30 MINUTES REMAINING.
"WARNING! WARNING! UNMONITORED BREACH IN…"
The robotic voice faded away as Sonic blasted out of the airlock at the side of the ARK, landing directly on a massive yellow-and-red cable that slithered downwards under the space station. The sounds of loud blaring beeps and electricity hit his ears as he traversed further underneath the ARK in pursuit of the Eclipse Cannon's muzzle.
It was a long way up, with the glowing Earth down far, far down below him. His grinding was leading him to the underbelly of the ARK, where the cannon was sticking out directly towards the shimmering blue planet.
Sonic wasn't sure if this was a design choice of some kind by Gerald or Ivo Robotnik, but there were protruding parts reaching out underneath the ARK almost like rectangular stalactites. Maybe this is where a lot of the "colony" of the Space Colony ARK would be residing, especially since the lights coming from the sides of these hanging buildings looked like windows.
The cables were connected from building to building, also connected to floating platforms containing solar panels that would automatically face where light was coming from. The lines were thick, shining the gold color due to a reflective paint to prevent raw sunlight from melting them. The red stripes were to mark the cables so you know which building and panel to connect them to.
The speedster could be called some kind of daredevil, because he was truly a hedgehog without fear, leaping off a cord and soaring through the sky to land on an orange striped cable, connecting to a platform heading closer to the cannon.
In all honesty, this was amazing. It was crazy that he was dealing with so much stress and overwhelming emotion while he was having the time of his life. Like come on, he was grinding above the Earth. He didn't even question how he was able to breathe out there (maybe he should just not think about it too much…) he was just living in the moment!
The winding line ended early, sending Sonic off the edge. It seemed this cable either disconnected itself or was forcibly disconnected- but either way, Sonic managed to soar and land on a separate cable, one that headed inside one of the hanging buildings.
He winded around an inner shell of the building, hopping to another cable when he saw the line he moved to ended early as well.
Sonic's grinding brought him out of the other side of the building again, where he left the cable to sprint across another floating platform. There was another route that would take him around to the other side of this clearing, but that required a lot of jumping between platforms. Thinking and looking at his surroundings, he did see there was one cord that was connected to the other end, one that was meant to connect to the platform he was on now.
The cable had disconnected, and was keeping still down below thanks to some kind of ring-shaped devices floating around it. It was a steep drop, and it looked directly down at Earth, but it was the quickest route he could take to make it across.
Sonic snapped back to real time, cartwheeling off the end of the platform and headed downwards. He missed the end of the line, but soon managed to land further down, just in time for the momentum to carry him up the rising valley created from the loose cable. He passed through those aforesaid rings, leaping off of the cord before it ended yet again- it seemed the cable was just chilling and floating around in space.
While he soared through the open space, he couldn't help a flip or two just to show off to… nobody. He just wanted to feel good. Making it across the clearing, Sonic continued.
Nearby, shooting out of a separate airlock after getting approval from a password Ivo gave to him, Shadow also landed on a reflective cable. He had watched Sonic grind using his patented Soap shoes during his time hidden a while back, and luckily the metal plating on the bottom of his shoes allowed him to grind all the same.
He passed through some ring-shaped objects floating around the cable- specially made gravity diverters meant to keep the lines in one area, to prevent them from floating into a wall. These also helped Shadow stay on the cord as he grinded down and around one of the protruding buildings, eventually shooting off a hill made by it to land on one of the panel platforms.
Up ahead, Shadow could see a variety of tube-shaped objects all spinning in midair. These barrels were glowing green, with arrows facing different directions to point to the direction they would propel anything that landed on it.
These gravity cylinders were created, and used by Ivo to transport large cargo loads in different directions in the gravity field underneath the ARK. They especially helped to keep the debris from the shattered half of the ARK away from the inverted buildings and the protruding cannon.
Shadow leapt onto the side of one of the turning cylinders, skating up the side to reach one of the panel platforms above and carry on. He could see that Sonic was up ahead, far above him as he continued to grind across the different cables in an effort to cross space. He was certain that Sonic was heading towards the Eclipse Cannon- Shadow had to make sure he didn't.
The dark hedgehog boosted forwards, spindashing through a floating meteor and causing it to explode instantly. He ignored the floating, glowing yellow caution signs as he cleared a large gap to reach more of the gravity cylinders, a pair that were positioned horizontally. Shadow was able to cross the barrels, letting gravity shift when he jumped off one to make it to the other. His eyes flicked up to continue watching Sonic.
Sonic passed by a floating flashing red sign, one marking that there wasn't anything to walk on past that point, flying off the edge of a floating platform to clear a large gap. He didn't land on a cable at that point- he landed at the bottom of what appeared to be a power station, connected to the side of one of the inverted buildings.
The hedgehog saw that getting closer to the Eclipse Cannon meant getting closer to the top, as a line was leading away towards the direction of the cannon's muzzle. Sonic rushed in, grinding up an embedded cable to propel himself upwards.
He was lucky there wasn't any real danger here in space. At least, not one that could reach him.
While Sonic was headed up, Shadow was headed downwards. The dark hedgehog reached a warped panel platform that curved downwards- Shadow let himself fly off of it, flipping through the air until he reached another platform far below. Shadow crashed through another floating piece of debris to reach it, boosting as soon as he landed to carry on.
Another horizontal gravity barrel was ahead. He jumped on, skating across it to reach the end quickly. His forward velocity allowed him to pass through a large gap in a thin protruding wall of a hanging building ahead- Shadow landed on a purple reflective cable on the other side, curving around the core part of the building. He reached another cylinder- one headed upwards.
At the top, however, he saw the remnants of a gravity cylinder floating through the air. He could see that Sonic was getting further away- he couldn't afford to lose him now.
With the chaos energy summoned in his body, Shadow was able to snap to each piece of debris, shattering it instantly with the power emitting from his body. This allowed him to carry himself over the clearing to reach another platform, skating quickly to keep up with the blue hedgehog above him.
As Shadow landed on a cable, so did Sonic. He zipped through the different gravity rings around the line to keep it in place, winding downwards once more. Sonic was brought around between a cluster of the hanging buildings, suddenly surrounded by multiple cords of different colors.
He quickly switched to another cable as the one he was on quickly ended as soon as he entered the alleys. The line that Sonic moved to experienced a steep valley that took him by surprise, but allowed him to hit a speed fast enough to launch off when the cable finished its rise.
Sonic rose upwards and landed on another cord, boosting across it to pick up speed again. It was pretty high in the air, and there was a small problem- there was a turn up ahead, and the cable ended only a few yards away.
The blue hedgehog had to think quickly. From where he was, the inner wall of the alleyway was just at his right. Sonic quickly shifted to dash along the wall once the cable ended, dragging his palm along the wall to try and keep himself steady.
He jumped off the wall once he hit the corner to hit the cable that was moving perpendicular to the direction he was speeding at. Now, though Sonic had a lot of fun running along these lines, he neglected to realize one thing before he jumped- they were loose. They weren't a solid rigid surface, which is exactly why the gravity rings needed to be used.
So, when Sonic hit the cable up ahead, it didn't stay still. It bent, and started to quickly sink due to the momentum of Sonic's speed, knocking into the inner bottom of the gravity rings up ahead and bringing them down with it.
Scrambling quickly, the blue hedgehog started to use his hands to try and climb along the cable, as if he was climbing a rope in a gym class. He quickly transitioned to his feet, just in time to take a step onto the top of one of the overturned gravity rings.
He stepped from each ring, one after the other, running from the still sinking line. Sonic took another chance and jumped away from the cable, his whole body hitting the octagonal floating caution sign that was right in front of him.
The sign was able to withstand his weight, but it wasn't able to steady itself. It was blaring loudly, blocking out the freaked out noise Sonic was making as it spun around with the mobian attached, floating forwards and out of the alleyway of the hanging buildings.
Shadow noticed from down below, making a face of confusion at what Sonic was doing. He carried on regardless, feeling that this was his chance to get ahead somehow.
He slid his way onto a glowing purple cable, similarly passing through multiple gravity rings. However, when he passed a red floating sign, he knew the line would soon end. Shadow was sent into the air, boosting forwards to land on a sister cord and grind down to another platform.
Ahead of him, he was greeted by the sight of a field of horizontal gravity cylinders. The field was littered with debris, which is probably why these things were put there in the first place.
Though the opposing gravity made his quills curl upwards (well… more than they already were, due to the transformation) Shadow took on the herd of gravity barrels, hopping from one to the other in order to get more distance.
He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do once he reached Sonic. Kill him? Bring him to Black Doom? Maybe ask him to join him? Shadow did have a small bit of respect for the blue hedgehog, despite the fact that Sonic was flawed and clearly not as fast as Shadow was. Besides Rouge, Sonic would probably be the only person he'd consider sparing from the imminent destruction the world was facing.
Shadow reached the end of the herd, greeted by one of the glowing red caution signs. There was a cable hanging downwards, but it was far too high up for Shadow to grind on. So, instead, Shadow jumped forwards and grabbed the end.
He simply soared through the air with a cable in his hand for a moment until a higher point of the cord was caught on another horizontal gravity barrel. Shadow swung upwards, able to see what was ahead of him for a second before the cable brought him around to wrap the barrel once.
On the second swing, Shadow let go and soared through space, seeing what was ahead of him.
The Eclipse Cannon's muzzle was close. He had to make his way up. Luckily, there were two long gravity barrels that were directed upwards to push debris past the protruding piece of the cannon. If he could make it onto there, and gather enough speed, he should be able to rocket upwards and land inside the cannon's chase.
Shadow boosted forwards, wanting to get a kickstart on his momentum- he would've just teleported, but that killed any speed he had. His jet boots exhumed a steady stream of chaos energy, one that allowed him to practically fly towards the gravity barrels even if he was rapidly losing altitude.
He reached the bottom of the lower barrel, nearly zipping by but sliding his hand around it. Caught in the gravity of the cylinder, Shadow was pulled around, giving him the drive to start running up the barrel with the gathered kinetic energy he had.
The dark hedgehog skated further and further upwards, his eyes flicking towards where Sonic was at that moment. He didn't know who was going to reach the Eclipse Cannon first, but it didn't matter- they would both be there soon enough.
After he had grabbed onto the yellow caution sign, the floating sign had used all of its power to keep itself upwards, surprisingly making Sonic head further and further upwards towards the ARK. Sonic looked downwards, seeing himself rise away from the platforms and cables he saw before.
As he kept ascending, Sonic was starting to pass a few pieces of debris that were floating all around the gravity-controlled area. The blue hedgehog let go of the caution sign and dropped down to one of the pieces of rubble floating through the air.
That was worse, however, as the sign at least had thrusters- the debris immediately began to sink and spin around, making Sonic yell out in terror.
He was thrown off the debris and flung downwards, into another floating meteor. Sonic crashed through it, the force from destroying the piece of rubble spinning him around and letting him face downwards. Man, that really hurt. But the adrenaline didn't let him feel most of it.
Sonic turned around in time to get his feet on a cable that was heading down, catching himself in a grind again and heading down a corkscrewing wire. He was shot off the end when it stopped early, heading down into a tilted platform.
The Eclipse Cannon was so close. He'd be there in no time. Sonic just needed to find a way down there that wasn't a complete death drop.
Sonic hopped to an opposing tilted platform, sliding down as it was too steep to catch his footing off of. When he didn't see anything below, he leapt off, reaching another cable.
Much like the last time he jumped to a line from the side, Sonic didn't hit a rigid surface, instead bunching up the cord and spinning through the air like a ballerina, almost. He crashed through another meteor- luckily protected by the metal of the cable.
The cable unwinded from his body as he crashed through, and he found himself hitting another floating sign- one of the red ones that warned there was nothing ahead. Except there was something ahead: the window of one of the hanging buildings.
Sonic crashed through the window, followed by the cable and the large pieces of rubble made when he destroyed that meteor. He landed on a sloped surface- possibly a garbage chute of some kind. The floating sign dragged across the tilted metal, and Sonic quickly got up to his hands and knees.
It was like he was riding a skateboard, or more accurately a snowboard. He looked back, seeing he was being pursued closely by the rubble that followed him in. If he didn't keep going, he would surely be mangled.
The red lights above illuminated his way. Sonic kept his hips steady as he curved down the winding chute, sparks following the sign and leaving a long variety of scratches behind him.
As he winded another turn, he saw something up ahead- there was a drop for the trash to drop down to parts unknown, but there was also an observation window that led someplace else, most likely a separate room. Sonic didn't know where the pit or the shaded glass led, but he'd take his chances with a window over what could possibly be an incinerator any day.
The blue hedgehog leapt off the sign in time to spindash through the glass, the rubble dropping into the large pit behind him. However, because the gravity was much different, Sonic was unable to stop within the building.
He crashed out the window that was located at the side of this hanging building. Sonic was now soaring through space, but saw something that piqued his interest- he was closer to the edge of the Eclipse Cannon than ever.
Sonic boosted downwards, eventually getting his footing on the side of the cannon and sprinting down it. The only way to get inside was at the very end, he couldn't get in from the base. Sonic continued to run, passing by multiple red signs warning him of the sudden drop off. He jumped up when he was facing the end, intending on homing downwards to reach the tip of the cannon.
At that moment, both hedgehogs took a leap of faith to reach the end of the cannon- one upwards, and one downwards. Unintentionally, the pair were headed to land in the cannon at the same time, bringing their unofficial race at a tie.
Amy looked out into the night sky, standing quietly, watching the Black Comet slowly come closer to the Earth. Her bag had been taken from her, her wrists locked together with guards that even covered her hands.
She was acutely aware of the chaos gun Ivo was still pointing at her. He was working on something on a small computer setup at the end of the observation room, doing it with one hand as he kept the chaos gun against Amy. Every now and then he looked at the hedgehog to make sure she wasn't doing any funny business before he returned to the computer. The computer's screen hung from the wall, made completely of glass, so everyone could see what he was looking for.
Part of Amy wanted to swing her arms and smack the gun from Ivo's hands. But if she did, she was still detained, so she would only be able to do so much. Her hammer bag was placed in Ivo's E-Mech, which he had move to an entirely different room to make sure it wasn't even in the same area as her.
There was also this overwhelming weight placed on Amy being in Ivo's presence. The aura he was emitting was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. It was dragging her down, to the point that she felt almost overwhelmed with sadness. This was a far cry from what she felt when she saw Julian so long ago.
Knuckles had told Amy, as well as the other members of Team Sonic, the story of the creation of sentient life on Earth: there was a fractal of Gaia and Mobius in each living person, directing them in different directions of good or evil, and it was up to the person to choose whether to perform good or evil deeds. Julian had picked nothing but evil deeds his entire life, Amy was certain of it- the fractal of Mobius had nearly consumed him when he came across Aleena's compound, which was the chill Amy felt.
Ivo, on the other hand, wasn't inherently evil. It didn't even seem like he was actively choosing to hold Amy hostage here- he seemed just as off-put and uncomfortable as Amy was. Ivo's face was blank, but there was sweat dripping down his face. He had taken off his glasses as they were fogging up from the heat emitting from the doctor's face. There was an aura like lukewarm water that existed when standing near Ivo.
While Amy stood around and stared outside the ARK, Ivo was currently scrambling to find a way to contact Sonic. Thanks to somebody exiting an airlock without prior approval (unknowingly this was Sonic himself) the entire ARK was now on lockdown. He had to override certain protocols in the system in an effort to find out how to get in contact with the blue hedgehog and tell him that he had Amy in the observation deck.
The door to the observation room opened. Ivo and Amy both looked at the door at once, greeted by Rouge stepping inside. She didn't notice them at first, applying one more bandage to the damaged patagium she had on one side before looking up. The bat saw the doctor and who he was holding a gun to.
"Doctor?" She spoke slowly. "What are you doing?"
"I'm finding a way to make Sonic come to me."
"You're holding a gun to one of his closest friends. Do you have a deathwish?"
"Please, Sonic wouldn't kill me."
"Shadow might! We don't trade lives here, doctor."
"Oh please. I'm getting the job done. I need… I need to get the job done."
Rouge figured at that statement, Ivo was too far gone to try and bargain with. She looked at Amy, slowly stepping further into the room.
"Hey Amy."
"Hi Rouge."
"You… alright?"
"There's a little tickle in my throat, but besides that, just peachy."
The bat took a deep breath before her gaze returned to the doctor.
"I just saw Knuckles. He's heading up to the ARK right now." She said. "Tails is also running around here. Do you really want to be the guy pointing the gun at Amy when they inevitably come around here?"
"They'll listen to me."
"They'll see you as a threat." Rouge said. "Especially Knuckles."
Just in time for Rouge's statement to end, Tails appeared in the still opened door, coming to a stop right in front of it. He immediately noticed Amy in danger.
"Amy!"
He rushed in, activating both Vulcan Cannons on his hands. He only got a few steps in before Ivo completely turned, grabbing onto Amy's shoulder and holding the chaos gun against her again. Tails stopped in his tracks as he saw Ivo clearly waiting on him to make a move before firing.
"Not another step." Ivo said. "Where is Sonic?"
Tails looked at Amy for a moment.
"He's left the ARK. He's headed to the cannon's core to place in the last emerald." He said to the doctor.
Ivo stared directly at Tails as he spoke. He readjusted his hand on Amy's shoulder.
"No. He needs to come here." He said. "I cannot contact him while he's on the outside of the ARK. How am I going to contact him, Miles?"
"You're the genius, you figure it out."
"Don't test my patience, fox boy." Ivo pressed the gun harder into Amy.
"Fine, fine!" Tails said. "I think Sonic still has a communication device on his back molar. It's an invention of my own design. I still have one on as well. I can probably communicate with him through there."
"A communication device. Interesting."
Ivo turned around to face the computer again, typing on it.
"That will be all. I'll get in contact with him through there. I just need to find the frequency. I suggest you make yourself comfortable- you're not going to go anywhere until I have Sonic here."
Tails deactivated his cannons. He glanced over at Rouge, who had the same look of worry on her brow. Slowly, Tails walked to stand at another end of the observation deck, and started watching the threatening doctor intently.
10 MINUTES REMAINING.
Sonic stepped cautiously into the cannon's edge, the void of space facing his back. The reflection of the sun off the water of the Earth's surface illuminated the cannon.
He held the fake emerald in his hand, eventually stopping as he gauged how long he would have to run to make it down to the cannon's core.
Behind him, a voice spoke.
"You never cease to amaze me, blue hedgehog. I should've guessed you'd make it up here. I guess there is more to you than just looking like me."
Shadow stepped into view, standing a few yards beside Sonic. The blue hedgehog's eyebrows went up as he saw the blackened hedgehog, staring at him.
"Shadow? Did you dye your quills? What dye do you use? Wait, don't tell me- something from Lukewarm Topic?"
"Always with the foolish jokes. Even on the precipice of the world's destruction you're still not taking anything seriously."
"I use humor to cope with certain doom."
"Hmph. You're going to be writing a joke book after I destroy you. You're not getting near the control room- I'll ensure the world's demise myself."
"Is that what Maria wants? Did she die saying you need to wipe out all life on Earth?"
Shadow's head snapped to look at Sonic, his lip curled in a snarl at the mention of Maria.
"Don't. Don't even say her name. Maria was betrayed by the people she belonged to, she was taken by the same people who handed her a ten thousand dollar bill after doing nothing to help her condition in hospital care. The entire human race deserves the same fate she had, as repentance for their greed and malice towards the innocent of their own kind."
"…no. You're wrong. There are people down there still suffering from the same systems Maria did. You don't solve that from wiping the slate clean, you get rid of the system at its source. You've seen what happened to someone else that lost everything that night- Tower. He's been so obsessed with destroying you it turned him freaking nuts. From the look on your face, I know you think the same way."
"And you think he deserves to be spared?"
"No. He should pay for what he did. GUN should pay. But you don't destroy those suffering to take out the root of the problem. No matter how much some deserve it."
"And who are you, to stand against me?"
"Well, whatcha see is whatcha get. Just a guy that loves adventure. I'm Sonic The Hedgehog!"
"Hmph. Very well. But you know I can't let you live. Your adventuring days are coming to an end!"
With that statement, Sonic's eyes flicked from Shadow to the emerald, and then back. After only a moment, he sprinted away at super speeds.
Shadow was hot on his tail, skating after him. Sonic was fast, but the power Shadow was able to put out was enough for them to keep up with one another. Sonic saw Shadow coming up behind him, and swung his arm out to try and hit him. Shadow ducked, immediately sending an elbow into Sonic's side, making him grunt with pain.
Sonic shoved the emerald in his pocket. Part of him was still keeping himself tethered- he didn't have time for some extended fight, he needed to get to the cannon's core as soon as humanly possible.
The blue hedgehog pushed forwards. Shadow reached out.
"Chaos SPEAR!"
Sonic barely ducked under the chaos spear that was headed to him, still running as fast as he could. He looked behind him to see what Shadow was planning next.
Shadow was gone.
When Sonic turned back around, Shadow appeared in the air, spinning around and kicking Sonic in the face. The attack clotheslined the blue hedgehog, making him flip backwards before crashing into the ground. He stopped face down, slowly picking himself up to his hands and knees.
He could see that Shadow slowly trailed to stand in front of him.
"The world is in danger and you're still holding back. How pathetic. What a waste of my time."
Sonic's eyes snapped open. He felt his body flood with adrenaline. He gripped his hands into fists against the ground.
Suddenly, in a streak of blue, he rushed to Shadow and kneed him in the stomach before he could react. As Shadow doubled over with a wheeze, Sonic pulled his fist back and uppercutted the black hedgehog as hard as he could.
The dark hedgehog landed on his back with a grunt. He held his sleeve to his nose, which was starting to bleed a bit of green. He watched Sonic slowly walk to him.
"You know, ever since I first went supersonic, I've been comprehending and experiencing things at a much slower pace than everyone else. My mind comprehends most things at incredible speeds, as long as I focus."
Shadow tried reaching out to launch a chaos spear- however, Sonic zipped in and grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him in, head butting him. Sonic stomped downwards, but Shadow teleported back in a flash of blue.
"I naturally move so much faster than everybody nowadays, that even a single punch without restraint hits twice as fast, twice as hard…" Sonic continued. "Do you know what happens to somebody when you hit them at speeds over Mach-4? Their insides become strawberry preservatives."
The dark hedgehog skated towards Sonic. The blue hedgehog boosted forwards in a homing attack- when Shadow tried to catch it in his hand, Sonic was able to curve himself in the air and kick Shadow in the face to knock him back again. Sonic landed on his feet, still walking.
"That's how I've been living for the last five years- always needing to hold myself back from using my speed anywhere but running. But you... you can take it, can't you? You're the Ultimate Lifeform. You haven't held back at all since I've first fought you, but I have. You want all my speed? You want all my power? I'll let you have it. I'll let you have it all."
Sonic crouched down in a runner's stance. Blue chaos energy arced between his spikes, a few stray bolts curving across the ground.
"Just don't blink."
Before Shadow could react, Sonic was there as soon as he finished his statement. The blue hedgehog slammed his entire body into Shadow at breakneck speeds, knocking the wind out of the dark hedgehog.
As Shadow hit the ground, stopping on his stomach, he immediately tried to get back up. Sonic was there, again, grabbing the back of Shadow's jacket and lifting him up before slamming him back down onto the ground.
Sonic grabbed Shadow's ankle, and quickly sped off, dragging the dark hedgehog behind him. As Sonic rocketed down the cannon, he dragged Shadow behind him, the dark hedgehog flung across the ground behind the hero as he was bounced from the speed of the ground passing below.
Soon, tiring of dragging Shadow, Sonic reached around and grabbed his other ankle. Sonic spun around, spinning Shadow around before throwing him further into the cannon's barrel.
Shadow corrected himself quickly, using his boots to land on his back. He was unable to get up- Sonic was drop dashing down to him. Shadow quickly used his boots to launch himself back across the metal ground, and watched as Sonic bounced like a ball to chase him, hitting harder each time. The last bounce hit right between Shadow's legs, making the dark hedgehog teleport away.
Up on his feet again, Shadow stuck out his hands towards the unfurling Sonic.
"Chaos SPEAR!"
Two chaos spears were fired from Shadow, which hit Sonic directly, knocking him off his groove.
Shadow used his boot to glide across the floor, allowing him to gain momentum to kick Sonic. The dark hedgehog swung and hit Sonic twice, once for each hand, and brought his foot up for an ax kick.
Sonic sped around before the kick could connect- Shadow partially anticipated the attack, and turned around himself, snapping in the air to summon his chaos magic attack. The bursting purple bubble of distorted space popped hard enough to launch Sonic forwards, disrupting him again.
Though Sonic rolled to a kneel, Shadow glided in and stomped downward into the side of his face. Instead of moving, however, Sonic's head stood completely still. He stared directly at Shadow with an intense glower unlike anything he'd seen before.
A smaller known power Sonic was able to use at times, especially when he had to stop super quickly, was the power to absorb kinetic energy into himself. So when Shadow kicked him in the face, his energy field instantly absorbed all the kinetic energy before it could hit him, turning a stomp into a single step.
Sonic grabbed onto Shadow's leg and swung him around to throw him down the cannon again. Shadow teleported further down but, once more, Sonic was there, leaping towards him.
Summoning all the energy from his body, Sonic unleashed a powerful flurry of punches and kicks at supersonic speeds, though it didn't even look like he was moving. This phantom rush hit Shadow right off the bat after the teleport, knocking him clear out of the air. The dark hedgehog bounced off the inner wall of the cannon's barrel and hit the ground hard.
His adversary was down. Sonic turned and sped off, unleashing a force from his body that even made Shadow move an inch across the floor.
When Shadow said that Sonic was holding back, he meant it- he could feel the steady influx of chaos energy within the blue hedgehog from Shadow's natural power to sense it. However, now that it was finally being used, Shadow could feel that Sonic's power was off the charts. He was being thrown around like one of those guys from the anime fights he watched with Maria.
He felt something surge within him. From the attacks he had suffered from Sonic, something peculiar happened. The massive output of Sonic's chaos energy had become absorbed by the latent ability Shadow had deep within him. Much like when he'd glow red from anger, now instead his body glowed blue from the power Sonic emitted- the so-called living Chaos Emerald.
Shadow clawed the ground as he picked himself up on his hands and feet. His eyes narrowed down the cannon's chase.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
The dark hedgehog harnessed the power of chaos control to his advantage. Up ahead, Sonic heard something that made him turn around: the sound of footsteps speeding to him.
As he turned, Shadow punched him in the face.
With the power of chaos control, and the speed Sonic was experiencing, time was coming to a screeching halt. Debris and dust slowed to a stop, suspended in air, as the rivals came to blows at incredible speeds.
Shadow tackled Sonic. The speed they were both going at caused the tackle to propel them further and further down the chase, almost a hundred times the distance a normal tackle would take.
In the air, the fight continued. Sonic dodged a punch and punched Shadow, who immediately punched back. Sonic blocked another punch, bringing his leg and foot up to kick Shadow in the jaw. Sonic grabbed Shadow's collar and turned, bringing his feet to the dark hedgehog's chest and kicking off of it.
Sonic launched forwards in a homing attack, though Shadow teleported out of the way. Sonic uncurled immediately, turning in time for Shadow to reappear in a homing attack of his own. Shadow hit Sonic dead on, the force from the hit sending Sonic into the ground.
Shadow teleported away on the rebound as Sonic got himself back to his feet and continued to rush down the cannon.
The only thing that was heard was Sonic's footsteps as he ran down the chase of the cannon. He looked around, not seeing Shadow anywhere. Unable to see him, Sonic closed his eyes to focus as he continued to sprint further and further.
As soon as he heard a slight warping sound, Sonic leaned backwards to dodge a kick from Shadow. Sonic grabbed onto Shadow's leg and threw him forwards with a powerful shove, making him bounce across the cannon's metal floor.
He looked ahead. There was supposed to be an access point further ahead that led to the control room. However, it appeared the ARK was placed on some kind of lockdown- the access points were blocked off with walls that replaced the doorways. Sonic could still see the outline of where the doors were supposed to be.
Sonic didn't have time to find another entrance. He had to get into the cannon's core, in the control room. His view shifted as Shadow became his focus again, the dark hedgehog starting to fix himself in midair again.
Instead of letting him, the blue hedgehog boosted forwards, slamming into Shadow and grabbing onto his collar. He ran at incredible speeds, making the rivals face to face as they sped closer and closer to the inner end of the cannon. Shadow grabbed onto Sonic's wrists, trying to get his feet running backwards as he stared at Sonic in shock and anger.
"Ugh… what are you doing?!"
"I know the cannon's core is behind there. I know the control room is behind there." Sonic replied. "I don't have time to return all the way to the ARK and find a way from there. The only way I can get there is through, or… if you want to teleport."
"Teleport?"
"Both of us. I'm making sure you have to teleport us both."
"No."
"Then we'll have to go through. And you better hope that the laws of physics won't apply, because at this speeds? Phew… we'll be nothing but another coat of paint on the inside of this cannon."
"You'll die."
"Oh no, I can stop at these speeds easy, and go faster than ever afterwards. You, however… you don't seem to be in the right space to stop yourself fast enough to prevent imminent doom. So, Ultimate Lifeform, what will it be? Through, or teleport?"
"You're bluffing. You wouldn't kill someone you pity for the world."
"If you say so. We'll just have to wait and see."
Sonic was bluffing. He wouldn't kill someone like Shadow, who certainly didn't deserve it, even after everything he had been doing. Even if he opened the floodgates to all that negative emotion, he would deal with that later. Right now, he was having so much fun. He wasn't going to spoil it by hurting someone undeserving.
But Shadow didn't know that. He glared at the blue hedgehog, gripping onto his wrists tighter. They got closer, and closer to the cannon's end.
When they were barely three seconds away, Shadow grunted. In a flash of blue, both him and Sonic disappeared from the inside of the cannon, the only thing hitting the inner wall being the wind that was left behind.
Sonic and Shadow flew into the control room, hitting the ground and tumbling to a stop. As soon as he came to a stop, landing on his back, Sonic sat up. He reached into his jacket pocket, taking out the fake emerald and holding it in his palm. He got up to his feet.
He looked up, seeing the X-shaped core that held the other six emeralds. Sonic began to step up to put the fake emerald into it.
"You'd really help them?"
Sonic stopped. He turned to look at Shadow, who was still resting on the ground.
"After everything… The greed. The corruption. The hatred." The dark hedgehog continued. "You'd still help the people down there... You'd let them continue their enmity."
"...as long as I know there are good, innocent people down there who need help, I'll never stop fighting for my world. Fighting for a better world." Sonic replied. "Ever."
Shadow didn't have a response for that, instead staring at Sonic with a permanent scowl. The blue hedgehog turned back around, stepping up to the core. He leaned in, reaching out to place the fake emerald in the device.
"Sonic!"
The Communication Crown that was still in Sonic's mouth all this time buzzed. He touched his jaw, pulling the fake emerald back from the device.
"Tails?"
"Sonic! Amy is…"
Tails' voice was drowned out by static.
"Hello? Tails? What happened to Amy? Tails?!"
After a second, from the static, a voice spoke.
"Sonic, this is Dr. Robotnik. Come to the observation deck with that emerald of yours, if you'd ever like to see your girlfriend alive again."
The static filled the comm link again. Sonic looked down at the fake emerald in his hand, his mouth agape from the vibrating crown. He turned around, looking down at the still grounded Shadow.
After a second of staring, Sonic disappeared in a streak of blue. He broke through the door of the control room, leaving the doorway open in the wake of destruction.
5 MINUTES REMAINING.
"Sonic, get here before the timer ends if you want to save her life!"
Because the ARK was on lockdown, it was significantly harder for Sonic to return to the observation deck than it would be normally. Instead of having to go up stairs, he had to take extreme measures and detours that spanned the entirety of the space colony.
One part of the ARK's many Eclipse projects included something that involved experiments with gravity. These experiments were based on the different gravity-altering surfaces seen in the lost world under the echidna village on Angel Island. Using some low-emitting power reserved from the Chaos Emeralds, they were able to alter gravity on every surface of a room, shifting the side they wanted to be feet-down.
These experiments were only done by license professionals (though not OSHA approved) and though Sonic didn't have a license, he felt like he was pretty qualified due to previous experience of landing from tall heights.
At least now he understood what the heck a "gravity diverter" is. If he ever saw Tower again, he'd be ready if he was accused of stealing it. Though he doubted that would happen anytime soon. If only Sonic could travel back in time with this knowledge.
The gravity-diverting trials of this side of Project Eclipse was the only route Sonic had to the observation deck. As soon as he rushed inside, he was sent down a tube downwards to enter the different routes in this wing of the space colony. Maybe, after all the gravity-altering tests were done, this part of the ARK would be kept as science labs. Those plans were from a long time ago though, and it didn't matter now.
Sonic boosted forwards down the hall, illuminated in green from the pulsing gravity-altering energy that was traveling through the cables all around him. Two Swat-Bots were ahead of him, clearly having wandered in somehow from the outside.
Before they could aim and fire, Sonic boosted between them. The force of his boost launched the two robots down the hallway, sending them into the far wall of the corridor and destroying them instantly.
Turning the corner of the hall, Sonic saw there was a hanging rail up top. He was sure this would help someone get up the steep hill when the gravity was in another direction, but right now, it helped the hedgehog get down. Sonic jumped up and grabbed the trail, sliding down the descending hall and getting off at the end.
He reached his first real obstacle: clearly this was intended to be an area to test the gravity diverter. In front of Sonic was a pit- though it was probably supposed to be empty, due to damaged old cables, green electricity arced across the floor, a serious hazard and most likely an OSHA violation.
Sonic flipped a switch marked with an upward arrow as he passed by. As he went over the edge, the gravity changed in the room, turning Sonic upside down to run across the ceiling.
He watched a Swat-Bot crash into the ceiling, having been standing at the other end of the pit. This worked out for Sonic- not just because an enemy was destroyed, but because the robot hit a switch with an arrow facing downwards- or, from Sonic's perspective, facing up.
The gravity returned to normal just as Sonic cleared the pit of dangerous energy.
Rushing into the next room, Sonic jumped up and kicked off the wall to reach a cable hanging from the ceiling. This room was another long corridor extending upwards, but there wasn't any gravity diverter switch. The wire that hung from the ceiling wasn't sparking or anything, so Sonic took the chance to grab onto it.
As he swung around, Sonic ran across the wall in a spiral upwards, climbing up the rope with only his hands to make sure he could stay where he was in the room.
Once he reached the top, he launched himself onto the platform at the very top, immediately drop dashing to crash through a transport pod that was at the end of the small passageway. The suction from the transport tube pulled Sonic through, bringing him upwards and through the wall of the dead end room.
The tube entered space as it passed into an outside alleyway, curving into a loop before entering another wall that was another side of the gravity wing.
From the momentum he was going, Sonic was able to clear another pit of dangerous energy, landing on the rail that crossed over a neighboring pit. Sonic boosted around the corner of another passageway, heading through a door that entered a massive room of dark glass that gently glowed green below. Crates were placed everywhere.
There were three switches. It seemed here, they were able to test out the gravity changing abilities of the green energy. Sonic looked around, comprehending at super fast speeds as he figured out where he needed to go from here. He could feel the buzz of energy above him- he had to make it up there somewhere, as that was the only route out. He could see one of the transport rails curving out of the room.
If he threw the switch heading to that direction, he probably wouldn't be able to follow the transport rail. He had to hit the switch on the side the rail was connecting to. That was the wall opposite to him, and unfortunately, there wasn't a switch facing that direction.
Sonic looked around. There was a switch on the right wall, but only one that returned him to this floor. The left wall had a different switch, however, one that would send Sonic to the wall that the transport rail started on.
The hedgehog flicked the switch for the left wall quickly. He turned and ran across the wall, running fast enough for one of the metal crates in the room to slam down behind him, the hedgehog just narrowly missing it.
He hit the switch for the opposite wall. Sonic ran around and reached that wall as gravity changed, heading upwards and jumping onto the rail to grind across it. The rail curved upwards, and the speed Sonic was traveling at allowed him to clear the curve and reach another room. He didn't even know what direction gravity was facing for him anymore, but it didn't matter. He would find his way back on his own two feet.
Another room with another pit. Rings were here, to his surprise. He didn't know if it was a side effect of the chaos energy with Earth-based materials or what. A part of him also said that since a lot of gold came from space, that could be a factor. He'd talk logistics of it to Tails later.
Sonic didn't have to gather up energy for this one. He dashed at lightspeed across the pit and immediately crashed into another transport tube, sucked into another area of open space as he was brought to a separate part of the wing. He knew he was getting closer.
"Sonic, what are you doing? This isn't the time for messing around!"
Ivo's statement went unreacted to. Sonic crashed through the end of the tube in a run, headed up another corridor and turning the corner to be greeted by a door leading to space. It seemed this part of the little tour was supposed to have a trolley, but it appeared Ivo hadn't reinstalled that yet.
However, lucky for him, rings were in place of the trolley. Sonic didn't question it- he lightspeed dashed across the rings, curving around and into another door facing space. He rushed into the ARK, feeling himself strengthened by the ring collection.
Sonic reached the end of an open room, to a switch that had an arrow facing upwards. Sonic flipped the switch immediately, switching the gravity to that direction. As he landed, Sonic rushed down another corridor that was in the upside-down room, heading to another door.
"You're taking too long! Sonic, if you don't hurry up and get here, she will die!"
He exited the door as Ivo's threat hit his ears. What he saw in front of him took him by surprise- it seemed that this was the final test for the gravity diverter tests. At least, it was the last thing Sonic wanted to face in this trial.
Giant prisms of different colored metals were suspended in a gravity matrix, much like the meteor herd that Knuckles had navigated. It appeared this was a puzzle, and looking upwards, he had to reach the red block to switch gravity and reach the entrance door to head back into the ARK.
Sonic boosted at superspeeds. Gravity still worked at the intense speed, allowing Sonic to shift the gravity around from block to block. He went to purple, to green, to yellow, to blue, back to yellow, back to green, back to purple, back to blue again, and finally to red. By the time he flipped the final switch, Sonic was dazed and confused, not sure which direction was up or down anymore. It was super disorienting.
He rushed into the ARK, heading into what he could tell was the entrance to the gravity diverter wing. He kept moving forwards, passing through a door and heading further into the ARK. He followed the signs after that, placed on the same floor as the observation deck, finally.
After the long labor he went through, when he reached the door to the observation deck, Sonic stopped and took a long sigh. He took the fake emerald out of his pocket, glad it survived the gravity altering shenanigans of that crazy gadget, and held it in his hand as he pressed the door's open button.
He was greeted by the sight of Amy being held at gunpoint by Ivo. Tails and Rouge were in the room as well, on opposite sides so that Sonic came up between them, though many yards away. When Ivo saw Sonic, he pressed the chaos gun to Amy a bit more.
"Stop. Stay right there." He said. "Finally. It took you long enough."
"Sorry, I had to take a detour." Sonic replied. He held his hand out, holding out the emerald as well. "Alright, just stay calm Ivo. I'll do what you want, just don't hurt Amy."
"I know you'll do what I want. You'll do exactly what I want."
"You're in control, buddy."
Ivo huffed.
"Give me the Chaos Emerald. Toss it to me."
At the command, Sonic paused. He considered the options he had- if he gave it to Ivo, there was a good chance he would find out it was fake. However, if he gave it to Ivo, he could easily put it in the core and carry through the plan the hedgehog and Tails had in the first place.
Reluctantly, Sonic tossed the fake emerald. It landed on the floor, hopping and rolling to a stop in the center of the observation deck.
Ivo looked down at the emerald, then back at Sonic. He pressed the chaos gun to Amy again.
"Do you think I'm stupid? I wasn't talking to you, Sonic. I meant the real emerald."
The doctor looked at Tails. The fox froze in surprise.
"How… how did you know it was a fake emerald?"
"Because you just told me, fox boy."
Tails' face dropped. He looked at Sonic, who gave him a quiet sympathetic look for being tricked. Ivo pressed the gun to Amy's side again.
"The emerald!" He spat.
Tails was reluctant, but brought his backpack around. He pulled out the small lead box he had the emerald in, and pulled it open, revealing its prize. He took the Chaos Emerald out and held it in his hand.
"Tails, don't." Amy said.
Ivo pressed the gun against her harder.
"Doctor…" Rouge warned him.
The fox looked at the Chaos Emerald, then took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Sonic."
With that, Tails tossed the Chaos Emerald towards the doctor. Except… it didn't reach the doctor. In a flash of blue, Shadow teleported in, perfectly placed to catch the Chaos Emerald in his hand. Even Ivo was surprised to see him.
"Shadow, what are you doing?"
"The dawn of the Black Comet is upon us." The dark hedgehog replied. "With this, the jewel containing the ultimate power, I shall do what I was made for… and I will have my revenge."
Shadow disappeared, teleporting away again. Unseen by the group in the observation deck, he reappeared in the control room. Shadow placed the last Chaos Emerald in the core machine of the control room, bringing power to the machine and activating the full capacity of the Space Colony ARK.
In the observation deck, the others felt the ARK turn. Soon, the window of the deck was flooded with the view of the Earth below. The cannon was no longer facing the planet- it was facing somewhere into space.
"What is he doing?!" Ivo thought aloud.
They couldn't see it, but they could feel the Eclipse Cannon activating. The entire satellite shook with the force of the cannon, making Ivo no longer point the gun towards Amy.
Shadow had little knowledge of how to use a lot of equipment on the ARK, but he was taught one major thing by Black Doom- how to reverse the polarity of the laser. With the power of the Chaos Emeralds at full capacity, the Eclipse Cannon not only had the power to destroy and repel, but the power to attract.
He had created a makeshift tractor beam, and in doing so, launched it at the Black Comet. The pull of the reversed Eclipse Cannon was enough to bring the comet to a halt- and, soon after, pull it towards the Earth.
The ARK spun around again as it sent the meteor on its course to head to the Earth. Before it did, however, something shot out of the Black Comet- it landed with a sickening red splat on the window of the observation deck, completely covering the view.
This collision made Ivo and Amy both stumble forwards. Sonic rushed in, headed towards Amy to grab onto her and get her away from the doctor. However, before he could, as he reached the center, glass walls rose up and trapped him in a tube. The fake emerald was on the ground at his feet.
At the switch on the wall to activate the eject capsule was the spirit of Gerald Robotnik.
"Grandfather?" Ivo asked as he regained himself. "How…?"
"Holy crap, he was real." Rouge remarked, staring as she was the one to pull Amy away from where the doctor was standing before.
"Hush, you fools." Gerald said. His voice began to deepen and shudder. "You are about to be graced by the son of darkness, the ultimate power, the worldbreaker."
"What are you talking about?" Ivo was near Gerald now.
He watched in horror as Gerald's face melted off. It was purely for show, possibly to scar and terrify the doctor even more. There was a shining orange light as the true figure came to view- it was a being of pitch blackness, a star-shaped creature almost like a starfish but with limbs too long to be one. In the center of its body was a single, orange eye.
Ivo raised the chaos gun, but it was snatched by one of the tendrils of the creature. The chaos gun was snapped in half and thrown in opposite directions. Ivo's mustache was grabbed, pulling him around and flinging him towards Tails.
"Pitiful. But that was expected from a bumbling scientist like you." Doom's Eye said, slowly fading from using Gerald's voice, leaving behind a deep voice- Black Doom's voice. "All will kneel for Black Doom."
The others all stared at Doom's Eye in terror.
"I said KNEEL!"
At the command, everyone was forced to kneel, even Sonic. They didn't have a choice- the power of Doom's Eye was enough to make them do it.
The glass disintegrated from whatever was on the outside of the observation deck wall. The red stuff opened up to release the creatures from inside, the outer membrane of the red stuff peeling like the skin of an orange. From the steps made of the membrane, multiple Black Arms warriors stepped out- just three, each holding strange handheld weapons.
As they left, another figure stepped out next. Amy felt her entire body go cold, a cloud of visible breath escaping her lips. The chill of evil. How it was so cold it was hot. This was someone she felt just a while ago.
Black Doom floated into the ARK, the first time in fifty years. As he arrived, Doom's Eye whipped around and floated beside him. Sonic saw, in a flash of blue, that Shadow teleported in front of the glass capsule, appearing to kneel in front of the leader of the Black Arms.
YES… FINALLY.
Black Doom had no mouth, but his voice was heard clearly by all in the room.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Ivo asked.
"You got played, dude. We tried to tell you." Tails replied.
OH YES… PLAYED. THOUGH IS IT TRICKERY IF THE PARTICIPANT WAS MORE THAN WILLING TO HELP OUT? OR WAS IT SIMPLY AN OFFER THEY WERE WAITING TO ACCEPT?
"Listen, Black Doom, or whatever." Sonic said, pressing against the glass to look up at him. "Stop this. You can get what you want, but you don't have to hurt these guys."
NO, I DON'T HAVE TO, DON'T I? IT'S TRUE THAT I DON'T HAVE TO… BUT IT'S ALSO TRUE THAT I WANT TO. I REALLY WANT TO. IF NOT ANYTHING BUT TO SEE THE HOPE DRAIN FROM YOUR EYES… OR MAYBE FROM THEIRS.
"Stay away from him!" Tails yelled. He was swiftly hit in the stomach with one of the Black Arm Warrior's guns.
"Tails!" Sonic looked at the fox before returning to Black Doom. "Stop, please. You win!"
MMM, PANIC. PLEADING. MY FAVORITE STAGE OF TERROR. YOU MISUNDERSTAND WHAT I WANT, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. I DON'T WANT TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD IN ITS CURRENT FLAWED STATE, LIKE SOME PETTY DOCTOR WITH A DEAD FATHER WHO NEVER LOVED HIM- I WANT TO SEND THE WORLD INTO ETERNAL DARKNESS, FOR THE DARK TO LIVE UNDER MY RULE AND COMMAND FOR THE NEXT QUINTILLION MILLENIA, UNTIL YOUR SUN EXPLODES AND I MOVE TO ANOTHER PLANET TO CONTINUE TO CARRY OUT THE WISHES OF THE GOD OF DARKNESS.
Black Doom raised his hand.
START THE DEATH LEECH'S NURTURING PROCESS ON THE MORTALS. BEGIN WITH THE YOUNGEST FIRST.
The Black Arms Warriors grabbed onto Tails. The fox struggled.
"Tails!"
"Sonic! Son…"
As the Death Leech was placed on Tails' chest, it sent the fox into a state of paralysis. As it began to leech the lifeforce from Tails, it kept him in place- in the same pose of terror he had. Sonic slammed against the thick glass of the pod.
Suddenly, he experienced extreme vertigo. Without full focus, he wouldn't be able to run right. He saw that Black Doom's third eye was staring directly at him, keeping him under his control.
THE DOCTOR AND THE DOUBLE AGENT NEXT.
"What? No! Please, no! Don't…"
The leech was placed on Ivo's stomach, which immediately sent him into paralysis as well.
Before Rouge could become contained, she kicked a Black Arms Warrior away. She launched forwards, ramming into Shadow, who was still kneeling before he was knocked away by the agent.
The Warriors raised their guns. Black Doom raised his hand.
STAND DOWN. LET THEM.
"You… How could you do this, Shadow?" The bat asked.
"Me? You act as if you weren't working with GUN this entire time. It was so easy to figure out, I mean you worked for them before you helped the doctor. Only an idiot would actually believe you didn't run with them anymore ironically in time for you to help us. Was the laser part of your plan? Or was it a future pardon from the president?"
"Oh, so you did your homework. Is that it? Kind of creepy of you to snoop around a girl's private life. Then again, you're not exactly a good person now, are you?"
"I could say the same about you."
"I was trying to help you!" Rouge replied. "I wanted to help you. You were hurting, and I wanted to help stop that. Are you telling me this entire time you were just faking? Or was it a bunch of crap lies fed to you by tall, dark and disgusting over there?"
"Oh, you are one pathetic creature!" Shadow waved her off. "You were telling as many lies as I was, Rouge. Tell me, where exactly does the real you start, and the spy you end? Is there even a real you below all that deceit, all the lies, all the greed? Do you even know who the real you even is?"
Rouge grit her teeth. She took a moment before speaking.
"Look who's talking. What about you, Shadow?"
She reached behind her, within her jumpsuit, where a small pouch remained for less important things. One of these things was a small packet, which she held up and showed Shadow. On the front it said "Project Eclipse," with Gerald's writing underneath it.
"Here are the results of the research project in an attempt to create the Ultimate Lifeform. But… if this picture is of the real Ultimate Lifeform called Eclipse…"
Rouge tossed it to Shadow, the front page opening to reveal the inside- a massive lizard, possibly a mutated komodo dragon, with the title "PROJECT ECLIPSE" underneath it in bold.
"Then exactly who, or what, is standing in front of me right now?" She spat.
With shaking hands, Shadow slowly picked up the packet. He looked at the creature in the picture. He looked again at Gerald's signature at the front. Shadow looked up at Rouge, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Rouge suddenly tensed. Doom's Eye finally placed a Death Leech on her, paralyzing her in the disappointed and betrayed glance she was giving Shadow, before she was pulled away to somewhere else in the room.
This didn't make any sense. Shadow was supposed to be the Ultimate Lifeform… but was there another, before him? Why didn't he know about it? Was… Was he even made to cure people, like he was told? Was all of that a lie? Did Gerald only make him for Black Doom? What exactly was he made for?
Did Maria and Professor Gerald ever actually love him?
DON'T LISTEN TO THE SQUABBLES OF A FOOLISH MORTAL, ECLIPSE.
Shadow's eye twitched at the name spoken to him. It had been so long since it was used as a name for him, he forgot how much it made him feel uneasy.
YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. YOU ARE THE SHADOW OF DOOM. YOUR PURPOSE IS TO BE THE HARBINGER OF CHAOS. BESIDES… IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHO YOU REALLY IS… I THINK THE PSYCHIC COULD ANSWER THAT FOR YOU.
Black Doom turned to look at the still not paralyzed Amy, who was still in restraints. She looked at Black Doom, before her eyes met Shadow. Amy sighed, her eyes becoming sad and sympathetic.
"You're not just a member of the Black Arms." She said. "Your DNA is from Black Doom himself. You're… his son."
Shadow felt his stomach drop at the admission. Part of him always knew, in a way. But his entire life he was under the assumption that Gerald was the one who filled that role- now, he was questioning if that was even true, and he was told someone horrible and vile was the one who truly filled that role for the dark hedgehog.
Amy looked over at Sonic.
"Sonic…" She said. Amy opened and closed her mouth a bit. "I…"
The Death Leech was placed on her, ending whatever she could say with her mouth still wide open as she was caught in paralysis. Shadow joined Black Doom opposite of Doom's Eye, still holding the packet in his hands.
Sonic looked around at his friends, even Ivo, seeing all of them stuck from the paralysis of the Death Leeches. He turned around to face Black Doom, who was floating up to him to stand in front of the capsule.
HELLO, SONNY. I DO ACTUALLY KNOW WHO YOU ARE. I HEAR THE WHISPERS OF THE GODS AS THEY TALK OF THEIR PRECIOUS HEDGEHOG OF CHAOS… I CAN'T HELP BUT THANK YOU FOR GETTING MY GRANDPARENT OUT OF THE WAY FOR THE BLACK ARMS TO RULE. IT'S ALMOST LIKE YOU WANTED US ALL HERE.
"You're not going to get away with this!"
I WILL. BECAUSE NONE OF YOU WILL STOP ME. I AM THE ULTIMATE POWER… YOU'RE JUST A RODENT GRANTED SENTIENCE. YOUR FRIENDS WILL WATCH YOU DIE, AND FROM THAT THEY WILL GIVE UP IN THEIR PARALYSIS. THEY WILL STARVE TO DEATH UP HERE… IF THE LEECHES DON'T SUCK THE LIFE FROM THEM FIRST. WITHOUT THEIR PRECIOUS HEROES, ALL THE FORCES OF EARTH WILL FALL TO THEIR KNEES FOR ME.
Sonic felt a bit small by what Black Doom was saying- especially how the demigod was staring directly into his eyes. Sonic looked around at his friends again quickly, backing up a little. Black Doom didn't look away.
YES, THERE IT IS… HOPELESSNESS.
Black Doom raised his hand.
HIT THE SWITCH.
Doom's Eye followed instructions. Alarms blared as the observation deck readied itself to launch Sonic down towards the Earth. Sonic looked around at his friends. He looked down to think for a second before speaking.
"Tails… I know you can get out of this. It's up to you now. Amy, please… take care of yourself." He said. "Rouge… keep an eye on Knuckles for me, will you?"
He paused. Sonic soon went over to face where Ivo was standing.
"Ivo…" The hedgehog began. He took another second to think of what to say. "...I forgive you."
The paralysis didn't affect the eyes of the people affected. All eyes were on Sonic, and they stayed in that area- even when the capsule finally dropped, with tears falling from the stilled cheeks of Amy and Tails.
As Sonic headed towards Earth, he watched as fire surrounded the capsule. He floated in the air as the pod plunged, looking around to try and figure anything out to escape.
He saw the fake emerald floating by. Sonic quickly grabbed it and looked it over in both of his hands. He remembered what Tails had said about it: he made it to mimic the properties of a normal Chaos Emerald, even if it would be weaker.
Sonic looked out to the ARK, which was getting further and further away. He held the fake emerald to his chest, silently asking anyone out there to look out for him as he did something super risky.
"Chaos CONTROL!"
As he spoke the command, Sonic watched space bend in front of him. A burst of chaos energy was left behind, causing the capsule to explode… without the blue hedgehog inside of it.
From the observation deck, Shadow watched the falling capsule explode from the computer screen that came down from the ceiling, the one Ivo was working on earlier.
"I guess he was nothing but a faker after all." He murmured, almost sounding disappointed.
OUR DOMINION IS HERE. THE BLACK COMET WILL CONNECT TO THE EARTH AT ANY MOMENT.
"There's another of them we're missing." Shadow said, stepping away from the screen. "The echidna. He's still on the ARK somewhere."
THE BLACK ARMS WARRIORS SHALL FIND HIM. ONCE THEY DO, HE'LL END UP JUST LIKE THEM.
Outside the observation deck door, the hidden red echidna ended his eavesdropping to scurry off, intending to hide somewhere inside of the ARK.
AS FOR US… WE MUST RETURN TO CLAIM OUR THRONES.
Black Doom turned and floated away, heading back inside the red transport mold. Doom's Eye followed behind, intending for Shadow to make up the back.
The dark hedgehog paused before he entered, looking back. He looked at Rouge, looking at the face of betrayal and sadness she had.
Part of him wanted to believe what she said. But the other part of him… didn't know what to believe anymore.
Slowly, Shadow walked into the transport mold, carrying the packet given to him still. The folds came in again, allowing the lockdown shields to block the view of the outside again before the transport mold separated from the ARK, beginning to soar down to the descending Black Comet, leaving the heroes in darkness.
TIME IS UP.
In Station Square, the light created from the thin tractor beam caught the attention of everyone in town. Cars stopped, people stopped, entire workdays stopped to look up at the sky at the beam that curved across the atmosphere.
When the Black Comet appeared in their direct atmosphere, the sky turned a deep red. People screamed and ran, others took photos. The panic was palpable to anyone who was into it.
As the Black Comet hovered above Station Square, three ends of the comet started to secrete something like gel through a sock. It was red, gross, and started to drip down onto the ground. From the droplets of red emerged horrifying creatures of black and red, and as soon as they saw humans, they started to pursue.
The secreting ends of the meteor suddenly cracked, unleashing a thick slime that uncurled and slapped against the ground. It connected deep underground, into the Earth's crust and mantle, connecting to power cables and eventually reaching the center of the Earth.
More red ooze, conduit gel, dripped out and leaked onto the tallest building in town, which was right underneath the center of the Black Comet's belly- the HEXAeco building.
Obscured by the Black Comet, Station Square was covered in shadow. With the dim redness just barely illuminating the city, the citizens watched as monsters of black and red rained down from the skies.
UP NEXT: Close Encounters Of The Gross Kind!