By the time the two hedgehogs broke out of the woods and approached civilization again, Silver was exhausted. His psychokinesis didn't last forever, and he got more and more tired the longer he used it. Shadow had been pushing them both at an exhausting pace, so much that even his own breath was starting to come a little raggedly. The creature behind them seemed to be tiring as well, but it still looked plenty murderous.
"Head for G.U.N. HQ," rasped Shadow, jerking his head in the correct direction. Silver nodded and set his teeth grimly. Just as they approached the chain-link fence and dark blocky building that was G.U.N.'s main base, the young hedgehog suddenly spasmed erratically. The cyan glow around his body flickered, hissed oddly, and died, sending him crashing to the ground. At the speed he had been flying, he hit with a fair amount of force and tumbled hard, his shoulder plowing up a trail of dirt and pebbles. Shadow noticed and tried to stop, but his velocity carried him into a long skidding brake, and he still pulled far ahead of where Silver had fallen.
"Ugh . . . " Silver groaned, feeling his shoulder and ribs wailing as he rolled gingerly over and tried to sit up.
Except a pair of bloodshot eyes were mere inches from his own.
Gasping, Silver threw up a hand, but his palm only flashed feebly blue before dying out. A handful of claws whisked into his vision, plunging straight for his throat—
There was a dull thwack, and Sonic tumbled back, roaring with fury and pawing at his head where Shadow had landed a fist.
"Idiot," said Shadow impatiently, stepping over Silver and approaching the creature. "Don't just lie there, get to safety! Without your psychokinesis, you're helpless."
"I'll get it back in a moment," panted Silver, sitting up and leaning on one hand. "Just a—just a minute of rest."
"Just stay out of my way," growled Shadow, then hissed in pain as Sonic's claws suddenly swiped across his chest.
"He's learned to slash," he remarked drily, and drove a fist at the creature's forehead again. Recoiling, Sonic snarled and feinted, trying to break through Shadow's defenses.
"His skull seems to be even thicker than usual, too," continued Shadow, leaping away from a swipe and landing a kick to the side of Sonic's head. "This should have knocked him out by now, several times over."
"Couldn't we just throw him down a ravine or something?" called Silver desperately.
"It'd be preferable not to kill him or overly damage him. I'm assuming that if we wreck his brain or his spinal cord now, it'll stay damaged if and when he transforms back."
Silver bit his lip, watching Shadow and his fiendish opponent chivvying each other back and forth, plowing up trails in the dirt with their feet. Sonic was still immune to Chaos Spears and barely even noticed the burns he got from Chaos Blasts, but he seemed to grow more and more cunning with practice. The long claws flashed back and forth, leaving thin bleeding trails wherever they contacted, forcing Shadow to dodge back again and again. Noticing Shadow was preoccupied with avoiding his hands, Sonic lashed out with one foot instead, kicking him in the knee and then plowing him into the ground.
Shadow wasn't over-fond of ground brawling; he worked much better on his feet. Twisting over, he aimed a blow at Sonic's jaw, but it barely had an effect. Again he struck out—again nothing. Snarling softly, Sonic grabbed Shadow's arm and forced it to his chest, planting a foot on his other hand to immobilize both arms. Then, before Shadow could throw him off, he ever-so-lightly laid a handful of claws on Shadow's jugular vein.
For a while neither combatant moved, nor so much as twitched. They were both breathing deeply and raggedly, Sonic's knee resting heavily on Shadow's chest, his bloodshot eyes boring through him. There was an unmistakable desire to kill brimming in that wild look; his claws stroked gently up and down Shadow's throat, as if searching for the perfect place to sink in. Shadow tensed ever so slowly, hoping that he could strike lightning-fast and catch Sonic off-guard . . .
"Hya!" cried a voice out of the blue. There was a sudden crash, and Sonic seemed to vanish. Bolting upright, Shadow found his opponent buried beneath a stack of chain-link fence segments, looking to be out cold. He turned around and saw Silver, a little out of breath, but smiling grimly.
"Told you I'd get it back," he remarked, flicking a cyan spark from between his fingers. He looked Shadow up and down. "Gosh. Are you okay?"
Shadow glanced down at himself and grimaced. Most of the scratches he'd received had already closed, and they'd heal fully within a day or two, but he was still pretty badly bloodied up at the moment. When he'd warned that he'd be returning from the camping trip with blood on his hands, he hadn't meant it to be literal.
"I'm fine," he said, nodding tersely for way of thanks. Silver nodded back and turned his attention to Sonic, levitating the metal segments off him slightly.
"I kinda tore up the chain-link fence," he explained. "Sorry, but I thought it might be useful for making a cage. Is G.U.N. going to be mad?"
"They'll get over it," shrugged Shadow. "We've got better cages on the grounds, though. Use them for holding animals when we break up illegal exotic-pet rings."
Catching hold of Sonic's ankles, he began to drag the unconscious creature through the demolished part of the chain-link fence. Some security guards were already starting to flock over from various locales, but Shadow gave them all warning looks and jerked his head for Silver to follow. Knowing that Shadow did not take security lightly, the guards understood that something serious was afoot and left both of them alone—although there were plenty of curious glances cast Sonic's way.
A smaller building stood slightly away from the main hulk of HQ. Shadow headed for it, kicked open the door, and dragged Sonic through. Following cautiously, Silver found himself in a room full of massive cages, made with thick iron bars and loops. Shadow had already tossed Sonic into the nearest one, and was now fumbling with a keyring full of keys, trying to find the right one to lock the gate.
"So," said Silver quietly. "What do we do now?"
"Test him, obviously," said Shadow. "We have a forensics and chemical analysis unit here."
"And they'll know how to fix it?" asked Silver anxiously. Shadow shrugged, not looking up. Finding the right key, he flung the others aside and stepped into the cage with Sonic, who was still quite thoroughly out of it. Producing a small vial, he grabbed one of Sonic's claws and tapped it against the glass, trying to shake out some of the sickly-looking liquid he had seen earlier. No matter how much he shook and tapped, however, not a drop fell out.
"Dammit," muttered Shadow, testing one of the claws gingerly to see if it would break. "He seems to retract the venom or something when he's unconscious."
"Either that or it just doesn't come out on its own," remarked Silver, leaning against the outside of the cage. "What about your blood?"
"What about it?" Shadow looked up keenly.
"Well, the poison seems to act by entering the bloodflow, right? And he's stabbed and slashed you so many times that you must have a pint of it in you by now. Couldn't they just test your bloodstream to see if there's anything unusual in it?"
Shadow nodded. The thought had crossed his mind too, but he was still impressed that Silver had come up with the same idea. When all was said and done, being stuck with Silver as last man standing actually wasn't as bad as he'd have thought.
"Let's go then," he said, getting up. Sonic started to growl and twitch at that moment, and when Shadow slammed the gate he bolted to his feet and roared. Silver gasped slightly as the creature hurled itself against the wall of the cage, hissing and clawing at the bars, seeking gaps through which it could sink its claws into flesh.
Meanwhile Shadow quietly locked the gate and cast the slathering creature a grim look.
"Wouldn't recognize him as Sonic, huh?" said Silver weakly.
"I would say this was an improvement, but I don't joke," retorted Shadow, heading for the door. "Hurry up, would you? You have to stay with me, or the security people will snip your head off."
Silver glanced back at the growling creature in the cage one last time, shook his head grimly, and hurried off after Shadow.