CHAPTER 11

It would have to do.

Knuckles used a piece of broken glass as a mirror to see how his handiwork had turned out. The only intact piece of his disguise was the helmet, but hopefully in the dim lights he wouldn't be spotted. He had found a small chest filled with a random assortment of uniform parts, and after a few minuets had something that vaguely resembled the GUN uniform.

He dropped the visor low over his eyes and stood, an empty rifle leaning against his shoulder. If someone was to fire at him, he wouldn't have anything to fire back. He carefully climbed down the tower and walked stiffly along the pier, like the other soldiers had. Most of them were still scouring the woods, trying to pick up clues on any other rescuers. But a few had returned to the watchtower nearby.

The boat Knuckles was planning to steal was armored; it would probably withstand normal rifle shots. It had a small cabin on deck for the captain, and another door set in the back for below deck. It was perfect as an escape vehicle…the only probablem would be taking it unnoticed and finding the others before something happened.

XxXxXxXx

Shadow shuddered weakly. Mephiles had given him four doses of the poison, and it was beginning to take its toll. His vision was blurring and he couldn't hear anything over the ringing in his ears. He felt as through unnecessary pressure was being put on his chest, preventing him from drawing in a deep breath. Everything was so bright…like looking at the sun…

Another needle broke the skin on his upper arm, more alien liquid seeping into his bloodstream. Shadow prepared for more pain, more agonizing torture.

Mephiles laughed as his prisoner pulled at the restraints, mouth open in a silent scream. Shadow finally found his voice and a surprisingly long and loud cry left him, seeming to take all the energy he had with it. He began to lie still, save the occasional twitch of an arm or leg.

"Five injections to finally get him to this point," A scientist reported. "A normal human or animal would break around half a dose. He really is the Ultimate Life Form."

"Oh, he's not giving up yet." Mephiles said. "He still has some fight left. Leave him to me."

The scientist cast a nervous glance from his colleagues to the floor before saying, "Yes…sir."

He was scared of him. Mephiles knew it, and he took pride in it. The whole of GUN feared him…they were right to. The ones that had seen what he could do always respected him in fear of the same fate ending their lives. Mephiles slowly approached the table, putting a slight pressure on Shadow's dislocated arm.

GUN's prisoner twitched, throwing his head from side to side and gritting his teeth together in pain. His uninjured hand clenched, the other unable to move much. "See, Shadow? We've won." Mephiles hissed.

Shadow's eyes opened slightly and he managed to spit out, "No….you never will…not while we're…opposing you…"

"And who's this 'we'?" Mephiles growled, eyes seeming to bore through Shadow's head. He pressed down harder on his arm.

Shadow managed to stifle a shout and hissed between clenched teeth, "The… world…"

"Then we will overthrow it. No matter how many stand in our way; they will be destroyed. We will kill them all unless they acknowledge that we are the only force to be recognized in this foolish world. And we'll start with you." Mephiles conjured a knife out of the darkness that made him and held it close to Shadow's face. "Recognize this?"

Shadow did. It was the knife that had nearly killed him before. Back at the other prison. The same greenish-gray handle that was now stained a sickly colour from his dried blood. The same blade that needed constant sharpening…

Shadow could do nothing but scream as the blade sank into his chest.

It was just like before…the same living hell…

"Did you ever wonder who carved the word into your back?" Mephiles laughed as his prisoner's blood began to stain the knife once again. Shadow couldn't answer…he could barely even hear again.

Mephiles twisted the knife slightly and drew it out sharply, wrenching another scream from Shadow. He only laughed, cleaning the blade with his index finger before imbedding it in Shadow's chest again. "It was me."

XxXxXxXx

Ginny finished wiring the device into the wall while Bandit was kept busy with Rouge and Silver, who were angrily yelling protests.

"We can't just leave him! Do you not hear that? He's dying!" Silver shouted. "And besides, after all he's done for GUN? For the world?! And you say there isn't a chance we can save him?!"

"We have to." Bandit sighed. "He'll buy you enough time to escape."

"That is the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard," Rouge hissed.

"And yet it's the truth!" Bandit protested. "If we're going to get you out of here now, we have to go!"

Blaze supported Sonic as they made their way quickly to the door, entering into the dark forest. "Blaze…we have to save Shadow." Sonic said. "I can help."

"We need to get you to a hospital as soon as we can. There's no way you're helping anyone in that condition!" Blaze said.

"The Chaos Emerald…I …I can use it to heal my ankle!"

Before Blaze could respond, there was a loud command of, "FREEZE!" Flashlight beams split the air as they were surrounded by a huge squadron of soldiers, rifles at the ready.

"ATTACK!" Ginny commanded, downing a soldier in a flash.

Blaze dragged Sonic away from the battle, handing him the Emerald. "I don't care what you do with it, just don't get killed." With that, she threw a swirling vortex of fire at a soldier, igniting his uniform and sending him running, screaming, through the forest to the water. A nearby tree caught, flames darting up its trunk and spreading to the leaves of the other trees. The battlefield was lit up a bit more.

Sonic downed a soldier with the sheer power of the Emerald and was about to use it to heal himself when a thought forced itself in his mind: Shadow would need the Emerald a lot more than he would.

Sonic gritted his teeth together and hissed, "Damn, this is going to hurt," before painstakingly crawling along the forest floor back towards the building.

Explosions and screams of pain sounded behind him, but he dared not glance back for fear of finding it was one of his friends. The pain in his leg threatened to knock him out, causing him to collapse on his side for a moment, taking in deep breaths until the feeling passed. He had made it to the door, where—quite surprisingly—no soldiers were. He stood using the door handle and managed to hop his way in, every movement grinding his broken bones together.

A scream sounded from the back room. This one a lot weaker than the ones he had heard previously. "Come on, Shadow…I'm almost there…" Sonic muttered, forcing himself to keep moving.

XxXxXxXx

Knuckles saw it, but almost refused to believe it. Gunshots were ringing out over the island, followed by the flicker of fire and dark clouds of smoke darker than the cover of night. He heard a shout that could be none other than Silver…it was now or never.

Knuckles ran at the boat, throwing himself over the side of the pier and barely managing to climb into the boat. A soldier in the nearest watchtower shouted, "HEY!" A bullet bounced off the boat's armor inches away from his head.

He fell over the side and scrambled up, running into the small cabin that housed the controls over the boat. With a few presses of a button and a couple turns of a knob, it was up and running. Knuckles glanced up to see at least fifty soldiers running down the pier, guns at the ready. He threw the boat in reverse and backed away from the pier sharply, ripping away the ropes that kept it bound there. That done, he turned and threw it in forward, speeding towards where the fire and smoke were thickest.

XxXxXxXx

Sonic had finally managed to reach the door that Shadow was behind. He fumbled with the handle, vision fuzzy from the fierce pain in his leg. It opened, sending him falling forward onto a cold floor. There was a shout and two strong hands hauled him to his feet. Sonic tried to stand, but between his broken ankle and his weak state, he slumped back to the ground, struggling to stay conscious. He was supported between two strong people again.

What actually kept him from giving in to the sleep was the cold laughter that split the air. Sonic pushed himself up slightly to come face to face with devilish eyes. Adrenaline shot through him, giving him enough power to kick with his good leg at the threat. But much to his panic, his foot went through Shadow's double…Mephiles.

"You won't be able to stop me like that." Mephiles sneered. Sonic caught sight of the bloodied knife he held and then the still, dark form in the back of the room, strapped to an operating table. Mephiles followed his gaze and said, "Oh yes…My prisoner is slowly bleeding out. I believe you can be next."

Sonic wrenched his right arm away from one of the scientists supporting him and managed to grab the Emerald from his quills, the light it produced making Mephiles stumble backwards and shield his eyes. In a flash Sonic could not explain, the scientists all slumped to the ground, unconscious but otherwise unharmed. Mephiles was thrown backwards , striking the wall and sliding down it limply. The knife he was holding became jammed in his ribs.

"Wh…What…?" The demon managed to say before life left him completely. He became nothing more than darkness, the knife clattering to the ground.

"Shadow!" Sonic shouted, falling to the ground and struggling as fast as he could over to the operating table. "Shadow! Can you hear me?"

Shadow didn't react in the slightest. More incisions had been opened on his body, old scars torn open and left to bleed out. Sonic, with the Emerald in hand, traced the worst of the wounds with two fingers, watching satisfied as they healed before his eyes.

"Shadow! Say something! Anything!" Sonic pleaded, unlatching the restraints. "Anything!"

Shadow drew in a shuddering breath at his shout, but didn't say or do anything else. Sonic wrapped the Emerald in his hand, hoping that it would do anything to revive him. A soft glow spread from the jewel and targeted Shadow's internal injuries, the energy from it changing colour every few seconds. Shadow sat up suddenly, gasping for breath and staring around the room as though ready to be attacked.

"Oh, good." Sonic muttered. "You're alive. We need to get out of here…the forest's on fire and we're sort of under attack."

Shadow gripped at his arm, pain still lingering on his face. "My arm's dislocated. And I don't think the Emerald has enough power to heal it." He glanced at the Emerald, where its normal bright light was dimmed considerably.

"I can take care of that." Sonic promised, forcing himself to stand. He wrapped a hand around Shadow's upper arm and put his other on his shoulder. "This is going to hurt…but it's going to be worth it."

Shadow gritted his teeth as Sonic forced his arm back in place with a loud pop. He could move his fingers again, at least. He stood from the table and said, "If what you say is true, then we need to get moving."

"Shadow, I can't walk as fast as you can…my ankle's broken." Sonic stumbled and fell, catching himself on the operating table and attempting to stand again.

"Dammit, why did you use the Emerald on me, then? You're the fastest one here!" Shadow growled, going back over to Sonic and helping him to the door. "You're useless to us!"

"You're welcome I saved you," Sonic muttered.

They had just reached the door when a voice behind them commanded, "Stop!"

Both hedgehogs turned to see a dark shadow begin to move, taking a shape as it went. Mephiles hadn't died from the blade…but he had changed; almost like a regeneration.

A crystal-like substance seemed to coat him, as though glass had formed over his quills and limbs. The white of his eyes was now a fierce pink, his irises still their disturbing green. His muzzle had changed dramatically, he was now lacking both a visible mouth and nose.

"You won't leave here alive!" he roared, rushing at them with amazing speed. Shadow dropped Sonic and dodged to the side, turning Mephiles' attention away from the injured other. Shadow threw Chaos Spears, all his attacks landing but not seeming to do any damage. Mephiles swung a fist riddled with an unknown energy at him, knocking him through the wall into the other room. Shadow struggled to his feet, nearly collapsing again. As Mephiles resumed his attack.

Sonic managed to crawl into the room they were fighting in, spotting the forest fire through the windows and door. It was dangerously close now…he hoped the others were safe.

That was when one of Shadow's Chaos Spears was deflected. It seemed to fly through the air in slow motion, heading for the already damaged wall. Exposed wires and circuits trailed from a small hole in it. Sonic forgot how to breathe as he remembered Ginny tampering with it earlier…

But it was too late for that. As the Spear entered it, there was a terrific explosion, tearing the building apart and raining debris over the burning forest, plaster and other large chunks of the facility downing soldiers everywhere.

And two burned and broken bodies were thrown from the explosion, both of them lying unmoving in the undergrowth.

XxXxXxXx

Originally Blaze was in Knuckles' spot…so if you find a 'she' where there should be a 'he', then please tell me about it and I'll fix it. They were switched roles when I thought about stuff more carefully, and I needed Blaze to light the forest on fire.

And OH NOOOOS! ARE SHADOW AND SONIC DEAD?! FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!

(And hurray! Nothing happened to me these last few days!)

Hasta la Vista, Readers!

Lordoftheghostking28