Cf96: Yup, we're steadily approaching neutral territory! And seeing as Shadow doesn't come into contact with Rouge face to face again for quite awhile, you don't have to worry about that for the time being. ^^

Chapter 7: Almost Dead

~The Destined Sonic Showdown: Sonic Dethroned~

I had been expecting the Chaos Emerald to be right smack in the middle of the room, being heavily guarded with dramatic light casting over it, almost daring me to try and take it…

In a way, I was right.

Stepping into the light, I caught sight of an ostentatious GUN-built robot, painted similarly to Omega upon closer inspection. It was a half-humanoid sort of thing, with two large arms, a torso, and a head, but it simply floated, and contained no legs. However, not even the giant metal contraption with "Diablon" emblazoned on the front was what threatened me even slightly…

…It was the blue hedgehog standing in front of Diablon, tossing the purple emerald almost carelessly in his hand.

"…get out of my way," I warned them with five words, approaching to take the Chaos Emerald that I came here for.

"Shadow, I can't let you go…" Sonic spoke in a solemn tone, tucking the emerald in his quills where I'd have to get up close and personal to claim. "…not like this!"

"YOU!" the GUN Commander's voice rang out from inside Diablon. "You're the one who destroyed the ARK and killed everyone on it!"

What…?!

The Commander's voice was taut and determined, not faltering one bit. "It's time to settle this once and for all!"

"I didn't kill anybody…I didn't destroy anything…" I seethed through my teeth, negative energy flowing through me once again. Black Doom was wrong- I didn't need to serve him to tap into this unbridled rage…

After all, I had before.

"You liar," growled Sonic, in a tone that most certainly shouldn't have been associated with him. "You had a hand in destroying Central City…and you almost destroyed Knuckles! What's next, the world!?"

Well, I had considered it…

"I won't let you go any farther on this path of evil!" Sonic finished, striking a battle pose.

I don't know what came over me in that instant, but a sickening sneer possessed my face and a fire-igniting laugh absconded from my being.

"All right then…I know what I have to do." I challenged as I clenched my fist. "I plan to bring order to the humans…these humans, they don't value life, and someone like you should understand that, Sonic…"

"I don't understand!" cried Sonic, throwing up his arms. "Not all humans are outrageously heartless…in fact, more of them are kindhearted rather than the fiends you make them out to be!"

"They're going to pay, Sonic…pay with their lives for what they've done!"

"You deplorable scum!" the Commander hissed, completely insulted and offended beyond belief.

"They haven't done anything!" Sonic protested, and the unnatural rage building up within him was definitely something I wasn't looking forward to facing. "Why are you siding with those infernal black creatures?!"

"Siding with them…you're joking, right?" I questioned right back, folding my arms.

Sonic's brows narrowed. "Of course not. You've been aligned with them ever since I met up with you in Westopolis."

"Sonic," I said seriously, all traces of hatred fading away for the moment. "If you try to stop me…I'll destroy you too!"

Sonic appeared disconsolate as he spread his legs apart a bit more, along with raising his fists a little higher.

"If that's how it's gonna be, Shadow, then bring it on."

"Very well, then…you're going down," I replied, striking a fighting pose of my own as the waves of intemperate fury returned. "Just say when."

"Right now! I've waited years for this!" howled the Commander, revving up Diablon for an attack. He even when so far as to shove Sonic out of the way to get a piece of me first. Sonic yelped and tripped to the ground as I gave Diablon an incredulous look. "This is for my family…and for Maria! I'll settle this once and for all with my own two hands!"

"Hello? I'm still here," Sonic scoffed, standing back up and brushing off stray specks of dirt. "And those aren't your own hands- those hands belong to an incomplete robot."

Even though we were on opposite sides, Sonic had some serious respect from me just for saying that.

However, I didn't have time to join in on Sonic's appropriate banter and approached Diablon. "Did you say…Maria?"

"YES!" he boomed, a laser shooting out from Diablon's front. I dodged it without breaking a sweat and leapt at the machine.

"How do you know her?" I dared to ask, spin dashing into every inch of Diablon. Every blow I delivered only did a sliver to damage to Diablon, for the exterior was surprisingly strong, but I could wear it down eventually.

"Like you don't remember," he sneered, using Diablon's hand to grab me from midair and thrust me into the ground. The hand pressed me into the floor of the fortress, and the continuous pressure prevented me from getting back up.

"I don't remember!" I glowered back, starting to glow a dangerous shade of vermillion as Sonic, off to the side, glanced away guiltily. "That's the whole reason why I'm here- the Chaos Emeralds can help me get my memory back!"

"I don't believe you," the Commander replied acidly, not removing me from Diablon's captivity. "You're the reason why everything I loved was taken away from me, and now, finally, fifty years later…I can get my revenge."

"I don't know… what you're talking about!" I struggled to say, the air being squashed out of my lungs. I was using the last of my strength just to pull free, and it was increasingly becoming a futile effort. "But I do know that you're just like the rest of this world's pathetic humans!"

The Gun Commander leaned forward in his seat, grinning with too much pleasure at the sight of me finally within his grasp. However, what he wasn't expecting was for me to start blazing red, glowing without control, and unleashing a devastating blast of power.

"What the hell-?"

Diablon was knocked back, propelling off of me and allowing me a chance to get some much needed breaths of air. I leapt back on the feet and gasped for breath while Diablon hurled into the wall, slamming into it with a thunderous thud.

"Your metallic toy is nothing against me!" I boomed, tossing my hand into the air. "Chaos Blast!"

The Commander only produced a disgruntled groan, knowing that Diablon was taking serious damage for not being complete yet. However, just as I went to strike a third time, I found myself blocked off by a shield that Diablon now had.

"You can't hurt me now, you pitiful creature," he growled from his chair, watching as I fruitlessly threw myself at the machine. I ceased attacking and gaped at the man.

"I'm the pitiful creature? You've got to be kidding me! You can't even fight me by yourself, so you have to build a robotic suit for and elicit the help of Sonic, which really doesn't do you much good."

"Hey!" Sonic protested, curling into a ball and performing a spin dash. I performed one of my own and sent him flying back to the sidelines. Once I uncurled, I pointed accusingly at Diablon.

"Besides…you've got your oh so fabulous shield up- why not attack me? After all, I can't hurt you with that shield up, right? There's nothing to worry about!"

I baited him into using his attack, knowing fully well that he couldn't be on the defensive and the offensive at the same time. Snarling, the Commander lowered his shield and quickly went after me with the laser cannon on its head. I jumped away again, with Sonic once again throwing himself at me.

"You stay out of the way!" I ordered, thrusting him back down. While in midair, I targeted Diablon's vulnerable head and homed in on it several times. My attack was just enough to force the machine out of the air, permanently grounding it and giving me an advantage. The Commander was swearing profusely under his breath as I ducked under another attack from Sonic.

"What gives, Commander?" Sonic asked, skidding to the ground and throwing a glance in Diablon's direction. "If I knew beforehand that this thing wasn't complete…"

"You have no room to talk!" the Commander shot back. "I enlisted your help for your so-called fighting finesse, and you've done little to help me!"

"With all due respect Commander," Sonic scoffed, strutting to the sidelines again and scratching his nose. "…I've seen better built robots from Doctor Eggman, and most of his look like animals."

The Commander was about to retort, but I had slammed into Diablon's side and sent it to the ground again, tired of the pointless bickering between the two of them. Moreover, I didn't have the time to waste with Diablon, as Sonic was my true target…

Thus, I started teleporting around the arena, reappearing behind Diablon and completely confusing it.

"Hold still, you devil!" The Commander blared after swinging one of its massive arms at me. I dodged, refusing to be pinned to the ground again, then homing in on the head again where there was an opening. After receiving another thrashing, the GUN Commander realized that Diablon was growing weak- or at least, weaker than it was initially, so he tried to pull a fast one on me and began preparing what was supposed to be a devastating move.

"Beginning energy charge…just you wait, Shadow!"

"Oh yeah, I'm waiting," I huffed back, almost looking like Sonic with my hands behind my head and a bored look on my face. Speak of the blue devil, he came hurling at me once again, so I struck my fist up and knocked him off of his course.

"Dah!"

"You're not very prominent in this fight, are you Sonic?"

"Hey," Sonic replied, now resting in the center of a pile of crates. "The GUN Commander's got more of a vendetta against you than me. I'm just here to clean the mess he's about to make for himself."

"Not unless I happen to crush this fool!" yelled the Commander, with Diablon beginning to glow. "Charge complete! Time to finish this!"

"So long as I am the one to finish it…" I trailed back, taking a firm stance as Diablon started to attack. "Chaos-"

"-Antimatter Cannon, fire!-"

"-Control!"

Sonic, still in the heap of crates, only gaped as time around the Diablon slowed down, with the beginning of a blue charge starting to expel form the robot. It would've been a magnificent sight, had the blast not been deadly.

However, time was slowed, Diablon's shield was down, and it was exceedingly vulnerable for an attack. Therefore I utilized all the speed I could muster and just let loose on Diablon, creating furious dents with every instance of contact. Sonic was forced to watch as what little of Diablon's splendor was exterminated from existence. By the time Chaos Control wore off, Diablon couldn't even function, and it crashed to the ground in a doleful heap.

"Mere humans cannot stop me!"

Inside, the GUN Commander was feeling a boatload of shame, and I didn't even have to see his face to know that.

"No…I have…failed…" trailed the Commander, not wanting to accept the fact that what could've been GUN's greatest creation had been crumbled into mere scrap. "Sonic…it's up to you now."

"Finally, something interesting," Sonic stated impatiently, coming off as a bit rude considering that the commander of GUN had been defeated. "I was tired of standing on the sidelines and only occasionally being able to fight…"

He leapt forward, grinning way too crazily at me.

"…if you want something done right, you just need to do it yourself!"

I frowned, realized I was going to have to put Sonic down if I wanted to get out of here…and to get the Chaos Emerald. I wasn't about to go back on my word to him.

Although, it was really hard to take him seriously when he was bouncing around like a kid who had been hyped up on sugar and was forced to sit in a corner for three hours.

"All right! You ready to do this? Come on!" cried Sonic, ready to stand his ground in a battle of his own.

"It's do or die, Sonic the Hedgehog," I replied, hardly exhausted with the fight with Diablon. I knew that Sonic would prove to be a worthier opponent, considering his underlying desire to teach me a lesson. "Now give me that Chaos Emerald!"

"You'll have to come and take it from me!" he yelled, beginning to circle the entire room until a rather large funnel was formed. Standing in the middle of it, I merely snickered.

"I plan to."

I ran in the opposite direction, an opposing streak of black in contrast to the blazing blue. Somewhere during that, I stuck out my arm and clotheslined Sonic, toppling him over and proceeding to kick him away. He rolled away from me, and managed to avoid me jabbing my foot into his torso.

I lost sight of him after that, and I was literally surprised when he sprung out of nowhere and tackled me to the ground. My head thwacked against the floor, so in retaliation I gripped Sonic as hard as I could and held him away from me, with his feet still trying to kick at my face.

"Get off me!" I hissed, hurling him across the room. Sonic managed to flip himself feet down and skid a landing, not missing a beat and spinning around to fly back at me.

"You're pretty resilient after taking down Diablon," he admitted, twisting his body to land a kick.

"Please. That was nothing, and the same goes for you."

I simply bent over backward to avoid, then thrust forward with both my fists. Sonic grabbed one of them and chucked me over his shoulder with an amount of strength that I wasn't even sure he had.

Snarling, I landed on one of my hands and pushed myself back to my feet, as if I had just preformed a one-handed cartwheel…and had been completely intentional.

"That hunk of junk was hardly worth my time," I huffed, shuffling my feet and readying myself once more. "Sonic, just give me that Chaos Emerald and I'll get the heck out of here, and you can leave here with your life as well."

"I can't, Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed rushing at me and striking my stomach with an unexpected punch. "I can't let the emeralds fall into the wrong hands…and as of now, you're the wrong hands!"

My stomach lurched as I tumbled to the ground; more from the shock than his actual attack. Whether he could land one or not, he rarely packed a punch when he struck. A smug smirk was plastered to his face, and there was no way I was going to let it stay there for long.

"You'd better defend yourself, Sonic!"

I was back on my feet in the blink of an eye, skating around the area with blinding speed of my own. This time, Sonic was trapped in the middle, but before he could pull the same trick I did, I jumped out of the circle and roundhouse kicked him.

With a yelp that I found undeniably hilarious, Sonic was grounded once again.

"What's the matter, Sonic?" I sneered, approaching him slowly. "Don't have a leg to stand on?"

I was so expecting a comeback, so when Sonic leapt up and struck me with a kick of his own, I wasn't ready for it. I easily became discombobulated, and suddenly I had a blue hedgehog drilling into my back with a spin dash. I lost my balance and stumbled over myself, and Sonic once again betrayed my expectations by not attacking me while I was down.

"I never thought I'd have to fight you like this…" Sonic confessed, almost guilty for even admitting it. I could tell that he was silently debating on whether or not the battle was worth it. "But I guess I have no choice!"

"No, you don't," I confirmed for him, flinging myself at him with a homing attack. My quills uppercut into his jaw, causing him to stumble off balance. I uncured out of ball form and fell to the floor- sweeping out my leg and taking Sonic's legs out from under him. It was his turn to hit the floor, albeit in a much more painful fashion.

"Ugh, not bad, Shadow!" he exclaimed, glancing over his shoulder as I stood over him. He then kicked his leg out, striking me below the waist and getting me to back off. "But the fun's just getting started!"

XxX

I realized that both of my teammates were down for the count, and at this discovery I found myself lightly scowling under my breath about how unexpectedly strong the other team was.

I threw myself at Knuckles, a black and crimson wrecking ball of destruction, but the blasted echidna grabbed me in his palms and held me off for as long as he could. Eventually Knuckles bowled me into a tree, lodging my quills into the trunk of the tree. I had uncurled myself and looked up just in time to see Sonic come flying at me like a deathly meteor, foot first and ready to strike. I could have easily dodged, but…

This was how it was meant to end, wasn't it?

I held up my arms to soften to blow, and to at least protect my face. I definitely felt when Sonic struck, the momentum of the force doing extra damage on me. I was more than prepared to get back up, but my weight suddenly shifted downward, leaving me slumped against what remained of the tree, completely shocked.

"Who are you…to be able to defeat me?"

Sonic had a lopsided expression. "I wish you could remember."

XxX

I grimaced at the flashback- I had caved in on purpose then, because I didn't know how my foe worked and the rest of my team was out of commission…but now I knew my rival very well, and I didn't have others to look out for.

I'll show Sonic how it's going to end…

"Playtime's over, Shadow…" Sonic trailed, standing over me with an arrogant smile.

"Agreed." A dark reply came from me, and a frown replaced Sonic's grin. "But you know what happens when anyone opposes me…"

Contorting, Sonic rushed at me the very moment I burst into red flames, not even caring about losing control or how much destruction I would wreak…

I just wanted that Chaos Emerald, and I told Sonic I would destroy him if he got in my way.

"What happens…is death!"

Everything started going slower, with Sonic sluggishly leaping into the air and starting to curl up for a spin dash. He hurled at me slowly, just as I crouched down, clenched my fists, and expelled all the negative Chaos Energy away from me.

"Chaos Blast!"

The first blast forced Sonic away from me, the second caused him to uncurl, and the third sent him flying into the air, eyes full of shock and his mouth open like he was screaming. As the spike of rapid and consecutive energy faded away, I could hear Sonic's cries, and I could hear the sound of metal scratching against metal when he fell into the heap that was Diablon.

"Umph!"

Sonic fell forward, with several chunks of scrap toppling down with him and pinning him to the ground. I had no idea where the Commander was at this point in time, but I didn't care- Sonic had been taken care of, and now I could get what I wanted.

"Game over, Sonic," I smirked tersely, leaning down and plucking the purple emerald off of Sonic's person. Sonic appeared astonished and teetering on the edge of perplexed- a reaction that I was glad I managed to elicit.

But then, he broke into a smile and rested his head on the cold floor, and I frowned in return.

"M-Man…heh heh, I didn't think you had it in ya…" Sonic admitted, looking way too comfortable on the ground. His expression…it was as though he had enjoyed being beaten to the point of becoming unable to move! However, despite his simpering, he was still disappointed on the inside.

"Shadow…" he started again, donning a tone that was laced with discontent. "Why…why did you side against us?"

My only two emeralds swirled around me with green and purple glows, illuminating my conflicting expression.

"It's not that hard to understand," I stated, prepared to tell Sonic the same thing I told Rouge. "I can only trust in the Chaos Emeralds…only they can give me concrete information…"

My expression softened upon glancing down at Sonic. His usually gleaming blue fur was now tattered and decorated with scrapes, with a few patches of dirt adorning a few places as well.

"It's not that I don't believe anything that you and your friends have told me…I just feel that my past is something that I need to figure out by myself," I continued, shaking my head. "…and would you be inclined to trust a group of people who hadn't told you anything from the start?"

"No."

Sonic's obviously fast, but that reply was instantaneous.

He heaved a sigh, forcing his gaze to turn upwards and meet mine.

"I know Rouge was slow in filling you in, but she only did that to protect you," he explained, devoid of any of the snarky humor I was so used to hearing come from him. "If…I had lost my memories, the last thing I want to be told is about the tragedy that went down in the ARK- the first time, at least- and then learning that I'm not supposed to be standing and breathing…that I'm supposed to be dead."

I'd never thought about it like that…but how could I, when I couldn't consciously remember so prominently as the others could?

"…it might be depressing, but if it was the truth, then what's the problem?" I asked.

"…There are just some things that people just wouldn't like to know," Sonic replied after an unsettling silence.

We fell into another one as Sonic caved in to his injuries for the time being, while I remained standing. I should've felt victorious, should've been deliriously thrilled that I had emerged the champion in a fight against Sonic…but I didn't.

It felt more wrong than anything.

It was virtually unnatural- he should've defeated me, should've brought me to my senses…but he didn't. He didn't come out on top as the hero this time- he had been the one to brutally taste defeat, and as I stared at his currently immobile form, I could only imagine what was going through his head right then.

Sonic wasn't perfect, I knew that. But him being in what was probably a spot meant for me, and me standing where he should've been…

"Shadow, listen to me…" Sonic finally croaked, right as I had been about to take my leave. I postponed it just a little longer, out of the respect that I still had left for him. "Within the eight short months that I've known you exist, with a week to see you for who you were, five months to grieve over your disappearance, three days to learn that you're still alive, and three more months to wonder where you went…I've come to realize that I really, genuinely missed you."

I stayed quiet, waiting to see where he was going with this. I also didn't want to puncture his train of thought with the touchy subject of the fact that it was possible I wasn't the Shadow he was thinking of…

"Rarely anyone has to come to my rescue, and when we were preventing the ARK from colliding into the planet…dying was the least of my worries. I was thinking of our friends on the ARK, and the people on the planet below…but you? You had thought about me, shoving me to safety as you plunged toward the planet, drained of all your power…and all you left me was one of your inhibitor rings."

I glanced at my wrists and ankles- all of them had a golden ring on them, but if I had supposedly lost one…

"It wasn't enough…" Sonic continued, derailing my thoughts as he shook his head. "It just wasn't enough…you were gone, and no one could change that…But when that heroic hedgehog came back by what seemed like a pure miracle…I thought I had my friend back. What I got in return was the same destruction-bent Faker I had originally known. I guess since you lost your memory you forgot how great of my friend you came to be."

Destruction- there was that word again, and once again in association with me. By now, I knew that it was true- anywhere I went, destruction was sure to follow. I ruined things. I brought cities down just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hurt people…

But…I was meant to destroy something, wasn't I? Whether to destroy the world in the name of Gerald Robotnik, to destroy the disease that plagued my only friend on the ARK…or perhaps something I hadn't discovered yet.

Regardless, besides destroying disease, there wasn't a positive thing I could think of that could come out of destruction. After all, Maria was gone, meaning my original purpose for existing had all but dissolved.

Sadness filled my eyes, and Sonic had caught it, but he didn't act upon it. In turn, I just sighed and clutched the two Chaos Emeralds in my hand.

"I'm afraid that…the Shadow that you knew is almost dead to the world…"

I turned away, walking off and leaving Sonic and the GUN Commander in a pile of their defeat. This fight was far from over, but from what I had found already, I didn't know if I could carry on with what was left to find…

"Almost dead."

I halted, whirling around to face Sonic, whose head was propped up off the ground to smirk at me.

"What?"

A single word forcibly spat out of my mouth.

"Almost dead," he repeated, sounding confident for someone who had been brought to their knees. "But not completely gone."

"In that case…" I raised the Emerald, getting ready to perform Chaos Control. "…Let's hope I can come back to life."

Next time...

"You seem troubled…" Black Doom told me calmly, even though he had been on the verge of snapping my neck what seemed like mere moments ago. I was prepared to whirl around and give him a piece of my mind, again, but then he pointed ahead of me, and naturally I had to look.

"That's the…"

The space station I had been to only hours ago was right in front of me, but now…it looked almost like it was brand new, and plus, the moon itself was still whole.

...Black Doom, what've you done to me now…?