The first reaction for all was to duck and cover. Amy, Tails, and Cream hid under the coffee table in TV room, arms covering their heads. Cream whimpered while she hugged Cheese and held him tight. Knuckles took Rouge's hand and dragged her to the TV room, covering her head as the house began to shake.
Mrs. Charis held her twin children while her husband gathered his family and herded them into the TV room. Without a word, he tore a bookshelf from underneath the staircase and revealed a door in the wall. The helicopter seemed to multiply as the sound grew louder and closer.
"Everyone, in here!" he screamed, sweat dripping down his face.
Gabriel, Knuckles, and Sonic led the women and children into the opening in the wall. Not one of them questioned the location of the basement in the dire circumstances.
"I'm not going!" screeched Rouge, struggling to pull away from Knuckles' grip. Knuckles pushed her forward as everyone else piled into the doorway.
"Stop being stubborn and do as I say!" Knuckles yelled in reply, "I'm not going to lose you!"
"Cut it out, Mr. Hero; I'm not a damsel in distress!"
"Fine, but you'll have to-"
A helicopter could be heard swooping over the house, coming so close it might as well have taken off the roof. Everyone upstairs covered their heads while some of the children below in the basement wailed in fear. Gabriel ran down the stairs to his mother while Peter, Knuckles, Sonic, and Rouge remained upstairs.
"Move it, you three!" Mr. Charis bellowed as another helicopter swooped overhead. Mrs. Charis screeched from the stony basement.
"Where's Shadow?"
Sonic, Rouge, and Knuckles stopped dead and widened their eyes, knowing exactly where he was. Rouge uttered softly,
"Damn you, Shadow."
Outside, unmistakable cries of "Chaos Spear" and "Chaos Control" mixed with the sounds of the flying vehicles dropping men from the sky. Yellow blasts of Chaos Energy spurted from Shadow's hands, each one followed by a minor explosion in the sky. Shadow fought off a few uniformed men by teleporting behind them and knocking them down with Chaos Control.
"You humans are scum," he shouted though the chaos, "and I will prove to you that you are worthless and pathetic!"
With a cry of effort, Shadow released a dome of Chaos Energy that circled around the men and forced them backwards.
"Don't make us shoot you, alien creature!" cried one of the men with a slight quiver in his voice. Shadow, with a sadistic smile, laughed maniacally and cruelly. The man who dared to speak started to back away slowly. Shadow continued to laugh, something that never happened. His laughter was deep and twisted, not joyful or happy, but absolutely evil. Shadow gathered Chaos Energy in his fingertips and shot a beam of it at the man, who was propelled backward with a shriek of pain. Shadow stopped his maniacal laughter and approached the man as another helicopter swooped from overhead.
"I will have my revenge, human," he said with a grin on his face, "I will avenge Maria."
The man cried in terror as Shadow gathered a ball of Chaos Energy in his hand. He laughed again.
In a flash of blue, Shadow felt himself being brought to the ground. Confused and angered by the disturbance, Shadow fought against the arms that held him.
"Let go, faker!"
"No!" Sonic yelled, "you took this too far!"
Knuckles and Rouge came out into the light from the garage, each calling Sonic and Shadow. Bullets hailed from the sky as Sonic fought to keep Shadow contained. Knuckles shoved Rouge back to the garage, thought the bat screamed and tried to resist the great strength of the echidna. Her struggles did not get very far; who can argue with Knuckles' strength?
Another helicopter flew overhead and lowered men on ropes. Radio voices sounded from every direction and surrounded the two hedgehogs. Shadow whispered,
"Chaos Control . . ."
The humans, like the previous time, propelled backward. The helicopters even shook as they were blasted with the Chaos Energy.
"Shadow, stop!" Sonic pulled at the stubborn hedgehog's arm, but Shadow didn't budge. Instead, the black hedgehog used his Chaos Spears to damage the helicopters and send them spiraling down in clouds of smoke. Men in parachutes ejected from the falling vehicles. Horrified, Sonic grabbed Shadow and ran to the garage. When he ran, a helicopter crashed too close to the yard in a deafening explosion. Pieces of debris flew everywhere, including into a spot on Sonic's arm. Glass pierced the hedgehog's skinny arm and created a deep gash. The smell of smoke overwhelmed Sonic's nose and filled his lungs. Coughing violently, Sonic pulled the resistant hedgehog along and into the house. The radio voices started shouting loudly from outside.
"Abort, abort! Pull back all choppers! I repeat, abort mission!"
Sonic thrust Shadow into the TV room, where the black hedgehog fell to the ground, unconscious. The overload of false Chaos Energy had done a number on the Ultimate Life Form's body.
The sound of the helicopters died down, while the smell of smoke strongly remained contained in Sonic's lungs. He coughed more violently and started to see spots. Blood from his wound stained his white glove as he tried to cover it up. His heartbeat pounded threateningly in his ears. Muffled sounds came from around him, but that's all that the hedgehog could hear before he passed out on the rug.