Back out in Metropolis, there was no resistance from Badniks. They seemed stuck in some kind of sleep mode or something. That did not stop Omega from deactivating them completely as he and Shadow walked by them. Motobugs or Egg Pawns did not matter to Omega.
The two approached the prison, which seemed as much at peace as any other building in Metropolis. The pair heard the creaking of metal, but it turned out to be the Tornado, still on autopilot, but splattered in dust and debris.
"Something's not right here," said Shadow.
"What makes you say that?" asked Omega.
"Any guards in the building would have been deactivated by the helmet. That should have been plenty of time for them to leave this place," he said.
"Where else would they go?" asked Omega.
"Good point," said Shadow. He put the barrel of his gun into the door and forced it open. The walls were smooth like Eggman's base but rust colored and dark. He signaled Omega in and then carefully walked toward the stairwell.
"Maximum security is on the third floor below this one. The prison is built into the ground to prevent escapes," said Omega.
"It seems we shared a place like this once," said Shadow.
"Affirmative," said Omega.
The pair moved down the stairs and headed down all the way to the third floor. They found the hallway and then found the cells. Omega flashed his wrist into a flood light. It fell on the sleeping form of Rouge and then Sonic. They were still in restraints.
Omega knocked Rouge's cell open. Shadow bent down and took her pulse. It was there. She was merely asleep after all. He looked up at Omega and nodded his head. Omega scrapped a piece off the floor and lit it on fire with his flamethrower hand. Shadow put the burning metal under Rouge's nose while maintaining his squat.
Rouge's nose became irritated and she began to come to. She looked up to see Shadow and Omega. "My boys, you came for me," she said.
"Let me break your bonds," said Omega, using his metal fingers to slice through the ropes.
"Did you get my message?" asked Rouge.
"Yes, but I lost the emerald," said Shadow.
"Oh Shadow, you're breaking this girl's heart. You got this far without a chaos emerald?" asked Rouge.
"Never mind that, what happened to you?" asked Shadow.
"Well, I was investigating the robot attacks. I came to Metropolis, thinking that Eggman must have been involved. I got to the control room where I was going to blow the controls, but then I saw the Cat calling the shots. While I tried to report, Metal Sonic hit me from behind. They must have drugged me, I still don't feel right. I hope you don't need my skills, boys…I can't lift my wings," said Rouge.
"Drugs…Amy. Where's the girl?" asked Shadow.
Omega shined his light on the ground outside the cells and a hammer appeared on the ground.
"They took her. Whoever they are," said Shadow. He stood up and looked at the staircase going down.
"The Doctor was in the cell next to mine. He's not there now," said Rouge weakly.
"Eggman was here," said Omega.
"Tails, this is Shadow, come in," said Shadow.
"Hi Shadow, did you find Amy?" asked Tails.
"No, we think the Doctor got her. However I do have Sonic and Rouge. How are things on your end?" asked Shadow.
"Eggman got her? That's not good. Big is recovering slowly. We have him sedated over here," said Tails.
"I recommend you move him to our location so you can watch over Rouge and Sonic. Omega and I are going after the Doctor," said Shadow.
"It might be tough, but there should be a forklift or something we could use. We'll do it, Shadow. Good luck and bring back Amy safe," said Tails.
"We are on it," said Shadow. "Rouge, I hate to leave you like this. Tails and Espio are on their way and they'll take care of you."
"You always were complicated. Will you wake up Sonic?" she asked.
"If he is anything like you then he won't be fit for combat. No, we'll let Tails figure it out," said Shadow. He picked up one of Rouge's former bonds and tied to Amy's hammer in two places so he could carry it on his back.
"The lower hangar is two levels down. That is the most likely spot," said Omega. "Farewell, Rouge."
Team Dark, so briefly reunited, separated again as Omega and Shadow worked their way down to the hangar. When they got there, they could see that the hangar was open. They also saw that they were not alone. Two forms could be seen on the brightly lit asphalt runway. One was circular while the other was triangular.
"Boss was right. We were followed," said the triangle. "Attack them, Bomb!"
Bomb made a rush at Shadow. Shadow dropped his gun and thwack Bomb with the hammer into the hand of Omega.
"Ammunition accepted," said Omega who then fired Bomb into the triangle. Bomb blew up and the two became nonfunctional, at least temporarily.
"Who were they?" asked Shadow.
"Subject: Heavy. Subject: Bomb. Employed as double agents of the Eggman Empire. Programming faulty: Never determined if they succeeded in their mission. Hypothesis: Said programming made them immune to robot control helmet," said Omega.
They heard an engine rev up in front of them. They made it into a hangar bay with an opening to the outside. Outside, the two looked up to see Eggman controlling a familiar looking device, or at least a familiar device to Sonic fans of the mid-nineties.
"What is that?" asked Shadow.
"Subject: Titan Metal Sonic. Believed destroyed. Also believed to be connected somehow to Metal Sonic. Hypothesis: This is not Metal Sonic," said Omega.
"That's right Shadow, this is the improved Mega Titan Metal Sonic. That Cat might have been a hindrance, but now I can use its power to grind you and Sonic to dust. Then I can reenergize my troops and take out GUN since they are more or less paralyzed from what I understand. This couldn't have gone better if I had planned it," said Eggman from the cockpit in the chest of his revamped red weapon.
"I thought you did plan it," said Fang the Sniper, emerging from behind the giant weapon with Amy in his grasp. His gun was targeted on her.
"Oh come now, Fang. Who's keeping score? Oh that's right, I am," laughed Eggman.
"Plan: ludicrous. To mind control Big the Cat into overthrowing Eggman Empire to confuse your enemies just so you could escape from prison to activate this weapon and take over anyway?" queried Omega, steam starting to form from his head.
"Ah, rebellious Omega, I knew you would understand me. Sadly it will be the last comprehension you ever make. You see I have Amy Rose, the friend of Sonic the Hedgehog, and you twerps won't do anything while I have her in my power," said Eggman.
"You're forgetting something," said Shadow.
"What's that?" said Eggman.
"I am not Sonic the Hedgehog," said Shadow. He drew Amy's hammer and flew at Fang. He managed to knock Fang away and snag Amy, placing her gently on the ground. Eggman fired a missile at Shadow but Omega intercepted it with gunfire, causing it to explode in midair.
"Shadow. Always one for the hard way. Well, today I will not refuse you because I really can't wait to try this Mega Titan Metal Sonic out on somebody," said Eggman. The Titan rose to its full height.
"Not so fast, Doctor. The hedgehog is mine. He and I have unfinished business," said Fang.
"Oh fine. I will put down my troubled child Omega while you deal with Shadow," said Eggman.
"I see you carry a gun. It's time for you to find out who is the king of the guns," said Fang as he drew his pistol.
Shadow fired his rifle, knocking away the pistol of Fang. Then he closed the difference and clubbed Fang with his rifle. Then he untied the rope from the hammer, causing it to fall from his back. He strung up the line over a light pole and tied Fang with it, keeping him suspended.
"Hail to the king, baby," said Shadow.
"I will be avenged," said Fang.
Omega was finding his duel with the Titan to be more difficult than he had calculated. The large robot hedgehog had a lot of shielding and was deflecting his shots. It also was keeping him on his toes and preventing him from launching his missiles.
"Enough, Omega. Play time is over," said Eggman. The Titan brought his claw down on Omega's body and pinned him down. "See, I told you that this would be your undoing. All those years trying to hunt me down for tossing you aside. In your final moments, I hope that you now understand why I didn't stop development with you."
Shadow warped in and laid a kick onto the arm restraining Omega, causing it to lose its grip. Shadow landed and Omega got up. Now able to attack both sides and divide Eggman's attention, the pair worked the Titan into a frenzy as it tried to keep up. Finally Shadow and Omega had each knocked off a separate arm. The Titan stood armless, but Eggman did not seem upset.
Shadow paused. Something was not right. "Tails, this is Shadow. We're outside the hangar on the bottom level. We may need help." Shadow cut off his communicator, not waiting for a response. He and Omega then attacked the legs and separated them.
"Good work, Shadow and Omega. However you should be getting tired or frustrated and you have not yet figured out the true power of this beast. Anyone could see that this form is the Titan Metal Sonic from before, just configured for me to control it. That model had the weakness of having its limbs knocked off as you have done," said Eggman.
"And?" said Omega.
"I know something that you don't know. Do you think I hired Fang to break me out of jail?" asked Eggman.
Shadow thought quickly to his encounter with Fang at Amy's. All Fang had wanted was the chaos emerald. They had not focused on the emeralds but on Eggman's robots. He must have the emeralds.
Eggman pressed a button and the limbs returned to the main body. Then he pressed another button and seven emeralds slotted into the robot body. The robot then changed color from red to yellow and began to radiate in energy.
"Yes, it is SUPER Mega Titan Metal Sonic!" said Eggman. "Now you cannot match my powers!"
"Hypothesis: Eggman has created his own Sonic fan character," said Omega.
"Oh it is better than that, Omega, I have created THE Sonic fan character," said Eggman.
"Any suggestions, Omega?" asked Shadow.
"Hypothesis: Every Eggman robot has a design flaw that is overlooked by Dr. Eggman," said Omega.
"Come now, Omega. Really, is that what you think of your creator? What is your flaw, then?" asked Eggman.
"Information: Classified," said Omega.
"Well, now. We can fight and I can destroy you or you two can just stand there and I can take my new unstoppable power to Central City itself and receive the President's surrender at his desk or at least the front lawn," said Eggman.
"Shadow…" came the weak voice of Amy Rose as she was bracing herself on her hammer in an attempt to get up.
"Okay, I have waited long enough. I am not going to give you time to flirt with Sonic's girlfriend. Get a load of this!" said Eggman has he began to charge toward Amy. Shadow warped to move her out of the way, but Eggman merely turned on Omega and laughed as the robot's gatling guns did nothing.
He was going to knock Omega over and ground him into the cement of the landing strip, but a blast disrupted him in midcharge. He took no damage from it, but it did have enough impact to move him backward.
Tails had reclaimed his mech and arrived with Espio, but not the others. Still recovering, Shadow decided. He held Amy in his arms and let the others distract Eggman. Espio attempted to find some weak spot on the robot body but got thrown off. Tails and Omega's combined firepower was enough to push him back, but do no more. The concussion of the fighting and the lack of circulation had knocked Fang out.
"Shadow, you know how to beat him," said Amy as Shadow laid her down carefully on the grass near the strip. She continued to grab her hammer.
"No, I don't," said Shadow.
"It's just like the first time you decided to be a hero. Do you remember?" asked Amy.
Eggman tried to cripple Tails' mech with an extended arm punch. Omega got between and caught the punch with his two hands and redirected away Tails. Espio appeared on Eggman's windshield, trying to block his view. Eggman tried to run into a light pole to get Espio off and the chameleon had to jump away.
"I do not remember this guy being this difficult the first time," said Espio, catching his breath on a light pole.
Shadow continued to kneel over Amy. The first time that he was a hero? That time she told him humanity was basically good and he took down the Biolizard? Wait that wasn't everything. The Biolizard had committed itself to the destruction of the ARK and the people of the Earth; it had fused with the ARK to cement the destruction. Sonic and he had gone to their super forms to defeat the beast. The power was so new but it was exhausting. With the Biolizard defeated, he fell to Earth drained of energy.
"I understand," said Shadow. He reentered the fight with two chaos spears, one from each hand and that attracted Eggman's attention for a second, but the Doctor really wanted Tails' mech and its big cannon out of the fight. He caught Tails making a slow turn and but his hands around the mech and ripped it in two, spilling Tails out in the process.
Shadow again fired a chaos spear at Eggman, but it was Omega that was now Eggman's next target. The plucky robot was beginning to run out of ideas. Espio tried some more ninja stars but they landed helplessly against the armor of the Titan.
Shadow got over to Tails, where the fox was a little stunned that his mech had failed. "Tails, this thing is basically like Super Sonic. It can only maintain this form as long as it has power just like our super forms are powered by rings. We have to keep it busy until it runs out of juice."
"That's a tall order, Shadow. If he gets a straight hit on any of us, you saw what it did to our mech," said Tails.
"I have an idea to slow it down. Can you carry me and Omega for ten seconds?" asked Shadow.
"Doubtful," said Tails.
"We have to try something," said Shadow.
"Your team move requires a chaos emerald that we do not have," pointed out Tails.
Omega overhearing the conversation summoned his power reserve energy to execute a giant laser blast that succeeded in bouncing Eggman backward a bit, but it left Omega staggered and he fell down and his eyes blinked off.
Shadow and Tails ran over to him. "Is he…" asked Shadow.