At last! Finally got the final chapter uploaded. Many apologies from myself and Pyro for the long wait.

You should be, blue boy. These good people have been waiting for years!!!

Bit of an exaggeration there, buddy boy...


Chapter 10: Revenge and Revelations

When Shadow next opened his eyes, bright sunlight forced them shut again. Blinking, he waited until his eyes had adjusted to the light before looking around. No longer was he in the ruins of the warehouse. Now he found himself in a brightly lit hospital room, lying in a soft hospital bed. His left arm was in plaster, and bandages wound their way around his ribs. A patch of gauze was attached to one cheek with surgical tape, hiding (what felt like) a rather deep gash.

Slowly, Shadow forced himself to sit up, whilst trying to take in his surroundings. How had he ended up here? He tried to remember what had happened the night before. The warehouse. Mecha Shadow. Death. The Elysium Fields. Maria. Super Shadow. Chaos Blast. Mecha's self-destruction. The memories came rushing back to him, making his head swim. With his free hand, he rubbed his forehead, trying to ease the oncoming headache.

"How ya doin', buddy?" The voice from the doorway nearly made Shadow jump out of the bed. Turning quickly to the source of the voice, he found a familiar blue hedgehog leaning on the door frame, a world-famous grin spread across his face.

"What are you doing here, faker?" growled Shadow. The last thing he needed was a bright and cheery Sonic around him when he felt like he might pass out at any moment. Oblivious to any malice in the ebony hedgehog's voice, Sonic walked into the room.

"Well that's not a very nice way to greet your saviour" grinned Sonic. Shadow studied his rival's face for any sign of mockery. Finding none, Shadow's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean, 'saviour'?" Sonic pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down.

"It's a good job we found you when we did, man" he said, crossing his arms and leaning back in the chair. "You were in a bad way. I don't know what you went through last night, but you looked like you'd been to hell and back." A flicked of a grin crept onto Shadow's lips.

"Trust me, you have no idea" he said mystically. Sonic blinked, not quite catching the meaning of Shadow's words. Shadow shook his head, and then looked at Sonic. "So how did you find me? And who's "we"?"

"That last explosion could be heard miles away!" exclaimed Sonic, spreading his arms for effect. "I ran on ahead, and Tails and Amy followed in the Tornado. We thought it was Eggman up to no good. Never thought we'd find you two out cold." Shadow sat bolt upright. Rouge! She had been there too!

"What happened to Rouge!?" he blurted out far too quickly to be an innocent concern. Sonic instantly picked up on the genuine worry in Shadow's voice, and raised an eyebrow.

"Something going on between you two that you want to share?" asked Sonic, trying hard to suppress the giggle growing in his throat. Shadow just glared at his blue rival.

"Not that it's any of your business, faker, but no, there isn't anything going on between us" he snapped, a pale tint of crimson appearing on his cheeks. Sonic gave his trademark grin, easily seeing through the ebony hedgehog's snarling disguise.

"Fine, Shads. I'll believe you, though thousands wouldn't!" Sonic leant back in the chair and crossed his legs. The smile faded as genuine concern crept into Sonics eyes. "To be honest pal, she was pretty beat up. I don't know what that metal freak did to her, but he did a damn good job."

Suddenly, Shadow was out of bed heading towards the open door, grimacing with his good arm wrapped protectively around his broken ribs. Quick as a flash, Sonic was in his way, blocking the exit.

"Get the hell out of my way, faker" demanded Shadow, pain and rage swirling in his ruby eyes. Sonic didn't budge, his own emerald eyes attempting to out-stare his coal coloured rival.

"You're in no fit state to leave this room, Shads, and you know it" said Sonic, showing more concern for his rival than Shadow had ever heard. The effect was amazing. The once rampaging hedgehog stopped dead in his tracks, as if stuck to the spot. Sonic gently turned him round and led him back to the bed. "Rouge is in the ICU. She's not going anywhere for a while, so you can take this opportunity to get some rest and heal yourself." Shadow climbed back into bed, pulled the covers up to his chest and lay back. Sonic started for the door, before turning back. "Take care of yourself Shadow"

"Sonic…Thanks" As Sonic headed out the door, Shadow suddenly felt the weight of sleep on his eyelids. Within seconds, he was away in a restful, yet dreamless sleep.

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It was a couple of days later when Shadow finally went to visit Rouge on the Intensive Care Unit. Thanks to his Ultimate Lifeform DNA, Shadow had recovered far quicker than anyone else could have with his injuries. His ribs still ached when he stretched, but the arm was healed and he had (according to Knuckles) a "cool" scar on his head. Shadow wasn't too keen on the scar himself, but decided to ignore it.

As Shadow stepped onto the ward, a blonde haired nurse came across to him, holding a clipboard.

"Hello sir. How can I help?" she asked, a friendly smile on her face. Due to the immediate environment, Shadow found his voice had been reduced to nothing short of a whisper.

"Rouge the Bat, please" After checking her clipboard, the nurse led him down a corridor and into a side room. Shadow thanked her as she closed the door for some privacy, and then turned to look at Rouge. What he saw nearly had him on the floor in tears of fury, fury at what that walking trashcan had done to the light of his heart.

Rouge lay asleep on the bed, hooked up to an IV drip and heart monitor, which currently showed a slow but steady pulse. Her head was bandaged up, while her left arm and leg were both in plaster. Shadow picked up the hospital notes at the foot of the bed. According to the doctors, Rouge had needed 45 stitches to stem a wound at the back of her head, hence the bandages. Her left arm was fractured in no less than 7 different places, while there was concern that the damage to her leg was so severe she may never be able to walk again.

On top of that, one wing had been crushed and Mecha's self destruct had severely burnt the other. This latter injury had required an urgent skin graft to save the wing. In all, Rouge had been in theatre for over 18 hours while Shadow had been unconscious. A personal note from the doctor caught Shadow's eye. Apparently, cases this severe usually resulted in a death certificate. However, it was as if Rouge's heart refused to give up, even though her broken and battered body was willing it to do so. Rouge's willpower, the note said, may have been the only thing keeping the female bat alive before and during the operation.

Having read the notes, Shadow put them back in their holder on the foot of the bed, and looked at Rouge. The sight of her, his Rouge, hooked up to machines, wires and tubes removing and replacing fluids inside her, stirred something within him. He was suddenly aware of a drop of water running down his nose. Wiping the water away, Shadow looked up, expecting to see a leak. Seeing nothing, Shadow realised that, for only the second time in his life, he had shed tears. He, the Ultimate Lifeform, crying? Shadow shook his head, clearing the teary mists from his eyes.

"I will not let this go unpunished" he whispered, removing his golden power rings from his wrists. He could feel his anger rising, the chaos power inside him feeding from it, and in return increasing his anger, like the true symbiotic relationship his body was supposed to represent. "I will make him pay, Rouge." Pulling out his green Chaos emerald, Shadow's face broke into a fearsome snarl. "It's payback time, fat boy! CHAOS CONTROL!" In a green flash, Shadow was gone, leaving his power rings lying on the bed. A snow white hand reached over and closed around them, a weak voice barely whispering.

"Shadow…"

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"Damn, drat, blast and curses!"

Dr Eggman, stood at his 'operating' table, was in the process of slowly rebuilding the CPU to Mecha Shadow. Despite his robotic beast being defeated by Shadow, the last gasp self detonation had put the black hedgehog out of action, and Eggman hadn't heard anything from him since.

"Heh heh heh. With Shadow out of the way, Sonic is one ally down" smirked the villain, his hands busy with the tiny mechanical components. "And the loss of an ally is a huge weakness to exploit!! HA HA HA!" Looking back at his table, Eggman suddenly saw the room bask in a green glow. He turned around, only to find a gloved hand clamp around his throat. The hand extended back to a black furry arm, belonging to none other than…

"S-S-Shadow?" stuttered the doctor, sweat dripping from his forehead. Shadows eyes glowed red, a similar aura surrounding the ebony hedgehog.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't crush your windpipe and finish you off now!" snarled the hedgehog, his eyes glowing brighter as he spoke. Before Eggman could answer, Shadow released him, causing Eggman to fall to the floor. "Hmph. You're not worth killing. Not yet" said Shadow, venom in his voice that Eggman had never heard before. Shadow crouched down, bringing his face level with Eggmans. "You have thirty seconds, then this place goes sky-high" With that, Shadow's fur started to shimmer, and the red aura exploded into gold. Super Shadow stood up, and took three steps back from Eggmans prone figure. "Time's ticking, doctor."

As if someone had electrocuted him, Eggman jumped up and ran towards the nearest escape pod. He knew that there was nothing in his arsenal to take on Super Shadow. Better to run now and fight another day, he thought as he launched the pod. The rocket blasted into life, and Eggman shot skyward, aiming for the Death Egg currently in orbit around Mobius.

Looking back to Earth, Eggman saw a small golden light appear at the centre of his headquarters. The light suddenly rushed outward and upward, creating a bubble of golden light which seemed to chase the escape pod. Just when it looked as it the bubble would catch up, it all seemed to rush back on itself, as if being sucked back into the abyss. The light bubble disappeared, and Eggman instantly knew what would happen next. As he covered his ears, the explosion erupted. A gigantic ball of flame erupted and spread out, engulfing his entire hideout in a matter of seconds. As the fireball lifted, Eggman saw nothing but rubble. Standing in the centre, a perfect circle of open ground surrounding him, stood a golden figure.

"I'll have my revenge for this" hissed Eggman as the capsule docked with the Death Egg. "I'll defeat you and that irritating blue hedgehog somehow". The capsule doors slid open, and Dr Eggman was greeted by a sinister voice and two glowing yellow and green eyes shining out from the dark of the space station.

"Dr Eggmannnn" hissed the voice, a flicker of flame bobbing up and down in time to the words. "Perhapssss we can be of ssssome assistance…"

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When Shadow re-appeared in the hospital ward, little had changed. He had only been gone a couple of minutes, and no one seemed to have questioned the two green flashes coming from Rouge's room.

"Shadow?"

The voice was barely a whisper, yet Shadow span round as the first syllable hit his ears. Rouge lay in the bed, a weak smile on her lips. Shadow couldn't help but smile back. Then without a word, he walked up to the bed and locked lips with Rouge. Her eyes widened with surprise at first, before they closed as she kissed back.

In the hallway, Sonic stepped back from the door, having seen what had just transpired. A huge grin spread across his face as he turned to Knuckles.

"What?" asked the crimson guardian. Sonic held his hand out, palm up.

"You owe me twenty bucks, man" chuckled Sonic. "Cough up!"

Luckily, Shadow and Rouge didn't hear the string of profanities that erupted from Knuckles as Sonic received his winnings.


Well that's it folks! Finally finished Shadow vs Shadow. Already at work on the first part of my next one

Hope you're a bit quicker with that one!

You'll have to excuse me, everyone. I need to kick some fiery ass. Until next time. Remember, Read and Review please!!