And yet another chapter written without internet! This is the last of this triple-update.

Anyway, yeah. Here's Shadow's Crisis City.

So, no internet while writing this, so I had to think back on Generations (which I actually have) Crisis City.

… And I'm skipping Sonic's Crisis City, because it just doesn't seem like it has anything to do with… Well, anything. Likewise, Flame Core will focus on Sonic's group, with a bit of Shadow here and there. These next few chapters are probably going to have the biggest changes in the storyline from the original.

Chapter 9 (Shadow)

By crashing into the ground, it quickly became apparent to Shadow and Rouge that they weren't dead. Shadow was first to his feet, and Rouge followed quickly.

"That slimy little… How did…" Rouge growled, looking out over the flaming city they had landed in. "... Though I think where we are might be a more pressing matter."

"Agreed," Shadow said, studying the city. "It seems familiar, but I've never been here in my life."

"Memory issues?" Rouge guessed.

Shadow shook his head. "This is different. Mephiles… He said he was sending us to oblivion. So why did he just teleport us? Who is he? And how did Wario use Chaos Control?"

"I'm afraid I've got no idea," Rouge said. "Our best bet is to try and find something telling us where we are, and get back as soon as possible."

"I agree," Shadow said shortly. "Now, let's-"

Before Shadow could finish speaking, a flash of light appeared about ten feet up, accompanied by a scream. He looked up to see two men falling to the ground, one wearing a red plumber's outfit and angling himself to land; and the other wearing some odd green armor, screaming and flailing.

The red-clad one landed as though the fall had only been a few inches, while the green one landed on his head. Somehow this seemed to cause his armor to transform into an outfit nearly identical to the shorter man's, though green rather than red.

"… Well, that was a shock," Rouge said, once she got over her surprise at the two men's appearance.

The red man looked at Shadow, and jumped back. "Huh? Sonic? Wait, no…"

"Again?" Shadow growled. "I don't look that much like him. He's blue, I'm black; I've got chest hair, he doesn't!"

"… Are you related?"

"NO!" Shadow yelled. "I'm an artificially created lifeform, immune to age and sickness! He's… I don't even know, but not that!"

"Forgive Shadow," Rouge said. "Being mistaken for Sonic is a bit of a sore spot for him. Anyway, I'm Rouge. Mind introducing yourselves."

"We're the Super Mario Bros! I'm Mario, and the guy next to me moaning is my twin brother, Luigi." The man in red said in introduction, completing a little spin as his brother picked himself up. "… Ah, would you know where we are? I'm afraid I don't recognize this place. Eggman sent us here, you see."

"We're not sure either."

"Well, then, let's work together!" Mario exclaimed. "It's always great to work with new friends."

Shadow narrowed his eyes. He did not like this man's tone very much… He realized it was because the man reminded him of Sonic. Fine, then. He'd treat him like Sonic.

Shadow smirked. "Well, then… If you can keep up, fine. If not, not our problem." He dashed off, activating his rocket skates as he went. Rouge sighed, dashing off after him.

Mario grinned. "Let's-a-go!"

Despite Shadow's speed, a destroyed city wasn't exactly the perfect environment for his abilities. Fortunately, he was able to find a conveniently-placed buggy that allowed him easier movement through the city, at least to start with. Rouge chose to ride with him, though the Mario Brothers said something along the lines of 'we don't do vehicles'.

The Mario Brothers, on the other hand… Such an environment was perfect for them to use their abilities to the fullest. Like Wario, they could easily jump from one tiny foothold to the next without slowing down. The main difference was that, in comparison, they made Wario look like a clumsy slowpoke. They could easily jump twice as high as Wario, and, unlike Wario, didn't necessarily need a floor.

Soon enough, Shadow had to get rid of the buggy, and go on foot. It wasn't so bad, the fact that there were fiery tornadoes carrying platforms to jump on helped a lot. Rouge said something about it, but Shadow ignored her. He was too focused on the fact that the Mario Bros were acting like this was absolutely effortless.

Honestly, it wasn't bad, but he couldn't clear half of these gaps without a jump dash. Mario just made some weird crouch-jump, while Luigi just kicked his legs. Somehow this worked like gliding. Rouge, meanwhile, just glided between platforms. Ah, the pleasures of having wings.

Mario, for his part, was loving this place. It made him feel so… Alive. Even if it was dangerous, being surrounded by fire was making him giddy, in a way someone with no fire powers wouldn't understand.

Luigi, on the other hand, was not enjoying himself. These monsters were annoying, no matter how easy it was to electrocute them. He wasn't so concerned with the prospect of falling into lava; it was painful, sure, but he'd live.

After aimlessly wandering for a few hours, they happened across a sort of open plain… That was also mostly on fire. The only thing there was a building that, to all of them, looked vaguely familiar.

So, of course, they broke in. Not that it was much of a break-in, since the door had been blown of its hinges.

It didn't take long to find a sort of control room, and Rouge set to work on getting logged into the somehow functioning computer.

Shadow, Mario, and Luigi waited in silence. None of the three were really big talkers, though for different reasons, and none of them really minded. After a while, Rouge spoke.

"Guys?" she said. "Um… I know where we are… This may come as a bit of a shock, so bear with me. This is Dr. Eggman's base in White Acropolis… Some two hundred years in the future."

"… So that means Mephiles has the power to control time," Shadow said. "It felt very similar to Chaos Control…"

"I think Eggman mentioned something about controlling time and space with his machine," Mario added.

"And the machine's power felt very similar to a time hole," Luigi added. "Long story short, we've traveled through time before. Though it was twenty-four years BACK…"

"Well, then, now that we know where we are… We just need a way back," Rouge said. "Hmm… Shadow? Would Chaos Control take us back?"

Shadow shook his head. "I don't think so, not on its own… And I doubt I could transport all of us, anyway. What we'd need is to create a rift, but for that, we'd need two emeralds, AND two people using Chaos Control. We'd need to go looking, and hope that one of these two can use it."

"Why would we be able to?" Mario asked.

"Wario could," Shadow said simply. "Now, we're not going to get much done here, so-"

For the second time that day, Shadow was interrupted by a flash of light and screaming. This time, however, three familiar shapes fell to the ground. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had arrived in the future.

Sonic landed on his feet easily enough, while Tails landed on his back, saying something about his own dizziness, and Knuckles landed in much the same manner as Luigi.

"Well, fancy that…" Rouge said, seeing the three. "Hey! Didn't expect to see you guys!"

"Rouge?" Tails asked, looking up to where they were. "Shadow? Mario! Luigi! Great to see you guys! Um… Where are we?"

Rouge explained the situation to Team Sonic, and the beginnings of their plans.

"And how do we find the Chaos Emeralds?" Sonic asked. "I mean, we don't exactly have an emerald radar with us."

"I can sense them, faker," Shadow said. "Or have you forgotten? Follow me. I can sense two rather close to each other right now."

And… There we go! I'm not sure how I did on this one… Oh well. I'm still really enjoying writing this, one way or another. Next update will probably be... Umm, quicker, since I've got my internet back now.