Chapter 23

The Flood

'The seventeenth day of the second month — on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.'

The old story of Cobar and the flood had been taught for centuries to children in mandatory Sunday school. Back in times long before the creation of the five communities, the creatures of Mobius grew corrupt and perverted. As the tale goes, 'Chaos saw how great the wickedness of the Mobian race had become on Mobius, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the Mobian heart was only evil all the time.'

The level of sin and corruption had become staggering as more and more creatures let Iblis engulf their hearts for selfish gain. Chaos watched helplessly until he could stand by no longer. Chaos wanted to purge Mobius and wipe away all the animals who inhabited the earth, but Cobar found favour in his eyes. Cobar, his wife, his three children and their wives were all instructed to create a boat that was big enough to hold two of every animal. Cobar did and was spared by the wicked flood that ravaged Mobius and killed all the impure beings. Chaos purified Mobius from all sin so that it could be rebuilt again, and it was.

However, history has a way of repeating itself. Vector, blinded by the radical ideals of Big the Cat spearheading a wicked campaign with illusions of Chaos' will, looked back on the old stories. He knew his own son, his son's boyfriend and their allies had let Iblis back onto their world. Through that gateway, Iblis was slowly corrupting all the communities. Vector thought it was his duty to stop it. Big developed, and then Vector perfected, a gaseous serum that when inhaled would rip Iblis out of the inhabitant and kill them violently in the process. This was his new flood. A flood that would spare the chosen and wipe away the impurity of everyone else.

Luckily, on his quest to implement this flood, Vector met his equal. Shard Metal. Shard knew the true wrath of Iblis. As just a child, his father had sauntered home drunk one night with fury in his eyes…

"You little brat," Captain Metal roared with anger as he stumbled into Shard's bedroom. Shard was barely five years old. Captain was drunk.

"Dad, get away from me," Shard tried to yell back as he crawled away from his father.

"She would still be alive if it wasn't for you," Captain bellowed as he smashed his bottle of beer onto Shard's night stand. It broke in half. Captain brandished the other half in his hand, its edges tipped with serrated, sharp glass shards. "You ruined my life!"

"I didn't do anything," Shard cried as he stumbled backwards. Shard's father had beaten him his whole life, but it was never this bad. His father was blocking his bedroom door and the only escape was the window. He tried to hurry over and open it but he wasn't fast enough.

"You were born," Captain growled as he swiped and stabbed with the broken bottle. Shard could do nothing but wail as he fell into a crumbled ball, waiting for his life to end. Flames were alight in Captain's eyes as he made one final lunge for his son to finish off the single reminded of his dead wife. However, the alcohol clouding his brain caused him to trip. Captain's foot snagged the foot of Shard's bed and in a blind flurry to steady himself he slammed into the window sill.

Shard acted quickly and on instinct. He gripped his father's legs between his arms and pushed. Shard watched in horror as his father fell from the third story window and landed on his neck bellow, dying instantly.

Shard was never a happy boy, but dark clouds blew into his heart that night. Vector thought he had found an equal, somebody to help usher a new age. Shard Metal was anything but that angel sent to aid him by Chaos. Shard would be Vector's undoing…

…

Tails' heart beat fast as he sprinted past room after room, navigating his way through the maze of big ballrooms and narrow corridors of the old, crumbling castle. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Tails found the exit and raced out into the flat field where Shard's gigantic metal bird-like mother ship was perched. Hundreds of smaller drones began to lift off the ground and buzzed around the biggest ship awaiting instructions.

Tails swallowed his fear deep inside him, clenched his fist and tiptoed up the metallic bridge that connected the inside of the mothership to the grass below. Tails was surprised by the sheer size of the interior but followed the path up where it connected to the bridge of the ship.

The interior was a circular room with a lower level that had three staircases to the west, east and south of the ship that led to a higher tier. Most of the walls of this central bridge were windows looking out into the surroundings. Control panels, chairs and railings dotted the top tier and, looking out in the middle, was the captain's chair.

Tails climbed up one of the staircases, clung to the rail and approached the chair facing the main controls when it spun around on its axels and Tails came face to face with none other than the metallic hedgehog, Shard.

"Well, well, well," Shard smiled, his eyebrows raising with intrigue. "A golden, Mobian fox. You must be Tails. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Sonic has told me so much about you."

"Don't you mention that name," Tails growled with such malice he surprised even himself.

"Enough with the theatrics. Don't pretend you have a chance left, runt," Shard hissed back. Tails opened his mouth to counter Shard's words but his eyes trailed off to the ground beside him. They were drawn to the spot, and he gasped when he saw Vector's crumpled, seemingly lifeless body beside Shard's chair.

"V-Vector? But… but he?"

"He what?" Shard taunted. "You think this was all his doing? He might have thought he was in charge, but after everything he was merely a pawn like the rest of this pathetic community."

"But… but why did you…" Tails was at a loss for words.

"My whole life I've been put down. I've been avoided, lied to, told I'd amount to nothing. My society dumped me, but I was determined to prove everybody wrong. I rose to the top of Macton, became their leader. I promised to usher them into a new age of prosperity and peace, and that's exactly what I'm about to accomplish," Shard pronounced victoriously.

"But you started a war!" Tails accused.

"Vector started the war. I'm merely ending it." The gears in Tails' brains were turning when he heard the faint sound of scuffling underneath him. He sneakily peered beneath him and saw Shadow silently striding onto the ship. Tails knew his time was up. He had to do something.

"How did you do all this? How did you trick Vector and Mobius?"

"I'm glad you asked," Shard smiled, reveling in his genius. "After word spread about the Avians declaring war on the Mobians I thought this was finally my chance. It was then that I searched and met Vector. It was easy to deceive him. He was blinded by fury. The hatred he felt for his own son and you, it was delicious. It was easy to exploit. I used his lust for power and the grudge he bore to gain his trust and plant the seeds in his mind about his big plan. As he constructed the serum to spread across the land, I set to work on my own plan. Now that it's all been readied, I had no use for him. All of Macton is safely locked underground ready to wait out the flood of gas. It will purge Mobius and, in the aftermath, Macton will rise and will finally be able to control the whole land, not just the barren desert your ancestors forced us into. Retribution is at hand and… wait," Shard paused, his smile faltering. "Very clever. You got me monologuing to buy time for your friends to arrive."

"You have quite the hubris," Tails smirked defiantly, swallowing his fears and reservations. He knew he needed to stay tough, not just for himself but for his friends and for Sonic.

"Well, it seems you didn't stall enough," Shard noticed Shadow climbing the stairs and called to him. "Shadow, help, Tails broke in and killed Vector!" Shard's façade was perfect. However, Shadow didn't rush to his aid or sprint to combat Tails. Shadow stood still, like a tree rooted to the ground, only his eyes shifting from the fox to the other metallic hedgehog.

"Shadow, don't," Tails pleaded.

"You heard me. Finish him!" Shadow didn't move a muscle.

"V-Vector?" Shadow asked, his eyes finally falling on Vector's crumpled body.

"I wasn't trying to get you to monologue to stall for time," Tails smiled. "I just wanted you to reveal the truth so that Shadow could hear it all."

"You… you heard what I said?" Shard's smirk faltered. Shadow nodded wordlessly.

"You are trying to destroy his community, Shard. Why would he work for you?"

"Shadow, listen to me, son," Shard stared directly into Shadow's conflicted eyes. "Vector was delusional. They all were. Help me, and you can be by my side as we usher the whole continent into a new world order. Stay with me until the gas settles and you can help create peace." Shadow remained motionless as he thought about Shard's offer. "By my side, you can also finally end the one thing that's caused you so much pain and torment. Sonic."

That struck a chord. Shadow swallowed the lump in his throat and his eyes fogged over as he turned and skulked over to Shard's side to stare menacingly at Tails. He had made his choice, driven by the promise of finally getting his revenge. The idea of Sonic had taunted him for months, slowly driving him insane and if this was Shadow's only chance to finally be freed of his nightmarish thoughts, he'd take it.

"Shadow, don't!" Sonic bellowed as he jumped up the stairs and skidded to a stop beside Tails, Razor following close behind with loud panting.

"Sonic," Shadow let out a low growl, his eyes narrowing. "Finally made it to our little end game."

"Shadow… please, don't do this. Don't-" Sonic stopped mid-sentence when his eye fell on Vector's body, lying motionless beside Shard and Shadow.

"He killed him," Tails whispered.

"He… he killed dad?" Sonic was at a loss for words. Everything he had worked for, already gone. He didn't even get to say what he had planned to say to the father that ruined his own son's life. Sonic had so much. But there wasn't time for that. Sonic needed to push the thought of his father far from his mind to focus on the present.

"He got what he deserved," Razor pointed out heartlessly.

"Come on, Sonic. Step forward and face me, one on one," Shadow offered as he stepped into the middle of the circular bridge. Sonic went to take a step forward but felt a hand clamp around his wrist, holding him in place.

"Sonic, don't. You can't win," Tails begged, wrapping his dainty fingers around Sonic silently begging him to stay.

"I have to do this, Tails. There's no other way," Sonic bargained.

"But you're still injured. See," Tails pointed to the bandages wrapped around Sonic. They were tinted red. Sonic's wound had re-opened in the throne room scuffle and blood wet the bandage.

"No guns. No weapons. Just you and me," Shadow continued, his voice rising. "You knew this was coming, ever since you broke my ankle at the park. You might have escaped me this whole time but no longer!" As Shadow yelled, spittle flew from his mouth and stained the metal ground beneath him. "Face me now!"

"I accept," Sonic growled back, stepping forward so the two hedgehogs were barely a meter apart. Shard stood behind Shadow, a wide smile crossing his face as his fingers secretly tapped away on his control board. Opposite him, behind Sonic, stood both Tails and Razor, neither one knowing quite what to do.

"Shadow, are you sure you really want to do this?" Sonic asked.

"I've dreamt of nothing more for the past four months," Shadow replied viciously.

"Don't you see what you're doing is wrong?"

"I'm doing it for the glory of Chaos."

"No, you're not. Look behind you. Vector thought he was fighting for Chaos, but he slaughtered thousands. What kind of god would want that?"

"Only those not worthy were cut down," Shadow spat back, growing increasingly impatient.

"But don't you see? Vector isn't the one you're fighting for now. He's dead. Cut down by Shard, who only cares about himself and his people. You aren't fighting for Chaos, you aren't fighting for Mobius… you're fighting for Macton and Macton alone!" Sonic bellowed.

"Shut it," Shadow snapped, shaking his head with each of Sonic's words that threatened to pierce his head. He placed his hands on his temples, shut his eyes and tried to block out everything. "Shut it, shut it, shut it!"

"Shadow, wake up and look around you. What you're doing is wrong!"

"I don't care," Shadow shouted like a crazed lunatic, his eyes bloodshot and red. "You've been turning me against everybody. You turned Mobius against me as a kid, you turned Amy against me, Tikal, Vector, everybody! I need to make it better. I need to make the voices stop. They won't leave me alone. Every night the voices torment me… your voice torments me. I need to make it stop. And I can only find peace with your death," Shadow was salivating.

"Shadow… I didn't do anything."

"You consorted against me your whole life. My misery made you happy."

"That's not true," Sonic tried to reason, but it wasn't helping.

"I need revenge. I want revenge. I'm owed revenge," Shadow repeated.

"Shadow… Revenge is an end, not a beginning. Revenge is like a drug. It fuels you, keeps you going through to the dark, but once you've acquired it you feel empty. All those you leave in your wake to quench the thirst for vengeance are gone and only then will you be truly alone. I don't want to fight, Shadow."

"You just want me to step aside. You're trying to trick me. You've turned everybody against me and now you're trying to turn my own brain against me too."

"Shadow, enough!" Shard bellowed. "Finish him, now." In an instant Shadow snapped. He pounced on Sonic, knocking him to the ground and delivered a punch right into Sonic's face. Sonic acted fast, bringing up his stronger hand to block Shadow's second blow. He brought up his knee and slammed it into Shadow's crotch. Shadow howled with pain and rolled backwards, giving Sonic enough room to wriggle out from underneath him and back up a few meters.

"Sonic," Razor and Tails called out but he raised a hand, advising them to keep back.

"Stay away. This is between me and him," Sonic warned. Shadow shouted in rage and got back to his feet, his eyes glowering at Sonic's fragile frame.

"Shadow… don't do this."

"I need to." Shadow staggered closer as Sonic still sat on the ground. He tried to stand up but a sharp stabbing pain shot through his side. He hissed in pain, clenching his eyes shut as he fell back. When he opened them again, Shadow was upon him. Sonic sighed. He knew he couldn't win. He held his arms out to either side, tilted his head back and looked Shadow right in the eye.

"Very well, Shadow. You win," Sonic began softly. "Go ahead and kill me. Stop the voices. At least it will sooth you and chase away the voices. Just know that despite everything, I never meant to hurt you. I thought we were good friends, once. I still wish we could be friends, in some parallel world. I know saying sorry isn't enough so, go on, kill me. I'm sorry for everything." Sonic closed his eyes and gave his fate to Shadow.

"Sonic, no!" Tails screamed in terror as Shadow wrapped his hands around Sonic's windpipe. However, as Sonic waited for death, Shadow let go. Sonic peeped open one eye and saw Shadow fall to his knees and smack his head.

"I can't do it," Shadow whined like a crazed lunatic. "I can't, I can't. The voices, they say to but, but I don't want to be lonely. I don't want revenge. I don't want any of this. I want things to be the way they did before. But Sonic needs to die," Shadow snapped, his voice changing slightly. "But he gave his life to us," Shadow replied, debating with himself. "Kill him. Don't. Revenge. Forgiveness. Shut it, shut it, shut it," Shadow screamed to the heavens. He fell into a ball and rocked back and forth. He had completely lost it.

"Shadow?" Sonic asked.

"Enough of this foolishness," Shard yelled angrily. "If Shadow can't finish this, I know somebody else who will. Now!" In the blink of an eye, a figure dressed in an ashen cloak dropped from her concealed hiding spot above them and drew her dagger across Razor's bear throat.

Razor's eyes bulged open as he tried to speak but no words came out, only gargled chokes. Sonic and Tails both gasped, calling his name as they tried to help him but it was no use. Razor through his hands to his throat to stop the spurting blood but it was no use. In a matter of seconds Razor fell to the floor, dead.

"Cream, how could you?" Tails asked.

"You'll regret that," Sonic threatened and, despite the stabbing pain, he lunged forward. However, he was knocked off his balance and fell to the ground. Tails rushed to help Sonic back up and they both looked at the new person who defended Cream. It was Amy Rose.

"Didn't think you could have a party without me, did you, Sonic?" Amy asked menacingly.

"Amy… Cream…" Sonic and Tails both faced them.

"You both ruined our lives," Cream began.

"You were supposed to be with us, not each other," Amy continued for her friend.

"We could have stopped this whole war…"

"…If you only loved us!"

"I'm sorry, but I love Sonic." Tails said.

"And I, Tails."

"Stop talking and just kill them. I don't have time for this," Shard instructed from his chair.

"I'll take Cream, you take Amy," Sonic decided.

"But Cream is stronger and you're still weak from your injury. Besides, I made Cream this way. I should clean up my mess," Tails argued. Before the two could debate further, Amy pounced on Sonic, knocking the both of them to the ground. Tails looked back to make sure Sonic was okay but in the split second he turned his head, Cream thrust her arm forward. Tails barely stepped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the sharp point of Cream's crimson tipped dagger.

As Sonic and Amy wrestled on the floor, Tails danced around Cream as she stabbed at the air again and again. He raised his arm as the dagger flew under his arm. He fell to his knees as she swiped above his head. Their deadly tango of attacks and dodges continued until Tails felt the air sucked out of him. He couldn't keep up much longer and Cream showed no sign of slowing down. Tails could only continue to avoid her jabs. The next time Cream swung, Tails jumped out of the way but tripped over his own feet, colliding with the ground below. Cream smiled, towering over him as she readied herself for the final, fatal blow.

Suddenly, a loud thud echoed through the bridge and Cream froze, the knife falling from her hand. Her eyelids grew heavy and she fell to the floor.

"Sorry we took so long," Knuckles smirked. "We just had to deal with Tikal."

"Thanks for the save," Tails panted as he looked at Cream, passed out on the ground. As Knuckles helped Tails to his feet Blaze pushed past the two of them and rushed over to heave Amy off Sonic.

"Blaze," Amy hissed.

"Thought you would be rid of me for good?" Blaze asked.

"I assumed Tikal could handle you. I guess Shadow's choices for girlfriends was pretty weak."

"You can say that again," Blaze stared Amy down.

"You think you're so perfect, don't you?"

"No, but at least I don't force others to do whatever I want because of my insecurities."

"That's it!" Amy shrieked as she pulled out a dagger of her own and brandished it, slicing through the air. "I've been waiting a long time to do this!

"Blaze, look out!" Knuckles shouted. He tried to run up to help Blaze but as he put his foot out something clasped around his ankle and brought him crashing down painfully. Tails gasped as Cream whipped her head up, her hand still clamped around Knuckles' ankle.

All of a sudden, the whole ship began to vibrate as a loud sound of a turbine broke through the air. Tails wobbled backwards while Cream and Knuckle still lay on the ground. Blaze steadied her balance as her and Amy stared each other down. Sonic struggled through the pain inflicting him as Shadow rocked back and forth, watching all his former friends and enemies fight.

"Looks like you're too late," Shard laughed as he took hold of the controls and guided the mother ship up into the air. Sonic looked out the windows as hoards of the drones whizzed about in the air, each carrying a canister of the nasty gas. Sonic tried to rise to stop Shard but Amy stopped him.

"We need to stop Shard," Sonic urged.

"You're not going anywhere," Amy growled, readying to fight both Sonic and Blaze at once. Meanwhile, Cream jumped to her feet and began another barrage of thrusts, this time switching between both Knuckles and Tails. She was too much for the two of them.

Sonic tried to combat Amy but Shard took a sharp turn left and Sonic fell to one knee, the pain in his side unbearable. It struck his vision and he was almost blinded by the pain. Amy took her chance and brought the knife down over Sonic's heart when a hand blocked her attack, wrenched her wrist backwards and stole the dagger from her grasp.

"Sh-Shadow?" Blaze gasped in surprise.

"Sonic, go stop Shard," Shadow growled. "Hurry, before I change my mind." Sonic locked eyes with Shadow, nodded and scurried to his feet.

"Shadow, what are you-"

"We can talk or we can stop Amy," Shadow interrupted her. "Now quick, there's some rope downstairs. Let's bind her quickly before she can break free," Shadow instructed as he struggled to contain Amy. She yelled, wriggling and thrashing about violently but Shadow was stronger.

"I hate you," Amy fumed. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

"Sonic!" Tails called out for help as Sonic struggled over to where Shard was sitting. He glanced back, the scared voice of his angel grabbing his attention. He saw Cream backing both Tails and Sonic into a corner, her blade glinting in the setting sun. Sonic hesitated for only a moment. The decision was obvious. Shard, and all of Mobius, could wait. Tails needed help.

Sonic rushed over and before Cream knew what hit her, he threw himself onto her. They both fell to the floor and Sonic howled in pain as he smacked into the unforgiving metal. Cream wriggled out from underneath him quickly and snatched back her dagger but when she looked up she saw both Knuckles and Tails looming over her.

"It's over, Cream. You're on your own," Tails said.

"Tikal's dead. Amy's subdued and Shadow is on our side. Just surrender and we can figure everything out later," Knuckles tried to reason with her. Cream's eyes flicked from the two boys above her to her friend, Amy, struggling against Shadow's iron grip. She knew it was useless. She knew she had lost. Her friends had betrayed her and her home below was about to be ravaged by her leaders' deadly gas. There was nowhere left for her.

"Tails?" Cream asked, looking up to match his stare.

"Cream?"

"Did you… ever love me?" Cream asked in a moment of vulnerability, tears shimmering in her eyes. It was the first human thing Tails had seen her do since he left her at the part months ago.

"Cream… yes… yes I did," Tails admitted.

"That's all I ever wanted," Cream smiled. Then, before anybody could stop her, she turned the blade on herself and plunged it deep into her heart. Tails and Knuckles let out a scream and lunged to stop her but it was too late. She was too precise. Cream's death was quick and painless. Less than a few seconds past before all the life had drained from the once shy girl turned trained assassin.

"Cream…" Tails sighed.

"C'mon Tails, leave her. We can mourn later," Knuckles placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as they turned to reunite with the others.

"Give up, Shard. It's over," Sonic announced, clutching his side as he stood beside Tails, Knuckles and Blaze while Shadow continued to bind Amy.

"I knew I should have just killed you when we found you in the desert," Shard growled.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Sonic countered back.

"All this planning," Shard grunted, mumbling angrily. "Everything I did… Everything I saw for our future, ruined by stupid teenagers."

"I-"

"Sonic, don't," Tails interrupted Sonic. Something didn't seem right. Something seemed off. Shard had lost, they had him outnumbered and he had nowhere to run. But why was he smiling? That's when Tails understood. "You tricked us."

"Doesn't feel good when somebody uses your own trick against you, does it?" Shard smirked.

"Tails? What's he on about?" Knuckles and Blaze asked.

"He was stalling us. This whole time. Shadow, Amy, Cream… he didn't actually think they'd stop us. He just wanted them to slow us down."

"We were just pawns?" Shadow asked, the fog of confusion only growing thicker as it strangled his brain.

"You played your part wonderfully," Shard gloated as he noticed out of the corner of his eye that everything was ready and he gave the voice command. "Initiate the flood!" Suddenly, much to their horror, the thousands of buzzing drones shot off into the distances, heading for Vapos, Zuncon and the sparse environment of Mobius between the two. Some zoomed ahead at unbelievable speeds while others slowed and released their canisters.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Blaze and Shadow watched helplessly as green gas poured from the metallic drones and drowned the land below in a deadly blanket of smog.

"Let the flood begin!" Shard announced victoriously as civilians and citizens below looked up to see the gas descend down from above, enter their lungs and choke them all to death.

A/N: And with that we've past our penultimate chapter and all that's left is the big conclusion to this two-story tale. Vector's dead. Razor's dead. Tikal's dead. Cream's dead. Amy's incapacitated and, for now, Shadow's neutral. After so much death and destruction, starting back with the sad death of Silver, the war that was started because of the love between two boys is finally about to be stopped by the same two people. Shard has been captured, but they couldn't stop him. With gas pouring over the land and people in their thousands choking and dying below, can Sonic and Tails find a way to stop 'the flood' or will the six of them on the ship be the only survivors for a new Mobius? Find out in the final chapter - The Final Stand.

Thanks for sticking with me through almost 48 chapters of this tale. I hope you've enjoyed it and please, don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear how you think this is all going to end or what you're hoping will happen before the conclusion is done. I'm hoping to get it done by the end of the month but I have no time these days to write and I still have to finish the new SH:EL and Outlast chapters first. Either way, thanks for reading and, one last time, I'll see you next time.