The pieces have taken their places on the board, now it is time for the war to commence. Risks shall be taken, tables turned and turned again...but only one side can emerge the victor...Enjoy!
Part Twenty: A Knight's Invasion
Thunder had begun to rumble in the darkening sky above him, yet it was a sad comparison to the savage eruption that had wrapped his charcoal form like armor. Shadow paid no mind to either the sounds of nature or the first drops of the incoming rain that was sure to make the preceding battle that much more intense as he homed in towards the coastline and his prey. Still, somewhere in the back of his mind, behind the anger and determination of his mission, his ruby orbs still drank in the scene. Echoing hollow in his ears were the very words he had traded with his high-flying partner the last time such a downpour had caught them.
"I've done some good things, Rouge. I did them for her, for a promise fifty years an echo. But I've also done terrible things, trying to find a place in the world I vowed to protect. So now, in the midst of a storm that seems so small, what does that make me?"
"Simple. It makes you, Shadow the Hedgehog, just as imperfect as the rest of us. But more than that, it makes you our friend" she had replied, oceanic eyes vibrant as always. But even she was gone now too, held captive by the same insane genius that also snatched his Rose. And now those imperfections were the very traits that had been called upon. More than those even, skills he had just discovered in the past week; love, trust, passion. These were now his shield and sword, replacing the colder touch of isolation, melancholy and bitterness.
His fiery trail continued until he reached the crests of the hills he had been scaling, marking the descent into the lush greenery of a valley that stretched all the way to the hanging cliffs of the Sapphire Sea and the waves breaching upon them. By now, he knew that he was close to his target and to his lost flower. Not by the fact of his memory, but thanks to the very feeling in nature itself. Her voice danced along the waving grass, her scent arcing through the air and teasing him. Still, Shadow could not see anything but the empty landscape itself, and that was simply unacceptable.
At least, until the tell-tale twitch of a long metallic grey tail peeked up from the long grass in his path. Then another, and a third, fourth, soon too many to count. An ambush. Predictable as always, doctor. And as much as Shadow would love to spend an evening tearing mindless drones apart, there was a much more important task at hand. Scanning the area, his eyes quickly locked onto something else, something solitary and steady amidst the swirling clouds of the storm. A sharpened silhouette of mechanical and aerodynamic perfection, revealed by the arcing lightning. It's long sharpened nose branched out and back into the curved hull suited for the naval warriors of older days, save for the pair of nacelles situated on either side for propulsion.
And only one being in the midnight warrior's memory built contraptions in that shape. Channeling his chaos into the time tested spin-ball once more, the midnight hedgehog launched himself into the lashing winds and stinging rains.
Approaching from a fair distance behind the charcoal comet, Tails and Knuckles looked slightly confused as Shadow suddenly stopped. "What the hell? He stopped! Hey, Tails!, You think he saw something?!" the echidna called out.
"I can't tell! My scanners are completely blank, and this thunderstorm is getting pretty intense. If he did, we should check it out too!" Tails replied, trying to focus on keeping the control yoke straight.
"Yea, you're right. Wait a sec, what's that down there?!" Knuckles gestured downwards off the starboard wing to a very familiar blue blur approaching.
"It's Sonic!" the kitsune's voice lit up. Just the hedgehog he was hoping to see. "Hang on red, I'm taking us down." And like a feather gently gliding toward the earth, the young pilot began his smooth descent. Smooth at least, until the skies around him suddenly exploded with fire and metallic hail. Tails strained his controls as hard as he could and pitched the Tornado into a steep dive.
"Looks like ol Shads found Eggman alright!" Knuckles yelled over the howling winds.
"I guess so. Looks like it's time for a 'snatch-and-dash'!" the kitsune replied.
"A what?!"
"Just hold onto the wing and get ready to grab Sonic!" Standing the fighter on its wingtip so that the crimson rider was close enough to the dirt to catch the blue blur, the twin-tailed tactician slammed into a hard turn until he was on a collision course with his brother. Luckily for them, the target hedgehog had apparently put two and two together and leapt into the winds for an easy catch. As soon as the connection was made, the Tornado clawed onto its tail and blasted off into the clouds and against the incoming fire.
"Hey red! What the heck's going on?! Looks like you've had quite an interesting day."
Knuckles shrugged as he tried to summarize the recent events over the deafening roar of engines and dull thudding of explosions.
Shadow's aim was straight and true. The midnight missile bore straight in at the floating fortress's midsection, laser blasts washing over his chaotic cocoon as if water around a rock and thundering torpedoes doing nothing but nudging his course. Suddenly, his form collided with the last invisible barrier that stood in his way. Sizzling against the midnight warrior's momentum, the energy shield held for only a few brief seconds before it too shattered and the spin-ball connected with solid hull plating. The feeling of metal buckling and breaking under his force was most satisfying, but still no substitute for what would become of the good doctor's skull.
Finally, Shadow stood inside the darkened hull of the warship. His blood-red irises quickly adjusted to the void and he was off in a dead run. What few mechanical sentries he encountered did little but shatter and fall in his path. No longer simply a passing thought on the winds, his very soul knew that the poor flower was close now. So very close indeed; Be strong, my Rose. I'm almost there!
Her heart had felt the impact long before the bulkheads groaned in its arrival. Even under the constant eye of such a mechanical mockery that was Epsilon, Amy began to scream for her dark knight, until only her accelerating pulse was the only other sound she could hear. Even over the groaning sounds of a stirring jewel thief nearby "SHADOW!! I'M IN HERE! SHADOW!!"
And with an entrance worthy of the ultimate life-form, the doorway into the room burst inward, knocking the android out of the way and into the far wall. Upon the very sight of his energized quills and burning scarlet eyes, Rose's soul felt alive again. Her warrior had come at last, just as she knew he would. "Oh, Shadow" her heart sang out through her chapped lips. Jade eyes wide and alert, she watched him glide effortlessly to her side shatter the binding chains and grasp her delicate cherry hands in his "My Rose. I'm so glad your safe!…I"
The formerly solid door exploded from its resting place into the ceiling as Shadow Epsilon stood to identify the intruder. The living hedgehog leapt over the table to stand guard in front of his flower, catching his first true look at the concoction Eggman had conceived to compete with him, even down to the four bracelets that the blood-striped warrior used to bear "It was you! YOU took her from me!" his growl came low enough to rattle bones.
The android said nothing as it seemed to study Shadow for only a second before tackling its breathing twin in a midnight blur. Amy could only gasp as the two ebony bodies crashed through the wall and through the hallway into the hull of the cruiser. The stronghold's skin strained to hold as Epsilon had placed Shadow into a face to face chokehold. Using brute strength fueled by inner chaos, he slowly began to break the robot's hold, which it took as a challenge. With a speed rivaling the hedgehog it was choking, Epsilon swung its arm wide and swiped it's clawed fingers at the ivory patch in his chest. The first attack went high and missed, but the second struck home. Ebbing crimson streaks appeared in his torso.
Brushing off the stinging pain with only a grunt, Shadow pushed himself and his attacker into the air and threw Epsilon against the hull plating. Before he could strike again, and much to his surprise, a howling streak of ivory fur and anger landed a solid kick into the android's cranium. The force sent the charcoal doppelganger through the ship's armor plating and into the raging storm outside.
Landing in a crouch next to his sudden ally, Shadow couldn't help but remark "Late night with some company?"
Rouge smiled as best she could, wincing every time her wing tried to flutter "I should ask you the same thing. What took you so long?"
"Humph. Had to save your little boy-toy on the way here. Knowing him, he's probably lost on the upper decks." With that, Shadow turned back into the laboratory and scooped Amy into his arms, grabbing a laboratory coat to sheath her naked form in some attempt at modesty. Her slender arms leapt into a tight hold around his neck as the two lovers began their retreat, silent thief in tow. "Now come on, let's get you two out of here and into some decent attire."
Rose's cherry cheeks lit up with a slight blush as she reveled in the feeling of those two strong arms that cradled her. A blissful replacement for the freezing table, the strong pounding of his heart in her ears and the energizing heat of his burning core were the very additives her soul needed now. Especially since she had one more vital piece of information to pass along in a bombshell "Shadow, there's something else you need to know."
Another explosion rocked the massive flying citadel, a signal to increase their pace "May want to save it until we touch down again, love."
"But Shadow! I'm pr…" Her sentence was lost in the crashing sound of metal versus metal as a familiar midnight android tore back into the ship and collided in a full tackle with its mirror image. The young flower flew effortlessly out of her savior grasp, and was scooped up in a diving catch by Rouge as Epsilon's momentum continued to carry both it and Shadow through bulkhead and piping alike. The android's orders were simple and direct; Dr. Eggman wanted but a sample of the ultimate life-form's blood, tissue and brain to continue the work his grandfather had begun. The rest of the crimson-splashed hedgehog mattered not.
Although, bustling about in the command center of his warship, the good doctor's concern was not quite focused on his future works. Instead, his throat was going dry from all the orders he was giving in a losing attempt to hold these vermin at bay. The screens before him gave testament to their prowess, as the X-Tornado made another screaming pass across the fortress's bow, destroying turret and torpedo launcher alike until the dedicated anti-air cannons concentrated around the bridge forced the young fox to break away. As the chaos erupted above him, Sonic the Hedgehog was also quite busy on the uppermost deck, taking pleasure in smashing whatever mechanized infantry happened to cross his path towards the control tower.
"Damm that cursed Sonic! Does he really think he and his comrades can simply storm into my ship and make it back out alive?! Once Epsilon is finished with Shadow, then we'll see whose left standing!"
As if on cue, another massive detonation dimmed the lights and threw the overabundant doctor to the floor "What the hell?!"
"Dr. Eggman, primary energy conduit destroyed. Deck ten, sections fourteen through thirty!" came a lifeless reply as the workerbot tried desperately to hold steady a suddenly plummeting destroyer.
"How is that possible?! That's the very center of the ship! Who's down there?"
In response, the central display switched inwards to very core of the battle, where two streaking midnight comets were engaged in blistering battle. They exchanged fist for claw and tackle for tackle until it seemed that Epsilon overcharged his boundaries and missed. Shadow took full advantage of the miss and hurled a glowing crimson blast of chaos energy into the android and knocked it straight backwards and out the other side of the cruiser. And then, the victorious hedgehog was gone as well.
"Dr. Eggman, the ship drive system are not receiving sufficient power to support its weight. Descent rate cannot be controlled. Impact is imminent" the servant interrupted again.
"Then I guess it's time for a little ground pounding. Activate the Egg Crab, have Epsilon and the Raptors secure a landing zone. Initiate Egg Fortress self-destruct!"
You didnt think it was going to be that easy, did you? Still, I hope the rest of you are as proud of it as I am.
Reviews always welcome