Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog is copyrighted to Yuji Naka, Sonic Team, and Sega. The only thing(s) I claim ownership to are my OC/fancharacters to appear in this story.
Chapter 4: Protect the City (Part 1)
"We're almost there, Inv! If you see a little blue and yellow house, that's Tails' place!"
"Then that must be what I see right now! Hang on; preparin' for landin'!"
The Z-Ptera was closing in on Mystic Ruins, flying straight above the train station and heading straight to a hill that housed what Sonic pointed out: Tails' Lab. The red and grey plane decelerated until it reached an aerial standstill and slowly landed on the vacant lot before the workshop.
Sonic eagerly jumped off the wing of the Z-Ptera and ran toward the door, "Yo, Tails! Stop tinkering and come out here!" Although his yell probably did the trick, Sonic approached the door and knocked on it multiples times for extra measure.
Shelton, too, jumped off Inv's airplane and said humorously to Inv, "I think ya should add a third function that says 'Warning; this ride makes rollercoasters look like lil punk rides.'"
Inv opened up the cockpit capsule and laughed, "Well, technology can only let ma plane ride so fast, Shelly."
Finally, the door to the workshop opened up, revealing the two-tailed mechanist himself. "Sonic, I heard you the first time when you yelled." Tails rationalized.
"Sorry, buddy, I just got off this awesome ride." Sonic said apologetically, pointing over his shoulder at the Z-Ptera.
The vulpine's blue eyes shimmered in amazement as the sight of the high-tech avian vehicle Sonic pointed out. "Whoa…" He said with awe.
"That reminds me, lemme introduce you to a couple of friends I just met." Sonic said, walking over to them, "The guy on the right is Shelton Shallow, and the robot on the left is Inv Robonox."
"Yo." Shelton greeted with a thumbs-up as Inv waved.
"Hello, you two!" Tails said, jogging over to them, and introduced himself, "My name is Tails, though Sonic probably already told you that. Welcome to my workshop and to Mystic Ruins!"
"Honored," Inv replied, shutting off his plane.
"Same here," Shelton added in.
"Which one of you owns that?" Tail asked interestedly, examining the paintjob and structure of the vehicle.
"All mine, partner," Inv declared proudly, "I call it th' Z-Ptera. That's short fer Z-Pterodactyl. Hotrod, ain't it?"
"Yes, it's very impressive!" Tail replied, turning to the robot, "Can I ask how you managed to get your wingspan that large but so comfortably?"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Sonic interjected, preventing an almost inevitable conversation between two technological enthusiasts, "Tails, we got quite a dilemma on our hands. So, let's head inside your workshop if you don't mind."
Tails' head tilted to the side in confusion, "What's going on?"
Sonic reached the front door of Tails' Workshop as he responded, "Didn't I just say we were gonna discuss in here?"
Inside, Shelton, Sonic, Inv, and Tails situated themselves with the first three giving the latter all of the information they gathered up until now. Shelton and Inv especially made Tails aware of the threat Ryu and Negative posed since they had been battling them longer.
"So, Shelton," Tails did his best to summarize the key points, "What you are saying is that you've sealed two of these temples already? And they have to be sealed using a Chaos Emerald?"
"That's what I said, man. You got it." Shelton confirmed, leaning back in his seat, "But, hate to say this, that's all we got. Nothin' more, nothin' less."
"Well, there has to be some way to locate these temples." Tails stated optimistically.
"I agree," Sonic concurred, "I mean, Ryu and Negative are doing it!"
"That's cuz they know more than us." Inv pointed out critically.
Shelton ran a hand through his hair nervously as he said, "As much as I hate to say it, Lady Luck's been on my side up 'til now…"
"I have to agree," Inv said, "Me and our other compadre ain't been so lucky like Shelton here has."
"Who would that be?" Sonic asked curiously.
"Oh, yeah," Shelton said, remembering something important, "Me and Inv got another homie in this. So, if you find someone by the name of Scizzor Shidoro, he's helpin' find any temples that resemble the one we were just at."
"Well, if that's the case," Tails went off the computer stationed on the other side of the room, "I guess we can start our data-collecting by looking up the different types of temples constructed throughout time. There can't be that many, right?"
"It's worth a shot," Sonic said conclusively, "Besides, like you said, Tails, it's a start. The next best thing would be finding out how many of those suckers are out there."
"One thing at a time, Sonic," Inv advised.
"Man, we in some kind of mess this time…" Shelton lamented, "We're nit-pickin' to find some info on these temples and, at the same time, we can't afford to slow down cuz then Ryu and Negative will have more time than us to find these things."
"I'm not gonna mince words," Sonic admitted, "These two are nothing compared to a certain egghead I know…"
Not everyone was as alert as those four. The people of Central City, the capital city of the United Federation, were all going about their everyday matters, including shopping, eating, traveling, and other leisure and business activities. Everyone, from the relatively calm Westopolis area to the bustling Station Square district, was oblivious to the danger.
Well, not for long.
The bright and pleasing sun that many people welcomed as they traversed the streets and districts of Central City was suddenly obscured, particularly in Westopolis and Station Square. Murmurs, both of disappointment and ire, filled the streets as they looked up in unison to the skies to see what was going on.
In the skies over Westopolis, the Imperial Skyline loomed menacingly. "Alright, Robotnik, are you in position?"
Hovering above Station Square was a red and black, armored, streamlined aircraft known to many people as the Egg Carrier. "Ho ho ho! Ready when you are, Negative!"
After that short exchange, a portion of the underside of the Egg Carrier slid open. Immediately afterwards, a large number of Badniks fell from it. The Egg Pawns landed hard on the ground, some forceful enough to cause a small crater with others even landing haphazardly on vehicles. It was thanks to their refurbished chasses that they did not instantly explode from contact from falling at such high altitudes. The Egg Gunners, halfway down, activated their hovering systems and patrolled the skies with their machine and laser guns ready to impose fierce judgment unto any resistance. Last but not least, two cargos that were also dropped, opened upon landing, and let loose roboticized animals to add to the siege in Station Square.
The same thing happened with the Imperial Skyline, but a much different array of robots was released to wreak havoc in Westopolis. The machines, oddly, had a sort of organic appearance to them in comparison to the rigid and hinged robots under Eggman's control. Their color was generally an inky black with streams of active, glowing purple energy coursing through certain parts of their bodies, pantomiming the nervous or skeletal systems. In terms of appearance, they were all animalistic, ranging from lions, to bulls, and to falcons all equipped with sharps claws, horns, or talons and laser and machine guns. "Show no mercy, my Nega Machines! Run wild!" Negative's voice boomed from the loudspeaker from somewhere on the Imperial Skyline.
The people immediately started running away, for their seemingly perfect day was ruined by the sudden appearance of these menacing monstrosities. In Station Square, the Badniks were handling their crowds despotically, making sure certain exits were blocked off and threatening to turn fleers into paste with their rifles. They also mercilessly destroyed modes of transportation in an attempt to instill despair into their hearts. They had gotten orders from Robotnik to do all of that, who in turn was following the instructive advice of Negative.
In Westopolis, the Nega Machines did exactly as they were told—wreak havoc without mercy. Many bearlike machines overturned trucks and vehicles, the lions blocked off exits whilst snarling and pointing their weapons at the fleers, and the eagles unleashed torrents of laser-fire the grounds below, destroying vehicles, light posts, and even causing structural damage. The fires they brewed, and the mindless destruction they caused inflicted terror into many of the people.
Negative, from the control room of the Imperial Skyline, laughed heartlessly as he watched his creations do their job.
"That should teach them a lesson!" Eggman said via the communication system.
"At least, it better," Negative stated, "Let's go, Robotnik, while these insects scatter and thrash about, we have other matters to attend to."
"Copy that. Robotnik, over and out."
However, the raid in both sections of Central City would not go unaddressed. Suddenly, large trucks and helicopters appeared in the areas under attack. Egg Gunners and Nega Machines responded by unleashing fusillades of gunfire, but their bullets bounced off the reinforced chases of the transport vehicle. Their doors flew open and waves of troops cascaded into the battlefield.
"Hurry and regain control, men! Show these robots that G.U.N. means business!" That order came from the administrator and supervisor of the current campaign in Station Square. He was a golden-brown hedgehog whose hair was willowy and possessed a neat tuft swept to the right. He wore a grayish purple G.U.N. suit with three gold medallions pinned to the upper lapel and a G.U.N. insignia sewn right above below them, white gloves, grayish purple pants, and grayish purple shoes with crisscrossing white lines on them.
"Sir, Administrator Virgo, sir!" The G.U.N. Soldiers shouted simultaneously and obediently. Aided by their specialized Beetle and Hunter series machines, the tide of the siege began to shift. Many of the Nega Machines and Badniks were instantly destroyed when G.U.N. entered the fray, explosions and enflamed debris flying across both districts. Streets were filled with the sounds of guns and lasers along with the flashes of their discharge.
But their top priority was making sure the innocent citizens were evacuated to a safe area, something that G.U.N. Administrator Virgena "Virgo" Zen was doing swimmingly. "Keep it moving, folks, you're just doing fine; don't panic!" He was amid a crowd, directing them all with hand signals and vocal commands.
However, Egg Gunners were hot on their trails, guns and lasers aimed at the escaping crowds. "Don't make me laugh." Virgo growled as he dashed toward the opposing machines. When they released their shots toward he approaching hedgehog, he held out one hand as he focused intently on the oncoming projectiles. He vividly imagined himself stopping the shots without actually having to touch any of them, and Virgo exerted effort into making the thought a reality. As a result, his orange eyes flashed, an aura of pink energy surrounded his being, and all of the lasers and bullets were stopped cold with a similar phenomenon engulfing them. Virgo calmly concentrated so that his mind could maintain the psychokinetic hold they had on the fusillades. With a slight grunt and a flick of the wrist, he willed his counterattack, redirecting everything toward the Egg Gunners and causing them to explode instantly.
"Hmph. Pests." Virgo berated as the G.U.N. medallion on his person started to beep.
"Administrator Virgo." A tough, gritty voice called out on the other line.
The psychokinetic hedgehog pinched medallion with two fingers and responded, "Virgo here, Commander."
"Status report. What is going on out there?" The G.U.N. Commander demanded.
"Not as bad as it initially seemed," Virgo reported, "We're steadily regaining control. Agent Shadow and I are working on evacuations as the troops, Beetles, and Hunters are working on extirpating the robots. It looks like these are Eggman's goons we're dealing with."
Virgo heard the Commander snarl before saying, "Damn him, orchestrating a sudden attack without reason…Make sure order is maintained as soon as possible. I'm going to check on Agent Omega and Agent Rouge in Westopolis."
"Yes, sir!" Virgo replied and then said with assurance, "No doubt we'll take care of these menaces in no time especially when G.U.N.'s outside help comes in."
"So, is that all the kinds of temples you two could find?" Sonic questioned, occupying himself with a paddleball.
"The most likely," Tails answered, pulling up the list of temples he and Inv composed onto the large computer screen.
"Accordin' to th' list," Inv read aloud, "we have Greco-Roman temples, th' one Shelton and Sonic sealed; Cambodian temples, th' one Shelton sealed by himself; Buddhist temples, Christian temples, LDS temples, Hindu temples, Jain temples, Masonic temples, pagan temples, Sikh temples, and Zoroastrian temples."
"Quite a list ya'll got here," Shelton remarked, idly flipping a coin to occupy himself.
"Like we said, Shelton," Tails stated, turning to him and Sonic, "This is only speculative, and our first step. We are still severely lacking information that we desperately need."
"At least it's something." Sonic stated optimistically.
Just then, beeping sounded off in the room, perplexing Tails and Sonic. "Yo, Shelly, that's yer communicator." Inv pointed out, saving the information he and Tails gathered on the computer.
"Probably Scizzor, so let's see what's up." Shelton said as he touched the communicator on his ear, "Talk to me, dawg."
"Shelton," a rough, low voice said sternly over the communicator, "If you and Inv are anywhere near Central City, specifically either the Station Square or Westopolis districts, come posthaste."
Shelton could sense the distressed undertone in Scizzor's voice despite how dry and baritone he sounded. One thing Sonic and Tails noticed was that, unlike Shelton and Inv, this person lacked any sort of accent. "Scizzor. What's goin' on over there?" Shelton asked.
"While I was browsing around to get information, two large aircrafts appeared in the horizon and unleashed hordes of machines, one in each district," Scizzor explained, "I could easily distinguish one of them being the Imperial Skyline; surely enough, the Nega Machines came from it. The other way was unfamiliar…"
"Describe it," Shelton commanded.
"It was equal in size to the Imperial Skyline. Its color was primarily red and black. Its turbines and engine system were bluish, and it looked a streamlined battleship." Scizzor answered.
Tails' and Sonic's eyes widened as they looked to each other, "The Egg Carrier!"
"Wha-Who's there?!" Scizzor exclaimed, somewhat flustered to hear the unfamiliar voices.
Shelton sweat-dropped as he rationalized to his partner on the other line, "Uh, long story, Scizzor. We'll explain later. Right now, I'm jettin' to get there!" He did not give Scizzor time to respond as he deactivated the communicator and jumped out of his seat.
"Tails, Inv, you two stay here and see if you can get any more information," Sonic commanded, kicking open the exit, "Shelton, let's go!" With a nod from Shelton, both speedy heroes dashed out of Tails' Workshop, hurrying to get to Central City to help purge it of the robots.
"Blasted robots! Fall apart already!"
A spiked fist jammed into the midsection of an Egg Pawn with enough force to break through the orange armor and rendered it to pieces, his muscles pumping enough power to do so. Another Egg Pawn and Egg Fighter that dare challenged him suffered the same fate, but more and more Badniks became increasingly ambitious as they continued their assault.
And Knuckles was getting sick of it. A perfectly peaceful day ruined because of Eggman. He was sure to give him quite the knuckle sandwich the next time they were to meet. "Tch…Still coming, huh?" He said as he flexed his arms in preparation, "Come and get some then!"
Several Crabmeat scurried toward Knuckles, accepting the challenge, with their huge red gleaming with sharpness. Knuckles was not at all intimidated as he batted them away mercilessly when they came close enough. Buzz Bombers swooped down to the red echidna, but Knuckles ducked underneath them whilst grabbing the thorax of one of them. He proceeded to use the hapless Buzz Bomber to bat away its buddies and others that came his way.
"Who else wants more?" Knuckles dared. To his surprise, more flocked to the battle as opposed to the numbers decreasing. "Hmph." He put his fists in a boxer style again and prepared for a more arduous fight.
Suddenly, he heard a distinct type of noise in the midst of the battle. Something resembling…buzzing?
This particular buzzing sound intensified. Knuckles reflexively covered his ears as the sound reached nigh-unbearable levels. The robots reacted negatively. They started to malfunction and short-circuit, given by how sparks were flying out of their bodies and how some parts of their bodies locked involuntarily in place. The robots were on the fritz due to the presence of the strong noise.
"What the heck's going on?!" Knuckles exclaimed in surprise, watching everything go down. At this point, the sound was loud even with him shielding his ears. The buzzing, just as quickly as it started, stopped as a sort of purplish blur passed through a section of these immobilized robots, slicing through them as explosions replaced where they were.
"My deepest apologies."
Knuckles' purple eyes looked to see his helper. There were two distinct things about this character that he noticed right off the bat: honeycomb-style markings on his sclera, and his set of crystal-white insectoid wings located on his back. The wings mainly resembled that of a butterfly's but seemed to be made of the same material as flies' wings. He wore a yellow, short-sleeved sports shirt; purple hakama fastened by a purple belt and possessing dual yellow stripes down the side; beige military combat boots; and a beige bandanna.
"Thanks for the help, not that I needed it," Knuckles indignantly responded. He then crossed his arms as he shot the strange being a dirty glare, "Now was the big deal? My ears are banging right now!"
"I was manipulating sound with my wings." The man replied, his wings twitching slightly, "Though, I hadn't notice you until the last second, hence why I stopped so abruptly. My powers are rather impractical when allies are around." The guy's purple eyes gazed at the red echidna before diverting to the opposition approaching him and Knuckles, "Regardless. I only wished I came sooner to help."
"Don't we all?" Knuckles asked rhetorically as he held up his fists, "What's your name, buddy?"
"Scizzor," Scizzor introduced himself, uncrossing his arms as his wings fluttered and lifted him off the ground, "Scizzor Shidoro."
"Nice to meet you, pal," Knuckles replied, "The name's Knuckles the Echidna. Now, let's have some fun with these pieces of junk!"
"Very well then."
"Chaos…Spear!"
Egg Pawns and Egg Gunners perished as yellow bolts of energy ripped their mechanical bodies and caused them to explode violently.
The crimson eyes of Shadow alertly checked his surroundings, searching for any more of the Badniks tainting Station Square. To his irritation, he spotted more from across the street. "Hmph. I'll make this quick." He muttered under his breath.
Just then, an azure blur swept across the area, faster than Shadow had time to react, and sliced those Badniks in half, resulting in an explosive doom. "Yo, Shadow! Taking care of business, I see!" Sonic greeted his longtime rival after performing that deed.
"Not you again." Shadow groaned in disdain, shaking his head slightly.
"Well, nice to see you, too." Sonic replied sarcastically but then stated seriously, "But, I had no idea you were out here too. That's the first time you've beaten me to the punch at anything."
Shadow narrowed his eyes at his blue counterpart but opted to address the current situation, "G.U.N. is always the first thing on the scene of a disaster. Don't tell me you've forgotten that I am a member of G.U.N. now."
"Truth be told, Shadow…I kinda did." Sonic admitted in all earnest.
Shadow only sighed in exasperation, but he soon spotted roboticized animals in the distance. "Never mind that now. We still have work to do." Shadow said as he dashed off. His movement automatically activated his Air Shoes, the jets on the soles of them propelling him forward at a constant pace. To accommodate this, he moved as if he were simply skating along the ground. Sonic ran alongside him, using his traditional method of high-speed progression.
Shadow and Sonic easily caught up to those Badniks and each used Spin Dash to sliced through and destroy them. They continued down the road, their heads looking about constantly to spot any other Badniks that needed to be dispatched.
"Looks like they're hiding now that we're here!" Sonic declared cockily, but Shadow did not respond whatsoever.
Just then, Shadow's communicator started beeping. He held up his right cuff to his mouth and said, "Shadow here."
"Shadow," Virgo spoke urgently, "Are you anywhere near the Train Station in Station Square?"
"It won't take me long to get there, Administrator," Shadow replied, "Is there a problem?"
"A big one," Virgo said grimly, "Apparently, there's this new kind of machine that entered the fray, but I'm too busy evacuating citizens to address the problem. Take my place and please hurry!"
"Understood. I'm on my way." Shadow said, dismissing communication with his superior.
"Train Station, huh?" Sonic said, apparently having eavesdropped on the conversation before turning around and going the opposite direction, "See you there, Shadow!"
"Get back here." Shadow demanded as he turned around and skated in pursuit of the eager blue hedgehog. With their combined speed, Sonic and Shadow reached the Train Station of Station Square in no time. To their disappointment, all that was there were Egg Gunners and Egg Pawns, no different from the packs they were usually fighting.
"Well, this is a letdown…" Sonic said, frowning and crossing his arms. But, when Shadow thought about it, Virgo would not distribute false information like that. There had to be something there, something lying in wait.
Shadow's suspicions were proven correct when something suddenly burst out of the shore near the Train Station. "Watch out, Sonic!" The black and red hedgehog shouted. When a reddish laser ray was fired their way, they used their speed to evade the slicing attack.
"Mhmhmhm. We meet again, Sonic the Hedgehog. Enjoyed temporary relief?"
Sonic gasped as he focused his attention on the attacker, "Negative!" Hovering above the shore was a large, shark-like Nega Machine. Its glowing, light purplish-pink eyes and teeth gleamed menacingly. Same-colored energy surged through two large pectoral fins that possessed four blades. It had a deep black body with dim, dark red lines located predominantly around its torso. Lastly, it possessed a long tail that seemed tattered with four, smaller trails that were tipped with purplish-pink.
The head of the robot opened up to reveal Negative manning the cockpit. "Enjoying the demolition that befell Central City?" He taunted.
"No!" Sonic retorted, pointing at the hybrid heatedly, "And I got a question for you, Negative. Why the heck are you with Eggman's machines?"
"Don't you mean Robotnik's machines?" Negative corrected but nonetheless answered, "And you mean you haven't figured it out based on initial supposition? We're working together!"
"That's the last thing we need…" Sonic groaned in disdain with a negative nod.
"Well, Negative," Shadow spoke authoritatively, "As a member of G.U.N., I demand you end this before I end it myself."
"I would like to see you try, you striped louse. Make my day!" Negative challenged as the cockpit was once again concealed, "Nega Leviathan, sink them!" The Nega Levitation released a sonorous, mechanical cry. The Egg Gunners and Egg Pawns turned to the hedgehogs, aiding their leader.
"Alright, Shadow. You ready?" Sonic asked, getting ready to fight.
"Hmph. Hope you can keep up with me." Shadow replied.
The battle started off with the Egg Pawns charging straight for Sonic and Shadow. However, they were much too sluggish for the speedy hedgehogs. Sonic jumped up and landed on several of their heads, causing to tumble over in confusion when he jumped off. Shadow used a Spin Dash to take out their legs and trip them up.
"Keep your eyes on me." Negative's voice boomed from the speaker as the Nega Leviathan positioned its pectoral fins in an X-formation as the blades glowed purplish-pink. It threw them back to the sides whilst launching several blades of purplish-pink energy toward the duo of hedgehogs.
Shadow saw it coming by a mile. He tapped into the arcane powers of Chaos Energy that his body had become naturally inclined toward from experimentation and exposure to Chaos Emeralds and quickly teleported to avoid being hit. Sonic, however, had just landed from jumping on an Egg Pawn's head and was hit by the attack, "Ow!"
"Dolt." Shadow insulted under his breath as he skated for the airborne Nega Leviathan. Three Egg Gunners hovered in the way and aimed for the G.U.N. agent. "Don't make me laugh." Shadow proceeded to dodged the gunfire and strike all three of consecutively with a Homing Attack. The end result was him getting close enough to the Nega Leviathan. Remembering where the cockpit's shield was, he struck that particular spot, forcing it open. "I have you now—"
"Guess again." Negative snickered vindictively, watching the hedgehog condescendingly. Before Shadow could attack the exposed cockpit, the blades released beams of purplish-pink electrical energy.
"Aagh!" Shadow exclaimed as he was blown away, hitting the concrete ground hard. Negative laughed as the shield protected the cockpit again.
The Nega Leviathan then performed a sort of flip, landing into the waters of the shore again. "Coward! Show yourself!" Sonic shouted. Sounds of laser fire were heard, but Sonic reacted quick enough to avoid them. Flying in to aid the remaining Egg Gunners and Negative were Egg Robos.
"…You know," Sonic said, "Seeing just about all the kinds of robots Eggman's used in the past makes me realize that he is narcissistic."
Shadow knocked the blue hedgehog against the head to jar his concentration, "Focus, you moron!" Sonic rubbed the side of his head while shooting a glare at the crimson and ebony hedgehog. Nonetheless, he too sprung into action. Shadow and Sonic avoided the laser shots by the Egg Robos, jumped up, and destroyed them by using Homing Attack and sending them rocketing into the ground.
"Don't forget that I'm here!" Suddenly, the huge tail of the Nega Leviathan shot out of the water with enough force that a small tidal wave flew toward the streets in front of the Train Station.
"Oh, no. Not water!" Sonic exclaimed in distress. Disregarding the robots, Sonic curled into a blue ball, charged up speed, and dashed up the side of the nearest building, making an indent that marked his path whilst kicking up gravel.
"Fool." Shadow groused as he teleported instantly to avoid the crashing tidal wave. A few Badniks that were unable to get out of the way were drenched and instantly short-circuited to death.
Sonic jumped off the side of the building and landed back on the drenched streets as Shadow reappeared. "Wrong move!" Negative shouted as Nega Leviathan flew out of the water and fired electrical beams toward the ground.
"And your aim is terrible!" Sonic berated, noticing that the lasers missed their marks by a long shot.
Sonic immediately regretted saying that when the purplish-pink electricity expanded through the water and gave him and Shadow quite the deadly shock. "ARGHHHH!" Both hedgehogs screamed in pain.
"Go work on your insight some more!" Negative hollered, dismissing the electric beams as Sonic and Shadow fell to the ground, residual electricity crackling on their bodies.
Negative laughed vindictively as the Nega Leviathan hovered closer to the streets, and hovering Egg Gunners stationed themselves in front of it. Sonic and Shadow struggled to recover from their daze. "What's the matter? Giving up already?" Negative taunted as more energy charged in the blades of the Nega Leviathan. The Egg Gunners and Egg Robos in the area aimed their rifles at the two hedgehogs.
Sonic titled his head up and glared at them, "You wish, buddy!" Using every fiber in his body, Sonic mustered enough strength and will to go on his feet and dash forth. Shadow, not wanting Sonic to outdo him, essentially did the same thing and skated right behind his blue counterpart. Sonic dodged the gunfire from the Egg Gunners and proceeded to use Homing Attack in succession on them. Shadow came up and performed Homing Attack on Sonic, whose ball form made him immune from the damage and actually gave him a boost in height.
Shadow again used Homing Attack on the shield of the cockpit, exposing Negative. Sonic finished the assault by harshly using Homing Attack on the weaker layer of Negative's cockpit. "Gah!" Negative shrieked as the shockwave from the attack jammed the controls, and the force made the Nega Leviathan go backwards.
"Alright, finally some leeway." Sonic said as he and Shadow landed on the ground. When Negative regained control of his machine, he made it go back into the water.
"Just have to stay patient until he decides to come back," Shadow advised as the Egg Robos and Egg Gunners targeted the two hedgehogs.
"Watch carefully!" Negative roared as multiple blades of purplish-pink energy flew out of the water, into the air, and arced toward Sonic and Shadow.
"And worry about him," Sonic added to Shadow's previous statement. A blue and a yellow blur surged across the arena, avoiding both the blades and the gunfire from the opposing robots. Once the blades were not a factor anymore, they proceeded to dash straight for the robots and used Homing Attacks on them. Some decided to hover high enough in the air to avoid them. However, Shadow teleported behind one of them and consecutively used Homing Attack to destroy some of them before teleporting safely onto the ground.
"Rip apart!" Negative shouted as the Nega Leviathan hovered out of the water, fired streams of lasers again, and retreated back into the shore. Sonic and Shadow easily evaded the lasers, which sliced through the ground after missing their targets.
"Now…drown! Drown, I say!" Negative roared as the Nega Leviathan went underwater, charged up energy, and released of a pulse said energy. This attack caused a larger tidal wave to begin rising with the Nega Leviathan stationed atop it.
"Oh…man…" Sonic moaned, his fear of water starting to crop up. This certain attack was going to be hell to dodge. But then, he realized something. This particular tidal wave was large enough to take out the entire street and the Train Station if left unattended.
Because his nerves were already on the frizz, when he felt someone touch his shoulder, he almost jumped out of his skin before looking to see what it was Shadow. "Shadow?" He asked, wondering what his intentions were.
"Ever wondered how things looked when time was stopped?" Shadow asked, reaching behind him and taking out the green Chaos Emerald, one that Sonic commonly recognized seeing with Shadow since day one.
"Not really…" Sonic warily answered. He was further confused when a smirk plastered on Shadow's tan-orange mussel, "Well, prepare yourself anyway…" With a Chaos Emerald now in his hand, Shadow was able to use his affinity toward it for a more powerful purpose. "Chaos… Control!" Turning his thoughts into power using the Chaos Emerald's mysterious capabilities, a pulse of Chaos Energy surged across the area. Slowly, everything stunted. If a moving object was not completely frozen in time, its movements were painfully reduced in speed. Such included the tidal wave that the Nega Leviathan prompted.
"Perfect, Shadow! Now we can take care of this guy!" Sonic exclaimed alacritously. Their task was to do something to make sure that tidal wave did not pass the shore, and they had an idea of what to do. Sonic dashed over to the Egg Gunners, who had aimed their weapons at a painfully lethargic pace as a result of Chaos Control's influence. However, since he was moving like normal, the Blue Blur used Homing Attack consecutively on them.
Shadow followed the motions like previously and took a great leap to perform Homing Attack on Sonic, clash allowing him more height and positioning right where he wanted to be. Then, he proceeded to use a series of Homing Attacks on some of the robots. He and Sonic continued this pattern, keeping each other aloft as they approached the Nega Leviathan, who was still atop the tsunami. One last attack broke up the cockpit's shield, revealing Negative who was currently frozen in time. Sonic finished the assault by harshly using Homing Attack on the weaker layer of Negative's cockpit.
To continue piling up damage, Shadow activated his Air Shoes so that the jets would be exude air to grant him temporary hovering. Then, he gathered Chaos Energy into his hands. The usually yellow color suddenly became red due to the intense generation of greater power. "Chaos… LANCE!" Shadow threw his hands out to the side as his Air Shoes deactivated and let him fall. Red spears flew over to the exposed cockpit and struck, exploding on contact. Before so, Chaos Control stopped, and time resumed normally.
Negative released roars of frustrations as the Chaos Lance impacted his cockpit, cracking the glass horribly and causing him to lose all control his Nega Machine. The Nega Leviathan was off track, falling and getting immersed beneath the tidal wave it conjured, burying it underwater in a cataclysmic explosion. The two hedgehogs avoided the same fate courtesy of Shadow teleporting himself and Sonic safely back to land.
"YOU ACCURSED ANTS!" Negative shouted wrathfully as he managed to reach the surface and take flight with his large bat wings. "I'll stomp you yet!" With a powerful flap, the swordsman depart, disappearing over the skyline of Station Square. Despite the bitter taste of defeat, he calmed down as he reminded himself of something, "I did my part. Ivo, Ryu, hold up your end."