Anonymous Review Replies! (fic starts below, go to first line break! :))

Guest: Very good question! On my Ao3 profile I have a MCU Daredevil fic I'm still finishing and I do have a few drafts of other half-finished not-yet-published fics still lying around, hahah. Also, I will definitely finish "Advent of Equinox", just need to talk to Skyblaze about how we'll continue. And *then* of course, there's always Wikipedia:Hedgehogs… ;p

No One: Thank you! :D Yeah, I'm having a ball of a time adapting the SA2 storyline with new beats that make sense for the relationships the characters have in this AU :) (and, of course, with more puke lol) Knuckles makes any scene instantly 3 times funnier, so I also enjoy having him anywhere I can possibly put him. XD Also, more Maria and Ivo interaction coming up! I just love the entire family :3 As for the Shadow doppelganger…well, please read on to find out! Thank you for the wonderful comment!

JustSomeRando: Aw thank you! :) I always hope the characters feel real because my love for them is real. /corny, but yeah I love the juxtaposition of real feelings, insecurities with the whacky scenarios they bounce through with their powers. :D I also actually have an account on Ao3 (also Taranea), but I haven't published much sonic stuff on there since it seems it has a much smaller audience - I think ffnet is bigger for videogame fandoms? I might port them in the future, though, I also prefer the look!

DEV: Aaaaah, danke danke danke! Ich hab immer den persönlichen headcanon, dass Rouge sich absichtlich von Knuckles hat auffangen lassen, ansonsten müsste sie sehr vergesslich in Bezug auf ihre Flügel sein XD Aber jo, Rule of Funny hat hier die Chance für Knuckles ruiniert - aber vielleicht gibt es ja noch später eine…? ;P Und jo, Maria und Robotnik im selben Raum, darauf warte ich auch schon die ganze Zeit, dass ich das schreiben kann! :D Ich hoffe, es hat sich ausgezahlt, wenn jetzt die Konfrontation ihren Lauf nimmt…Hoffe dir gefällt das nächste Kapitel und wie immer MEGA danke für den ultra langen Kommentar!

DeMomentoAnonimo: Aahahah, I *loved* writing Shadow's chaotic 'love' life, he is SO not equipped to deal with any of it! As for pairings, it's the first time I've written Shadow having feelings for Sally, but in this setting (his family is still alive and he feels very fish-out-of-water) I thought she was very good fit for first romantic attempts :D I also enjoy Sonic/Amy as a canon background pairing - as in, there's hints here and there even if Sonic doesn't do the whole domestic romance thing :3 I also absolutely LOVE Knuxouge, because the two of them drive each other up the wall, but Rouge will of course flirt with anyone, especially if it gets them flustered XD Thank you so much for that absolutely wonderful review, I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic!

Dude: I _think_ you have me confused with someone else, I never deleted any of my fics nor did I write a fic by that title - did it perhaps get purged because it was rated M?

CursesRevenge: Of course! My favourite Sonic author, JudasFm did it like that and I definitely want to show my appreciation for anyone who takes the time to leave a comment! :D As for your questions about Life Could Have Been So Different and how it corresponds to this story, eh, it's a bit convoluted because when I wrote that fic I hadn't yet planned on writing *this* fic, so the frame story of LCHBSD with Tails dead and Sonic depressed has absolutely NOTHING to do with this one! Only the backstory about how Shadow and Maria grew up and ultimately ended up on Earth is, so no worries on that front, the future of our heroes in this fic is still very much undecided. :) And no worries, still working on leaving no fic unfinished!

Nordmann: A battle between two geniuses indeed! I'm super happy that so many are hyped to see those two clash! I really hope you enjoy the new chapter and thanks for the comment!

Quicksilver: Ahahah, thank you! A very good catalogue of questions, with of course the most important one, Tails' prom date. XD Hope you enjoy the new chapter!

eren: Aaaah, I can see the enthusiasm through the letters! XD (and yes, 'Dexter' is a reference to Sonic Chronicles, good catch ;p) I'm so happy you're enjoying the Archie cameos as well, I BINGED those comics so hard! :D I love playing with the different Sonic canons and there's so many! And I absolutely love writing characters that struggle with self-worth but find friends and ways to define it :33 (and yes, I enjoy tumblr discussions and jokes all too much hahah) I suppose us humans being persistence hunters is also how I'm still on track for this fic, I can be *very* persistent if I want to - plus I keep my promises :P Really hope you enjoy the rest of this fic, I know I enjoyed your comment!

SkyTheHedgehog: wow, thank you for this massive comment! :D I really enjoy treating all of the characters with love and respect and do my best to write them as funny, love- or relatable. :) It helps that there are nearly no Sonic characters I *don't* like! All of them have something cute, funny or cool about them that I enjoy. Also, I know that every character is the fav character of *someone* at least and if that person reads the story, I hope they enjoy them. And hey, you *might* just be onto something where Silver is concerned! ;P Please read on to find out! (and yes, he's totally fourteen. Poor kid). As for any Sonic canons you missed, there are also a couple of characters from the British Sonic the Comic publication, which had a…slighty different take on Sonic, hahah. You're also right about me playing fast and loose with the canon timeline of the games, I enjoy being able to put in references to as many games as I can and most of them didn't change the canon universe, much, so pretty any order works :) And thank you for the recs, I haven't had much time to read/write any fanfiction in the last few years but I'll keep them in mind! Hope you enjoy the rest of the fic!

Wirewolf: Ahh, re-reads, the highest order of compliments! :D I also really enjoy any Shadow-and-Sonic-getting-to-know-an-equal storylines, I loved writing this while fic! I also prefer publishing on Ao3, actually, but I think the readership for sonic is rather small on there! Thank you so much for the continued comments, I hope you like the new chapter, too!

Guest: Today! :D

Aharon: Ahah, if you think *those* puns were bad, just wait till they go shopping! XD I'm so glad you had fun reading the story and thanks so much for all those comments! I really loved hearing about all the little things you enjoyed :)

Luka: That is SUCH a lovely review, thank you! Re-reads are always such compliments and I'm really happy to hear that the backstories work so well they stay with you even after the story is over :)

Guest: Thank you! I hope you get a pleasant surprise with the new update sometime in the future, then :)

Guest: Not anymore!

Red: Aw thank you! I really hope you enjoy the new chapter! It was continued reviews like yours that helped push me through the drought. :)

LLuvia-the-Wolfgirl: Hope the unholy screeching wasn't too taxing on your throat! ;P (though I think that might be very much in the spirit of Sticks in this fic!) XD

What happened so far:

Weeell, when we all left our heroes (like almost two years ago oh gods), the Eclipse Cannon countdown was only twenty minutes to Liechtenstein's demise! Now Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles and Tails (who have been joined by Maria and Amy aboard the ARK…somehow), are confronting Robotnik in the control room, doing their best to make the Doctor stop the cannon countdown - only the evil scientist has shielded himself off behind a Chaos disruptor field, which led to Maria proposing a desperate measure…!

Chapter 32: Four Hedgehogs and an Eclipse Cannon

Robotnik looked at Maria, dead man's switch in her hand, eyes narrowed behind unfathomably dark glasses.

"You wouldn't."

Maria stared back, not breaking his gaze. "I have had a foot in the grave my whole life, cousin. Do you really think I would be scared to jump?"

The older scientist didn't reply directly, just gave her another long, measuring glance. Shadow wondered whether there was even a trace of approval in it, sick and twisted as it was.

"Hrrrm. Perhaps you would indeed. Cousin," he said, the word weighty in the space between them. "This clashing of two Robotniks as the event it would take to raze our whole bloodline from the planet, then? A fitting end, perhaps," he said, now slowly striding toward the force field separating them, Maria tensing up as he closed in, but not actually leaning back even an inch even as he came to a stop just a few feet in front of her, forcing her to look up at him even as she stood as the tallest of her friends.

"But what, girl, about the others you brought into this? Are you ready to kill them, too?" Robotnik asked, tone veering between mocking but also somewhere, an unsettling curiosity.

Maria swallowed, but her arm holding the dead man's switch didn't shake as she tilted her face up at the towering scientist before her. "I - we - we all knew the stakes," she said, voice at first hesitant, but then briefly looking down, taking another breath and when she stared back up at Robotnik again, there wasn't a trace of timidity left in her eyes. "And I don't want to kill anyone. But." She raised the hand with the switch in it again. "Good has always required sacrifice, so I absolutely will. Stop the countdown, Ivo."

For a moment, Robotnik actually seemed to be taken aback at her tone, lip pulling back to reveal what looked like an involuntary snarl, before he seemed to catch himself again, turning the bared teeth into a grin utterly without humour. "Oh, really? Ready to die, are you?" he asked, leaning in, the grin growing on his face like a fungus. "You and the hedgehogs, maybe. Loathsome species seems to have a collective death wish anyway," he scoffed, tilting his head as if to let his gaze swerve dismissively over Amy, Shadow and Sonic.

"But…" he tilted his head. "The fox kid is eight years old, Maria," he said, voice almost kind, while the red emergency lights of the countdown flashed and reflected in his glasses like flames, the two black circles like holes into a ever-burning furnace as he bent forward, staring straight into Maria's eyes at her level. "And look how he is crying, trying to be so brave. Are you ready to have a child's death on your conscience? Cousin?"

"Crying? Tails-?" At this, Maria did turn her head, briefly glancing backwards at Tails, who very much was not crying, but instead rapidly shaking his head,

"No! I- I'm ready to protect the Earth! And I'm almost nine-!"

"But too slow!"

"What-?!" Maria whirled around again as the sound of an explosion ripped through the bridge room, a flash of light and heat and acrid engine smoke, briefly outlining Robotnik in a hellish halo as the main bridge console behind him had just gone up in flames.

"NO!" Maria shouted, eyes wide with horror. "What the - why would you do that?!"

"Ah, but that should be obvious, no?" Robotnik asked, self-satisfied as a cat when the mouse in its claws finally realizes there never had been a way out. In his hand he was still holding the weapon he had drawn in the split-second Maria had looked away and used to shoot the console, previously having positioned himself in just such a way to cover the gun behind his back. "That's it for the mechanism. I've disabled bridge control, so there's no way for anyone to stop the countdown from here, so your threat has just been rendered worthless. Not quite a Robotnik genius yet, I don't think, cousin! OHOHOHOH!" Robotnik laughed, the countdown on the monitor behind him at 15 minutes and counting, red numbers continuing to run down as Maria looked on, absolutely horrified at what she'd done.

"But - what?! The whole point of this thing was for you to have the ability to call it off as a bargaining chip, right?" Amy shouted, her expression equally desperate. "You want to rule over the planet, not destroy it, wasn't that the idea?!"

"Why, certainly!" Robotnik agreed, raising his index finger in affirmation, right before turning it into a dismissive handwave, "-however, I never expected the planet to give in before a demonstration of power anyway." He shrugged. "To be fair, in their place I would have gambled Liechtenstein, too. Obnoxiously hard to spell."

"You're completely insane," Knuckles stared at him. "You realize when we have gotten through that forcefield, the only planet you'll get will be a world of hurt, right?"

"A useless threat, echidna, when I still have my teleporter up here and the world will already legally have surrendered," Robotnik purred. "One hit is all I need to make them fear me, and that will be happening in oh, 14 and a half minutes now, in perfect view from this bridge."

"Bridge. Bridge!" Maria suddenly exclaimed, before gripping Shadow's arm. "Shadow, he's only disabled bridge control."

"Wha- oh," Shadow replied, rapidly blinking. "Of course!"

"Hrm? What now?" Robotnik asked, his own glee disappearing, irritation taking its place. "I don't like your intonation of 'bridge'. Take that intonation back."

"Oh, like hell she will, Doctor," Shadow could feel his lips pull apart to show nothing but teeth, "Not quite as familiar with the Professor's creations as you would like, are you?"

"Nope, he isn't," Maria replied cheerfully, before turning to her cousin, "And it seems like you have a lot to learn on the genius front if you think it's a good idea to attack a Robotnik on their home turf," she added, before turning back to Shadow. "Take Sonic for back-up, you're the only ones who can get there fast enough. Me and Tails can start with disabling the Chaos disruptor field and then repair bridge control."

"Woah, woah, take me where?" Sonic held his hands up. "What's happening?"

"The Doctor doesn't know the ARK as well as he should," Shadow said smugly. "And just because he's disabled bridge control, doesn't mean we can't stop the cannon from firing. We just have to go…a bit closer to the source. Core control," he said, pointing straight down below. He gave a smirk just as the countdown ticked down to the 11th minute. "Ready for a final rush?"

"Now just wait a minute-!" Robotnik had started protesting, but Sonic was already grinning back at him, green eyes freshly alight. "Born ready."

"This isn't what's supposed to be happening!" Robotnik shouted, voice full of indignation, but the heroes of Mobius were already moving, Knuckles actually starting to look thoughtful, too.

"You two go down to core control, Maria and Tails try to take back bridge control as plan B," he said, "But I was also thinking…the cannon is powered by the Chaos Emeralds, right?"

"Right," Maria nodded.

"In that case, I'll get to repairing the Master Emerald," Knuckles said, at the same time also somehow reaching into his spines to retrieve an absolutely massive amount of shards that should never have fit there, "With some luck I'll be able to neutralize the power of the Chaos Emeralds and disable the Eclipse Cannon that way. Might be faster than you two maniacs, even," he nodded toward Sonic and Shadow with a smirk.

"Hah, in your dreams!" Sonic shot back, before glancing at the rest of them "Tails, Maria, you gonna be okay?"

"Eyup," Tails nodded. "I'll try and disperse Robotnik's Chaos disruptor field."

"And I'll try and wrest back as many of the ARK's controls as I can," Maria added cheerfully. "Not much my cousin can do since he destroyed half of his on his part of the bridge."

"Now wait a minute-!" Robotnik sputtered as he heard that, but Sonic waved him off.

"Ah, Eggman, waiting is the one thing I don't do! Amy, will you watch out for those two meanwhile?"

"Sure thing!" Amy exclaimed happily, also brandishing her giant hammer once more. "I'll just wait until Tails has this forcefield down and then I'll show you what it means to interrupt my date at Twinkle Park with Sonic - twice!" she smiled at Robotnik with the sweetest expression and, to his credit, the man at least blanched. "Now hurry up so we can all prepare for Prom!"

"Alright! Lead the way, Shads!" Sonic called out, and Shadow nodded and did - his skates flaring to life as he lifted off and shot out of the control room toward the part of the ARK where the Eclipse cannon was emerging from it, Sonic hot on his heels and Robotnik's shouts rapidly fading from earshot.

xxx

"Okay, so…how do we actually disable the cannon once we get there?" Sonic asked as they were racing along darkened corridors, Shadow carefully keeping his eyes ahead and not in any dark corners where maybe the clean-up crews had not been thorough after the massacre.

"Once we get there? Easy," Shadow said. "Right at the base where it's supposed to fire, there's the core control panel. Smashing it would be fastest."

"My favourite kind of control panel!" Sonic exclaimed brightly, clapping his hands. "Practical engineering for the hedgehog on the run. Good work from your grandfather. Or, uh, creator."

"If we survive, I'll make sure to tell him," Shadow grunted, leaping into one of the open turbolift shafts and hearing Sonic follow, the blue hedgehog not hesitating in the least to jump into the darkness below, easily grabbing onto the same cables when Shadow did and swinging himself through another lift opening a couple of storeys deeper, as if they had been born to fight in unison.

"Yeah, he's still on Mobius, right? What's he doing there?" Sonic asked as they landed, rushing through the lower levels of the ARK, less sleek than the bridge area and far more industrial as they began to move through the military decks, where Shadow had only ever been dragged when GUN had had ownership of him, training him to be a mindless weapon. Images of the other hedgehog experiment he had been forced to kill flashed through his mind and he tried to shake them off, concentrating on Sonic's question instead.

"Last I saw he had barricaded himself in his office at university. Perhaps for the best," Shadow replied. At Sonic's quizzical expression, he added, "He's very…not fond of the way I tend to try and solve problems," he said, trying to let his voice sound wry, while a part of him as always felt like curling up in shame, his character the complete opposite of what his creator had envisioned him as.

"Not sure what he'd say to Maria threatening to kill her cousin, then, either," Sonic raised an eye ridge and gave a bit of a nervous laugh. "You, uh, think she actually would have blown us all up?"

"What, worried you made one comment about "weak human constitution" too many?" Shadow shot back, and was rewarded with Sonic sticking his tongue out at him as they careened around a corner, further away even from the living quarters of the soldiers and deeper, far deeper into the pulsating mechanical organs of the ARK than he had ventured even when he still lived here.

"Heh. No, I just...I guess I almost forgot what family you guys are from," Sonic's shrug was fluid, hands splayed outwards as they ran through the metal gloom, "But I figure that's what you should expect from anyone with the name Robotnik, huh?" he asked, and Shadow's expression froze at the words, a cold washing over him that had nothing to with descending toward levels of the ARK that had no heating installed because there was no life around to support.

What you should expect.

No one aboard the ARK but Maria and the professor had ever expected anything else but cold-blooded murder from him, when they knew about what he could do, his artificial origin as much a brand on his skin as the name of his creator. And he hadn't cared, had often enough agreed with them, no matter how often Maria had told him that he wasn't just a weapon, an experiment in killing - that he was - good…

From anyone with the name Robotnik.

It hadn't been until getting to know everyone else - Amy, flashing through his head, looking at him in kind confusion, you're my friend, Shadow and a good person - that he had almost considered believing it.

I almost forgot what family you are from.

And now - just like that, it was back to this? Even Sonic convinced, deep down, their entire family were executioners when push came to shove, the atrocities the Doctor had committed just the visible fruitbody on a family tree that was rotten through with mold to the core.

It shouldn't hurt.

That was what he had come here for. That was what the Robotnik name meant by now, ultimately, and why he could stop fretting about whether or not he should take it as his own, because underneath his white gloves his hands were already as red as the Doctor's coat and if he took it, he'd just be adding to their family's body count.

It shouldn't hurt.

"Uh, Shadow?" Sonic had stopped as he had stopped, inside a large, empty hangar next to a giant, hexagonal door that was still closed.

"What you should expect from anyone with the name 'Robotnik', huh?" Shadow echoed, tonelessly, not looking at the other. He grabbed the lever to open the door and wrenched it downwards, the metal moaning as it began to move apart ever so slowly.

"Er…yeah?" Sonic answered. "Just, y'know, either trying to blow up a country or assembling a bomb in a minute and then threaten to blow up an entire space station with yourself on it if it saves the planet, that's, well," he said, but now there was something in his tone, that let Shadow look up, something that didn't sound damning but - Shadow blinked. Sonic was smiling?

"Yes? That's what?" Shadow had to force himself to keep holding the lever down that was opening the large door against the air pressure equalizing itself, mostly because a part of him wanted nothing more than to grab Sonic by his non-existent chest fur to shake the words out of him faster.

"Uh, "Sonic said, apparently a bit taken aback by Shadow's intensity, but then his features softened again, transforming into a lop-sided grin, hands spread open at his side, "just - for bad or for good, you guys sure don't do things by halves. I can respect that."

Shadow blinked. "For bad. Or for…good?"

"That's what I said, yeah," Sonic tilted his head. "Is core control behind that door?"

"Almost," Shadow nodded, releasing the lever as the door had opened enough for the two of them to slip through, entering a wide, seemingly endless and barren metal corridor, Shadow starting to skate along it, Sonic following. "This is a shuttle launching chute. Leads to an old access gangway they didn't take down after the ARK completed construction," he said, green strips of LED guidance lighting flitting over their faces - not that anyone would have been crazy enough to use that gangway now, unprotected from meteor strikes and open to the black vacuum below.

Except, of course, that they were.

"Core control is at the base of the cannon on the outside of the station, so this is the fastest way to get there." He looked over at Sonic, light and darkness on his face ever-interchanging as they raced toward the exit, fur switching from blue to black in fractions of a second and back again. "So you think what Maria did was….good. That she's good."

The other gave him a bit of a curious look in return. "She gave Eggman a chance to step down. And she wouldn't have pulled the trigger if Tails had been scared, Shadow. Of course she is."

"...right." Shadow's eyes narrowed as in the distance, the exit hole of the chute was coming into view, beyond it the darkness of space. "So. Destroying the planet. Or Saving it. As you said, for bad or for good," Shadow repeated, facing forward again. "is what the Robotnik name can mean," he clarified, when Sonic still looked at him, not quite comprehending. "Which also means I think I'm done fretting about the Doctor 'sullying' it, because he doesn't get to define it."

"Uh - cool," Sonic commented, their speed steadily increasing as they rushed down the runway. "That been bothering you, huh?"

Shadow shook his head. "Only until now. My creator is a Robotnik and he is different from the Doctor. Maria just chose to be different." He nodded at Sonic, who was now running side-by-side with him. "So I can make the Robotnik name mean something else than what he did, too."

"Heh," Sonic's eyes flashed as he actually sped up even more, forcing Shadow to increase his skates' power output if he wanted to keep pace. "Nice. Guess you'll never cease to surprise me - Robotnik." He shot him a small grin over his shoulder. "Glad you didn't die in that capsule in space!"

"You know, what can I say?" Shadow shot back, the two of them now Finally Chasing each other down the corridor towards the ramp, at last shooting a smirk at the other hedgehog as he remembered a familiar quote. "I die hard!"

Sonic laughed at that, turning back from looking at Shadow toward the opening in front of them where the corridor led out onto a mad bridge underneath the metal sky of the ARK, below their feet soon nothing but a thin sheet of metal and then thousands of miles under that the shining blue planets surface, beckoning with a fiery death upon reentry in its atmosphere -

"But die you will."

And Shadow almost crashed into Sonic again as a very familiar figure had dropped down right onto the bridge in front of them, Chaos flames burning in its outstretched hand like a deadly promise.

"Your adventuring days are coming to an end," the other Shadow stated like a guarantee.

xxx

"You seem awfully calm, Ivo."

Robotnik snorted. The bridge was still separated into two halves by a fizzing Chaos disruptor field, the rotund human scientist on the one side, Maria, Tails, Amy and Knuckles on the other. Almost ten minutes had gone by since Shadow and Sonic had departed for a mad chase toward the Eclipse Cannon's on-site controls and most of them had been spent with Maria working on one of the bridge consoles, hands flying over the keyboard, Tails having opened up a wall panel and furiously screwing and unscrewing things, assembling some gadget or other next to it, and Robotnik just as determinedly repairing the destroyed console on his side. All in all it looked like the most passive-aggressive science fair, also complimented by Knuckles, who was exhibiting the special kind of frustration of putting a thousand piece puzzle together where all the pieces have the same colour and also, the puzzle itself is pissed at you.

The only one actually appearing relaxed in the setting was Amy, who was mostly strolling back and forth along the forcefield keeping her separated from Robotnik, twirling her hammer over her shoulder and humming what sounded like 'Pop! Goes the Weasel!', (or possibly 'Let The Bodies Hit the Floor'). To her credit, Robotnik did flinch a little occasionally.

Now he tilted his head a little toward Maria who had spoken, even if neither of them actually lifted their face from their work.

"Indeed. And why shouldn't I? Within minutes the greatest blue-quilled pain in my neck will hopefully be dead from my defence measures, and grandfather's 'Ultimate Lifeform' along with it - regrettably so for the genius of his creation, but I have learned that it's much better to squash meddlesome hedgehogs the first time they annoy you." Robotnik tightened a screw with much more force than necessary.

"Dead? As if!" Tails piped up. "Even if there's that weird Shadow look-alike somewhere still around, or whatever the ARK's defence measures are, none of it stands a chance against Sonic! Your stuff will just crash and burn like it always does!"

"Will it now, fox boy," Robotnik appeared to speak almost inaudibly through gritted teeth, before he took a breath and continued markedly more grandly, "I mean, is that what you think, Tails? Then better think again! You don't believe I would exclusively rely on creations by someone else, even my own grandfather? I have some pride, thank you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Amy, grip on her hammer tightening.

"Oh," Robotnik purred with sadistic glee, "You'll find out. Though I suppose that blasted hedgehog will first…"

xxx

"Yeah, I don't think so! C'mon Shads, only five minutes till Liechtenstein is Lightsout-enstein, let's go!" Sonic yelled, already moving, charging toward the exit of the tunnel and toward the dark figure that stood there against a backdrop of stars, its hand alight with chaos energy, a mockery of Shadow's sense of self solidified.

"Chaos Spear!"

The projectile of energy only barely zapping past his head shocked Shadow out of his freeze; his doppelganger had attempted to hit Sonic, but the hero of Mobius had merely dodged out of the way, taunting and laughing like this was still a game to him.

"Missed me! Guess that's what they call a copy error!"

There was pure murder flashing in the doppelganger's eyes. "I will destroy you! You and my inferior model!"

"Like hell you will," Shadow finally managed to snarl, also willing himself to move, to hurry after Sonic toward the exit of the chute, leading onto the open runway outside. Currently Sonic was still charging ahead, heedless of the other black hedgehog squaring up to meet him, more Chaos energy crackling along the double's arms.

"Wanna block my way? Great! I was super in the mood for bowling!" Sonic called out, at the same time throwing himself forward to curl up into a ball and shooting toward the other black hedgehog, forcing him to dodge if he didn't want to get barrelled down and possibly slammed over the edge of the walkway. Shadow knew there was nothing below it but darkness and, miles and miles below, Earth's blue atmosphere, whose fiery embrace would be a death sentence for anyone not able to fly.

"Sonic! Don't overshoot, he's gonna–!" Shadow shouted, already knowing what was going to happen, just as the other Shadow raised his arms.

"I will show you the true power of Chaos Control!"

As anticipated, the doppelganger vanished in a flash as Sonic shot through the space he had just been in, Shadow following just about a dozen yards behind. The roof of the tunnel receded over them and just like that, they were in space.

Shadow almost stopped again at the sight.

From the hole in the wall they had emerged from, the ARK rose tall and curved, like a wall becoming an impossibly removed metal sky overhead; rectangular protrusions were jutting down from it like stalactites to the left and right of the walkway, the lights on their outsides illuminating the pathway ahead like buoys a dangerous passage in the black sea, burning streaks of meteor fragments passing by and splashing red firelight onto the walkway like waves in a storm.

But there was no time for marvelling, or soon enough all that illumination would pale when the Eclipse Cannon fired. At the same point, Sonic had also already rolled to a halt, smoothly uncurling into a crouch, green eyes widening as he, too, took in their surroundings - leaving him wide open for the doppelganger reappearing as expected in a flash behind Sonic's head, metal-tipped skate already rushing in a round-house kick to meet the blue-hedgehog's temple -

only for Shadow's Chaos Spear to hit him squarely in the chest and Sonic transforming his crouch into a breakdance-like movement, dodging the double's attack by dropping down onto his back and swivelling around to kick upwards, the double impact of Shadow's Chaos Spear and Sonic's sneakers slamming the other Shadow backwards onto the runway with a solid thud! for impact.

He raised his head with a snarl, already up on his elbows again, "What…?!"

"Too slow, again! What, you think we wouldn't wise up to your tricks? I know how Chaos Control works now, too!" Sonic grinned, twisting back into a half-kneeling stance with Shadow coming to a stop behind him, both of them looking down at the black doppelganger.

"Impossible. What are you?" the other Shadow climbed back to his feet as Sonic rose as well, Shadow biting his tongue before admitting that yes, he had wondered that as well at times -

"Well, what you see is what you get. Just a guy who loves adventure," Sonic grinned, before starting to walk toward the other hedgehog, Shadow automatically taking the position at his side, the doppelganger actually taking a step back before their advancing front, a definite shift in the power dynamic compared to the fight in the jungle now that the other's Chaos Control advantage was gone.

The other Shadow's eyes started to take on a hint of stress as their walk was about to break into a run, Sonic's grin growing ever wider, "Let's show you the real power of teamw-!"

But just as they had almost reached the other, about to either barrel through him or blast him out of the way, there was the noise of an engine howling. Before either of them could react, something rocketed up from below the runway in an arc above their heads, for a moment their silhouette just barely recognizable against the background of red meteor fire - right before it tore straight down into Sonic like a meteorite itself, shock lending it the microsecond advantage it needed.

"Sonic, back!" Shadow yelled, at the same time grabbing the other hedgehog and yanking him away, barely in time to hear him scream as the figure had to have torn into him, Shadow just managing a "Chaos Control!" to teleport them backwards from their attacker. Not far, just a few yards - with the energy from the Chaos Emeralds in the Eclipse Canon building up, anything further would have become erratically dangerous, more likely to let them materialize above the chasm rather than on the runway - but enough to reassess the situation, assess the damage -

Shadow could feel his heart drop as he saw the bright red blood quelling from three long gashes across Sonic's chest like from some sort of predator claws, the other hedgehog immediately collapsing to his knees as they rematerialized.

"Agh!"

"Sonic!" Shadow choked, out of reflex dropping down to one knee and quickly trying to determine the severity of the wound - which seemed to be thankfully shallow, no organs or muscles ruptured. Maybe Sonic had managed to flinch back at the last second to at least avoid having his abdomen sliced completely open? The mental image sent a cold shockwave through Shadow, once more a realization that there was a part of him that apparently cared not only for the younger, more innocent members of their group but even for their obnoxious loudmouth leader.

"Shit - ah, that hurts," Sonic managed, clutching at the cut, but already trying to get up which Shadow didn't stop, his eyes snapping back up instead to look at what exactly had even hit the blue hedgehog when in all the battles he had seen him in, nearly no one had been able to put even a small mark on Sonic.

As he did, he was just in time to see a three-quilled figure up in the air above, dropping down with a heavy clank to land next to the other Shadow, their gaze still fixated on the blue hedgehog at Shadow's feet. In response, Shadow thought he could see Sonic actually paling a little, lips forming a word that seemed stuck in his throat.

"What the - what the hell is that?" Shadow hissed, already rising and summoning a Chaos Spear of his own into his hand at his side.

"Ah. The Ultimate Lifeform, I presume?" The attacker raised their head, red, artificial eyes gleaming at Shadow. "Then as all lifeforms you should kneel before your master!" the robotic voice of the blue-and-silver metal hedgehog droned.

xxx

"Professor Robotnik, a statement!"

"What are you intending to do about your grandson's threat?!"

"Parenting Weekly absolutely *needs* you for an interview of How Not To Do It!"

"I knew it. I knew I should have stayed in space," Gerald muttered frantically, greying moustache frazzled as he was also trying to get the teleporter device in front of him to work; with the hordes of journalists outside he was pretty much trapped in the university lab he had barricaded himself into, but he needed to get up to the ARK; if Ivo indeed used the Eclipse Cannon he head engineered to wreak immeasurable mass murder on this world, Gerald already knew that even if he survived, he would never forgive himself for this. No. He needed to stop this.

A loud SLAP!-sound against the window let him jerk and stare at the fruit bat now desperately clinging to it, also waving a microphone.

"Professor Robotnik! Sir! Would you give me an interview for Fox News? Please?! I only got the job on a nomenclature technicality, I need this-!"

"NO!" Gerald yelled, also reaching out and yanking down the jalousie in front of the window. "Leave me alone, you vultures!"

"Okay, that is so speciecist-," a different (but definitely bird-like) voice complained outside, but Gerald desperately tried to tune it out. He needed to find a way to get up to the ARK, and the easiest way would be if he managed to build a teleporter, but the parts in the laboratory he needed to move around and manipulate for that were too heavy for him to maneuver alone. And with the crowd of reporters pressing around the entrances, there was no way any help could get to him - this was a godsawful situation and he was hard-pressed not to be reminded of an even worse one, when he had been trapped in a very similar laboratory, frantically working on an escape capsule while outside people were dying in a GUN-ordered massacre. Like the rest of his family, Gerald was an atheist, but it was times like these were he would give anything for a voice from above to suddenly speak to him and say-

"SO sorry for breaking in, but I really need your help!"

Gerald's head snapped up, mostly because that voice had spoken from above.

But he doubted God sounded like a very anxious teenage boy.

"What in the world," Gerald croaked as he actually beheld what - or rather who - he saw. Somehow, the skylight of the laboratory had been opened and was now swinging shut again, the entire frame engulfed in a soft, blue glow - and hovering right underneath it, obviously just having come through the window, was a silver-furred hedgehog, wide amber eyes glancing down at him nervously and expression hugely apologetic.

"I swear I don't mean any harm, but - you need to help me get up to the Eclipse Cannon!"

"To the -" Gerald tried to place the obviously telekinetic hedgehog as he floated downwards, and then it clicked. "Wait. I recognize you from the school's homepage. Aren't you Shadow's history teacher? What on earth do you want on the ARK?!"

"Ah. Yes. Technically," the silver hedgehog winced, then tried a pained grin. "Would you believe me that I think he's up there and I really need his homework essay handed in today…?"

xxx

Sonic said a word Shadow thought he probably wouldn't say in front of Tails.

"What the - Sonic, what is this?!" Shadow repeated, aware that time was running out. The robot creature in front of them looked like a weird mechanical mockery of Sonic, triangular head ending in three large spikes, its (his?) sclera black as a dead screen, and what couldn't possibly be described other than hatred burning in the diodes that made up his red eyes.

The center of the chest was hollowed out, a yellow jet turbine set where a heart would have been, which must have allowed him to rocket up from the space below. His silver fingers were long and sharp enough that a very old instinct at the back of your head told you that these were wrong, were claws, this wasn't a person but a predator, and they gleamed red with Sonic's blood at their tips.

But whatever this new arrival was, they could not afford to be held up by it, the countdown still ticking. Fortunately, Sonic also appeared more or less steady on his feet again, teeth bared.

"Metal Sonic," he growled into Shadow's direction, one hand clutching at the gash. "Result of Eggman realizing his regular robots sucked, so he made an especially insane one."

"Insanity is assuming you are the superior one. There can only be one Sonic," the robot droned. "Prepare for annihilation."

"Yeah. You know what?" Shadow asked, stepping forward and pulling the Emerald he still had from his quills, feeling it augment the energy of the Chaos gathering in his hand tenfold. "I've had it up to here with wannabe doppelgangers. CHAOS SPEAR!"

xxx

Shadow's Chaos projectile exploded on the walkway, yellow light driving back the darkness and red gloom from the overhead meteors and forcing both the other Shadow as well as the robot Sonic to evade, opening the way for both of them to dash past the doppelgangers, toward the Eclipse Cannon ahead.

"You gonna be holding up?" Shadow threw Sonic a quick glance, but the blue hedgehog running next to him seemed to be doing a good job of moving despite the wound.

"Probably. Adrenaline's one heck of a drug," Sonic retorted, eyes briefly glancing back at the other pair of hedgehogs that had taken up pursuit. "And man, I really hoped that guy had melted in that volcano," he added, indicating that this, apparently, was not the first time a battle with the robot had happened in a rather lethal environment. "Can't you just Chaos Control to the Eclipse cannon base?"

Shadow shook his head. "Too narrow a window with only the runway to aim for and the atmosphere here is more Chaos Energy than air. I would only recommend very short-range teleports-"

And that was as far as he got before Metal Sonic's jet engine screamed and the pair of the two doppelgangers was upon them.

The fight was madness. Shadow figured no one but the four of them would even have been able to make head or tail of what was happening, attacks, blocks and Chaos Energy so bright it hurt exchanged and colliding in a flurry within seconds, the entire runway a battlefield. Against the backdrop of the ARK's pulsating lights overhead, the surges of red-and-black glowing meteors screaming past far too close for comfort - perhaps heated fragments of the moon the Eclipse Cannon had destroyed now falling down to earth - and the blinding flashes and explosions of Chaos in their battle it looked like the four of them were dancing in fire, a choreography where a foot wrong would mean death.

"Think again," Shadow growled as Metal Sonic went for a swipe at him, but instead was thrown wide when Shadow kicked up, metal claws colliding with Shadow's steel-tipped shoe; Sonic shot forward, a homing attack hitting the robot squarely in the chest, quills screaming along the metal casing as the robot was pushed back, would have gone over the railing and plummeted to his death if the jet hadn't ignited and brought him back up like an avenging metal angel. The other Shadow was also already there, throwing a Chaos-augmented punch at the back of Sonic's head that Sonic barely twisted to avoid before vanishing again as Shadow's Chaos Spear sliced through where he had just been standing, passing by inches at the side of Sonic's face who didn't even flinch.

"Run! With Metal, every second counts!" Sonic yelled instead, grabbing Shadow by the arm and pulling him along, not bothering to wait if he could see the black hedgehog doppelganger reappear. Even through the fabric of his glove, Shadow's senses could pick up the pulse in Sonic's hand racing, whether from bloodloss or apprehension about their opponents he could not tell. But the way green eyes hardly ever left the blue robot and any trace of humour having vanished from Sonic's expression said enough.

"- Control. Chaos Spear!" the other Shadow yelled at that point, materializing in front of them and Sonic and Shadow had to burst apart to avoid the same attack with which Shadow had cleared their way earlier; Metal Sonic came blasting up behind them as soon as they weren't going at full speed ahead any more and nearly took Shadow's head off, Shadow barely managing to avoid the swipe of claws this time without falling over the railing of the runway. The end of the gangway was already coming within view, the control panel visible at the base of the cannon but almost impossible to reach while they were still fighting.

"Oh for-! Sonic! You get to the Eclipse Cannon, I'll keep them busy!" Shadow hissed, catching the eye of the other hedgehog to see if he understood. Sonic seemed to hesitate for a second - maybe considering the fact that he had more experience at fighting his robot copy, but also that while he had managed Chaos Control earlier, Shadow still knew far better how to wield Chaos Energy in other techniques - but perhaps what tipped the scales in favour of Shadow's suggestion in the end was that the blue hedgehog's reactions had also become just that little bit slower, the way he held himself just a tiny bit more stiff as the blood soaked into his fur. Shadow was in better shape to take on the two doppelgangers and they both knew it.

"Gotcha," Sonic nodded and took off, a sonic boom rippling in his wake as he sped along the bridge, Metal Sonic and the other Shadow instinctively turning in pursuit but with Sonic at least a few dozen yards safely ahead, dodging easily around a meteor fragment now actually impacting on the gangway, there was finally the space to employ what Shadow's palms had been itching for ever since setting sight on the other hedgehog again. His hand closed around the Chaos Emerald and felt the power within. Within the blink of an eye he had teleported in between Sonic and the two doppelgangers and he drew a breath.

"Chaos BLAST!"

The red blossom of Chaos fire emanating outward from him was as deadly as it was gorgeous.

It hit both the robot as well as his own doppelganger, engulfing them in flames as well as forcing a scream from the black hedgehog as he was enveloped and flung backwards; a mechanical hiss from the automaton as it suffered the same fate. Shadow could feel a feral grin stretch across his face, feeling the red heat and glow wash over him, growing hotter -

…wait, hotter?

It was all the warning Shadow got before another incandescent meteorite impacted on the walkway right between him and his opponents; shockwave and red-hot fragments blasting into him and ripping the Chaos Emerald from his grasp. Shadow's body instinctively tried to curl up and minimize the impact, while he barely had the awareness to try and prevent himself from being blasted over the edge, almost failing to grab onto the low railing. Searing streaks of pain slashed over his body where fragments scorched into fur and skin, his mouth opening to instinctively gasp in pain only to breath in more burning air like liquid agony down his throat, making him spasm and darkness flicker at the edge of his vision.

No- no - no-! This was just as bad as when he had been submerged in tanks, subjected to acid, memories flooding his mind, paralyzing him as his hearing started to feel like he was underwater as well, this couldn't be happening now, when there was no Sonic to snap him out of it -

Sonic!

The thought about the other having to face his doppelganger and the killer robot alone if he couldn't focus was enough for Shadow to blink, concentrate deliberately on the pain and let the memories recede, reality reasserting itself around him in a flash. Gritting his teeth, he managed to desperately claw into the safety rails, trying to lift his weight back onto solid ground, disregarding the never-ending fall down below.

I'm not going to die here.

Shadow grunted, ignoring the stench of burnt fur and skin in his nose, wrenching himself back up. This was what he was made to do. Trying to make out where his opponents had landed through the smoke and the rubble - as something tackled him from behind, the approach of the other silenced over the ringing in his ears from the explosion. Shadow instinctively tried to twist around as they rolled over the floor, staring into his own eyes as it had obviously been his own doppelganger who had attacked him. Hands closed around his throat and he grabbed the other's wrists instantly, pulling to avoid getting strangled.

"Let me - go," he snarled up at the other. "Why are you working for the Doctor anyway? You're my creator's creation, aren't you?!"

"False. I am the true Ultimate, perfected by Dr. Ivo Robotnik. You are the inferior copy now. So I suggest you do what all other lifeforms do best - " the other Shadow leaned closer, the pressure around Shadow's throat increasing as the red eyes he was staring into gleamed, "-die."

"C-copy?" Shadow managed to gasp, aware that the other seemed to be about as strong as he was, but he definitely had the better angle, kneeling above him and able to leverage his weight. Shadow was beginning to see stars at the edge of his vision, twisting his neck in any attempt to free his air pipe from the constriction, seeing the Emerald that had been torn out of his hand and lying a few feet from him between the meteor fragments, his only weapon to give him an edge over his opponent unreachable.

…except.

Despite the blackness creeping in at the sides of his visual field, Shadow was able to let his lips pull back to show the other a full-fanged sneer. This time, he would not make the same mistake. He was a Robotnik and they didn't do things by halves.

"How…bout you…copy that."

And with that, he reached back into his headquills, fingers closing around the metal there like something finally coming home, and he shot the other hedgehog above him at point blank range.

To be continued….

Oh MAN real life kicked my butt, PLUS this chapter was SO HARD to write, but I really hope the effort paid off and you had fun reading it! I'm so happy for any of you who are still here and so thankful for all of you who left reviews throughout these months that helped me sit back down again and again. I definitely WILL not leave a single story unfinished as long as there are readers :D Would love to hear what parts you liked and hopefully see you all again a lot sooner this time!

-Taranea out :D