51 - Diameter - 51

9:05 AM

As the hedgehog duo stepped inside the general's grand office, Shadow uttered a simple command to his spirit companion, who was absolutely fascinated by the futuristic architecture. "Maria, return." The human girl fluttered her eyes before nodding with a smile and phasing herself back within the biohog's body. Sonic watched beside him with a slacked jaw. He didn't say anything, but Shadow could tell he was thinking, "That's so freakin' cool...!" or something similar. The girl was not inactive, she could still hear and see what was happening through Shadow's perspective. Zonic was stood beside his general's large desk, writing within a thick, old notebook. Sonic noticed the engagement ring Shadow mentioned. Zhadow meanwhile, was tapping his finger irritably against the surface while glaring at the wall. He was obviously miffed by something, which was a little unsettling. It seemed like nothing bothered the guy, 'guess they were wrong. Sonic and Shadow walked to the white loveseat and respectfully gave the leader their attention. There was silence except for the sound of Zonic's pen. The primes glanced at each other.

Was everything okay?

"I mean," Zhadow suddenly exclaimed abrasively. "Who the hell are they to tell me who I can and can't have a conference with?"

Zonic slowly directed his eyes to his general. "Sir-"

"I'm the God damn general of this city and the entire nation." The No Zone commander growled. "That should be my call, not theirs."

Oh dear, he was really starting to rant. Zonic tried his best to pacify him. "I understand that sir, but-"

"So what if I happen to be late now and then?" Zhadow suddenly stood up, causing everyone to stare awkwardly. "I'm the only one doing any actual fucking work around here, imperative matters that require my attention." He began to pace behind his desk. "I should be able to request exclusive time with the president any time I wish. They're literally stretching me thin as it is, and that pussyfooted mayor decides to be cute and run to the lynx bastard. I should have ripped that little bitch a new tie with his own severed neck-"

"-Sir, the primes are already here and you're embarrassing yourself."

"Zonic, sincerely," Zhadow absentmindedly cut him off. "Is it just me?

Zonic sighed quietly. "No sir, it's not just you-"

"-Does my word mean nothing anymore? I had that coward shitting himself after Shadow prime destroyed the room." He had his teeth clenched angrily. "Are people not taking me seriously?" The doors to the room suddenly opened, a Zone Cop holding a single cup of steaming hot coffee. They looked nervous, and Zhadow's exasperation only intimidated them more. It was a Zonian fennec fox, probably a new recruit because this was basically intern work. They were skinny under that uniform, too. "Do I really need to start ripping kneecaps out of every single politician in this God forsaken city for them to realize that I am not the one to trifle with?" Zhadow was almost yelling, his tone oddly feral sounding.

Zonic placed his notebook down on the desk, took the cup from the soldier and nodded to them gratefully, while also silently dismissing them. The newbie saluted while trembling, before rushing out of the office. Zonic turned back to his leader, who was still angrily ranting. He stepped behind the desk and carefully approached. He moved behind Zhadow and smoothly wrapped an arm around him. "Sir," Zonic's voice deepened soothingly. He rubbed his hand up to his shoulder while the other gently passed the coffee over to him, his face close to the side of his tan muzzle. Zhadow's rant faded into silence as he felt his rookie's touch. Zonic then kissed the corner of his lips, watching his superior lightly blush from this public act of affection. "You need to relax." Zonic whispered almost sensually.

"..." Zhadow looked down from behind his shades, noticing his rookie was wearing his ring as promised. Damn it, his face grew a little more red. Zhadow went from angrily scowling to meekly pouting in seconds.

"Sir," Zonic's abrupt dream-like voice haunted his ears once again, his hand lightly rubbing itself against his shoulder blade more. "Would you like to binge watch The Real Housewives of Parallel City later tonight?" It was like his lips were just barely pecking at his ears. "I know you've missed a month or two thanks to your schedule, so I had them automatically recorded on our TV when they aired." His hand rubbed a teensy bit lower to his collar bone. It was quite auspicious that they were wearing uniforms, because it felt like Zhadow's entire body was on fire and sweaty. Zonic never flirted like this so openly in front of others. He was really keeping true to that promise they made. "You work so hard, you deserve to take it easy once in a while." He praised him tenderly. "We'll be able to relax in bed later tonight, okay?"

In bed? Damn, did he intend for that to sound so arousing? Zhadow liked how he was massaging the left side of his body, it felt good. He reached for the coffee and gradually grasped it. "You...did that?" Zhadow asked quietly. "Even though we were at odds?"

Zonic nodded. "I told you, I never stopped loving you." He gazed at him longingly with his dark green eyes.

Damn.

He really didn't expect him to say that or look at him like that. With a small gulp, Zhadow cleared his throat. If the primes weren't here, he would have tackled Zonic on the desk and spread his legs wide open. "Um," He tried to play it cool. "Yes, I...would like that. Thank you, first lieutenant general."

"Of course..." Zonic suddenly caressed the side of his face before turning him around, their backs facing their Mobian counterparts. The vice leader swiftly leaned close for a quick, but firm kiss. Zhadow forced himself not to moan. Why did his lips taste sweeter than usual? Zonic broke the kiss and slyly licked his lips. "...Sir." He eyed Zhadow up and down with a lustful stare before dragging his hand down his chest and off his body. Zhadow silently gawked at his lover, who simply turned and walked away. He stood back in front of the desk to address the primes. "I apologize for my general's...Um, very vocal political grievances. Disregard this." He could tell Zhadow was uncomfortable being in this office due to his work, so perhaps they could take this somewhere else for the time being. "This room is stuffy. Here," He dug in his pocket for a warp ring. "We'll talk in a more pleasant location. Follow me."

He threw the ring to the side of the room, a portal instantly opening soon after it landed.

Town Square

9:10 AM

The four hedgehogs exited the portal and out into Town Square. Zhadow sipped his coffee and kept a tensive eye on his rookie. The Mobians noticed this, why was he staring at him like that? It wasn't in a dreamy, infatuated way, it was in a more ravenous way. Again, not in a sensual sense—in a literal feral, hungry glare. Was he okay? The general seemed way more hostile than usual today. Momentarily, Zonic leaned over to him and whispered something, probably a sweet-nothing. Zhadow's demeanor only slightly improved, but he still looked on edge. As much as they despised the Sonic-lookalike, they couldn't help but notice how ironically unguarded he seemed around Zhadow, which was cute. It was probably the only time they've ever seen him genuinely smile, and he was much more loving to the general than their first meeting. After a minute of walking, the two Mobians hedgehogs noticed the city folk around them. They were conducting their daily lives, on their phones or walking with their children. Some of them traversing vertically. They looked up to see that the Town Hall, which was only a small street away, was heavily damaged and was currently being repaired. That street in particular was closed off for safety. The biohog sweat dropped, whoops. There was a mall close by, along with a cat-cafe a couple streets away. Now that was truly precious, Sonic would have to take Shadow there. He knew it wasn't his scene, but he wanted to see his reaction to all the little kitties. He had such a rough exterior, perhaps he'd melt the instant he got his hands on a baby kitten.

Zonic walked ahead of the three and began to speak, as the area they were in within the square was very void of people at the moment. Now was the perfect time to talk. "Sorry about that Shadow prime," He apologized specifically to Shadow while glancing at his superior, who was now eerily silent at the moment. "He's been a little stressed ever since yesterday's meeting with the mayor, which was no fault of your own. Forgive his behavior."

Sonic frowned and lowered his eyelids. "Err, I'm still here too. Did you wanna talk to both me and Shadow, or are we gonna keep pretending like I don't exist?"

His counterpart only glared at him, before closing his eyes and sighing. "...Ugh."

"Zonic." Zhadow called, silently reminding him of what they talked about.

"I know, sir. Anyway," He just brushed Sonic off and continued to speak, while the hero only rolled his eyes. "What you've both accomplished yesterday gave us startling information. While my superior deduced that chaos energy was being used within the Power Sewers, he didn't expect it to be corrupted within the power sparks of the city itself." He bowed his head graciously. "Thanks to your efforts, energy is no longer being stolen from the city and more can be shared amongst other metropolises in No Zone. According to our reports made by officers Zespio and Zector, Sonic prime injured himself for the sake of restoring the city's northern power core. Meanwhile, Shadow prime didn't find any conflicting chaos energy within the southern power core, but did confront a rogue No Zone officer, who turned out to be Counselor Zouge in disguise. We're not sure if she was supposed to be guarding it, or was just at the right place at the right time for some unknown reason. Regardless, she was mind controlled into attacking you."

Shadow nodded. "Yes, General Zhadow informed me she was trapped within some hacked prototype version of your armor. I also understand she had been missing for a year."

Zonic made a solemn expression. "Yes, she was. None of us had any idea what happened to her, she didn't even leave a note. We see now she must have been kidnapped. We'd like to probe her, but she's unfortunately still unconscious with bedrest. Thankfully, the Cyber Corruption wasn't as drastic as we feared and the doctors were able to pump most of it out of her system. She'll be able to wake up after a few days and start her recovery." He glanced at Sonic. "I'm sure you can understand how painful that was, given that you were experiencing a similar treatment."

Sonic made a pained frown. "Yeah, no kidding..." He looked over at Shadow. "They take this tube, hook it up to some weird device, stick it in your body and have it suck the energy outta you through the areas that were corrupted. With electricity, right in your guts." He saw the biohog wince at his words. That sounded like that really hurt. "Oh yeah, it was no picnic. Apparently, they said it's best they don't numb the pain 'cause the effects of anesthesia along with the electricity and corrupted cyber energy has a chance of screwing up the nervous system." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't tell you 'cause I know you would have blown a gasket, I'm sorry." He saw that Shadow only shook his head silently, he didn't mind. With how he yelled at Sonic earlier that day, he could understand why he didn't want to irritate or worry his lover even further. "The nurses said I had a really small amount of it hurtin' me, so what I went through wasn't too bad. But that Rouge lookalike sounded like she had way more than I did, so her procedure was probably way worse. I can only imagine the pain she felt."

The hero's twin nodded in approval, he said only facts. "He's correct, Cyber Corruption is no laughing matter and can very easily kill it's victim in the most painful way possible. Hacked cyber energy becomes corrupted, and in some cases, spreads like a literal virus." He glanced at Shadow. "You and my superior are very lucky you didn't contaminate yourselves with Counselor Zouge's corruption, or you'd both be stuck in the infirmary ward right now. Fortunately, her corruption wasn't very contagious, so you're safe. Nonetheless," He continued. "We've concluded that Zouge more than likely isn't the only No Zone soldier that's been kidnapped and used as a puppet by Zobotnik. There are other No Zone officers who have either gone missing, or hastily went into retirement at strange points of their career in the last couple of years." He made a frown, almost as if he was internally blaming himself. "The incidents were few and far in between, as only ten soldiers, counting Counselor Zouge, have gone missing or retired over two years. Three went missing, seven left the force for unknown reasons and went AWOL. We never knew why, and despite our best efforts, could never find or contact them."

Zhadow decided to speak on that as the military's leader, since it was ultimately his responsibility. "They all had something in common: They didn't have families to go back to, so no one would raise any suspicions if they suddenly stopped coming into work. However, Zouge was my former partner, best friend, one of Zonic's mentors and officer Zespio's teacher. Even death row prisoners who attended her counseling sessions sobbed at the news of her absence. She was beloved by the entire force, so everyone couldn't ignore her sudden disappearance." He took a sip of his coffee. "Not only that, but everyone who went missing were low ranking, weak No Zone soldiers. Zouge is the only high ranking former soldier who went missing. Naturally, she was the strongest victim despite only being a veteran. She was also the last to disappear."

"Yes," Zonic concurred with an angry scowl. "This is no coincidence. We believe someone has been targeting powerful soldiers to kidnap them, force them into hacked suits and mind control them to do their nefarious deeds. The only person we know with the genius, motive, resources and malice to do such an act, would be Warden Zobotnik." He placed his hand in his jacket pocket and held up one of those super skinny smart phones, before he pulled at the corners of the device to stretch it into a bigger screen. The technology of this world was beyond fascinating, they'd probably never see another world like this ever again in their entire lives. Now the size of a tablet, Zonic began tapping his fingers against the thin screen. "I've calculated a few simulations and I theorized that this is only the beginning. The power strengthening the sky base's shield might be weakened thanks to you two, but it's not down and won't be destroyed anytime soon. My superior tried infiltrating it yesterday during the attack on the HQ, but he couldn't get inside no matter what he hit it with. We still lack the power to do so. While it's been a while since a soldier has gone missing, we can't drop our guard. Zobotnik might be making plans to kidnap more of our people. As for moving forward, we need to figure out a way to destroy the forcefield without corrupting ourselves. Warping is impossible, since we don't have a code to locate and properly warp us inside of the base. Besides, doing so would severely corrupt the portal and anyone who steps outside of it thanks to that forcefield."

"It's probably something underground..." Sonic casually said.

Zonic blinked and momentarily looked up from his tablet. "Come again?"

"Well, 'cause the Eggman in our world hid his last base underground in an abandoned chemical factory." He explained with a heavily thoughtful face, his tone focused. "He operated there, but also had a secret elevator that took him up high in a restored area of the factory, which secretly held an entire armada raring to go at the push of a button. Eggman can be a predictable idiot sometimes, but other times, he completely pulls the rug out from under us with something totally out of left field." He glanced upwards at the sky, staring into the distance at the stratosphere-level floating base. "I know it isn't fair to compare completely different Robotniks, but I'm starting to see that Mobius and No Zone does have some similarities, including the four of us. So," He looked back at Zonic. "Who's to say the same isn't being done here? The smartest move your Eggman would make is to do something beneath your city and not in the sky where you can clearly see his base. He's obviously too scared to come down here himself, so if he's kidnapping people, he's probably-"

"Illiterate." Zonic simply retorted.

Sonic was caught off guard by that. "Huh?"

"That's stupid." The blue soldier reiterated. "No Zone HQ has complete control over underground areas, it'd be impossible for him to operate anywhere below our city. Let it never be said that your Robotnik can be compared to ours."

"Well yeah, but just listen for a sec." Sonic attempted to stay civil. "I'm goin' with my gut here, and it's never wrong. I'm telling you-"

"Ridiculous." Zonic scowled. "That argument holds no basis and I implore you to cease such an inane notion." After making a few more taps on his tablet, he handed it over to Zhadow from behind without even looking. Zhadow didn't like Zonic's tone, but hesitantly took the tablet to glance at the screen. "Unlike Mobius, No Zone deals in facts. Not 'gut feelings' that have absolutely no evidence whatsoever to back up their theories. Hmph," He looked down upon Sonic in distaste. "Gut feelings are too risky to be trusted and a risk I'm not willing to take or listen to. If anything, your childish ideas could get us all killed simply because your intuition was wrong. While I admit that we do not have a plan at the moment, putting your useless two-cents in is a waste of time. Now if you have an idea that actually holds water, by all means Sonic prime," He gestured for him to finally speak. "Go right ahead."

The hero's face remained neutral as he stared at his counterpart. "...So am I actually allowed to talk now, or are you gonna chew my tongue out again for breathing wrong?"

"I already gave you permission to speak, Sonic prime."

"I don't need your permission to do shit, Napoleon."

Okay, the biohog cut off Maria's hearing so she didn't have to listen through this nonsense. He mentally advised her not to pay any attention to this argument. Shadow tried to intervene and took a step ahead of Sonic to confront Zonic. "How many times do I or Zhadow have to ask you to stop berating him needlessly like this? How old are you? Aren't you older than him? Act like it for Chaos' sake."

Sonic only shook his head and grasped Shadow's shoulder to pull him back. It wasn't worth it. "If Private Douchebag doesn't wanna listen to what I have to say, it's cool. Then when something happens and my gut is proven right, he'll just come bitching right back to us and demand that we help out. Again." Sonic scoffed as Shadow grew more concerned about the tension surrounding them at the moment. "Crazy how even the spirits knew you couldn't handle this on your own, asshole. Some Overseer you are, right?"

Zonic's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he didn't respond back just yet. Zhadow was starting to sense that this conversation was growing more than heated. He pushed the corners of the tablet to shrink it back down into a smartphone, and placed it in his pocket instead. He'd return it to Zonic later. He stepped beside his lover and tried to curve his attitude. "Zonic, we talked about this. Stop it." He whispered to his ear. "Sonic prime is not what you witnessed three years ago. You can't snap on him for simply existing."

"Oh my," Zonic chuckled sarcastically. "My apologies general, Shadow prime, but it's quite hard for me to listen to the words of a shameless, smug, whore."

"..."

The general's shades became slightly lopsided on his face, while the biohog was too stunned to even defend Sonic.

Shadow and Zhadow glanced at each other, before gawking back at Zonic. They didn't think he'd say something like that to the hero, and didn't know what to do or how to remedy this situation. Meanwhile, Sonic continued to look scarily unbothered by that insult. Both blue hedgehogs continued to gaze at each other in complete silence, the tension growing so thick that it was strangling anyone from speaking. Okay, maybe they could just slowly escort their respective Sonics away from each other and calm them down separately. Yes, that seemed to be the best course of action.

As Shadow and Zhadow attempted to speak to their lovers-

-It was too late.

Sonic took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly as he closed his eyes.

He only had one thing to say:

"Yup."

A gold buckled red sneaker suddenly slammed itself directly into the side of Zonic's shoulder, nearly breaking it upon impact.

"...!" Zonic's dark green eyes shrunk as he realized what was happening.

How did he move so fast? When did he get up close to him without him noticing? Why couldn't he see him coming? Did his speed increase even more since they last fought? After his eyes peered down at his Mobian counterpart's limb striking into his shoulder blade, he then slowly and angrily glared at the blue hero with wrathful vengeance. He clenched his teeth fiercely and painfully as he felt the agony spread throughout the left side of his upper body. Sonic only glared at him right back, his expression dark with rage. Sonic landed on the ground a few feet away from his twin, and awaited his retaliation with a very tensed up body. Zonic gritted his teeth as he felt his bones slightly shift from how hard he kicked him. Any harder, and he would have fractured it. Sonic half expected Zonic to reach for his belt and pull out his baton, but he didn't. He only tightened his fists and growled, his quills slightly raising and sharpening. Zonic was more than tired of hearing the blue blur's mouth, as everything he said was nothing but nonsense and useless to their objective. Meanwhile, Sonic was tired of playing nice with someone who was adamantly hostile with him. Constant insults were one thing, but commenting on his personal life? One that he already wasn't proud of? That was no one's business but his own. A guy could take but so much. Sonic was silently doing the same, more than ready for what Zonic would do next. Before Shadow or Zhadow could move to stop them, something hopelessly unpredictable happened yet again.

Light red energy abruptly concentrated behind the blue twins, before materializing and constructing a humongous and towering figure.

The striped hedgehogs looked upwards, knowing that this situation was about to go from bad to worse very quickly. Pieces of strong hardened metal digitized onto the giant figure, and created portions of a metallic structure. The ground began to shake, and civilians from afar panicked and began yelling while pointing. In black and dark red tungsten looking material, a gigantic mega mecha-robot stood before them and was completely engulfed in candy red corrupted cyber energy. It had the cartoonish face and metal pieces of a pair of glasses and a mustache. That only symbolized one thing: Eggman. Or in this case, Zobotnik. The ginormous droid was heavily armored and ready to attack, looking down upon the civilians with the one emotion it could digitally have—gleeful sadism. Shadow noticed that this thing was indeed similar to an Eggman mech, but it did look both more advanced and deadly. If it moved from this spot, even by an inch, it'd destroy a building or two instantly. They couldn't let it move from this area or else it'd breach the rest of area and demolish all of Parallel City.

Shadow steadied his body and got ready to move. "General, we have to-"

Zhadow was already a step ahead of him, Cyber Controlling his coffee away to a nearby public trash can and pulling his baton out of his belt. He lifted it up before stabbing the end of it into the stone ground. He twisted the handle into a few clicks, light blue energy glowing and concentrating into the rocks. A grid glowed with cyber energy and appeared beneath their feet. A dome of light blue digital power stretched overhead and surrounded the entire town square. Now shielded with a forcefield, whatever damage that would be done here wouldn't effect the rest of the city. Zhadow then reached his free hand to his collar to press in and radio his men. "This is Dullahan reporting to any and all nearby officers on duty. Code 11, 10-59, several dozen citizens nearby. Do not engage with the droid. I repeat-Do not engage with the droid, only enter the vicinity if a civilian strays. Stay clear of the forcefield until the incident has been resolved. Respond with your frequency if you copy, over." After announcing his orders, he lifted his baton from the ground and placed it back on his belt.

And then he just...placed his hands in his pockets and continued to watch. He didn't lift a finger or foot to help fight the robot or at the very least, stop the two blue hedgehogs from fighting.

Shadow stared in amazed befuddlement.

Zhadow glanced at his twin. "What?"

"What the hell do you mean 'what'?" The biohog exclaimed as he pointed just ahead of them, where both of their problems were. "We need to stop those two morons before they get themselves hurt!"

Zhadow continued to stare nonchalantly. "No need. If they fight, that robot will become collateral damage in no time." He pulled out a white pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his jacket pockets. As he pulled out a couple of cancer sticks, he stuffed the pack back in his pocket while flipping open his lighter. Shadow saw several soldiers zip passed them on foot and on motorcycles in the air, entering the city passed the square and ignoring both the robot and the forcefield where their leaders were. They showed up pretty quickly. "I've already notified my officers to appear in the city to help escort civilians to safety, while the stronger soldiers are on standby and ready to act in case things get worse." He ignited the lighter and lit his cigarette. He placed the lighter back in his pocket and began to take in a puff. "No one except No Zone officers are able to enter or leave this forcefield, and that includes objects. Since we're in the middle of the square, there aren't any buildings that risk receiving damage. In other words," He blew out a stream of smoke. "We don't need to do anything."

While he appreciated how prepared he was, he didn't appreciate his lack of concern for their other problem. Namely, their lovers actively trying to kill each other. "Are you telling me we should let them fight? They'll kill each other!"

The general made a small laugh. "Pfft. No they won't."

"...!?" Okay, Shadow was going to fight his own twin next at this rate. His carelessness was pissing him off. "Are you serious right now? This isn't a joke! Sonic has a temper, but he keeps it in check as much as possible. He keeps everything to himself until it all eventually boils over. If he gets pissed, that's bad. Meanwhile, Zonic's default emotion is anger and I'm sure that little exchange they had was only the tip of the iceberg. If we don't stop them, they will kill each other!" A cigarette was suddenly offered to him. "...?"

"Look at it this way," Zhadow said calmly while handing the ultimate life form a stick. "Sonic prime is too pacifistic to kill. While Zonic talks a lot of shit, he can be quite merciful, unless he is absolutely forced not to. Not only that, but Chaos Born are strictly prohibited from killing Chaotic Brethren of other realities, especially Overseers. If this rule is broken and if he lethally wounds Sonic prime, Zonic will be instantly killed as punishment by the spirits, and he knows this." He took another drag. "Trust me. You do not want to get in the middle of a fight between two Sonics. Never a good idea. This is not the first time Zonic has fought a Sonic template, however this is the first time where he was in the wrong. Usually he'd have to subdue a rogue Sonic template who went against the spirits' wishes, but this...this is entirely juvenile and honestly, he needs to be humbled." He sighed as smoke drifted from both his nostrils and his lips. "Zonic is too hardheaded to play nice, no matter how many times I ask him to do so. Perhaps this will be the only way he'll learn. You and I both know that Sonic prime isn't one of the weaklings Zonic fought in other realities. He's one of the strongest, whether Zonic is willing to admit it or not." He saw Shadow slowly take the cigarette and stare at it harshly. "Even if he was allowed to kill Sonic prime, he couldn't, and he's about to learn that the hard way." He stepped closer to hold up his lighter and light up his cig. "Let them fight. If it goes too far, then we'll step in. In the meantime," He said while returning the lighter in his pocket, looking up at the droid before glancing back down at the two blue twins. "I'd say enjoy the show and let them destroy that robot while they're at it. Kill two birds with one stone."

Shadow made a heavy sigh as he gazed at his lit cigarette.

He closed his eyes and placed it between his lips.

He cut off Maria's sense of touch, but she could see what he was doing and she reluctantly understood. She didn't like cigarettes, as Gerald used to smoke cigars and she hated the smell, but she did understand that this was still Shadow's body and he had every right to do whatever he wanted with it. That included smoking. He could feel that she didn't like it, but accepted it and he was grateful for that. They both didn't want her to feel him putting this in his lungs, so the decision to null her physical senses for the moment was mutual. He remembered how he and Rouge used to share a few sticks during missions together. He too gazed at his blue lover from afar, a little concerned about him getting hurt. However, he had to mentally scold himself from doing so. Zonic was an intimidating force to be reckoned with, as he fought both Shadow and his Mobian counterpart at the same time, and defeated their friends all at once. Sure he left with bruises and a broken rib, but everyone else had been brutally beaten before he left their reality. However, Sonic was powerful, no one could deny that. He's been fighting horrors of great strength ever since he was a little boy, and only fought stronger enemies with every incident that would come after without fail.

He was scarily adaptable, and he never gave up no matter what. Underestimating him was a terrible error and would be someone's undoing, something Shadow experienced himself with the hedgehog more than once. He didn't like that he was being so overprotective of him, because Sonic didn't need that. He never needed protection, not in the slightest. He just didn't want him to get hurt again, because it reminded him of...what happened in the armada, the incident that literally changed their lives forever. But he couldn't forget who he fell in love with either, and he had to start trusting Sonic more than that. He had this, he had to let him move on his own accord. After all, while they were in love with each other, Sonic was still as free as the wind to do whatever he pleased, which very much included fighting.

Besides, like Zhadow said: It would be quite unwise breaking a fight like this up.

As Shadow inhaled some of the smoke, Zonic got ready to move. "Let it never be said that I will be held responsible for what happens to you here today."

And let the games begin.

Zonic swung a heavy right hook directly into Sonic's face. It felt like he wasn't holding back at all, because that stung and throbbed way more than it did on Angel Island. But since Sonic was pissed, the pain didn't effect him in the slightest. He took the hit, but returned it in full with a punch of his own. Zonic was a little surprised by how much his abilities increased in just a month since they last fought, which means predicting his actions from here on out would be difficult. If that was the case, he'd have to stay in control and dictate the rest of this fight. He charged forward and seized Sonic's arm before sprinting away with him in tow. Two blue streaks raced off towards the left leg of the giant bot, with Zonic tossing and slamming Sonic into the metallic limb. The force was so powerful that his body dented through the material, destroying the lower part of the leg. The robot teetered a little from this, and looked down at the two twins. The hero grunted from the impact, but it didn't phase him for long. He saw Zonic rushing towards him, and he let it happen. He tackled the hero within the robot's giant foot, disappearing within it's machinery. Smoke and electrical debris flew out onto the ground, while the two black hedgehogs watched two blue lights shine within the robot's body. It traveled from the legs, the lower stomach, the torso and finally through the chest.

Sonic was now tackling Zonic out of the machine in the air, leaving a gaping hole in the robot's chest. A large spark of electrical failure ruptured within the droid, causing it to further lose balance and fall backwards against the force field's wall. Once it did, the cyber energy fried it's entire body, with a few cracks forming along the impact area. Sonic gripped Zonic's collar and spindashed with him in his hold. With heightened momentum, he threw down the vice leader back down onto the ground. Zonic landed on his feet and immediately sprinted after the hero. Just as Sonic landed himself, Zonic threw another punch. This time, he missed. Sonic threw one back, but he missed as well. They punched and kicked at each other in rapid succession, but they could never land a hit. When they did finally land an attack, they got stuck in a deadlock. Their fists were pushing against each other, having struck a punch at the exact same time. They both used their other hand to grip the other's, growling while attempting to push the other back.

Zhadow was smiling a little, until he noticed Shadow staring at him with a weirded out expression. "What? This is peak entertainment." He then looked back at the fight. "...And very attractive." Shadow was staring at him even more. Zhadow flagged him off. "Oh calm down, I'm ogling my Sonic, not yours."

While Shadow's jaw dropped at his twin's antics, the two blue hedgehogs broke the deadlock by kicking each other directly in the face, shooting them in opposite directions. They both landed against a wall of the force field with more tiny cracks developing behind them, but Sonic wasn't worried or pained in the slightest. He was too focused and too determined to stand his ground. Zhadow frowned at this, they were damaging the force field even more. Just as the true blue blur suspected, Zonic was coming back with startling speeds towards him. Sonic ran from the spot he was in, and charged towards the giant robot. It finally regained it's equilibrium, and lifted it's arm to reveal several missiles getting ready to fire from within it's metal plates. It fired them directly at the blue hedgehogs. With Sonic leading the way and Zonic chasing after him, they easily used the flying projectiles as stepping stones to get higher above ground and closer towards the bot's face. Just as Sonic took one more step, he suddenly spun around with a spinning kick, sending a missile directly towards Zonic. The first lieutenant thought quick and kicked it far away from his vicinity and into the surface of the forcefield several meters away. A larger vein of damage appeared. Sonic ran along the robot's left shoulder, and Zonic joined him by jumping onto the shoulder blade. The two glared each other down, now face to face once more.

Once again, Zonic took charge first and moved to attack. Sonic swiftly dodged by quickstepping to the side, allowing his twin's swing to miss and strike at the robot's shoulder. It caused a huge dent and sparks of power to flare out. The hero noticed how Zonic was using a lot of upper body attacks, much different from last time. While he was sure Zhadow was probably physically stronger than him, he still couldn't risk getting hit because his counterpart landed punches like a bag of bricks. Zonic continued to try and nail him, but he missed every single time. He would always lose his target at the very last second, striking the droid instead and slowly but surely ruining it's armor. The robot tried to raise it's hand and slam it down to crush the blue hedgehogs. They didn't even notice and continued fighting. When the droid smacked it's palm down onto his shoulder, it was sure that it would see a splatter of blue fur and blood mangled on it's palm. But before it could lift up it's hand, Sonic was suddenly thrown right through the center, making the entire hand and it's arm malfunction. Sonic landed painfully on it's forearm while Zonic tore his way out of the hole he created with the hero's body. He stepped out onto the wrist, then the arm, his fists clenching and prepared to strike again. The hero of Mobius slowly stood up, and practically welcomed Zonic to come at him once again. The blue soldier's face was wrinkled with fury, prepared to strike once more. He swung his arm for another punch, but Sonic caught it in his fist this time and pulled it down. Zonic then tried to swing his leg into his side, but Sonic blocked it with his knee.

With a dark smirk, Sonic crushed his fingers into Zonic's knuckles. He yanked Zonic closer, and trapped his attacking leg with his thighs from down below. He couldn't move, Sonic had practically constricted his limbs around his own from below, preventing him from moving any further.

What was he planning?

Oh.

"...!" Zonic's eyes widened at the mistake he made.

Zhadow sighed and shook his head. "Zonic, that was foolish of you."

51 - END - 51