Chapter Thirty-Six:

Boom Shadow Comes to Town

Moving further through the ominous fortress corridors, the group seemed to encounter heavier resistance, be it from classic or newer Eggman Badnik models or frightening monsters summoned by Eggmandorf's dark magic.

Sonic and Movie Sonic managed to save the nerve-wracked Jim Robotnik from a pair of horned, four-eyed bipedal creatures with dangerously sharp claws, that could have cut up his face, as they took a turn to the right and ascended a twisting staircase that seemed to get loopy at one point.

Shellcracker Badniks cropped up along with classic red-colored Crabmeats and a few old-style Buzz Bombers, the former group thrust out their claws in an attempt to incapacitate one of the advancing heroes, and were smashed to pieces by Boom Knuckles while he, LEGO Sonic, and Rouge did some bot smashing with the others.

"Maybe they should BE less CRABBY before we crack their shells!" Boom Knuckles remarked as he punched a Buzz Bomber after taking out a Shellcracker.

"Your jokes are flatter than an Eggman-made cookie!" Boom Sonic quipped as he busted up a spear-wielding Egg Pawn that joined one of the Badnik attacks.

"VARLETS SHALL BE SMOTE LIKE FLIES IN A MOAT!" A troll-knight creature wearing heavy metal armor declared as he lumbered towards the heroes with an axe-club, "THOU WHO DON'T BOW TO OUR LORD WILL BE GORED INTO THE FLOOR!"

"I smite evil with my blade!" Myrule Sonic raised his sword high, and charged at the incoming armored creature, then he lifted up the helmet, and stabbed the troll-knight in the face with his blade. The creature fell over, and vanished in a puff of mist, leaving only armor and a slight stain of dark blood.

"BUZZ OFF, YOU ROBO-BEES!" Boom Amy yelled as a pair of Buzz Bombers and their Bee Bots swarmed her, she swung her hammer in a wide arc, and smashed every single surrounding robot to pieces.

Blaze held up her hands, stretched her fingers, and a fireball took form between her palms before she cast it at a horde of monstrous-looking Badniks that reminded Sonic of Dark Gaia's minions. The Beast Badniks vanished in a haze of fire, and their remnants melted into puddles of steaming slag on the hallway floor.

Moments later, a loud electronic whine filled the corridors and very recognizable voice hollered, "We're waiting for you, Sonics! WHAT'S WRONG? ARE THE ROBOTS AND THE MONSTERS TOO MUCH?! We have Amy Rose and her princess counterparts. You're being quite slow. Perhaps we should speed things up to where we have Metal Sonic SLICE THEM ALL UP!"

"We're not letting the doctors do that to Amy or any other version of her." Shadow growled as he ripped the head off of a Badnik.

"Well, well..." A nearly identical voice growled, "Look who's wasting his time fighting alongside a group, just smashing robots, and going after Doctor Eggman, and being a more pathetic Ultimate Life Form than ever before."

"Oh great, he's here." Boom Sonic groaned.

The group turned, seeing a hedgehog with a build similar to Boom Sonic approaching, fists clenched, and eyes narrow with fury. In a millisecond, the real Shadow the Hedgehog rolled his eyes with irritation, and everyone could tell this was his counterpart from the same universe as Boom Sonic, Boom Amy, Boom Eggman, and Sticks.

"And I didn't think you'd be showing up, especially now." Shadow remarked, "How did you find your way here and know where we would be?"

"I've been everywhere, Shadow the Hedgehog..." Boom Shadow said, "...and I was trailing that green hedgehog and his pink sister as they were looking for their brother, while I was just looking around for Eggman's base of operations. And so, here I am, and there you are, smashing the doctor's robots and helping the heroes save the world.

"I could care less about what's going to happen if you don't stop Eggman's scheme. You're all just as insufferable as a certain someone is back home, and this universe can burn for all I care. Relying on friends, doing teamwork, and fighting together against Eggman as comrades? Don't make me laugh, you don't have what it takes to be just as tough as I am."

"Maria wouldn't take kindly to the likes of you..." Shadow smacked his fists together, "...and I'm not here because I'm one of 'Sonic's friends', I'm here to protect the world at any cost, because I made an unbreakable promise."

"You're here because you made an 'unbreakable promise'." Boom Shadow growled, "You truly were never fit to bear the title of Ultimate Life Form, and I was right from the moment of our last encounter. This is where I'm saying it again, black hedgehog, you're a disgrace to all hedgehog-kind, and the title of Ultimate Life Form."

"Sonic..." Shadow stepped forward, "You handle the doctors. I'll handle this disgusting edgelord from another dimension, and try to get him to listen to a form of sense!"

Jim Robotnik stepped back, his legs shaking a little, and he remarked, "That is one hedgehog I don't want to mess with."

"Good call, doc." Movie Sonic told him.

"Never mind him!" Sticks exclaimed, "LET'S GET EGGMAN!"

Sonic, his counterparts and the others took off, smashing more robots and slaying more monsters, and hurried through the twisting corridors, and staircases, towards the heart of Castle Eggmandorf as more Eggman cackling echoed over an unseen loudspeaker. Shadow faced his counterpart, fists clenched and shaking, as he stared furiously at him.

Only one got to walk away with the title of Ultimate Life Form, there could be only one Shadow the Hedgehog, and Boom Shadow felt like a Shadow Android who'd developed a pretty bad attitude and grew a personality that was undeniably bad at best.

Tension and fury were building high. Boom Shadow's eyes blazed with power, and edgy fury. And then, Shadow raised a glowing hand, and shouted, "CHAOS SPEAR!"

"Chaos Control!" Boom Shadow warped out of the way, avoiding Shadow's attack. The dark hedgehog reappeared behind the decades-old super hedgehog, and locked his arm around his neck hard. Shadow elbowed Boom Shadow, and struck his alternate counterpart in the face with a back punch, prompting the angry red-eyed hedgehog to stumble back.

Shadow walked towards him with a scowl, and Boom Shadow shot back onto his feet, and attempted to kick the black-colored hedgehog, who grabbed his leg and shouted, "Chaos Control!"

BWOOSH! They teleported to another part of the castle, the entrance hall, and Shadow punched Boom Shadow, who grabbed his ear, and twisted it. Shadow grimaced and grabbed the hedgehog edgelord by the shoulder before slamming him into a statue.

The Ultimate Life Form jumped onto a wall, and leaped off, curling up into a ball, as he flew at Boom Shadow, who rolled into a spinning spike ball, and countered Shadow's incoming move, sending him back towards one of the statues. Shadow landed on his two feet, stood up straight and dusted his gloves off right before his other self lunged at him.

Boom Shadow spun himself around, and tried to kick at Shadow's head, aiming to knock him down. Shadow threw his arm up, blocking the attack, and Boom Shadow curled up into a black ball before springing a homing attack against the other hedgehog, who dove out of the way.

Boom Shadow smashed into another statue, which toppled onto the floor, and Shadow rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the falling statue before it crashed into pieces with a loud thud.

'At least he's not going after Sonic and the other Sonics.' Shadow thought, 'His focus is on me, and that should be good enough. I just got to keep him busy, and that will give them the time they need to deal with Eggman. Who knows what he will do if he takes out the Eggmen, especially with the Black Emerald involved.'

"URGH!" Boom Shadow punched Shadow in the gut, taking the latter off-balance for a moment. Shadow recovered quickly, and threw a fist at his alternate double, who just ducked his head out of the way. Boom Shadow grabbed Shadow's arm and twisted it a little, making him grimace.

Shadow thought fast, and smacked his counterpart in the face, blinding him just enough to free his own arm. He then grabbed Boom Shadow, and tossed him through the open doorway. Shadow dashed outside, and the battle was now unfolding outside the castle. Boom Shadow rose to his feet, eyes ablaze and teeth gritted, as a red glow surrounded his body.

Both Shadows stared each other down, prepared to exchange more blows, and Shadow's eyes were gleaming with Chaos Energy. He was set for the next round of this fight, and he was more than eager to press the attack.

Even if the outcome of the battle wasn't in his favor, Shadow was still determined to keep his alternate universe rival away from the Sonics, and, potentially, the Black Emerald...