So close now, so very close to the battle indeed. But now, as in the style of this story, it's time to complicate things...

Part Nineteen: Warpath

Her growling attempts at strength echoed throughout the darkness as Amy tried to twist the constrictions around her into a breakable shape. Even if she could just snap one of the chains that snared her arm, she could escape the rest with some of the practice she had acquired over the years. Still, there was only so much her slender form could achieve, and these links were thicker than her entire arm. So for all the racket she had been causing since the doctor's departure, she had simply scratched the fine chrome finish of her bonds.

The doorway slid open once more and two silhouettes entered, one breathing and one silent. Well, barely breathing anyway. Amy recognized the tattered ivory fur and voluptuous form that was Rouge the Bat, but this was not a state she had ever seen the thief in. The flyer's body was leaving a subtle, dripping trail of blood from somewhere along her back and one of her wings was bent in an unnatural shape, her normally bright eyes were closed and breath came in shallow currents. Beaten was not a strong enough word to describe whatever calamity had befallen the bat that was being carried in before Amy's jaden eyes.

Yet that shock was dimmed immediately when the cherry captive caught glance of what it was that was carrying her downed comrade. The resemblance was mind-numbing. It's skin and upturned spines carried the same midnight black splashed with his crimson hue right down to the hint of contrasting snow upon the peak of it's chest. The way it moved was a perfect replication, with every step echoing purpose and power.

Even it's eyes. Despite the opposition of color between her Shadow's blood-red orbs and this one's amber flickers, their gazes still burned with cold, calculating electricity. Despite the fact it never cast a thought towards the imprisoned flower, she still felt like it was watching her, analyzing every inch of her exposed fur.

With a silence expected of a mindless automaton, the droid carried it's cargo to a second titanium table that had risen out of the floor. Rose could only watch as her friend was shackled just as she was.

"She really is quite the expensive hostage. The bitch destroyed half a dozen drones before Epsilon had to intervene, lest she escape and ruin the project" Eggman's voice echoed through the doorway. All conscious gazes quickly shifted towards his rounded form blocking out most of the hallway's light. "Still, I suppose any investment is a risk."

Amy said nothing as she stared with all her fury at her human dominator, then flashing back towards the fallen jewel thief and the darkened doppelganger at her side.

"Ah, I see you've met Shadow Epsilon at last. At least this time you're conscious. Oh well, no matter. The rest of the vermin should be along any moment now to rescue their 'damsels-in-distress'. And Epsilon will wipe them off the planet. Unless, of course, they finally realize the folly of their resistance and bow down before me." This, of course, meant the tyrant would destroy them anyway; it would just be a lot easier. However, the corrupted genius didn't actually wish to kill them all in one swoop this time. Ever since last night when the idea first crossed his mind, he had been boiling away at the details. If this experiment were a success with one host and one specimen, imagine the combinations possible when ultimate DNA is mixed into other hosts. Hedgehog, bat, rabbit, echidna, canine, feline, raven, the list went on and on. To be sure, such abominations were even more disgusting and unwanted in Eggman's eyes, but as long as they were loyal and could be controlled by his mechanical brilliance, then he could simply imagine the costs that would be saved on parts and repairs alone.

"Shadow and the rest will never surrender to you, so you can take you delusions with you to hell when he gets here!" Amy shouted.

"Now now, Rose. They say high stress in the body is bad for a pregnant female's development, and we can't have that now can we? At least not for the next few minutes anyway."

With that, he moved aside with a bow so the lights would active to their fullest and blind her to all but the sounds of the thin-legged tapping of the stork-like robot' return. Its appearance sent a terrified chill throughout her quills, like she could read its cybernetic mind and knew that this visit would not be as delicate as the last one. Even it's normal graceful steps seemed more menacing than before. Suddenly, the table shook with mechanized movement as two supports appeared on either side of her waist. The bird extended its own legs into those newly found positions, elevating it nearly into the ceiling before it slowly retracted downwards again to lock above her. Without inquiry or demand, its sternum opened to reveal a full set of hypodermic needles and the cold red bead of a laser sight. Extending the first and thinnest of the set, it targeted her abdomen, just below her ribcage. She squirmed and struggled as best her restricted body could, sadly it was not enough to curb the bird's aim. It penetrated easily into her fragile skin and burrowed its way inside her. The young flower's scream was loud and true, a testament to the pain she felt invading her. The needle continued its ravaging trek into her core until it stopped and released its cargo inside her torso. The slick feeling of this new chemical storming her veins amplified her howls of agony. This new agent was quick to do its master's bidding, shutting down or circumventing her own defenses and reflexes. Amy's mind started to swim in the induced euphoria, even with her eyes still locked onto the stork above her in flooded terror. The numbness caressed slowly down her arms, legs and quills, and once it was done, the only feeling she had left was the emotionless scorch of the laser sight. She never even registered the syringe's retreat until her panicked emerald eyes saw its crimson-stained tip recede into its proper place.

"Enzymatic inhibitor successful. No signs of rejection, all readings within tolerances" the droid reported to its overbearing master.

"Excellent. Proceed with the extraction" Eggman replied, observing the procedure with much curious intent.

Shifting its position so that its array was level with her cherry hips, the avian android began to extend a much more horrifying tool towards such a delicate canvas. Like the unfortunate collision between a bendy straw and a vicegrip, the laser steered it directly towards the seeded incubator she bore inside her. Despite whatever she had been drugged with to cease this incoming pain, her mind had suddenly put the last piece together of what the doctor had planned. Her panicked screams resonated off every wall and obstacle it could in the last ditch hope of being heard by the ears of her midnight hedgehog, reaching its peak just as the cold metallic tip brushed against her sensitive fur.

And then it penetrated her, like a sluggish bullet. Tearing indelicately past her inner walls towards the twin budding lives swelling within; it curved and maneuvered around to find its target. There were no words anyone could create to fit the violation Amy could feel taking place. No numbing drug could ever to be strong enough to dull this most invasive and intimate a theft. And as her mind began to collapse inwards on itself, an ivory gloved touch of ebony and warmth somehow graced her cheek, echoing a vow all but lost in the moment.

Shadow…where are you…

It grabbed his heart and twisted it into a knot, this sudden feeling in the wind. Shadow the Hedgehog had been thundering across the open wilds on course for his target when even the light from the sun itself could not quell this sudden chill that had snapped into his bones. Floating to a halt in a barren plain, his ruby orbs scanned for the source of such despair until it dawned on him that there would be no outside intruder. No, this sense of dread was gnawing at him from within, and it was doing a superb job. Even the howling pass of the X-Tornado hadn't fazed him as his comrades streaked by.

The screams. His ears didn't so much hear them as his very soul felt them. As if his whole world had suddenly cried in agony, only to be suffocated under the pressure of a malicious hand. His chest was shaking now, his beating heart trying to rip itself out. Collapsing to one knee, Shadow's eyes shook with an energy now fueled by suspense they stared both upward into the distance and inward into his beating essence. The darkening clouds signaling the coming storm were a pathetic imitation of the nebula constricting at his core. No…it's not possible…am I too late…?

That last blazing thought snapped any restraint he had been saving, as the chaotic energies around his core exploded outward to envelop his charcoal skin in an even darker hue of fury. There was no control anymore, and his primal howl was ferocious and true as this midnight fireball took off once again with double its blinding speed, the grass under his shoes became scorched by the darkened fire as he raced onward.

Alarm klaxons suddenly began to blare their moniker of panic, stopping short the obese scientist's progress. On programmed instinct, the robot ceased it's invasion, just millimeters from its final goal. Quickly retracting its tools, it leapt down from the table, not even bothering to patch the tunnel it had created. Warm blood trickeled out with each beat of her wounded heart, yet all the sobs escaping her throat were no longer just the products of pain, but now that had taken on a small sliver of hope. For the moment, the glowing beacons of life inside her were safe. Yet even beyond that, it was almost like she could feel his thundering approach, the howl of his heart carrying the promise he had made her.

"Shadow…" his name softly escaped her lips.

"Of all the bloody times for an interruption!" Throwing up his hands in frustration, he retreated outside into the corridor a fair distance, leaving the two living beings in the care of Epsilon. Finding his spot, the scientist slammed his palm into an inconspicuous panel on the wall "Report status!" he bellowed.

"Dr Eggman, three energy signatures approaching from opposite directions at high speed" answered a lifeless voice.

Three?! Who the hell did those vermin recruit now?! he pondered. Typing in some commands, the panel next to it flipped into a screen and displayed the same spectacle that his fortress's sensors were recording. One blip was inbound from the northern regions of the Ice Caps. Blazing a course at the speed of sound, the reading sent a small tremor throughout his girth "Sonic? Impossible! I ordered Epsilon and the Raptors to leave him alone for now! Damm his blind luck!" And indeed, the blue blur had no idea of the events that had transpired over the past twelve hours. He was simply heading south towards the sea on his normal day's run.

The other two intruders were bearing in from the west. One was metallic, and was holding a high speed and a steady altitude "Prower. No doubt off to rendezvous with his bastard brother." The thought that a lowly canine freak actually rivaled his own genius skills in mechanics and physics still chaffed his mustache to no end. Still, Tails was a child, no matter how smart he was and his inventions reflected those same innocent and ignorant shortcomings compared to the good doctor's tools of conquest. And unfortunately for the fox, the projected spot were the he and Sonic were to collide was well inside the human's destructive range.

Still, it was the third blip that caught his eye the most. Blazing in at speeds triple that of his cobalt comrade, this new comet had his sensors confused and his weaponry twitching "Ah, welcome Shadow. I didn't expect you so soon. And you even brought playmates, how courteous of you."

Shutting down the display, he returned to the comlink "Arm all torpedoes and point defenses. Cut main engines to hover and activate both the energy shields and secondary jammers. Load the dropship full and launch it! I want every Raptor it can hold on the ground before they get here. And prepare the Egg Crab for battle! Be quick about it, you useless compilation of cogs!"

"Understood, Dr. Eggman"

The servants accepted their task and dispersed. Retreating from the experiment, the rounded human headed for the belly of his massive floating stronghold. So, you want to play, do you Shadow? Well, I hope you are ready for when Epsilon tears your ultimate ass into ribbons! His cackle resonated off every bulkhead and hatch nearby "Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war!"

I actually had to write this one a good dozen different times before I could finalize it. I'll probably have to make an alternate ending for at least two of them. Oh well, waste not...

Love it or hate it, lemme hear your thoughts!