Sonic and his gang were having a very bad day, and for two very annoying reasons. One was because their ship had all of a sudden broken down; Tails and Chris were having a hard time repairing it because they were missing some very important parts. The other was because at that moment Eggman had chosen to attack, and with a lot of drones. Sonic and Knuckles blasted through them with ease, and Amy sent them flying into the air with her big hammer, but the army seemed endless.

Sonic had to abandon his drone duty in order to fight Shadow, and boy was the fight tough. The two were the same, no matter their differences and abilities. This especially surprised Sonic, since Eggman had discovered Shadow's real body drifting around in space only a three ago, stuck in a piece of ice. The evil man had quickly thawed him out and transferred the memory from Android Shadow to the real Shadow, and apparently the black hedgehog was even angrier than he was before. 'Must be because he has emotions now,' Sonic thought, deflecting a kick aimed at his stomach with his forearms.

The rain of blows kept coming, first from Shadow, then from Sonic, to the point where the two were nothing but a blur of black a blue. At some point and time of the battle Shadow got hit to the ground, making a neat crater into the earth. The black hedgehog stood tiredly, watching his equally tired rival fall neatly on the ground just some yards in front of him. He knew that the Sonic's friends were tired, and even though he was tired he wouldn't stop fighting, he couldn't stop fighting. So much pent up emotions, thoughts and pain coursed through his body, heart and brain. It muddled his thoughts and weakened his heart, though it powered his body almost inhumanly.

'Maria is dead.'

The thought crashed through his head. At first when he was a droid, he couldn't feel anything when the revelation first struck him. But now that he was him it attacked him with merciless vigor. The girl he has sought to protect was dead. The little daughter he never had was gone. He had sought out some of the soldiers of the Ark before his real body was found and killed them, but in the end it was pointless, if bittersweet. It didn't bring her back. No one can come back from death. It was impossible, and Shadow hated when things were impossible.

So he had stuck with following Eggman, despite his pride telling him to go his own way because he was not one to be controlled or ordered around. Grief won out though, and so here he was, fighting his ex-best friend and rival. 'Had he been there, Maria would have probably still been alive,' said the darkness in his mind. And though he knew he shouldn't listen to it, he felt his anger and hatred grow. Had Sonic been there he would've been able to take Maria to safety when he couldn't. He could've protected her while he was out of action.

'He was there,' another, softer voice said in his head. Images of Sonic crossed through his mind, Maria running with him, the ARK guards invading the area...

The bullet that pierced Maria's back.

Tears gathered in his eyes, but willed his self not to cry. He turned the grief into power, attacking Sonic now with renewed vigor. He wouldn't yell or scream out his grief, and he wouldn't cry it out either, not unless he was completely alone. And if he was alone he cried silently. He would not bawl like a newborn cub, he was too strong for that. 'It's not a bad thing,' the voice said again, but he pushed it away, giving a satisfied smirk when his fist met Sonic's face, oofing when a knee met his gut.

The two rivals separated themselves from each other and stared each other down, trying to figure out when to strike each other when they're heard Amy's loud voice not far from them. The pink headed girl had just smashed her hundredth something bot when she pointed to the sky.

"What is that?!"

The battle field seemed to stop at once, all turning to look up at the sky. A large ball of fire was heading their way, and Eggman's scream to run had everybody moving. As the ball came closer they realized that it was three people and one very large...what was that? A dinosaur? A giant? Whatever it was, the three were fighting it, pouncing on it and attacking it with well trained and timed blows, dodging it before delivering kicks, punches and scratches and dancing away like flying tigers, graceful but deadly. Two of the figures had wings. Before they hit the ground they scattered, letting the humongous thing kiss the ground.

All three of them were covered in a black aura that shrouded them completely, golden, red and silver eyes staring down at the monster below. Then, as one, the three started chanting; holding out their hands so that small balls the color of their eyes appeared and glowed. With a shout the three pointed them towards the monster, and everything went bright. The power they used had also blown them away so the three landed in faraway separate craters. The monster was nowhere to be seen.

Battle forgotten, Sonic met up with his crew. "Knuckles, take Amy and Cream and go that way. Tails you're with me!" The runner turned and ran, Tails quickly behind him. Knuckles grumbled before going the directing he was told, casting a suspicious eye at Eggman and Shadow. Shadow looked back at Eggman, and after a nod the hedgehog went towards the third crater.