Hello again. Sorry for the wait. I was in Glen Ellen for a while because of my sisters softball tournament. Hope you like the chapter. PM me any questions.

Chapter 12

"STOP!" Shadow bellowed. Surprisingly, Eggman held up his hand and stopped his robots from attacking. For the moment.

"What's this? The Ultimate Life Form don't wanna fight?" the villain asked mockingly. "If you really don't want to get beat up by my army," he paused as he looked at the hedgehog in Shadow's arms. "maybe we can make a deal."

"Heck no!" Amy shrieked. "If you so much as touch my Sonic, I promise I will make you beg for mercy!" She brought out her Piko Piko hammer and swung it angrily. "Get the picture?"

"Ooooh, I'm so scared! What are you gonna do? Give me a concussion?" He laughed some more.

Knuckles stepped forward. "We'll never let you take Sonic. Why do you want him so bad, anyway? You've got all the emeralds. Leave us alone!"

"Can't do that!" Eggman replied. "It's just to much fun causing someone pain. Especially that thorn-in-my-side hedgehog! Did he not tell you my plans for him?" The villain laughed. "Once the emeralds are emptied of their power, I'll suck Sonic dry!"

Tails winced. "Guess he forgot to mention that part."

Eggman laughed again. He and his army took a step forward. "Oh, and Shadow? Don't think I forgot about what happened on Angel Island. The robots here," he gestured behind him. "only make up half of my forces! The other half roams inside my fortress, unseen. So, no Amy, that's not a good idea."

Amy froze. She had been trying to back into the building for the group to escape that way. Now she was out of ideas.

Shadow tried to think of a plan. His main focus was keeping Sonic safe, but he couldn't do that if he had to fight. Then he got an idea. First, contact his friends.

Knuckles. Can you hear me? Shadow felt the echidna jump slightly behind him. Don't freak out. It's me, Shadow.

How is this possible? Knuckles returned.

I think it has to do with the emeralds. I talked to Sonic this way when he was still trapped in that tube.

Oh...okay.

Listen, I have a plan. It's not a very good one, but it'll have to do. We have to run.

Run? Did you just say...think, run? You've never run from a fight! Man, you've been acting strange lately.

That last bit surprised Shadow, but he kept going. I care more about getting Sonic out of here. Look, I think we should all run at the robots like were going to fight, but then jump right over them. We might be able to make it to the Tornado and escape. Will it work?

It has to. How do we tell the others?

I'll distract Eggman a bit longer. Do it quickly. Shadow stopped concentrating on Knuckles. He needed to keep Eggman talking.

"Eggman," he started. "If we let you take Sonic, would you let the rest of us go?" Amy gasped quietly. She stared in horror at Shadow until Knuckles whispered the plan to her. Eggman didn't notice. He was to busy bending over and laughing.

"Maybe!" the villain cackled. "Depends on my mood!"

He straightened back up. "Are you serious, hedgehog?"

"I don't know, Eggman," Shadow retorted, smirking. "Depends on my mood." Eggman smiled.

"Oh, haha, very funny. Now, the rodent please." He held out his hands.

Shadow paused. Knuckle, did you finish?

Yeah. They're ready. Just give us the signal.

Good. Shadow focused on Eggman again. "Not on my life, Egghead!" he snarled.

"That can be arrang-" He was cut off by Shadow, who yelled, "GO!"

The group charged at the enemy. They acted like they were going to fight, but, to Eggman's surprise, they leaped right over him and his robots.

Shadow landed first and sprinted to the Tornado. He made it there first and strapped Sonic into the passenger seat. Amy would just have to make do on the wing. Then the black hedgehog ran back to the other three. They were halfway to the plane, but Shadow saw that they wouldn't have time to take off before the mechs arrived. Time to improvise.

Tails reached the plane and climbed into the cockpit. He got the engine started, but it would take a minute for the propellers to reach flying speed. He came to the same conclusion as Shadow. They needed more time.

Knuckles jumped onto the right plane wing. He helped up Amy, who looked a little nervous about not flying in a secured seat. What if she fell off? The pink hedgehog shook her head. She had to do this for Sonic. She would not fall.

Shadow saw that everyone else was on the plane, just waiting to take off. But he could tell that the army would reach them first. He would have to stall the robots.

The black hedgehog ran back to the approaching mechs, and began destroying them at super-sonic speed. In two minutes, the enemy had been reduced by half, and the Tornado was ready for take off. Shadow decided to stay on the ground, and just run the whole trip. That way, Tails would have some protection.

Shadow kept fighting until the plane took off. Then, he started running in the direction of Sonic and Tails' house.

Just as the hedgehog picked up some speed, something tripped him. One of the invisible robots! Eggman had called for reinforcements. Perfect.

"You aren't getting away that easily, hedgehog!" yelled the approaching Eggman. "If I can't have Sonic, you'll just have to do!"

Shadow struggled, but now there were more robots, and they pinned him to the ground. He couldn't move.

Finally in the air at last, Tails saw that Shadow wasn't following them on the ground. He looked back, and saw the robots circled around something. It was an easy guess as to what they were looking at. Tails turned the Tornado down towards the mob, and fired the plane's machine guns. He knew he was taking a big risk. He might hit Shadow. But it had to be done.

As bullets peppered the ground, the robots froze. The first few that were hit fell and started sparking. The rest of the robots began to retreat, and Shadow was able to break free. He leaped up and became a black streak on the ground.

Tails saw this, turned the plane back towards his house, and flew away, triumph bubbling in his chest. They had rescued Sonic! Yes, they did lose the chaos emerald, but they could just get it back later. They always did.

XXXX

Eggman growled at the sight of his enemies escaping. They slipped through his fingers again! Oh, well. At least he got the last chaos emerald. With all of the emeralds together, he would have almost unlimited power.

What if I used that power? he thought. He dismissed the idea quickly. Sonic and his friends would just find some way to get the emeralds back, and then where would he be?

The villain went back in his white-washed fortress and headed to the emerald chamber. The room was dark, with stone walls, like a cave. But there they were. One tall alter with the Master Emerald floating and glowing above it. Seven shorter and thinner pillars with six of the seven chaos emeralds on top. And one dark, empty spot just waiting to be filled.

Eggman reached in his pocket and took out the white emerald. If only Shadow had known where it was! Eggman probably wouldn't still have it if that had been the case. Too bad. That was the hedgehog's problem, not his.

The villain reached up and put the glowing emerald on the last pillar. All of the emeralds shone brighter. And brighter. And brighter, until he couldn't look at them anymore. They lit up the whole chamber, and then died back down.

As Eggman stared at his prizes, he decided to wait until tomorrow before he started with the chaos syphon. He needed sleep, and so did his enemies. No one would be attacking his fortress that night, so it should be peaceful.

Eggman walked out of the chamber with one last glance over the emeralds. Savoring it while he could. Tomorrow, he would gain the upper hand in the war, and he would finally end it.