles dirty and bruised with a gash across his chest and Sonic with a cut across his face. This was no time to be scared stiff. I turned to face the dragon, my ears still ringing from its roar. I looked at Knuckles and Sonic, a plan already forming in our minds, so used to fighting together were we. Knuckles dashed around to one side while Sonic to the other and I went straight for its face.
The dragon spat some drool at me. I dodged it and watched where it hit a building. It burned the architecture like acid. That wouldn't be fun to be hit with. I charged again, the dragon momentarily distracted by Knuckles digging his shovel claws into the dragon's leg. Lirias quickly went after Knuckles, chasing him around to the front of the dragon. Lirias then ran back to where he was behind the dragon. What was the purpose of that?
I found out what the purpose of Lirias' intervention was when my Homing Attack was thwarted by a gust of wind from just one of the dragon's wings. The wind forced me to the ground and Sonic was running back towards Knuckles and me. I was in my battle position, looking more like an Olympic sprinter who had turned to see what was going on to his left with one hand off the ground.
I didn't see the dragon's tail. As big as the beast was, it was strikingly fast. Sonic was only three-quarters of the way to me and Knuckles when the tail hit us. I felt it hit me square across the gut. I could feel ribs cracking, if not breaking. All thoughts were knocked away with the air in my lungs. I felt nothing but air and the muscles beneath the monster's skin.
As I was flung away from the tail, I felt air for a second before I slammed through the corner of a building. I struck the architecture and the steel. I felt the steel give way to the force of my body and I went through the building as if I was starring in DragonBall Z. Again, I felt nothing but air after I passed through the building before I slammed through a window. I felt the shards of glass as they buried into my flesh, even my spines.
More than just ribs were broken and I knew it. I thanked the heavens for Dr. Gerald's innovative spirit, because the breaks, even my spine, would most likely not be fatal. I would just have to lie still for a while, which wouldn't be much of a problem. I hit the floor of the building's level. The pain was so intense that I couldn't do anything but scream.
I think everything stopped what it was doing while I screamed. I couldn't stop myself. I just let out one long scream that I could barely hear echo across the city. The landing had pushed all the shards of glass even deeper into my back, arms, and legs, making the pain that much greater. I didn't even know I could hold so much air in my lungs for it. I just landed, felt all the pain rush in at once and screamed.
When I could finally stop screaming I could feel bones sliding back into place and healing. My regenerative abilities kicked in quickly. The worst was feeling my spine correct and heal itself. I couldn't contain myself, though my subsequent screams weren't so loud as that first one. As soon as I could move, I writhed in agony. I finally turned on my side and instinctively curled into a protective ball. I could control myself now; I simply growled and whimpered with the pain. I hoped that Knuckles and Sonic hadn't suffered the same fate when they had been hit, they would most certainly die.
I don't know how long I lay there, but I faded in and out of consciousness. I heard a distraught voice, perhaps Tails, before feeling a surge of pain and a wave of vertigo. I vomited as I was lifted off the floor and tried to keep from screaming as I was put onto a seat. It had to be the X Tornado because Amy would certainly look for Sonic. I passed out in the plane.