Chapter 22

"Damn, they're smart." Nack said, while he kicked a body over to see its front.

"Why?"

"Blaze stashed her flamethrower to try and hide her tracks. None of these bodies have scorch marks. They could be anywhere in the building by now."

"Bastards… aagh!" Shadow began, and was suddenly hit by spasms which brought him to the ground. He clutched at his arm. Nack and Rouge could only watch as his red markings faded to yellow, and a long spiked chain extended out of his right arm, causing the gun on his back to disappear temporarily. Shining yellow marks spread across his arm and on to his shoulder, causing some of the white fur on his stomach to fall away, and the rest turned yellow. He lay still for a moment, before he opened his eyes, which had also gone yellow, and jumped to his feet. In a deeper, even monstrous voice, he said, "Catch me if you can, motherfuckers!" Before swinging the chain around a pole in the ceiling and swinging away and up the tower.

"Ah crap, now we lost Shadow too?" Nack cursed at the ground, attempting to decide what to do.

"While you stand here with your indecision, our yellow friend is getting away!" Rouge shouted back as she flew upwards in search of Shadow. Nack simply stared.

"Bastards." He turned and headed for a staircase.

Sonic stared upwards, taking in the vista of the hundreds of storeys of tower leading up to the top.

"Oh, come on! Who the fuck needs a castle this size? I mean, seriously! What the fuck?"

"Flying would be so useful about now…" Tails added.

"Hey, what's that up there?" Jet pointed up at a black and yellow object swinging from the rafters about halfway up.

"Oh, God, Shadow's gone psycho again…" Amy squinted to see towards the top.

"What?" Jet stared in disbelief. "What happened?"

"Oh, he got infected with Formula T," Tails responded, casually. Jet raised an eyebrow, as if to say, 'you what?'. "Basically, this stuff that was supposed to kill him didn't, he had a chain wrapped around his arm, and now every so often, he turns into, heh… 'Dark Shadow', as I like to call him…"

"'Dark Shadow'? 'Dark Shadow'? That makes no sense at all."

"That still doesn't answer the question of 'How the fuck do we get up there!'" Sonic pointed up to the top.

"I guess that's my cue…" Somebody said.

"Wha!?" An open-top ship pulled up next to them, with Diesel in the driving seat.

"You guys need a ride?" He said, leaning over the side. Sonic was all too enthusiastic about getting in.

"Eh… who the hell's he?" Wave was somewhat less enthusiastic.

"We'll explain on the way, just get in!" Amy followed Sonic into the back. Tails hopped over into the front. He pushed Diesel out of the way.

"Move over, bud, I'm driving… come on, hurry up!" Diesel grudgingly sat in the passenger seat. Wave was the last to get in, if reluctantly. The ship sped away, climbing gradually.

"So what happened to Nack and Rouge?"

"We ditched them." Diesel said indifferently.

"You what?"

"We ditched them. They just sat there talking, and we were ready to go, so we took the initiative. Or, rather Silver did. I was happy sitting there."

"So they could be anywhere?"

"Yeah, now that I think about it."

"Idiots."

"Silver and Blaze should be just there." Diesel pointed across the way. Tails stopped the ship next to it. Sure enough, waiting on them, Silver was pacing while Blaze sat with an mp3 player. She put it away when she saw them. Everybody got out. Diesel clipped Tails on the way out.

"So why'd you ditch Nack?" Sonic was not impressed.

"He was being slow."

"He knows this place better than you or I do."

"That's no help if he won't move his butt." There was a rumble. Everybody looked at Knuckles.

"What? Why are you looking at me?" There was another rumble. Some dust fell from the ceiling.

"Now we have a problem." A third, longer rumble, and some rocks fell from the ceiling. "Wanna move?"

"Yeah." A fourth started, and didn't stop. The rocks falling from the ceiling increased in size.

"Eh, run?" A rock fell and skulled Blaze. She fell, unconscious. Everyone else ran. Tails was the only one to notice Blaze. He ran back and pulled her out of the way of the falling rocks. When they were clear, he noticed that they were on the wrong side of the rubble. Everyone else had gotten away on the outside, they were still next to the central shaft. Worse still, a stray rock had knocked the hovercraft away into the middle of the shaft.

"Where's Tails? And Blaze?"

"Were they crushed?"

"Wait, I've got the radio…" Sonic pulled the radio from his belt. "Tails? Tails? Are you there?" They waited a few seconds.

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah… Blaze is out cold, but other than that, she's fine. We're stuck in here though."

"Under the rubble?"

"No, on the other side, stupid. The ship got knocked away. We're trapped for now."

"Damn… alright. We'll try and find another ship. Stay there,"

"I'm sure we will…"