Hey everybody, we got a long chapter here today. A lot of that comes down to that there is a lot going on in this chapter, but I also am trying something different, and if it works out, I'll try more of it in the future. I've made it so that half of the chapter was split into two parts. So half of the pages will consist of Sonic and the other Shadow. If you prefer having each storyline not be subjected to half of the chapter and have it mixed all together, just let me know in the feedback.

Chapter 4:New and Old Wounds

Space Station: Warehouse

That idea had been trying to crawl out for so long. From the beginning, he had been the one involved the whole time. Who else could pull off a scheme like this? In retrospect, the writing was on the wall the entire time, yet something was still…wrong. Eggman was back, but was he with someone else? Who was that on the radio? Orbot or Cubot? All possibilities but at this point anything was possible. Regarding the madman himself, he did not look happy in the slightest—actually, quite the opposite. Sonic has never seen so many fumes pump out from his face before, which could indicate that they weren't expected to arrive at all. "So… What have you been up to, Eggy?" In a move that almost caught Sonic off guard, Eggman immediately presses a button on his Egg Mobile, and an overabundance of heat-seeking missiles track Sonic. 'No banter, huh? Guess I needed an invitation to be here.'

*Doctor? Is everything alright down there?* That voice on the radio again. Now that Sonic was out in the open, he could discern the voice better. It definitely was not Orbot or Cubot, but someone entirely new. *Do I need to help out?*

"Just let me handle this! I don't intend to be long." The Doctor exclaimed with great rage. He had outfitted his Egg Mobile with an array of weapons, but it was clear that he was severely unprepared to take care of Sonic. Most of his gimmicks revolved around old designs Sonic had thought he sent back to the drawing board, but he was almost pleasantly surprised to see the wrecking ball from one of their first encounters hang from the bottom of his vehicle. Nonetheless, it didn't last long in battle as Sonic spin dashed right through the chain holding it up. Eggman had tried to use everything in his arsenal. He even got so desperate that he pulled out one of his laser guns and tried blasting Sonic himself.

"Why don't we just talk this out and catch up? I believe we have a lot on our plates."

"Why don't you put your nose in someone else's business?!" Eggman retaliated with a barrage of beams and missiles, which Sonic easily dodged. Even with Sonic back on his feet fighting his greatest foe, it didn't excite him enough to keep going on with the charade that Eggman had a fighting chance at this point.

"You just wanna get straight to the point." Sonic rolled his eyes. "Alright, I'll show you mine." With a blazingly fast homing attack, Eggman's Mobile is launched to the other side of the warehouse, crashing into expensive-looking work equipment. The impact caused Eggman to let out a loud grunt.

*That's it, I'm heading down.* The radio cuts out. Eggman tries to regain control of his wrecked machine, but it is trapped beneath junk. Sonic casually walks toward Eggman. That level of arrogance was infuriating Eggman to a further boiling point.

"You're a fool. You have no idea what you're interfering with." He blurted out.

"To be frank, I expected you to know that I was gonna arrive. But I guess you weren't as clever as you thought you were. Now, hand back the power of the chaos emeralds, and I'll consider leaving you alone." Despite the position he's in, Eggman stares back at Sonic with a face of perseverance. Guess one more warning needed to happen, as Sonic figured that it was enough to scare the answer he wanted out of the doctor. One quick precise homing attack to disable his Egg Mobile for good would surely work. Sonic curls up and zooms at Eggman. What should have been a clean hit, led to a particular situation. In an instant, Sonic had somehow wound up another twenty feet in the air, hurling toward a firm pipe at the ceiling of the room. Without any way to stop his momentum, his face clotheslines across the pipe, and he falls to the ground.

Sonic looks up to see a swirling orange ring collapse in on itself, emitting sparks as it does. The clacking of footsteps coming from the shadows of the room sends a slight shiver down Sonic's spine. "I wish I didn't have to intervene, but care must be brought to the good doctor. And your intrusion has hastened my draining patience." From the darkness, appears a white platypus. The platypus has thin fur, with three thick hair turfs combed to his side. He sports a purple jacket, a red vest, and pince-nez glasses. He wears a pair of gloves, with the one on his right modified to hold a gemstone with an orange and red spiral.

"You've been hiring assistants now, Eggman?" The platypus grinds his teeth and stretches his right arm forward. The gemstone flickers to life with a bright glow. The ground below Sonic quickly changes as the orange circle from before expands around his feet and as the floor within the circle disappears, Sonic falls through. Another circle appears not too far away on the wall, and Sonic comes out from it being tossed into a pile of machinery.

"Have you any virtue? Know the difference between assistant, and colleague." Sonic crawls out of the rubble of steel, already looking tired.

"Who are you?"

"An admirer of genius. I've devoted my life to the advancement of technology, leading my planet to a prosperous world. Yet there is so much to learn from. It was until I met Dr. Ivo Robotnik, more commonly known to your simpleton mind as Eggman, that I sought a greater understanding of science." Sonic was left utterly confused and speechless. All he asked was a simple question.

"Were you smart enough to give yourself a name?"

"Refer to me as Doctor Starline."

"Alright, I can work with that." Sonic hops back onto his feet. "But I don't care how confusing your backstory or power is. Let's see what you got!" Starline peered at the hedgehog with disdain as Sonic bolted for him. He thought of him as nothing more than a nuisance that needs to be swept away. As before, Starline extends his arm and forms a portal in front of him to take advantage of Sonic's speed. But in an act of semi-intelligence, Sonic pivots around the portal and tries to engage Starline from much closer. Yet Starline seemed unphased with that level of scornfulness remaining cemented across his face. Like a 'god' observing an ant. Just then, Sonic is blown across the warehouse by an explosion. Eggman had escaped from the pile of rubble and had fired a missile at Sonic.

"Excellent work, Starline. Make sure he has nowhere to go, and I'll take point."

"Your lead, doctor." The two seize the offensive away from Sonic and turn it against him. Suddenly, Eggman's weaponry was much more dangerous thanks to Starline's portals. Missiles, bullets, and lasers are made unpredictable when combined with Starline having each projectile enter a portal and appear somewhere Sonic wouldn't expect them to be. This was all too much for him to handle at once. He needed to get out before an unsuspecting rocket took him out of the fight. Sonic spots a vent in the corner of the warehouse, and he jumps to it. But before he could climb away, he is sucked back into the fray by another portal. Sonic could very well lose this fight with how Starline mixes things up, but maybe he could cancel that out with his own unpredictability.

With a burst of energy, Sonic boosts around Eggman, getting him to fire another batch of missiles around him. He then leads the missiles toward Starline, who flinches before making a portal in front of him to direct the rockets away. The portal faces a wall and the rockets exit, later destroying a good portion of the wall. The debris of stone causes dust to rise, and Sonic disappears into it. As both doctors try to spot the blue blur through the thick powder, tiny rocks are thrown rapidly at them. No major damage, but they are being absolutely pelted. Starline stands ahead of Eggman and forms a portal at the fore, with the second portal being placed on a wall behind them. The rocks stop being thrown and Sonic runs right into the portal where Starline is. Sonic then exits the back portal and homing attacks Eggman, which knocks his Egg Mobile to the ground, and it short circuits.

Instead of focusing on Sonic, Starline tries to tend to Eggman. "Are you alright?" Sonic approaches, ready for round two. "No, not now. Whatever you're planning hedgehog, I hope you handle what we can offer when we retaliate." Starline forms a portal below himself and Eggman, escaping the scene.

"Whatever I'm planning? Oh Eggman, what are you doing to corrupt that poor guy's mind?"

Space Station: Sewers

Back in the sewers, Tails, and Knuckles hover around a control panel. Tails has detached the panel, exposing the circuitry. The fox tampers with the device, while Knuckles stands on watch. Tails connects some of the wires to a monitor mounted on his wrist, which starts to upload information into. "Are you almost done?" Knuckles speaks up.

"Almost. Once I download the station's net onto my wristwatch, I can access the schematics of the whole site. We can try to see where Sonic's route ended up." A bar on the screen of the wristwatch fills up to 100%. As it completes, a list of code fills up Tails' eyes with countless protocols and blueprints. Being able to understand what he was looking at was like a second language to him, and he swipes past innumerable inscriptions. Knuckles could barely keep up with the zealous energy of the fox, leading him to believe that his own skills could be used somewhere else. "Found ya!" Tails taps intently on a random line of code in the middle of the screen. Through there, a 3D image of the entire station pops up, but Tails focuses his attention below and on the tunnels beneath. However, the mesh of the sewers proved complicated to interpret, as it was just one giant maze.

"How are we going to find Sonic through this?"

"All we can do is follow the path, and hope that he's still down here." A discouraged look droops down Tails' face, but even so, they continue forward. Tails cycles through the list on his watch to seemingly pass time. "Maybe there is something here that can help us out?" With aimless intent, he taps on a random line. Although, nothing seemed to happen, and instead Tails just taps again. It was only the sixth time trying to open the program that something felt wrong. Unexpectedly, a pop-up display shows the nine tails symbol on the watch's screen. With boldly printed words stating, 'TAMPERING DETECTED: FIREWALL SUSTAINING'

An ominous clatter echoes through the tunnels. Behind Tails and Knuckles come out a pack of those white bots from when they first arrived, which they both assumed to be vulmechs at this point. There was no need for introductions, as both Knuckles and the vulmechs sprang into action. The lack of numbers on his end didn't intimidate the echidna in the slightest, but he needed to be careful where he punched, as a strike to the walls around made everything else around feel unstable. Briefly, chunks from the ceiling fall, and some of them almost hit Tails. "Keep that up, and you'll get us stuck underneath here for good!" He yells out.

"Whoops, sorry about that!" Knuckles doubles back and focuses more of his energy on precision strikes and maneuvers. That was something Knuckles wished everyone else would notice about him. He wasn't a one-noted fighter, in fact, he trained himself in many different techniques and styles of combat. While Tails had confidence in Knuckles holding off the vulmechs, it became increasingly worrisome as an endless amount of them piled through the tunnels. Tails had to act on something, but he wasn't sure if all of his gadgets could get them out of this. Instead, he had to break through the firewall and trigger something in the system to help. The problem was that the coding within the firewall was nothing like he's ever seen. It used a system so unorthodox, that Tails had a hard enough time trying to read its inner layers.

Every attempt to crack through was retaliated instantly, almost like the code responded like a counterweight measure. Any input Tails made caused the firewall to reflect a similar input and double down on it, crushing the effort. A brutal protocol, but maybe exploitable by its own means. Brute forcing it wasn't gonna cut it but using a swifter method to catch the code off guard was his best choice.

Tails thought back to his machine that tracked the emeralds to the ARK and found it similar to this. It uses whatever is entered as a reference to accurately respond with a deterrent, but if the similarities were there, then it might have the same weakness. Tails' machine had to sustain a connection with chaos energy to issue a suitable result, so if it was interrupted with anything different, then it would crash and ruin the run. Tails applies his theory, and types in a subtle and thin line of code into the firewall. As expected, the firewall retaliates with the bare minimum, which is when Tails quickly pastes a girthy string of code. Sure enough, the firewall is quickly overwhelmed before it could respond, and it shatters.

Once he has full access to the station's systems again, he locates one protocol and activates it. "Knuckles! Hold onto something!" Knuckles turns back to Tails, fatigued from the battle. The alarm and red lights in the tunnel blast across, and Knuckles knows exactly what that means. Knuckles and Tails grab onto a railing nearby, and soon enough a wave of sewage water sweeps across and carries the vulmechs away. The extreme pressure from the water takes its toll on the hanging duo, and as Tails loses his grip, Knuckles grasps his hand before he could drift away.

The sewage drains away, leaving both Tails and Knuckles to gasp for air. "I can't handle another one of those. Find us a way out of here." Knuckles uttered.

"I am in full agreement. We can't stay." As Tails cycles through the list again, he spots something else peculiar. A timer of some sort, which is set to end in four days. "What the-" He looks further into it, and finds a title. 'Operation: Windup Voyage'

Soleanna, City of Water

Out next to the mountainous landscape is the harbor city of Soleanna. A small yet vastly characteristic town. The majority of the population was made up of humans, but over time, it had grown in diversity. Signifying the presence of monarchy, lies a castle closer to the mainland. This was the main reason why G.U.N. hadn't tried to make any connections with their own government, as the hierarchy of the city felt that they would impose less desirable principles. Needless to say, when a G.U.N. helicopter flies in, those big smiles on the people's faces dwindle away. Inside the copter, Shadow peered through the cabin window to view their 'welcoming' party. Many citizens were outside, practically flooding the streets. If the hedgehog was right, and whoever they were chasing was passing through here, it was gonna be a hard time spotting them.

Also sitting next to Shadow was Rouge. She seemed intent on what Shadow was dazzling about. Although, her thoughts would be stolen by some uncomfortable grunting at the other side of the cabin. Lieutenant James had joined the journey as well, but his seat was quite crammed by the third member of Team Dark. E-123 Omega had taken a large portion of the seat, but at least he was sitting patiently and politely. "Why do I have to sit next to the two-ton robot?" Rouge lifts up a faint smile.

"You'll have to respect our seniority for now. I'm just letting you know that this is the least of our rowdiness. But hey, you wanted to tag along."

"You guys needed an ambassador. The queen will not be happy about our arrival."

*SHE WILL BE HAPPY, OR WE WILL MAKE HER.* Omega blurted out. The helicopter makes its landing over to the shipment lot on the other side of town. After landing, Shadow leads the disembarking, and the rest follow suit. Shadow gestures the Omega to the copter, and the robot scavenges through the cabin. Omega pulls out some sort of apparatus, detailed compactly with other utilities within. *HUMAN, LIFT OUT YOUR ARMS.* The sudden command makes James instantly jet out both arms. Omega then plops the device onto James' hands, and the sheer weight almost sends him to the ground, shortly after his face starts to brighten like a tomato.

"Yeah! I got this! No worries!" With excruciating determination, James manages to hold himself together.

*YOU GOT THE SPIRIT. NOW WE SHALL HEAD OFF.*

"Huh, where to?"

"Before we conduct our patrol, we need to respect this city's authority. We'll head to the castle to discuss the matters with the queen." Rouge mentions.

"That means." James looks up to the higher planes ahead. Seeing the long way to go to get to the castle. "Oh no." The four start to head forth and make their way to the castle. The helicopter soon departs as well, giving the wide scope of the city. The level of activity has reached rush hour, as people have crowded the streets. Within the crowd are a pair of beige-colored hooded figures traversing through with a low profile. They show off small characteristics of themselves through their clothing. Pointy ears raising the hood up, and the back of the cloak making room for what seemed to be large thick tails. The passing of the helicopter above them alerts them hectically, and with a swift look at each other, they break off and disappear into the crowd.

Soleanna:Castle:Later

The interior is pristine to the finest end. But despite the overwhelming royalty of the castle, there is a sense of loss and loneliness within these quarters. Even the throne hall is depressing, with the drapes closed, and lights off. Leaving a bleak sun to break through the seams. Alone sits the queen on the throne. Almost as if she is waiting for something to fill a hollow part of her again. The doors to the hall open, and out comes the steward. "Queen Elise?" Elise barely pipes her head up to her steward, which appears to slightly dishearten her. "The G.U.N. agents have arrived. Shall I send them in?" Again, Elise doesn't immediately move, but she musters a small wave of approval. The steward exits the room and motions her arm forward to someone out of sight. Shadow, Rouge, Omega, and James all enter simultaneously. James finally drops the apparatus in the middle of the room, catching his breath.

Elise hoists her posture up to face them in a pathetically elegant way. "I have already made myself clear to your commander. I want no involvement in whatever offer he has."

"It's nothing like that. We're here because we believe that some fugitives are passing through." Rouge chimes in. "I've assumed you're caught up in what's been happening with the world?"

"It's all that's been talked about. What does that have to do with anything?"

"We have reason to believe that these fugitives are the ones responsible." The queen doesn't invoke any reaction. If anything, she seems more annoyed.

"If that's the case, you should've just given us the call sooner. Our enforcers will take it from here. That'll be all from you four." Team Dark looks offended. It was clear that she had no respect for any of them.

"Queen Elise, we are only here to clean up this mess. You won't have to bother-"

"Do you really think that your police and officers will solve this issue?" Shadow out of nowhere cuts off Rouge and snaps at Elise. "Let's face it, anyone who can extract the chaos emeralds is already too much for you. You're in no position to shut us out." Elise slumps back down into her throne, not wanting anything to do with the bickering.

"Sure, go ahead. I guess I'm in no position to stop you either. You can let your obsession dictate what to do." Shadow crosses his arms and turns to face the rest of his team.

"Alright, we're not sure what these guys look like, but we know they are trying to conceal themselves from us by any means. Last time they wore cloaks, so that's what we'll be looking for. Omega and James, you'll both stay here while Rouge and I split up and patrol the city. Omega, be ready to head to either one of us once we make contact. We'll need more firepower. James, I'll contact you if we need ordnance." Both James and even Elise seem shocked by mentioning ordnance.

"Hold on, we aren't shelling them, aren't we?" James inquires.

"Not that kind of ordnance." Elise sighs with relief. "That device we brought, there is a numpad on the side. If we get into trouble, we'll send a code for you to enter and the device will do the rest." James asserts an unsure nod. Shadow heads to the balcony of the hall and jumps off. Rouge follows him off the castle and flies into the city.

Later

James is seen pacing around the hall, holding tight a radio in hand. Omega stares blankly out of a window but gets sidetracked by a flock of birds cruising over the city, and he follows them with his eyes. Elise just sits quietly to her testy self. James starts to bite his nails and pick at his skin. Eventually, his eagerness gets to him and he activates the radio. "Did you find them?"

*Still no one here. Anything on your part, Rouge?* Shadow echoes through.

*Same.* In the city, Rouge has perched herself atop a short shop at the harbor, overlooking the crowd of people. There are too many to distinguish anyone suspicious from any other good samaritan. "I'm getting bad vibes from all of this."

*How so?*

"Well, we didn't exactly enter the city with subtlety. If I were the bad guys here wearing fishy outfits, I'd ditch them once I see you guys arrive." Back at the castle, James continues his nervous habits and bites hard on his lips. *I don't know, guys. We may have lost them.*

"Just… give it time. We'll spot them eventually." James shuts off his radio and continues to pace around. Elise starts to get irritated by his manners and speaks up to him.

"Are you ok?" James stops in his place, like a deer in headlights. With a fingernail in his mouth, he just responds with a forced 'uh-huh'. Something about the compulsive behavior from James, no, from all of Team Dark really started to get to Elise. No longer in an irked way, but something hauntingly nostalgic. "Can you just stop all of that? It's so bothersome."

"Do I bother you?"

"Not just you. You're all so obsessive. You remind me of… Nevermind."

"Hey. I don't mean to cause you distress. I'm just here to help out." Elise finally gives way to a smile, but not genuine. Something more of a mocking one.

"Help out? G.U.N. just wants to help out. Let me tell you something. G.U.N. has already exerted its fair share of help. What do you think of when you hear 'Soleanna'?" James scrambles through his brain like a supercomputer.

"Well, that name derives from Solaris, doesn't it?"

"Nailed that one. My father was so fixated on Solaris, that he'd frequently show me their flame. However, I'm sure you're familiar with that one day, the flame had been blown by unknown means. I thought my father would give it up there, but he wouldn't stop. His obsession led him to G.U.N., where he pleaded with them to get the equipment to find any remains of Solaris' soul. He got his wish, but he was caught in an accident not long after overdoing his experiments. I was there when he died. Before he left, he told me to never cry for him. Since then, I've kept that promise." Elise starts to get a bit misty-eyed. But she sucks back in whatever sadness seeped out. "It's almost like fate. In the end, it was all about the god that burnt out." Sensing her sorrow, James dedicates himself to making her feel at ease. He stops his bad habits and stands more confidently.

"I'm truly sorry for what happened to your father. I get it, I really do. I never had that whole family life either, so I know it's hard to not have a figure in your life." James steps over to the drapes and swings them open, letting a brighter sun fill inside. "However, I never sought solitude. I only wanted someone there for me. So I looked for them myself. You talk about hating obsession, but you hold yourself to old wounds. Give yourself freedom. Be open to the world and its changes." Elise, after earnestly listening to James, gives a smile out of sincerity.

*I found one!* James' radio erupts throughout the room, causing all ears to fall upon what Shadow had said. Finally, the action started to boil, and Omega was gearing his armaments for the battle ahead. Shock runs down James' face, and he warily lifts the radio closer.

"Wh-where? How do you know?" In the mountainous region of the city, Shadow overlooks a train station with tracks leading into the scenic overview of the highlands. Amongst the group of people in line to board the train, one stands out as the hooded figure.

"They match the description. They're trying to get out of the city by train." Shadow starts to make his way to the station on foot, but before he reaches it, Rouge shouts out from the radio.

*I got one too!*

"They've split? What are they trying to do?" In some way, it made sense to Shadow why they would separate. If one was caught, then there was no guarantee that the other would too. But all of that wouldn't be a problem in the first place if they had ditched their uniforms and blended in with the mass.

*They're attempting to board a local cruise boat. I'll be there to stop them soon.*

*WHERE SHALL I HEAD IF THEY ARE IN SEPARATE LOCATIONS?* Omega quickly questioned.

"Assist Rouge, I'll handle this one by myself." Shadow continues his pursuit to the train station, and as he arrives, he searches the cluster of people for the hooded figure. Unbeknownst to Shadow, the hooded figure has caught on to his awareness, and they try to shimmy their way out from the crowds. Shadow has gotten himself in the middle of the jumble, trapped around at least fifty people. It was almost impossible to see accurately ahead. He was never gonna find the person at this rate, but soon he quickly came up with an idea. Getting the attention of not the hooded figure, but everyone else. Shadow approaches the train, and with a brisk strike, smashes the window of the train. "Everyone down!" He yelled out.

All the citizens around instantly fall to their knees, covering their heads with their hands. Except for the hooded figure, of course. They remained standing, and this time stood out from all the rest. Without another thought in mind, the hooded figure reaches out to Shadow, revealing their hand. A thick tactical black glove with sharp claws. From the hand radiates some sinister crimson smog. It propels forward at blazing speeds, clashing with Shadow, but not before he could muster a block with his arms. However, the side effects themselves were unpredictable, as his mind starts to fill with white noise and static. Tormented screams and howls of anguish play through his head like a record. With this time to act, the hooded figure makes their escape by heading over to the mountains. The same dark energy leaks out from their cloak and it helps scale them up the mountain.

The plagued cries stopped in Shadow's mind, and he recollects himself. He spots the figure making its way up, to which he takes out his radio. "James, type 3764 into the device. Make sure it's by the window." Back at the castle, James pushes the heavy box over to the balcony and leans down to the numpad. He hastily enters the code. After such, a cylinder container tube is shot from the mechanism and flies into the air. In the sky, the tube pops, and a separate mechanism from inside puts itself together. It extends and forms a mechanical glider, armed with dual missile launchers. The glider is on autopilot and soars to the train station. There, Shadow jumps high into the air and catches onto the handles. He flies the glider up the mountain, where he spots the hooded figure reaching the peak. Shadow presses a button on the handles and a precise rocket sails to the top.

The explosion from the rocket is enough to knock the hooded figure off balance and have them tumble down the rest of the mountain until reaching a flat landscape. Shadow soars the rest of the way down and abandons his glider once he reaches the ground, facing the figure in a more contained environment.

Meanwhile, in the harbor, Rouge approaches the cowled perpetrator from behind, trying to get the element of surprise on her side. The boat the figure is trying to board is already filled with hundreds of passengers and still has yet to finish boarding, as the hooded figure is stuck in line with many more people. As they approach, the captain halts the figure and gestures out his hand, probably expecting some sort of ticket or documentation. Instead, the hooded figure raises their arm to the captain, revealing their hand underneath the cloak. Attached to their wrist is an arm cannon equipped with a rotary device allowing it to spin in place. "Listen, I don't want to hurt you, but you're going to need to turn a blind eye, or I'll make a scene." The figure speaks out with a stoic voice. The barrels of the cannon start to light up inside with flames like it is preparing to warm up the whole weapon. The captain freezes in fear but ends up letting the pyro pass through. As the pyro makes his way up the stairs to the boat, he is caught being pulled up into the air by something.

Rouge had snatched him up and tries to fly him away from the boat. To defend himself, the pyro ignites not only one flame cannon but a second one on his other arm. The barrels erupt into a frenzied flame, causing Rouge to be disorientated and lose her grip. The pyro lands back onto the harbor path. His wild inferno scares away any citizens nearby. He launches a swarm of fire into the air where Rouge is still flying in, but her nimble maneuverability gets her out of trouble, and she takes cover from the crazy uproar. Her element had been completely shattered and facing this maniac without the advantage anymore made things way more complicated. Although she was good at close-quarters-combat, getting close to this guy was not the move, since she would be toast the minute she came within arms distance. She had to find a way to get the jump on him, that was her only way. Rouge changes her cover spot multiple times to try to confuse the pyro. There was too much around him to eye at the same time, and he loses track of Rouge's quick movements.

Rouge finds her second chance, and she spots the pyro aimlessly looking for her to no avail. His back was turned to her, and this is when she began her strike. Leaping from cover, she glides at blinding speeds to reach him. Unfortunately, the pyro had other plans. He slams his fists into the ground and discharges an onslaught of fire. Causing the area around him to quickly cover in flame. The perfect defense against someone like Rouge. She was completely caught out in the open now, engulfed by flames. The fire around burns out, and the pyro faces Rouge. She is not in good condition, as the intense heat and air polluting with smoke caused her to lose out on a lot of vitality. She is at the mercy of her enemy. The pyro raises his cannon to Rouge and launches a fireball. Before the fireball could reach Rouge, the chassis of a sturdy bot steps in front and absorbs the immense power. Omega has come to Rouge's aid. "Omega!" she cries out.

*FIND A WAY AROUND HIS FIRE. I'LL SUPPLY MY OWN HIS WAY.* Omega revs up his gatling guns and fires at the pyro. The pyro responds by manifesting a flame shield to melt the bullets. Knowing that his arsenal wouldn't prove to penetrate his defenses, Omega rushes into a more personable confrontation. Omega had him on the ropes, as his fire wasn't sustaining the bot's armor with enough damage to deter him away. Rouge, now recovered, flies in behind the pyro and restrains his arm cannon away from Omega. Out of desperation, the pyro unleashes a load of fireballs in random directions, and one of them strikes a local shop. The uproar of flame starts to spread to other nearby buildings, causing a wildfire.

"No!" The pyro unexpectedly yells out. The sight of people being trapped by his flames starts to boil rage within him. He produces a shockwave of heat to knock away both Omega and Rouge, and he runs into the wildfire, disappearing into the blaze. Rouge and Omega are left without a trace of the pyro, but there are more urgent matters at hand. The uncontrollable fire has already spread far into the rest of the harbor.

In the canyon, Shadow confronts the other hooded figure. Their style of power was unworldly, like some sort of magic. Reminding Shadow that his opponent is some kind of dark mage. If anything could be learned from the last time he was hit by their crimson blast, those hallucinogen effects would leave him vulnerable to a killing blow. And that was only with one blast. Shadow couldn't escape trouble anymore with chaos control, so he wasn't entirely confident that he would manage to avoid everything that the mage would throw at him. He needed to go all out to win, and that meant one thing. Without a second thought, Shadow removes his inhibitor rings and lets the unstable energy flow around his body. This aura was highly uncomfortable, and sharp pains started to arise throughout his body, but it was his best chance at taking down his foe.

The mage senses that the bar had been raised, and must adapt themself. More of that crimson fog seeps through their cloak and drowns out the ground around them. The fog deteriorates and blackens the rock to a shrill state, and any vegetation that also comes into contact is rotted with sickly pestilence. Shadow goes in at bewildering speeds, which catches the mage off guard. Shadow punches right through the crimson aura, as the unstable energy radiating off of Shadow evaporates the fog before it could touch him. The mage uses some of the murky power to form a spear in their hand, and they try to use it to poke away at Shadow, but at this point, nothing can stop him. However, with every boost, every punch, and every charge, more pain started to rise in Shadow. He could feel his veins coarse with tainted power. His eyes becoming more and more bloodshot the further into the battle he gets, causing an instinctual pulse to keep him fighting. It wasn't looking so good anymore. The more the fight lasted, Shadow loses more control over his powers.

At some point, the mage starts seeing the predictable decline in Shadow's endurance, and the only thing on their mind now was to survive. It didn't take long, in fact, Shadow could feel his body starting to fail. He had time for only one more attack before he collapses. He uses the last of his immense power to boost head-first into the mage, but the mage saw this coming. Using more of the crimson smog, they charge up their spear to the next level. With a quick throw, the spear collides with Shadow, and he is knocked back into the side of the mountain. That was it, he was spent, and more of that horrible pain surged through his body. *Shadow? Shadow are you alright?* He could barely make out Rouge talking on the radio. His eyes started getting heavy, and he falls into a deep coma. *Shadow!*

To be continued…