29 - Fleetway - 29

Afternoon, 2:00 PM

A glowing, sharply skinny, ghostly, scarlet red phantom stood in front of them. They slowly tilted their head, their spiraling eyes glowing curiously at them before a transformation underwent its figure. The demonic wraith's limbs thickened to proper proportions, and appendages grew to fit a more Mobian shape. Scarlet red aura faded from the body as golden-filtered peach arms were uncovered, along with a matching torso. Auric-colored fur was revealed on the rest of the body, except it seemed unkempt and even jagged. Sharp and rugged upturned quills appeared, and a recognizable peach muzzle was sifted from the bloody red energy. Now standing before them, was the body of a Mobian hedgehog who was currently in a super form. Except this super form had a dark twist. White gloves were clawed at the tips of the fingers, scarlet red aura instead of gold drifted off of the body like smoke. The body of Sonic the Hedgehog had been restored, at a cost. This was indeed the husk of the hero, but this was not Sonic. Holding their hand up to their face, the entity narrowed their strange eyes carefully. Their irises were red swirls, almost like two hypnotic disks. There was no iris, there was no pupil, it was just...that.

So this was what Sonic's friends saw that day: this creature.

It was confusing, because this was indeed Sonic's figure. Shadow had been with him intimately long enough to know every curve, every muscle and every piece of toned fat on the hero's body. He knew this wasn't Super Sonic, and yet it was a near exact copy of the super form. His peach color and his fur had returned to their rich shades, he was no longer dead. He had that sparkling golden color in this form, just like how it looked when they were in space on the Ark years ago. But Shadow knew in his heart, the person he loved was not here. Suddenly, the seven chaos emeralds appeared around Shadow, only to hover towards the demonic super form. They circled around them before turning into corrupted inverted colors. The gems then bled into embers, fading away into scarlet red energy. Then, the strange figure breathed. When they did, their semi-godly breath haunted its very sound within Shadow's ears.

"...You." They whispered, their voice eerily similar to Sonic's, yet horrifically warped. Infinite realized the entity was talking to him. "Fight me." He simply commanded with a calm tone. "I'll help you understand," He slowly turned to look at the jackal, directly in the eyes. Magenta flashed, but it did nothing to the entity. The ruby's power of illusions was completely useless against him. "Just how powerful the Divine Spirits are." Out of nowhere, Infinite's mask, which had been damaged once again during his previous fight with Sonic, was suddenly repaired in an instant. "I refuse to look at such an ugly face while killing you."

With an angry snarl, Infinite charged forward, his magenta sword appearing in his hand. "You're the reason this world is going to be destroyed. I'll end you right here!" The moment the sword began to swipe towards his nose, the corrupted entity simply stepped to the side to dodge it. As the mercenary missed, the entity sharply lifted his leg to land a powerful and flexible vertical high kick into his stomach. The sheer force of that simple attack was so awfully strong, that it sent Infinite into the ceiling and through the metal roof of the airship. Sunlight breached inside of the room as his body was flung several hundred feet into the air, outside of the ship and perhaps into the sky's stratosphere.

The entity then slowly lowered his leg and placed it back onto the floor, which oddly shook the entire floor. He then appeared before Shadow's eyes, practically teleporting in front of him. The biohog flinched and retracted himself away from the person that scarily looked like his boyfriend. "You're...not...him..." He whispered as he backed away into the dashboard. The entity continued to walk after him, only stopping when Shadow could no longer move backwards. He stared down into Shadow's eyes, his swirls for irises looking deep within his soul. He neared his face towards his, and the Ultimate Life Form felt true fear for the second time in his entire life. First was losing Sonic, next was witnessing a living nightmare creature walk amongst him. "..." He was so scared he couldn't move, nor could he speak any protest. He was never scared by anyone or anything before.

Then, he kissed him.

When Shadow felt his lips against his own, he could feel it: Sonic was indeed in there somewhere. He didn't know how he could tell from the kiss alone, but he could sense something benevolent inside of this demon. His blue lover was down there, buried deep beneath this creature's malice. Feeling his breath grow hot, Shadow gripped his fingers into the edge of the dashboard, feeling himself lean more into the kiss. When the kiss disconnected, the entity grasped his shoulders tightly. Those strange swirling eyes peered at him curiously with a smirk, malevolently eyeing him up and down. "Mmmn, you taste good..." His voice was becoming more warped as he spoke, this definitely wasn't Sonic talking anymore. "My host wanted us to give you that parting gift before he was fully put to sleep, no idea why. He also made it very clear in our contract that he didn't want you, his precious little friends or any other civilians killed by my hand. Not even those other jackals...But that doesn't mean I can't play with you, so I'll give you this one chance."

Not knowing what to do, the biohog made an apprehensive expression. If this wasn't Sonic, he wanted no parts of it. "Sonic...?"

"I am not your boyfriend." He snickered before lifting a clawed finger, running it down his tan cheek. The more he touched him and spoke, Shadow knew that he had to get the hell away from here. "You have one chance to leave my sight. Go ahead, use Chaos Control to escape. I won't stop you." He licked his lips as he took a single step back. "Find the others and hide from me. Otherwise..." He chuckled darkly as his fanged sneer widened. "I'll be forced to devour you." The claws suddenly extended and sharpened, raising threateningly to swipe at the ultimate life form. His personality was completely gone from this demonic presence, Sonic was gone. He raised one of his clawed hands, ready to strike. "Now, only on my mark, you can escape. If you move before I say 'go,' you and everyone in this entire airship dies." He announced playfully as Shadow began to slowly step away from him and the dashboard. "On your mark...Get set—" The demon was getting ready to pounce, Shadow had to get out of here before it was too late. His eyes looked up at the hole the demon made in the airship earlier, before anxiously glancing back at the entity before him. "..." Something told him that if he did indeed move before he said 'go', he wouldn't just kill everyone on the ship, he'd do so much worse. He watched his claws aim at him. If he moved even an inch, he would die again instantly. "Not yet..." The entity said playfully. "Noooot yeeeet..."

Shadow readied his legs to jump, his heart pounding in his chest and his eyes as small as peas.

...

"...Go!"

Not wasting any time in dealing with whatever in fuck was that, Shadow jumped up through the hole and looked at his surroundings. Wind blew against him violently, and he tried to figure out how the hell he'd get down. He tried to charge some energy, but he winced in pain and glanced at his palm. That scarlet red aura was faintly surrounding his limbs. He could have Chaos Controlled like the entity suggested, but being in that room and kissing what he thought was Sonic had temporarily corrupted his powers. He could use them, but it felt...Wrong. He couldn't quite reach it, and if something interfered with the chaos flowing in his body, it could screw up the Chaos Control and teleport him deep within the ocean or even the depths of outer space. That's when a clawed hand reached out from the hole. Startled, Shadow slowly turned around from behind and watched as the demonic Super Sonic crawled towards him with a hardy giggle. If that thing got any closer towards him, he swore he'd jump and take his chances with swimming.

"You don't know how to listen, do you?" He stood up like an approaching mantis, walking towards him gradually. Each step towards him shook the entire aircraft like a miniature earthquake. "Heheheh..." He then barely swung his claws into the roof of the airship, slicing deep cuts into the flying machine. Smoke began to shoot out of the damaged material. Chromium was an extremely hardy metal, one of the strongest ever made. So the fact that he cut through it so easily with a mere flick of his wrists was a bit troubling. Shadow took a few cautious steps back, his eyes staring at the entity carefully for his next move. Abruptly, the entity's body hunched over as he suddenly puked. The bile that came from his mouth was a glowing scarlet red. Was that blood? That's when Shadow saw green irises appear in the entity's eyes for a moment. "This...Hurts...!" He mumbled as he gasped for air, his voice almost sounding like Sonic again. He was fighting it. "W-Wasn't like this last time...Why does it hurt...!?" A disembodied scarlet red eye suddenly appeared below the demonic super form on the roof's floor. "...?"

Stop fighting me already. We have a contract.

You will obey, child.

Shadow was positive this time, Sonic was fighting the demon for control. He could see it, he was suffering through a lot of physical anguish right now. He was clutching at his stomach and mouth, groaning and almost screaming in pain. He barely had oxygen to breathe, he was suffering with every second he had control. Holding that form and fighting the demon possessing him, was hurting him in unfathomable ways. "Sonic?" Shadow was about to take a step forward, he had to help him somehow. "Sonic-!"

"N-No...! Get away from me!" Panicking, the entity suddenly looked up at Shadow with a frantic expression. His eyes flashed from green to scarlet red. "S-Shadow, whatever you do, don't trust anything I say! Please...Stay away from me, don't get close. Don't try to save me, just run! Go away, and just run!" He looked away from him with tears budding in the corners of his eyes. He was so ashamed, so scared of what he'd do. He held out his hand to the biohog, scarlet red energy glowing in his palm. "Chaos Control."

"Wait-!" Shadow cried as he reached out for him, but he was teleported away just in time.

After several seconds of moaning in pain, Sonic lost control. "N-Nghh..." Those green eyes were completely gone, and were replaced with the swirling red. Sighing, the entity stood up and relaxed his shoulders with a few bone cracks. He rubbed his hands down his face, then his arms. "You've finally decided to cooperate...Good. I can't wait," He suddenly made an ungodly leer. "To finally massacre this entire flock of ignorant sheep." He then made a small pout and placed a clawed finger on his cheek, tapping it as he thought about their agreement. "Oh, I almost forgot again, no killing anyone except that mangy mutt...But wait," He smirked. "Since I can't actually kill anyone, I'll happily pull off the wings of every butterfly I see and let them die that way. Wouldn't be my fault if they...bled out, and I'd still be upholding the contract." He smiled in delight at his own idea and clapped his hands. "Ah, so simple. Hahaha."

Magenta flashed behind him, and Infinite suddenly stepped before him. "At last, you've revealed who you truly are, you blue rat."

"Oh?" The entity casually turned around with a bored expression. "Ahh. I almost forgot who you were, but I remember now." He replied with a grin. "You're the weakling who killed my host."

Infinite paused. "Host?"

"Yes, you misunderstand." The evil super form replied. "You place your accusations of world domination and destruction on my precious host, when none of the blame falls on him. You see," He reached his hand up high in the sky, his palm mirroring the position of the shining sun. "Our little brothers—our sweet Chaotic Children, are only bishops in our game of chess. You may think of me as it's rook on the board. Suffer them, they know not what they do under our rule. My host had no idea this day would come, the day he and I would share a body once more. And he has no idea what awaits him in the next year." He then made a squeezing motion with his hand, almost as if he was crushing the sun itself with only his palm. Suddenly, the solar celestial body turned from yellow to a scarlet red, causing its surrounding clouds to match the entity's sinful power. "Your insolence is amusing, and you don't even realize that you too are only a mere pawn in our plans." His gaze lowered to Infinite's, and smiled immorally as he literally changed the color and energy of the planet's star in mere seconds. "That gem, the Phantom Ruby, also does not belong to you." He tilted his head. "That, is ours. More specifically, it belongs to my queen. You're using our power, too. As of now, you're no better than my host."

With an unsatisfied hidden scowl, the jackal countered this claim. "So, you're saying that blue rat was telling the truth when he said he had no idea what I was talking about...No matter, he's still going to kill us all thanks to you, but I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen." He tapped his black clawed finger against the ruby. "This may have belonged to you before, but it's mine now. And I'm going to use it to destroy you all. The more you hurt me, the stronger I become. And after fighting with your 'host', I'm sure I have more than enough power to stand up against you." A blood stained magenta sword appeared in his hand, and he pointed it at the entity. "What do I call you?"

The corrupted super form made a shocked expression, his long eyelashes fluttering. "Ah-" He then chuckled, almost seeming flattered. "-Oh my! My name?" He began to walk towards him, his hand lifting up in the air once again. "Why, I haven't been asked that in eons. Hmm...Well, my true name no longer belongs to me, and Mobians of this realm cannot pronounce it. So for now, you may call me..." He trailed off slowly.

With a simple flick of his wrist with his claws, blood suddenly splattered from Infinite's arms and legs. "H-How did you-!?"

"...Fleetway."

He had sliced his knees and forearms open, immediately causing the jackal to nearly fall off the entire airship. His body automatically began to heal himself, but that was too close. He then felt a monstrous shadow looming over his body. He was suddenly thrown down onto his back with a nauseous crack of his spine. "...!"

"Oh please, that was just a love tap. Come on now," The creature was now pinning him down with his foot planted firmly on his stomach, pressing down and painfully crushing his organs.

Infinite couldn't turn away, and he could feel globs of blood drip from out of his mouth and down the bottom of his mask. It was as if this creature wanted to play with his food before eating him.

"Make this fun for me!"

2:15 PM

When Shadow was Chaos Controlled, he appeared in his apartment and felt that his energy was much less corrupted. He turned to glance at his window, and saw that the sun was now scarlet red. His eyes widened in alarm. He immediately went to his laptop on the coffee table in the living room, as he no longer had a cell phone to call anyone. He opened it up, turned it on and quickly began opening up programs to message Rouge and Tower. He typed faster than he could run, sending both GUN associates a detailed report of what just happened. He told of how he was kidnapped and held captive for over two weeks, nearly starving to death under Infinite's control. He didn't want to tell them that he actually died for five minutes, he'd concern them more than he needed to. He told them that something big was about to happen, something really bad and that they needed to stay away from the skies and to hide indoors. If that corrupted version of Super Sonic could inflict that much power on the God damn sun, who knows what else it could do.

This is SEA Shadow reporting.

Two weeks ago, I was kidnapped and held captive by Infinite the Jackal, leader of the Jackal Squad on Dr. Eggman's secret Egg Armada inside the abandoned Chemical Plant. He was able to do this with the help of the Phantom Ruby. He used the ruby to hide the location of the airship, making it impossible for anyone to find even if they used an aircraft of their own to locate it. Sonic the Hedgehog discovered my location by unknown means and infiltrated the airship I was being held in. I was successfully rescued, but Sonic was mortally wounded in exchange. He is now engaged in lethal combat with Infinite, however-

He didn't know how to word this without putting the hero in a bad light. After all, that wasn't even Mobius' hero anymore. So instead, he'd put all of the blame on Infinite and that cursed ruby. It was only right.

-Sonic was unfortunately corrupted and transformed into a malevolent entity by the ruby's power, one that cannot discern right from wrong. It looks similar to Super Sonic, but I assure you, this is not Super Sonic. This is a demonic presence that is wreaking havoc upon the Egg Armada. Please do not make any type of contact with him, as he could be more dangerous than Infinite himself. Do not send GUN Airforce soldiers to the skies, as their efforts will only prove to be futile and could agitate the two assailants. I repeat, do not engage. The entity has just changed the color of the sun, and I have no idea what this could mean for the citizens of Mobius. Do not directly look at it, and inform the citizens to stay clear of the sun or to at least wear some type of eyewear. If they crash land the air fleet, they will more than likely return to or around the United Federation. Finally, since this was my doing, I will take on the responsibility of stopping both Sonic and Infinite myself. Please evacuate the city, station guards around the perimeter of the outskirts, and stay far away from either assailant until I have neutralized them.

Not even a second later, he was answered by both Tower and Rouge.

Tower replied, Glad to see you're still alive. Affirmative. Proceed with extreme caution SEA Shadow. Preparations are already in motion as we speak. Godspeed.

Rouge replied, thank god youre okay!

To this, Shadow made a more private chat to send to the bat. Rouge, gather up Sonic's friends and report to Angel Island immediately. Hide in the bunker, I'll meet you there in a second. He then closed the laptop and hastily Chaos Controlled out of his apartment.

Angel Island, Angel Island Zone

2:20 PM

When Shadow appeared on Angel Island, specifically its zone, he made a beeline for the hidden bunker in which its doors were already opened. Beside it stood the red echidna guardian, who was actually in the middle of walking out of it. When he saw Shadow, he made a shocked expression and paused. "S-Shadow?" He called. "Hey!" Shadow skidded to a stop as the echidna walked up to him. "Yo, where were you? Everybody was lookin' for you. Tails was hacking outer space satellites, Amy was asking all of her customers and using those dumb tarot readings to give her some kind of celestial sign, Rouge was flying all over the skies, and Sonic was absolutely losing his shit the whole time." He made a grouchy scowl. "Chaos, that was annoying. He was being a huge ass. Mostly to me. I mean I get it, but I was looking too. He acts like I don't care, shows how much he actually pays attention. Blue idiot..."

Okay, Shadow internally had to admit that he was a little flattered that even Sonic's friends were running around searching for him during his absence. However, now wasn't the time for flattery, this was a time of emergency. "Knuckles, are Tails and Amy here?" When he saw the echidna shake his head, he was going to say something else until the guardian looked up at the sky and saw the sun.

"Woah..." He whispered. "What the hell...?"

"That," Shadow replied. "Is Sonic's doing."

Blinking, Knuckles turned back to Shadow. "W-What? Yeah, the guy's strong but he can't turn the sun into different colors. I mean, maybe if he was Super Sonic-" A light breeze blew against the two males, causing them to look back up and see a yellow-orange fox flying in the air with his namesakes. He was holding the hand of Amy Rose, helping her fly up to Angel Island before descending down to the ground to land beside them. She patted down her dress and quietly thanked Tails while the fox walked beside Knuckles. The echidna didn't like the look of this. "Okay, guys, the last time all of you were here, my front lawn got cooked by a Sonic-lookalike." Granted, the grass and trees that were destroyed during that fight had quickly regrown thanks to Angel Island's mysterious ecosystem, but he really didn't feel like seeing it ruined again.

Amy shrugged. "Don't look at me, Rouge told us to come here. Said it was an emergency."

Tails nodded to this. "Yeah, and I saw the sun. I don't know what the heck's going on, but she sounded really worried on the phone."

"That's because I asked her to gather you all." Shadow said firmly, feeling another wave of light wind push against his back. Without having to look, he already knew a white bat was flapping her wings before dropping down beside him. He immediately felt the woman rush up to him and squeeze the daylights out of him. But she wasn't the only one, because apparently Amy wanted to get in on this too, hugging the very lungs out of his chest. "...! I can't...breath...damn it!" He rasped.

Rouge stubbornly continued to hug the biohog. Her large breasts were aiding in his suffocation because they were pushing against his torso. "You had me worried sick, you asshole."

The pink hedgehog agreed with a pout. "We all thought something terrible happened to you!"

Tails even smiled a little at this. "Oh man, I didn't even realize you were here! We looked everywhere for you, Shadow. I'm glad you're okay, Sonic was worried sick. We all were."

Again, Shadow was very touched but now wasn't the time. He gently patted the women away from him and tried to get control of the conversation again. "Look, listen." He said, causing them to become more alert. "You see that?" He pointed to the scarlet red sun beaming ominously in the sky. "Sonic did that. When he rescued me, he and Infinite got into a fight. He..." He made a deeply sorrowful expression, remembering how the blade cut through the hero's jugular. "...He stabbed Sonic through his neck." They all made distraught gasps at this information. "Sonic technically died, and then..." His expression became confused. "He transformed into what looked like Super Sonic but..." He then saw the expressions on all of their faces fall into fear, except for Rouge of course. That's when Shadow nodded. "You all already know what I'm talking about. That evil form you all saw with that scarlet red power, that Sonic's back and he's completely deranged."

Rouge looked at everyone else's faces, who all glanced at each other with frightened eyes. "Did I miss something...? I know Big Blue did something bad to Eggman but-"

Shadow nodded. "He did. He almost killed him, Rouge."

The white bat's eyes widened. "What...?"

"That power I'm describing, it's why they all look scared." He explained with a little guilt, not liking to put Sonic's business out there like this. "He used that power against Eggman, and the doctor almost lost his life in a brutal way. Tails, Knuckles and Amy all saw this happen and testified to me personally about the incident." He crossed his arms and looked away. "Now he's using that power again to fight Infinite, and he wants to end his life. When Infinite killed him, while he was dead within those few minutes, he transformed. He came back to life but something else returned, and it wasn't Sonic or Super Sonic. It was something demonic."

Amy hugged herself with a terrified look in her emerald eyes, staring at the ground as her ears flattened. Knuckles' fists were shaking and his violet irises were trembling against his eyeballs. Finally, Tails was breathing heavily and clenching his teeth as if he was in the middle of a blizzard. Shocked at all of their reactions, Rouge slowly looked at Shadow. "...That incident, scared them all this badly?"

Regretfully, Shadow continued to look away. "...Yes. And," He hated himself for admitting this. "He scared me, too." Rouge's mouth fell at this, as nothing could scare Shadow. "This was why Eggman hid away for three years, as that hedgehog scarred the doctor with what he did."

"But...No. No, Shadow, c'mon. " Rouge seized Shadow's shoulders to make him look at her. "Sonic isn't like that. He would never do something like that."

"I know that, Rouge." Shadow curtly retorted, still refusing to look at her. "He wouldn't do that...In his right mind. But I'm starting to realize, perhaps Eggman and Infinite weren't completely wrong in their accusations. When he's pushed too far, Sonic is..." He couldn't even finish his sentence. He felt like he was betraying him by saying all of this, he'd probably hate him right now if he heard this.

Gulping, Tails spoke up. "He already changed the sun. Are you saying that Sonic lookalike was right? That Sonic's...Dangerous, and meant to destroy the world?"

"..." Shadow took a while to respond, before a shine of faith glimmered in his eyes.

What the hell was he doing doubting him?

He loved Sonic and he was wrong to ever let that thought linger in his mind. "No, I'm wrong. That's not what's happening," He said with a grounded tone. "Sonic tried fighting for control over that form, and he warned me to get you all to safety. Apparently, he even told the thing possessing his body not to hurt any of us. He's still trying to protect you all, even now. He himself doesn't know what he might do with that power. However, this is all my fault." He bowed his head to the group. "I'm the one who allowed Infinite to gain control over the Phantom Ruby, and now he's planning something big. When Sonic and I tried to stop him, the tables were turned on us. I was kidnapped, Sonic was killed and became that thing, and now here we are." He then got down on one knee and kept his head low. "I'm...Sorry—All of you. You all showed me nothing but hospitality, and I betrayed your trust. I put you all in danger, and I'm the one who's responsible for all of the events that have been in motion these past two months. I ask that you don't hate Sonic, he can't control himself right now. The only one you should hate and fear, is me."

A small amount of silence followed through, and the three friends of Sonic looked down at Shadow with pity.

They didn't know how to respond to this, and even as they looked at each other for answers, none of them could find a worthy response. Rouge was going to defend Shadow, but she felt the words in her throat get caught and disappear. She closed her eyes and looked away, as she too had nothing to say to this. There was nothing to say.

He knew he'd probably never be able to call any of them his friends now, but they could despise him later. Right now, there was something more important: Their safety. "If you want to get rid of me, I can do that as soon as this is all over." Shadow promised as he stood back up, his voice more confident. "Since this is my fault, I'm going to deal with this on my own. I want you all to hide in the echidna's bunker and do not come out until it's safe. Armed GUN soldiers will be all over the United Federation, guarding every corner and alleyway there is. I know for sure that airship is going to crash, and when it does, I don't know what will happen. Either Sonic or Infinite could make it out, and when they do, they'll wreak even more havoc. Sonic would fall apart if anything happened to any of you, especially by his own hand."

Amy shook her head slowly. "Sonic might...hurt us?"

God damn it, why did he word it like that? Shadow frowned. "No. I...Just do what I say and hide!" He exclaimed before glancing at Knuckles. "Knuckles, I ask with great respect that I use the Master Emerald to invoke my own super form. Sonic currently has all the emeralds, but that entity inside of him corrupted them and are beyond my reach. I've been honing my chaos abilities for a very long time to the point where I'm more confident in transforming. It's a fifty-fifty chance that it'll work, but I might just be able to transform without the other emeralds and wake him up out of this funk." He softened his tone. "Please."

The echidna made a large sigh, but without looking at Shadow he nodded. "...Fine." Was all he responded with.

He could tell he and the others wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

He basically betrayed them, after all.

He respected this.

Ruefully, Shadow thanked him. "Thank you-" A giant airship suddenly crashed against the grounds of Angel Island Zone, just several feet away from the bunker. The insignia of Dr. Eggman was plastered right on its side, its paint being scratched and peeled off from the wreckage. The loud impact of such a ginormous aircraft nearly blew out all of their ears, and it crushed any tree or patch of nature the moment it landed. Black smoke immediately drifted in the air, and a few small explosions erupted from within. Pieces of metal, strong plastic and chrome became pieces of useless debris all over the ground. It created a crater into the earth of the island, further scarring the floating wonder with it's unforeseen collision. Slowly, Shadow and the others all turned to glance at what would be coming out of the fallen Egg Ship, an inkling of fear growing in the pits of their stomachs. That's when the biohog saw a glint of magenta, causing him to curse loudly. "Shit...!"

In the sky, they heard the sounds of screeching metal and explosions from above. More airships that were flying past Angel Island were falling down one by one like dominoes, plummeting to the oceans. A line of scarlet red energy sliced through every single one like melted butter. The Egg Armada was destroyed that easily in just a couple of hours, no doubt by that evil super form. The masked jackal stepped out of the leading airship's wreckage with a limp, panting as he tried to walk away. He then glowered at Shadow, who was more than prepared to risk his life to protect the others, and glared right on back. "Shadow..." Infinite whispered angrily. "This...Is all your fault..." He glared at the rest of the Mobians behind him, noticing that these must have been Sonic's friends. He made a dark chuckle and raised his hand in the air, magenta mist suddenly surrounding the entire zone. The others closed their eyes and coughed, while Shadow prepared himself to strike at any moment. When the mist disappeared, dozens of Eggman-grade robots suddenly appeared all around them. "Even if I kill that blue rat, I don't need any loose ends threatening my plans. I'll have these small fries overwhelm and kill the rest of you, while my surviving jackals storm Green Hill Zone and destroy any remnant of that blue phony." He then levitated in the air and looked down on them all. "I'm sorry it had to end like this Shadow, but you're nothing but an enabler! Your death's just as deserved as his!" In a flash, he Blinked himself away with the ruby's power.

Shadow backed away gradually. "Everyone, be on your guard." He instructed. "These robots aren't normal and have been enhanced by the ruby. They hit hard, they don't stay down for long and move much faster than your typical badniks."

"And just where do you think you're going, little puppy?"

They all perked their ears up at such a grotesque voice.

"You can't escape from me..." A golden hedgehog suddenly blasted himself out of the wreckage with a scarlet red streak following behind him. He raised his nose in the air to sniff, before licking his lips hungrily. "I smell a pathetic, wet dog who's going to die a virgin..." He didn't even pay the others any mind, and his aura itself was corrupting nearby robots and destroying them without even touching them. He made a frustrated growl and scratched at his own face with his clawed gloves, stomping his foot into the ground and literally causing the entire island to tremor. "Ngh...I'm bored. You're going to make me die of boredom!" He whined violently, the volume of his voice causing any animals who were unfortunate enough to be nearby to flee as fast as their legs or wings could carry them. "I can't let you get away so easily. I need your blood on my tongue to complete this contract, my host craves it. I need to devour you, and shit you out like the worm you are. So quit running away," He then laughed manically. "And come back and play with me!" The scarlet red streak from before zipped away from the zone, before disappearing in a flash.

That was Sonic, or at least the body of Sonic being puppeteered by whatever had control over him at the moment. Shadow made a look of determination. "Guys," He announced. "I won't be able to get to the Master Emerald just yet with these two active near the island. That demon or Infinite might corrupt it and I can't take that risk, or else the whole island's going down." Plan A would have to be paused for the time being. "For now, I'm going to go after faker and stop him myself another way. Don't follow me. When this is all over, I'll return with the real Sonic and you'll never have to see me ever again. But mark my words," He clenched his fist. "I will bring that hedgehog back to his senses, even if it kills me!" In an amber red streak, he ran after the demonic super form, leaving the group of Mobians to the ambush of robots. He already knew they could handle this on their own.

The red echidna made a tiresome groan and punched his fists together. "Gettin' real sick of this shit..." He mumbled. "I'm starting to regret ever meeting that blue bastard."

Amy's Piko Piko hammer suddenly spawned in her right hand. "Don't you even dare say something like that again!" She growled before getting into position. "Sonic died, or did you forget that under all that welching? If it wasn't for him, you would have lost your home and your life to Eggman. If you're regretting meeting him now after a couple of hiccups, you were never truly his friend to begin with." She made her posture more sturdy, ready to fight. "We're lucky his body's still around and able to move. If there's even a small chance Shadow can bring him back to his normal self with him alive, I'm taking it! I don't care that Sonic's making a mistake, he's still my best friend!"

"Easy for you to say!" The guardian snapped back as he mentally took a headcount of all of their robotic enemies. "This Sonic business isn't ruining your home and messing up your head!" He gritted his teeth. "I...I hate this." He finally said. "I don't know who to believe, I don't know if that's my little brother anymore. This is the second time he's transformed into a monster, and there's nothing I can do about it." He clenched his eyes shut with shame, frustrated that he was powerless to help Sonic. "You all swear I don't give a damn, but I do. I don't know what to do at this point!"

"Both of you need to stop fighting and pay attention." Rouge calmly commented. "It's no secret anymore that those two are in a relationship. That means Shadow knows Sonic far more intimately than any of us do, in ways you couldn't possibly understand. If anyone can vouch for his innocence, it's him. Red," She lifted her leg calmly, her teal eyes eyeing a line of potential targets as the robots shuffled closer. "If you truly regret meeting that boy after all this time of caring for you and being there for you every step of the way, including that Ix incident, then Pinky's right: You're an awful friend. However," Her voice became more sympathetic. "I get it. I was a bad friend too, once. This is how I felt when Shadow was still suffering amnesia during the whole Black Doom ordeal. I felt hurt, betrayed. I...felt like life could have been better if I never met him, or if I never broke him out of Eggman's base with Omega. But," She made a more grounded expression. "Shadow proved to me that I was wrong to ever doubt him. And soon, Sonic's going to do the same. So don't you dare give up on him. Because if I'm not willing to abandon hope, then you, someone's who's known him much longer-" Her dark purple wings raised, ready to ascend. "-Shouldn't either!"

Before Knuckles could respond to that, his purple irises dilated with worry. "...Wait." He suddenly said, realizing something about his other little brother.

The two female Mobians briefly glanced at him. "...?"

"Where's Tails?"

29 - END - 29