Chapter Text
“Yo, Shads!” The black-and-red hedgehog glanced over his non-existent shoulder, while skating through Green Hill Zone, and spotted a certain blue blur exiting a loop and bee-lining towards him.
Sweet Gaia, him again? If he had a ring for every time he’d crossed paths with that blue buffoon… well, he would be a retired GUN agent for sure. In speaking of his job, he focused on ahead, racing towards his designated coordinates, even as Sonic made his entrance on his right.
“Long time, no see.”
Shadow scoffed, “I’m on GUN business, Faker,” he glared in Sonic’s direction and added with a snarl, “so don’t get in my way.”
Sonic skipped mid-step and flipped around to run backwards, arching a brow. “Lemme guess…” He tapped his chin, feigning to be lost in thought. “Eggman?”
Shadow staggered for a second but caught himself and snapped his head at Sonic with scrutinized ruby eyes. “How did you know--”
Sonic rolled his eyes. “Come on, Shads. Tails got info of a new base Egghead made and we’re both heading the same way.”
Shadow sighed as he skated, “Fair enough.” A mustachioed logo appeared over the next hill and the two skidded to a halt, taking in what they saw.
A dirt trail, snaking around palm tress and high ledges and springs, led to a ginormous fortress, painted blood-red with a very familiar logo plastered on the front, the cruel smile of Robotnik visible even from Shadow’s location. Shuttered doors were bolted down, offering no entrance, and from what he saw, there were a few trapdoors lodged into the walls, again a terrible way to infiltrate.
A whistle to his right snapped him out of his observations. “Not bad with the décor,” Sonic admired.
Shadow scoffed and crossed his arms. “What we need is to take action, not sightsee.”
Sonic snapped his fingers, “Right you are, race you there!”
Shadow took a double-take at Sonic’s words. “Wha-- no, Sonic!”
But it was too late, Sonic was already sending a two-finger salute and taking off with a sonic boom towards the base, leaving flying dust and dirt behind. “Catch ya later!” was Sonic’s only answer as he became a speck in the distance.
Shadow’s words died on his tongue. “We need to make a plan.” “Chaos, take me now,” he groaned and raced onwards to salvage what remained of HIS mission.
As Shadow drew closer, he had to weave around battered badniks (as Sonic liked to call them), the smoke rising and circuits sparking telling him it was very recent. Up ahead, he caught sight of a blue ball smashing into the last robot, an Egg Pawn by the looks of it, and unfurling to reveal his rival grinning in his direction.
“You missed out on the party, Shads!” Sonic laughed and kicked the Egg Pawn’s head off, bouncing it like a soccer ball on his shoes. He kicked it at Shadow who caught it one-handed, the ebony hedgehog frowning at Sonic’s carelessness.
“This was supposed to be a stealth mission.” He stomped up to the blue idiot, who had the audacity to smile back, and jabbed at Sonic’s chest. “Now Robotnik has the advantage of knowing we’re here.”
“No worries, Egghead likes the dramatics. Take it from me,” Sonic smirked with a wink.
It wasn’t just that. Shadow was given direct orders from Commander Tower to NOT engage in any contact with the mad doctor.
So here he was, standing outside a heavily armed fortress with a blue idiot that screamed “I want to be the metaphorical doorbell to Robotnik’s house” and all loads of crazy. In speaking of crazy, Sonic was taking crazy to the next level by buzz-sawing his way into one of the reinforced walls, coming out unscathed on the other side with a solid gaping hole left as a souvenir.
Shadow balled his fists into a death grip, scratching nails through fabric and into his palms as he closed his eyes, counted to ten, and released all his anger in a huff. So Plan A wasn’t going to work… Time for Plan B.
Hopping through the hole, Shadow slinked into his namesakes, being one with darkness while the brightly-colored cobalt hedgehog obnoxiously stepped into the light, hands folded behind his head, casually whistling, and grinning.
“This place is for keeps! I can’t wait to see Tails’ face when he gets a load of this, it’s top of the market!”
Good, the perfect distraction. Shadow continued on with his quest, slipping through the shadows till he reached the control panel, the machine glowing a soft red but hardly tracing his features. Nimbly tapping the screen, he slowly hacked his way into the system, following Tower’s given instructions, as Sonic called more attention to himself.
“Hey, Egghead! It’s your favorite party crasher.” Silence was the only answer. Sonic hummed and the sound of his foot tapping could be heard from where Shadow was. “Huh… weird.” The blue hedgehog paused and Shadow could feel eyes on him before Sonic added, “Anything on your end Shadow?”
Shadow cursed under his breath, and making do with what intel he got, and he teleported to Sonic with blazing eyes and seething teeth. Okay, his cover was blown, that’s okay. Time for Plan C.
Strangle the troublemaking idiot.
“Can you be quiet for five minutes?!” He whispered.
Sonic merely chuckled. “Sorry, sorry, Shads.” He glanced around the silent, black base. “Was there anything you saw?”
Shadow was ready to erupt but sighed in the end. “No, no activity.”
They treaded (for once) QUIETLY through the base, Shadow taking note of how vacant the area seemed. Sadly, it wasn’t vacant of noise.
“Yeesh… this is giving me vibes of the white space back when I was facing the Time Eater, except more it’s more of black space and no bosses to face.”
“Focus, Faker,” Shadow grunted, eyeing the control panel again from afar. If he was lucky, he could convince Sonic to watch his back as he further hacked into the systems. “We need to--”
“Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!”
Sonic readied into a defensive position near Shadow and gave a feral grin. “--Get ready for some action,” Sonic finished, bouncing in place. Shadow did an, “I am so done with this,” facepalm and begrudgingly peeled his hand from his face.
From the darkness, clanking and the sound of gears were heard as rows of Egg Pawns, Moto Bugs, Crabmeats, and Eggrobos stepped into the light, marching, rolling, or hovering in unison. Trap doors opened along the walls and Buzz Bombers and Spinners flew out, circling above. Robotnik’s creations drew closer by the second, slowly gathering to surround the hedgehogs, and Sonic leaned over and nudged Shadow.
“Split up,” he whispered and took off to wreck some bots.
Shadow opened his mouth to argue, that splitting up would only be detrimental to the mission, but was cut off by the buzzing of Buzz Bombers that were divebombing in his direction. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. “Chaos Control.” He flashed out of existence and reappeared behind a pillar in the shadows, watching as the Buzz Bombers crashed into each other in sparks and smoke. Using the darkness to his advantage, he slipped from pillar to pillar, catching sight of a blue blur ripping the robots to shreds, and all the while made his way back to the control panel. Call him stubborn, but he wasn’t leaving till his job was done.
From what glances Shadow took, Sonic at the moment was bouncing off the walls, literally, as he spin dashed several Egg Pawns, flipped over Moto Bugs and Crabmeats, and did one homing attack after another on the Buzz Bombers and Spinners. The fool was having the time of his life.
However, a nagging feeling told Shadow something was missing and then he realized. Where was Eggman?