He did not know where he was.
All he remembered was a sudden bright, white light that consumed his vision as soon as it appeared. When his vision came to, he, his city, and his people found themselves in unfamiliar waters. This was not the oceans of Talokan.
The water was different. The wind was different. Even the soil was different. His people naturally panicked at being displaced from their sacred waters like this with no reason. Fingers were naturally pointed at a few suspected figures. Attuma, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, T'Challa were among the many names thrown around in the panic.
He had never seen his people in such disarray. Even when he called for an assembly, not once did the commotion die down. With a scowl, he pulled out his spear from its holding place and slammed it to the ground, letting the Vibranium shockwave echo throughout the waters, finally silencing them.
* He cried out in his native tongue,
A few murmurs occurred among the crowd, but he silenced them with a raise of his hand,
A few murmurs and nods of agreement occurred. The king continued, gesturing to a woman by his side, His cousin nodded as he stood from his throne,
He gripped his spear as he announced his battle cry,
The crowd responded as he rose from his throne, intent on figuring out what was happening once and for all.
*Translated from Yucatec Maya
This was not the oceans of the Chicxulub crater, but an ancient lake and in the middle of said lake, were the ruins of an abandoned kingdom.
A small reservoir connected to the wider ocean amongst this maze of decades old stone structures and crumbling pathways. As the mutant was exploring the waters of this lake, he felt the surface ripple. Like a caiman, he stuck his head above the water to observe his prey and saw two little furry creatures and a robot. He raised a brow, having been used to strange sights like these and already beginning to suspect that he was in another world. Or perhaps he had found the island of literary legend, Doctor Moreau.
Either way, he will deal with these interlopers himself. These may not be his waters exactly, but anywhere Talokan was, her law and sanctity went with. And he will be damned before these freaks of nature defile it any further….
The last of the twilight hours had settled into Soleanna, now giving way to a near pitch black sky, save for the many dots of distant stars above. The giant eagles that commonly soar overhead have long returned to their roosts to sleep and await another day. All the while, Team Dark was walking up a stone balcony, noting that what little of their natural light left had finally disappeared.
Rouge tsked, "Omega," she said, "lights, please."
"AFFIRMATIVE." The robot said before two little headlamps shifted from his shoulders, giving way to incredibly bright lights to, well, light the way ahead.
Even in the darkness of the night, the former capital of Soleanna was as breathtaking as ever. The ruins stood the test of time despite decades of being in the water and the stars and moon's light above made the lake twinkle and sparkle like a glimmering light show.
"What a beautiful place," Rouge muttered, "the stars are really shining tonight."
"STARGAZING IS IRRELEVANT TO THE MISSION." Omega bluntly stated.
"Let her, Omega," Shadow responded, much to the shock of his two cohorts.
"Wow," Rouge commented, "and here I thought you were above sightseeing."
"Hmph."
Truth is, Shadow always appreciated stargazing. After all, it was the primary thing he did with Maria on the Ark when there was nothing to do. A thing he still does when he's alone and needs some quiet time in the dead of night. Only now, he looked upwards instead of down.
Shadow looked up to the stars, at first, admiring their beauty, but then he kept looking far far up, noting the half-destroyed moon and grimacing, knowing he was responsible for forever ruining the celestial body in his quest for misguided revenge.
"When we're done with this mission, I want to come back here." Rouge piped, earning a small 'hmph' from Shadow.
As they continued their trek forward towards the water vortex that led out of the valley, something in the wind changed. Save for the sounds of their footsteps, Omega's especially, it was deathly quiet.
And not in a good way.
There were no chatterings of nocturnal insects in the bushes and weeds overgrowing the stone buildings, nor any hoots of the owls perched on the trees. Just silence. Dead silence save for the mechanical thunks of Omega's pedes.
The trio then stopped just as they were about to ascend up a crumbling staircase.
They had suddenly grown on edge. It quickly dawned on them that something or someone was watching their every movement. Cameras? Or a lackey mercenary hired by the doctor? They did not know.
Shadow narrowed his eyes, Omega clenched his fists and Rouge's sensitive ears tuned out the noise from her colleagues and began listening to anything out of the ordinary.
Her ears then twitched at a sudden noise. Something a mile or two from where they were had jumped out of the water. Something far too big to be a fish trying to catch insects. She snapped her head to the sound and her nocturnal eyes narrowed at the sound of what sounded like wind rapidly heading towards them.
"Get down!" Rouge yelled. In what felt like mere milliseconds, Shadow and Omega turned their heads to where she pointed and all three leapt simultaneously out of the way, avoiding a spear that landed smack dab in the middle of the platform they were on, piercing the stone and embedding itself in it.
Omega brought out his miniguns while Shadow got into a defensive position and Rouge primed a bomb. Someone just attacked them. Someone too cowardly to show themselves….
Or were they?
The sound of what seemed to be the rattle of a rattlesnake was heard, accompanied by the sound of rushing wind. Someone was approaching them and fast. Omega shined his lights at the figure flying towards them, said figure soon stopped at near breakneck speeds near them. In spite of his intimidating aura, he did not attack.
The figure was a man, with a sun-kissed skin tone that accentuated his impressive physique and jet black hair that had a notable widow's peak. Jewelry of all kinds decorated his body with ear and nose piercings complimenting the accessories. He had pointy elf-like ears and his eyes were cold and calculating, like that of a serpent analyzing its prey and ready to strike at any moment.
He looked down on the trio, the feathers on his ankles flapping at speeds comparable to a hummingbird's wings and keeping his body afloat. He seemed to chuckle, he said in a language they did not understand. Omega attempted to translate the words he heard, but all his data bank could muster from it was pointing out that it had a similar dialect to that of an ancient Echidna tongue.
"The heck is your problem!?" Rouge asked, taking a bomb out, "and who are you!? Another of Eggman's goons!?"
The man chuckled at her direct nature before answering, "I don't know who this "Eggman" is, but my people call me Ahau K'uk'ulkan… but my enemies call me Namor."
"Well, Namor," Rouge intoned, her thumb still on the bomb's trigger, "you could have killed us."
"That was a warning shot, strange creatures," He responded, "do not come any further in this valley. You are trespassing on sacred Talokan waters."
"ERROR." Omega stated, "THIS IS KINGDOM VALLEY. THE OLD CAPITAL OF SOLEANNA."
"So I am in another world…" Namor muttered to himself before shifting his focus back on Team Dark, "I am not a man who likes to repeat himself. Leave. Now."
Shadow stepped forward, his eyes flashing with red chaos energy, "Make us." Was all he responded to the king.
Namor scoffed and dived deep into the water, away from the trio. The water was impossibly deep and dark, especially at night, so there was no way of figuring out where he was.
All of a sudden, the platform they were on was shaking and began to rise up into the air! The trio tried to find their balance as an entire submerged building was unearthed by none other than Namor in a great feat of strength.
With a grunt, he tossed the old piece of architecture towards the nearest ravine wall. Team Dark leapt from the building and onto another, watching as the stone tower that was underwater mere seconds ago flew through the air and hit the cliffside wall in an explosion of rubble and dust.
"What strength!" Rouge exclaimed.
Shadow seemed less than impressed, "Hmph. Maybe this'll be a fair fight."
"I CALL DIBS ON FIRST PUNCHES." Omega said, spinning his clenched fists with what seemed to be anticipation.
Rouge just smirked, arming a bomb with her thumb, "then let's kick this guy's sorry butt, Team Dark!"
The trio then launched themselves towards Namor, who had turned around to face them all. In a flash, Shadow teleported from him, surprising the Mutant, Rouge threw the bomb she held at him, which he blocked with his forearms. But as soon as he retracted them, Omega reeled back a fist that connected with his face, jettisoning him towards a building and crashing through it, landing in a big empty room.
He snarled as he shook his head from the daze and saw Rouge descend down on him with a rider kick. He countered by grabbing her leg and using her own momentum against her, tossing her out of the door to the castle tower, shattering the old rotten door like it was glass.
He rushed towards Rouge, who lay on the platform that led to stairs that descended to water. She looked up to him and smiled before she rolled to the side and off the platform, leaving an oval shaped device with wings on it and a heart symbol printed on it. It beeped rapidly.
Namor used his forearms to block the blast from the Bat Cracker Mine, the concussive wave alone knocking him back a few feet. Rouge was hanging onto the old stone platform's side, tricking Namor into thinking she fell to the water. She leapt and flew off, letting the boys have their fun.
Namor recovered from the ringing in his ears just to receive a kick from Shadow, sending him soaring to another platform in the distance. Namor used his wings to achieve balance in the air just in time to block a punch from Omega, who set his jet boosts to maximum power to add an extra push to his attack, crashing Namor through a rusted iron gate.
Omega slammed Namor on the floor, cracking the stone beneath them. Omega responded with a headbutt, which was a difficult thing to accomplish given the fact that the robot's head was so small. With a mighty push, Namor kicked Omega off him, sending him to a stone wall that collapsed on impact.
Just as he was about to recover, Shadow teleported next to him and delivered a series of punches and kicks to his body at speeds that Namor considered impossible unless you were someone like the Silver Surfer.
At twenty strikes per second, the mutant could not think of a proper counterattack for this. All he could do was take it. Just as the flurry of hits ceased, the hedgehog unleashed a nasty uppercut, sending him in the air and teleporting above him, slamming him with a double hammerfist towards the platform below, the mutant shaking the floor on impact and kicking up dust everywhere.
Shadow landed near Namor, who wiped away some blood on his lip. "Give up." he spat, "before we do real damage."
Namor seethed at being humiliated by a three foot rodent like this. He clenched a fist before muttering to himself, "Imperius…"
Just as Shadow was about to ask what he was talking about, the Mutant then threw a fist at the hedgehog at speeds that surprised even him, sending him flying across the valley as he finished his catchphrase.
"REEEEEEEEEEX!"
Shadow crashed into the walls of the cliffside, embedding himself in a big crater, the impact shaking the walls for miles. He spat out a wad of blood and emerged from the crater just in time to dodge a charging flying fist from the Talokanii, which smashed into the crater he was in, a large chunk of the cliffside collapsing from the impact.
Shadow used his air shoes to hover in the air and watched as Namor pulled back his fist and turned to him with a scowl. The two stared at each other for a bit before slightly reeling themselves back and raising their arms as they charged forward, their forearms clashing with each other and cracking the air around them.
"You fight well," Namor commented, exerting more force behind his push, "what is your name?"
The hedgehog grunted, exerting just as much force as his enemy, "Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog."
Namor chuckled, "I'll be sure to remember you after your death."
The clash was then broken when Shadow knocked aside the mutant's arm and landed a spinning kick to his chest. The Talokanil took it and hovered away, stopping the momentum with his flight. He looked up with clenched teeth as Shadow briefly glowed with Chaos energy, striking a fighting stance.
Namor dived straight down into the water below, the loud splash indicating his entry into the depths. Shadow looked around, wondering where he could have been…
He would receive the answer to his speculations when a blurry shape leapt out the water like a crocodile and dragged him into the dark depths below.
Shadow struggle, not just physically, but also visually. He couldn't see anything in the dark waters, he could only feel Namor's hands around his throat dragging him down into the bottom of the massive lake that encompassed the valley.
Shadow was running out of breath quickly. He clenched his teeth as his body began to glow a crimson red, like metal reaching its melting point.
"Chaos… Blast!" His words were muffled by the water, but the results were the same. A massive explosion of red energy blasted away both Namor and the water around him, forming a notable empty spot in the water and giving the hedgehog a metaphorical and literal breathing spot.
He boosted upwards in the air with his air shoes just as the water was about to form back in on itself, but just as he was about to get comfortable, Namor leapt out of the lake and decked him across the face, sending him flying in the air.
Shadow was stunned, both physically and mentally. How strong was he? His punches hit a lot harder than a few seconds ago, like he was holding back…
He had no time to speculate further as Namor zoomed towards him, grabbing him by the neck again and slamming him on the cliffside, dragging the hedgehog across the rocks as they flew across.
Namor pulled the hedgehog's body back just to slam him on the cliff again, shaking the rock formation to its center. Shadow tried to kick him off him, but to no avail. His grip was iron.
Namor then felt a kick on the back of his head, forcing him to drop Shadow. He regained his senses just in time to see Rouge deliver a stone shattering kick to the mutant, sending him careening towards a stone castle.
Namor growled as he brushed the dust and pebbles off him, just to see a few spheres with a heart symbol on them head towards him. He intentionally raised his forearms to his face to block them and they all exploded on impact, the ravine being lit up with the bright orange of the explosion.
Namor flew out of the fires with a rage that burned hotter than the explosions themselves. Rouge flew around him like a cyclone at speeds that surprised him, assaulting him with mini-bombs that disorientated him with every blast.
But in spite of his daze, he knew the perfect counter. He raised his hands together and pulled a move from the Hulk's book, clapping his palms together with such force, the shockwave echoed across the ravine and sent Rouge blasting off in another direction.
He cracked his neck, but just as he was about to head towards her, the metallic fist of Omega crashed into him, sending him flying yet again and crashing into yet another stone tower, which collapsed around him.
Namor knocked the cobwebs out of his head only to be met with a flurry of energy blasts and micro-missiles from Omega. The robot seemed to never run out of ammo, in spite of how much he blasted at the mutant.
For the briefest of seconds, the robot stopped to switch his weapons. But those brief seconds were more than enough for Namor who immediately darted to the water beneath them. Just as Omega was about to fire again.
The mechanical WMD scoured the surface of the water with optics that can only be described as "angry." His hands had shifted to gatling guns, the barrels constantly spinning, therefore the weapons were primed and ready to fire as soon as he showed his ugly mug.
And show, he did.
Namor breached out of the water towards Omega like a shark catching a seal. He dragged the robot through the air, slamming into stone walls of a few crumbling castles before rocketing into a platform, kicking up dust everywhere.
Before Omega could retaliate, his foe tossed several punches to the machine, punches hard enough to dent his alloy. But if the robot was scared, he certainly wasn't showing it. He caught a punch and let a component exit from his shoulder: A tiny plasma cannon that looked small enough to fit in a man's palm.
The mutant chuckled at the pathetically tiny weapon before it fired at him, blasting him with the force of a mini hydrogen bomb and sending him away. Omega would have to remind himself to show gratitude towards Tails for the upgrades.
Namor, meanwhile, was getting really angry now. With a hiss, he launched himself towards Omega, delivering a few punches and kicks that further damaged his chassis while Omega tried to counter with punches of his own to no avail.
The mutant would have ended his combo with a hammerfist, but Omega used his propulsion to slip away in time, letting the fist crack the stone beneath them like an egg. Omega was about to shift his hands to gatling guns to fire, but Namor would not give him room to breathe. He countered an attempted blast, letting it fire harmlessly in the air, then another before delivering a powerful kick that caused a lot of damage to Omega's frame and sent him flying to the nearby castle.
The Talokanil seethed before getting slammed into the side by none other than Shadow, embedding him in a rocky wall before delivering some powerful and fast strikes to the mutant's ribcage.
Namor grabbed the flurry fists with a hiss, stopping the assault and headbutted Shadow hard enough to force him into a crater on the floor. He was about to slam a hammerfist into the hedgehog, but a kick from a dive bombing Rouge interrupted him.
With a yell, he blocked another kick and grabbed her leg again, swinging her around slamming her back onto the cliffside wall, shaking it like an earthquake. In retaliation, the bat tossed a flash grenade at him, disorientating him with the sudden bright light.
If only he remembered how to blink.
Rouge then swooped down and grabbed Shadow as Namor screamed, swinging his fist aimlessly. Namor then let out a scream that would put the most bloodthirsty of barbarians to shame.
Rouge and Shadow took their opportunity to reunite with Omega and take cover. "This guy is ruthless," the bat commented, earning a slight nod from Shadow and an exhale of steam from Omega.
"OUR CURRENT OPPONENT IS NOT HUMAN," Omega stated the obvious.
"What gave it away?" Rouge sarcastically asked, "the wings on his feet? His elf ears?"
"HIS DNA." The war machine responded, "ANALYSIS OF BLOOD ON MY FIST INDICATES THAT HIS GENOME DOES NOT MATCH THAT OF ANY KNOWN HUMAN SPECIES."
"That would explain his abilities," Shadow added.
"FURTHER ANALYSIS INDICATES AN AQUATIC ADAPTATION, INCLUDING HAVING HIS STRENGTH BOOSTED WHEN EXPOSED TO WATER. KINETIC ANALYSIS AND SUBSEQUENT DAMAGE ON MY CHASSIS SHOWS HE STRIKES HARDER AFTER DIVING INTO THE LAKE."
"I've noticed that as well," Shadow muttered, "we need to cut him off from his strength."
"Too bad we had to fight in the middle of a lake," Rouge snarked before a sudden crash through stone interrupted the three. The trio looked up to see Namor in the air, having regained his spear and cracking his neck with a tranquil fury.
He said in his native tongue before rushing towards the three, Team Dark was now on the defensive, each member blocking punches and swings from his reacquired spear.
Shadow countered a swing from his spear by grabbing it, stopping the swing in its tracks. As Namor pushed against Shadow, Rouge sent out a flurry of kicks as fast as lightning to his back and Omega grabbed the dazed mutant by the head, spinning his metallic body around and tossing him out the building, shattering a stained glass window.
"LET US DEHYDRATE HIM." Omega said, shifting one of his hands to the flamethrower configuration. Shadow seemed to smirk at this idea and charged towards Namor in the air, attacking with such speed and ferocity that the mutant could not hope to counter.
Shadow teleported away just in time for Rouge to fly up and do a spin, releasing a bunch of bombs at him, dazing him and covering him in a fiery inferno.
With a scream, Namor flew away and was about to head into the water, but just before he could, the metallic claw of Omega grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into an old stone pillar, cracking it. The robot then tossed the mutant into the air, aiming his flamethrower hand and quite literally firing at him, releasing a torrent of napalm into the air, which quickly ignited a stream of fire towards the Talokanil, covering him in flames.
Namor gasped in pain as the flames consumed him. They were quickly scorching his clothes and draining his strength. The feathers on his ankles were quickly scorched, disabling his flight. All he could do was flail in the air as gravity took over.
He at first impacted the side of a fallen pathway, but it was mercifully above water, so he quickly bounced off the stone and into the cold embrace of the watery depths. Instantly, the water rejuvenated his body, healing his newly acquired wounds. He let out a small sigh, releasing an air bubble to the surface…
And almost instantly, a metallic hand reached for him, grabbing his head and lifting him above the lake's surface before tossing him up in the air again. Namor stabilized himself in the air with his healed wings letting him fly once more as Omega aimed his flamethrower at Namor yet again; but with his newfound strength, the mutant dodged the stream of fire, letting it encompass an old stone building instead.
He tried to attack from behind, but the robot shifted his other hand into a flamethrower as well and began to turn his body around 360 degrees in an effort to scorch him again. Namor could have sworn the machine enjoyed setting the lake and buildings ablaze just as a kick from Shadow broke him out of his thoughts.
A double pronged attack from Rouge and Shadow gave him immense trouble. Across the air, the three figures would battle as the flames raged around them like an armageddon's inferno. All the while, completely oblivious in the fact that their battle was being recorded by a sneaky little spy bot…
Namor blocked a punch from Shadow with one hand, and used his other to swipe away a bomb from Rouge, letting it explode elsewhere in the water. Speaking of, he looked to the surface of the lake and broke off the attack, diving straight towards it, but Shadow teleported to his path and gave him a nasty kick that sent him upwards.
The hedgehog used a homing attack and threw a few chaos spears at his foe, further dazing him. He then unleashed a fury of kicks and punches at the mutant, dozens of attacks per second that would overwhelm anyone, even a superpowered being like him.
The artificial being ended the combo with a powerful kick that could shatter stone. Namor was kicked with such force that he ended up on top of the cliff sides that surrounded the valley, hopping across the grass like a skipping stone.
He got up with a hiss, shaking the cobwebs from his head and gripping his spear so hard, his knuckles popped. This trio has truly gotten on his nerves and he has had enough of them.
The trio of Mobians leapt atop the grassy fields and had Namor in their sights. Like arrows, Team Dark zipped across the clifftops, Shadow skating across the grass with movements as smooth as a serpent's, Rouge flying partly above it, and Omega barreling through the air like a missile homing in on its target.
The trio quickly split apart, forcing Namor to focus only on one target, which was Shadow. The hedgehog teleported away, allowing Rouge to take advantage of his confusion and toss an impact grenade at the mutant, the explosion knocking him down to the ground, letting Omega fire a flamethrower at him, scorching his skin and igniting the grass around them.
With a thunderclap, Namor extinguished the immediate flames around him and launched his opponents away. With this clearing, he dived towards Omega, grabbing his flamethrower hands and crushing them with his great strength. A kick from Shadow knocked him off the robot and he tumbled across the greenery.
As Omega got up, Shadow caught his breath. This was going on for too long. Almost by instinct, he reached for his wrist bracers, but stopped himself from doing so. "It's time to end this," he muttered to his teammates, with Rouge just as exhausted as he was and Omega shifting his damaged hands back to his regular talons.
"AFFIRMATIVE." The robot said.
"Let's turn this guy into fish paste." The bat said, cracking her knuckles as Shadow began to glow red with Chaos energy as they saw Namor rushing towards them like an angry jaguar.
Shadow growled as his body began to flare up with more Chaos energy as he clenched his fists and prepared himself with a growl. Omega's body emitted steam to cool itself down and Rouge primed herself with two of her last remaining bombs as the mutant headed near them…
With a sudden burst of speed, the hedgehog was behind the Talokanil, delivering an elbow strike at the back of his head, then teleporting in front of him in an instant and delivering a powerful sucker punch using the same arm.
This was the cue for the other two to move in for their part to play. Omega shifted his hands into laser cannons and fired a dozen blasts at the mutant before shifting his hands back to its regular self and grabbing him by the head, giving it a good squeeze that could bend steel before reeling his other fist back and delivering a punch that can level skyscrapers to his ribs.
Omega let go of the Talokanil and let Rouge play her part. She rushed to the mutant and planted some sticky bombs to the sides of his head, backing up so that they detonated on his face, the flames from the explosions overtaking him for a brief moment as Rouge levitated up with her wings and just as the flames dissipated, she rushed down to him with her heels straight in his face, knocking him down to the ground and nearly gouging his eyes out with her heels.
She leapt out of the way for Shadow to add the final touch: a powerful leaping punch that indented the mutant in a crater. With his Chaos Boost at full power, he delivered several powerful punches to Namor's face, drawing blood with every strike and nearly knocking his teeth in before reeling both his fists back for a powerful double hammerfist strike that would have caved in a lesser being's face into pulp.
Shadow leapt off him, his Chaos Boost dissipating away. All three of them looked at their utterly battered opponent, exhausted from the battle. Even Omega felt tired and he was a machine.
Meanwhile, Namor lay there, looking up at the trio. Disbelief in his eyes. Him? The feathered serpent god was defeated by furries and a robot that barely reached his waist. He was so dumbstruck that he wasn't sure if he should feel humiliated, angered,or just plain burst into laughter of disbelief. Perhaps a combination of all three.
Shadow stepped forward, cracking his aching bones as he began to interrogate Namor, "tell us," he sternly said, "where is the doctor's base?"
Doctor? Who was he talking about? Strange? Voodoo? Doom?
"Eggman!" Shadow then clarified with a yell, "where is he hiding!?"
Namor knew nothing about this "Eggman." He flashed his teeth at Shadow anyways, a scowl forming on his face.
"He won't tell us anything." Rouge muttered.
"PERMISSION TO ANNIHILATE?" Omega asked, rather enthusiastically.
All the while, Namor clenched his hands, his aching muscles all over his body flexing as he nearly grinded his teeth to powder. He would not die to these beasts.
With adrenaline rushing through his body, Namor hissed and, with a sudden burst of speed, grabbed his spear, and plunged his weapon straight into Omega's joint that connects his left arm to his body. The vibranium tip easily pierced through his chassis and, with a simple twist, he severed the arm from his body!
"CRITICAL DAMAGE." Omega said, reeling from the hit before Namor thrust his spear into his upper body, nearly penetrating his core. The speed surprised the other two members of Team Dark where they just stood there, dumbfounded.
Rouge dive bombed in, wrapping her arms around Namor's head to get him off her friend. The mutant raised his arms and managed to grab her wing, pulling her off with such force that it was bent in the wrong direction with a sickening 'snap.'
Rouge screamed in pain as she was slammed down onto the ground. Namor raised a fist, intent on crushing her skull like a melon, but Shadow slammed into his side before he could do such a thing. When Namor was on the floor, Shadow activated his jet shoes again, dragging Namor along the grassy fields and delivering supersonic punches to his face, an entire trench being dug up from the struggle.
As dirt and roots were kicked up in the air, Namor managed to jam a thumb into Shadow's rather big eyes, making the hedgehog reel back in pain, giving Namor enough room for him to punch him off his body. Now he was on top of the hedgehog, delivering one earth shaking punch after another.
A left hook, followed by a right, then another right, followed by a few more left hooks and so on, with no clear pattern for the punches, keeping his opponent dazed. Namor was about to deliver another hook before Shadow opened his palm and launched a Chaos Spear directly in Namor's chest, dazing him before moving his legs to plant the soles of his shoes on Namor's face and activated his boosters yet again, this time to scorch it off.
The heat was comparable to that of the exhaust of a jet engine. All directed at the Talokanil's face. He screamed in agony as the flames began to sear at his skin before he punched the hedgehog's feet away and lunged a fist towards his side with such force that it cracked the ground beneath them… as well as a few of Shadow's ribs.
The ultimate life form gritted his teeth with such force, he's surprised he didn't break them as the pain rocked his body. He delivered a punch to Namor's face in return, knocking him off of him.
Both rolled away from each other a considerable distance before they both stood up, one's face seared with second-degree burns, the other clenching his side with pained grunts and spitting out a wad of blood. Both felt like they were on their last legs and that this fight has dragged on for far longer than it had to.
With a shaky breath, Namor raised his two fists up, he muttered in his native tongue before charging at Shadow one last time…
The hedgehog then reached behind him, pulling out what appeared to be a green diamond and yelled, "CHAOS CONTROL!" With that command, Namor's body moved slower and slower until it stopped altogether.
Time has crawled to a halt.
Ignoring the pain in his side, Shadow rushed behind the mutant and did a spin kick to the back of the Talokonil's head, letting time resume the minute he hit the ground, just as quickly as it froze.
Namor was on the ground and he looked around confused. He turned to see Shadow staring above him, eyes full of hate as he clenched the green diamond in his hand as it began to glow intensely. He then blinked and suddenly, they were miles above the ground, the hedgehog holding his neck at arm's length as his rocket shoes made them go up, up, and away.
Namor let out a punch to Shadow, but all that did was piss him off. The hedgehog seethed, flashing his teeth as his body began to glow red once more.
They passed through a cloud and Shadow tightened his grip on Namor's throat as the red Chaos Energy fully enveloped him.
"CHAOS….. BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAST!"
The clouds flashed red before dissipating as an explosion of pure chaos energy can be seen and heard for miles. Rouge and Omega looked up with both awe and worry before they saw two shapes falling down to the cliff below like meteors from the heavens.
On impact, both the shapes kicked up dirt and dust into the air, small craters forming on landing. Rouge shielded herself from the onslaught of debris while Omega just stared. As the dust finally dissipated, the shape next to them was revealed to be Shadow.
"SHA-SHA-SHADOW'S LIFESIGNS: CRI-CRITICAL." Omega stated as Rouge rushed to get her friend up. With a grunt, Shadow was on his feet, now clenching his side in pain as he was being supported by his ally.
"Shadow, you could have been killed!" Rouge worried.
Shadow dismissed her concerns, "I've survived worse." The thief was not impressed by that statement and helped him keep balance.
A stray groan was heard and all three heads perked towards it. It was Namor, groaning as he struggled to crawl his way out of the crater that he was in. Much of his sun-kissed skin was now scorched like charcoal.
The mutant could barely breathe, let alone move his body out of the crater. Was all he could weakly mutter before the sounds of footsteps forced him to look up. He looked up to see Team Dark glaring down at him, Shadow forming a new Chaos Spear in his hands, Rouge cracking her knuckles, and Omega just holding his severed arm, murder intent in his optics.
The Talokonil hissed with both pain and anger as he clenched his fists, his broken body aching with both his wounds and the sting of defeat. "Finish it," He said to them, his next words in his native language
The trio didn't know what he said at that last part, but the intention was clear. Shadow clenched his teeth as he brought his chaos spear upwards, its 'blade' pointing downwards right at Namor's head….
Just as he was about to bring the spear down, a metallic fist suddenly decked him across the face at supersonic speeds.
Team Dark leapt back in a defensive position, Shadow quickly recovering from the daze brought on by the punch. All three looked to see the source of the attack: A metallic hedgehog made in the image of a certain blue blur.
"Metal Sonic…" Shadow grimaced as his fists clenched and his eyes glowed with rage.
The robotic doppelganger emit a warbled noise, almost taunting Shadow as the searchlights from several aircraft from the Eggman empire shone upon Team Dark and Namor. The humming of the engines making way for Egg Fighters and Pawns that leapt from the ramps, surrounding the four injured souls.
Omega was practically seething seeing all these inferior robots and models around him, while Rouge prepped her last bomb. Shadow, on the other hand, realized that this was a fight they could not win.
The hedgehog made a decision. He seethed at both his pride and his body being wounded like this, but sometimes, you need to fold with the hand you're given. He pulled out his Chaos Emerald, making Metal Sonic seemingly jump in surprise before raising it up and yelling, "CHAOS CONTROL!"
The robotic doppelganger rushed towards Team Dark, but it was no use. A white flash encompassed them and as fast as it appeared, it disappeared, along with the rest of Team Dark.
Metal stood there for a few seconds, letting out a warbled noise that signaled frustration before he turned to see Namor's wounded body attempting to crawl away. The robot walked over to the mutant at a brisk pace and kicked his body on his back so that he may stare into his eyes. Whoever he was, he fought Team Dark and lived. Not many could say they accomplished such a feat, including Metal himself.
The voice of Eggman then spoke through the speakers built in Metal's body, "Well, aren't you an interesting little fellow?" The voice of Ivo said, "Now what could you have done to enrage Team Dark like that?"
Namor seethed and attempted to strike the metallic hedgehog with a sudden strike, but Metal caught his fist and twisted his wrist, adding more pain to his current state.
"Feisty, aren't we?" Eggman's voice taunted, "Metal… let's prepare a holding cell for our new visitor."
Metal balled a fist and struck with the speed of a lightning bolt and the strength of a missile, knocking the Talokanil out cold…