(AN: Righty-ho, on we go! Short chapter this time, just a bit of a taste, better than nothing, I guess...also, I think I made it sound last chapter like this would be the final chapter - hold your horses! It's getting there, but it's not quite finished yet! )

Chapter 53: Swan Song

The air is strange on the morning of a battle. It is as if anticipation has added itself as a gas in the atmosphere, making the air seem heavier and each breath you draw feel sharper than the last.

Sonic and Shadow awoke below a sky that could have been steel.

"Morning," Sonic said. "Ready for the first day of the rest of your life? And, ah, possibly the last day as well?"

Shadow only grunted in reply as he raised himself from their makeshift bedding on the ground. A slightly painful stretch was required before all of his vertebrae finally decided to quit playing musical chairs and instead return to their proper places again. The black hedgehog briefly pulled a face as his spine cracked. In his opinion, people who went camping voluntarily were nuts.

"Seems like Knux wants to talk to us," Sonic continued, the blue speedster for some unfair reason looking more refreshed and relaxed after a night spent sleeping on the ground than he should have any right to. Shadow only nodded wearily.

"Fine. Let's head over."

The camp was breaking down now, everyone already awake and packing up gear, strapping on weapons and looking tense, but determined. Sonic could see that now all of the puggles were gone along with some of the older echidnas, the remaining army now consisting solely of adults, older teenagers and only a few elders that the hedgehog suspected were probably still more dangerous than their old age let on. Knuckles was standing in a small group with his family, looking at the two dimensional travellers as they made their way towards him.

"Morning!" Sonic greeted them as well, nodding at the assembled group. Turning to Knuckles, he added: "So, any Tonight-We-Dine-In-Hell!-speeches planned? Because if not, I totally know the one from Spartacus."

The Guardian's son's started frowning in confusion, while Shadow only gave the group the general 'Disregard-him-it's-too-early'- expression and cleared his throat.

"Taking into consideration we're not in ancient Greece...I was wondering whether you had a particular battle strategy," he asked, letting his gaze sweep over the various blades and armour strapped to their allies' sides. The echidna's weapons were crude, he figured, but a pickaxe hitting your head didn't need a degree in physics.

Lara-Le pointed toward the bulk of their army still standing behind them.

"The majority of Black Doom's soldiers are foot troops. So are ours. They outmatch us in numbers, but not in strength. The more challenging part will be Black Doom himself, and his inner guard."

"Challenging?" Sonic asked, and even if his face remained neutral, if you listened closely, there was a hint of excitement just poking through the words. "How so? If you're talking about that poison gas of his, Shads figures it'll be useless on the open field."

"I'm not talking about offence," the shaman shook her head. "But it's said that he is able to create a forcefield around himself, making it impossible to attack him with physical strength."

"Which is where the force of Chaos enters into play," Lara-Su piped up, unsheathing her daggers glowing an unholy green with unconcealed glee on her face.

Shadow nodded. "Attacking Doom only with Chaos Energy while his force field is up. Got it."

"Also, he is supposed to wield a new weapon that is able to strike from afar and up close, not to mention the expert swordsfighters that-"

"Yeah, we'll take care of the glowy stone and the posers," Sonic waved a hand. "Both the cactus one and the ambiguously French guy."

"Is that so?" Knuckles raised an eye ridge and allowed only a smidged of sarcasm to slip into his speech. "Well, good to know that the war will be fought for us."

Sonic shrugged. "Just trying to keep the casualities to as low a limit as possible."

Knuckles shook his head, expression grim. "You obviously believe in miracles, hedgehog."

Sonic only grinned. "I don't believe in miracles, Knux – I rely on them!"

xxx

Breakfast was a quick and grim affair, most of them not even tasting the food they were wolfing down because they knew they would need its sustenance later on – or at least, hoped to live long enough so they actually would need it. Even Shadow managed a few bites, aware of the fact that he was likely to spend every single ounce of his Chaos Energy soon on something else than keeping his system alive.

"Alright then," Sonic said finally, standing up. "Time to leave, I suppose?"

"Yes,"Knuckles nodded, standing up as well. Around them, the echidna tribe was now assembling itself, ready to march.

"Black Doom's rabble that way, right?" Sonic pointed toward a small hill, currently obscuring the plain behind it from view.

"Yes. Our scouts say his army is currently five miles away, but getting closer rapidly," Lara-Le replied. "We will meet him on the plain."

"Okay," Sonic nodded. "Me and Shads will head out before, but we'll be there when you come," he said, giving a wink.

Lara-Su blinked. "You're going to take on Black Doom's army...by yourselves?"

"Yup. He's gonna wish he'd never tried to keep me in his goddamn castle," Sonic confirmed with a grin.

"A suicide mission, then?" Knuckles raised an eye ridge, then nodded. "Well, alright. But make sure it's an impressive one."

"Gotta love that upbeat echidna philosophy," Shadow muttered under his breath, then stood up. "Let's go," he said, and Sonic rose beside him, nodding at the assembled group still sitting on the floor.

"Okay, then," he said, pausing slightly before adding: "So...I'm not sure what to say exactly before heading off into a war..."

Knuckles gave him a tired smile. "How about 'Good luck, hedgehog'?"

Sonic nodded a bit absent-mindedly. "Sounds about right," he said. "But...and I know I probably shouldn't be saying this..." he took a breath and then looked straight at Knuckles, and emerald eyes were for once utterly sincere. "I promise that we will win. For you and for your people and for everyone. I promise we will defeat Black Doom, save your world and the lives of any innocents who ask." He breathed out. "Help appreciated, of course," he added and then, with a last smile, the two hedgehogs were already away, racing up the hill and almost over the crest.

Julie-Su cocked her head. "You know, it's actually ironic," she said. "If he wasn't so freakishly content with staying the Prince's slave or pet or whatever, I think he would be an amazing leader."

"I know," Knuckles nodded. "It's the same with how he fights better than most, but never actually seems to seek a battle. I don't know whether that's the collar around his neck, or..."

"The sharpest sword is that which stays sheathed," Lara-Lee said as she rose herself, joining her two children. "And it may be those best suited to leadership who never have sought it for its own sake...yet during times of distress find out they wear its mantle well." She gave a small smile. "And if the victor of this war today was a leader of slaves, who knows what the world of tomorrow might be..."

xxx

"You couldn't resist that last promise, could you?" Shadow asked as the two halted on the crest of the hill, and were now looking down on the plain. On the horizon Black Doom's army was visible, and even Sonic, who had faced down battalions of badniks before had to admit it looked massive.

Composing himself slightly, he shook his head.

"Nope, sorry. Guess that was my saving-people-thing talking again," Sonic replied. Then he shrugged his fingers. "Although come to think of it...maybe I should have said 'Let's blow up Candyland!' instead."

He snapped his fingers.

"Dammit. That would have sounded much cooler."

"Yeah, for some reason I wonder whether the cast from 300 over there would have gotten the Tarantino reference," Shadow replied dryly. (Though the black hedgehog - who incidentally wasn't disposed to disclose that during his childhood aboard the ARK he might have been the biggest fanboy of the man alive...- secretly also thought that a quote from the movie 'Dingo Unchained', which just happened to be about a desert dog, played by Jamie the Fox, raining down vengeance upon the people who tried to enslave him, might have been very fitting indeed). The Ultimate Lifeform crossed his arms.

"Besides, the southern drawl you tried to imitate there sounded terrible."

Sonic poked his tongue out at Shadow. "Shut it. You sound like you're trying to imitate Batman half of the time." As he spoke, the blue hedgehog glanced back at the echidna tribe once more. "And besides, no matter what I said, they looked like they needed at least some sort of morale boost, anyway."

"Yeah, we could do with one, too," Shadow replied, now once again serious as red eyes narrowed when he peered into the distance. The forces of Black Doom were a dark, writhing smudge against the background of the sky. Shadow vaguely thought he could recognize a few structures towering over what would be foot soldiers and wondered what kind of war machines they might be. Now for the first time the black hedgehog thought he might actually appreciative of a GUN intervention. He growled. "From any normal military strategic viewpoint this battle looks unwinnable."

Sonic raised an eye ridge. "They really didn't have positive thinking classes aboard the ARK, did they?"

"Faker, everyone aboard the ARK was massacred."

"...fair point." Five more seconds of silence passed, a slight breeze passing over them. It smelled faintly of smoke. In the distance, it looked like Black Doom's army was marching.

Sonic glanced at the ground, his voice now also somewhat more sombre. "So...yesterday we hung at the gallows, but now this is really it, huh?"

Shadow nodded. "It seems like it is." Even he had to admit, with Black Doom in possession of the Emerald and fully aware of their plans to recover it, death did indeed seem more likely than victory.

But it still seemed impossible to despair at the thought when the blue hedgehog at his side closed his fingers around Shadow's hand and bright green eyes met his.

The hero of Mobius smiled. "You know...we never got to dance at the ball."

Shadow raised an eye ridge at the unexpected statement, but then could feel his lips stretch into an answering smile almost out of their own accord. He shifted his own fingers on Sonic's, raising their joined hands higher just slightly. Red eyes glinted.

"So...one first and last dance, then?"

Sonic's smile broke into a grin.

"Like we were dying."

And then a sonic boom thundered across the plain, heads of both armies rising and all three of Black Doom's eyes widening as the heroes of Mobius came roaring across the battlefield to charge.

xxx

Feel my storm getting close, it's headed your way...

There was dust behind them, earth particles exploding into the air underneath the steel grey sky as blood red sneakers and skates blazing like the sun tore over the plain. The noise of the sonic boom rolled behind them like a cavalry, trees bowing in their wake like subjects addressing their kings, the Ultimate Lifeform and the fastest thing alive leading the charge at a speed far beyond that of sound.

It was them against an army. It could have been them against the world.

"Ready?!" Sonic yelled, the wind tearing the words from his lips before they could reach anyone's ears, but Shadow would not have needed to hear them to understand.

"Created ready," the black hedgehog replied – and then split away from Sonic ever so slightly. The army had now noticed they were coming. There was commotion in the ranks, some desperate reforming going on, but it looked like the attempt of a giant ocean cruiser like the Titanic trying to evade not an ice berg but a nuclear-powered warhead that also hated Celine Dion.

Before Black Doom could even issue a single command to bring order back into his ranks, Shadow was already calling upon the power of Chaos, all that he had, all that Sonic had given him, all this world could yield. He could feel it shooting through his limbs like wildfire, lashed into a frenzy by adrenaline and madness, pulsing, yearning to explode outwards in its deadly blossom, and then his cry, and their screams, and their own sonic boom were nearly drowned out by the thunder.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

Sonic had asked that killing stay something of a last resort.

So Shadow defaulted to tearing the ground apart instead.

In what was arguably pretty impressive for a test trial of a new Chaos Blast application, Shadow couldn't help but let his face split into a feral grin as the earth cracked open before him, a chasm opening and racing toward Black Doom's army, as if the battle had just turned into an anime episode of Fullhedgehog Alchemist. The first chaos was now breaking out in Black Doom's ranks, terrified slaves and freshly enlisted village boys starting to scream and scramble away from the impossibly fast advancing fissure right alongside supposedly hardened soldiers.

Of course, not that there were many good places to run when another part of your army had just been hit by a hurricane.

Shadow had taken care of the ground. Sonic had decided to go aerial.

It wasn't the largest twister he had ever managed, but it was certainly impressive. The hero of Mobius had figured out long ago how to create a wind hose by simply running at impossible speeds to stir the air in a circle, and he would have used the technique more often if Robotnik didn't habitually insist on having their boss fights in tightly enclosed spaces. But Black Doom never had read the Evil Overlord List, had he...

Sonic had released the twister at the same time that Shadow had summoned his Chaos Blast, the fissure and the storm hitting the ranks of Black Doom's army within seconds of each other and already sending people running. And before even a single soldier on the other side could react, Shadow had already concentrated on calling forth another Chaos Spear which he threw at one of Black Doom's wooden mobile battle towers. It promptly exploded. It also had the interesting side effect of raining down burning debris on the army.

Well.

The nine tenths of it that hadn't already run screaming toward the hills, anyway.

"Okay," Sonic said, slighty out of breath as he zipped back to Shadow who also had halted, both hedgehogs now less than a mile from the outer edges of the enemy army. The two hedgehogs were standing on a part of the plain that was slightly raised and now Black Doom and his generals, who had also taken up position on a similar minuscule hill were clearly visible. The blue hedgehog grinned.

"I think we announced ourselves, don't you think?"

xxx

The first time High General and newly-appointed crown prince Scourge noticed something was wrong was when he heard the thunder and there hadn't been any lightning.

"What-?!" He grabbed for the telescope, but then froze when he saw the two streaks of dirt clouds billowing across the plain and coming closer.

He knew what that was.

He had created something like that himself too often not to know.

"No way...."

And then the twister and earth quake hit.

"SIRE!"

The green hedgehog had already whirled around, just as the heads of the coyote Sir D'Coulette, Lord Drago and the other commanding generals flew up and the screaming started among the ranks of the common soldiers.

"Vot?! Vot eez 'appening-?!"

"Who dares-!"

D'Coolette and Drago were still sputtering, so infuriatingly slow on the uptake. Scourge was already at Black Doom's side, the horned king standing slightly further atop the hill they had selected as a vantage point for the battle.

"SIRE! It's your traitor son attacking us!"

"Yes, I can see that." Black Doom's voice was a growl, the dark overlord's three eyes now narrowed and focused on the blue and black blur that had come to a stop across the plain, standing side by side and looking at them as an obvious challenge. Clawed fingers gripped tighter on the gem stone. "He survived his execution. I did not expect that."

Then the horned head was inclined slightly as they could both see the blue hedgehog cup his hands in front of his face and yell something.

"What is the slave saying?" Black Doom rumbled and Scourge's ears pricked up, before emerald eye ridges drew together in a frown.

"I think...he's saying...'Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!'...?"

xxx

"Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, spin-dashs-!"

"Tell me you are not doing this."

Shadow's tone was a dead-pan, but at least it cut off Sonic's (admittedly even worse than his southern drawl) fake British accent.

The blue hedgehog grinned. "Hey, if we go out, let's go out smiling!"

"INCOMING!"

As it turned out, Shadow's warning hadn't been a second too late, because the heroes of Mobius had barely time to dash apart before a crackling ball of Chaos energy that looked dark enough to just be a hole in time and space hit the sand where they had just stood.

xxx

"You won't be able to hit them at this distance. Not with attacks that slow."

It was a rarity that anyone would have dared to address Black Doom in any tone with this lack of respectfulness, nevermind the even more outragious criticism that was the actual content. But then again, the horned king had noticed long ago that General Scourge was hardly like anyone else. In fact, he had suspected the green hedgehog for some time to possess abilities rivalling even those of his own son Shadow...perhaps even surpassing him in speed.

And definitely surpassing him in cruelty and lust for power.

Before them, Shadow and the blue hedgehog he owned had dodged the energy shell the dark king had thrown by dashing to the right and left respectively, now both them circling back around together, their trajectory in perfect symmetry to each other. Black Doom's fanged mouth puckered as he wondered once again what on earth had happened to the blue-furred wretch his son had claimed such a long time ago, how pathetic and near-broken the hedgehog had seemed only last week and now here he was, daring to attack his army and aiding Shadow in a full-on rebellion. It was no wonder Scourge seemed interested in acquiring him. Black Doom had witnessed their brief tangle in the throne room, green versus blue, had watched how the slave suddenly knew how to fight, had seen a ferocious velocity in his movements that he'd previously thought was unique to the General alone...and now he had survived the gallows. Black Doom would underestimate neither his degenerate son nor his blue-furred pest this time.

"General Scourge."

"Yes, Sire?"

"Defeat the slave and he's yours."

xxx

"Well, look who's all hot bothered." Sonic grinned as he rejoined with Shadow, behind them the blackened sand where the Chaos energy missile had hit.

"He's not throwing a second one. I think he realized that he can't hit us that way from a distance," Shadow observed, red eyes roaming over Black Doom's army where generals were shouting to restore order.

"That'd make him the first endboss ever to actually figure that one out," Sonic quipped. "So, strategy?"

"We split up. I'll try and break through the energy shield of Black Doom with Chaos attacks. You generate enough mayhem to leave his army at its most vulnerable when Queen Aleena's or King Max' troops get here. I don't think there's much of a chance to take the Emerald while it's still us two against his entire forces."

"Gotcha." Sonic nodded. "Okay then. Want me to throw you a sword while I'm running around?"

"No," Shadow shook his head. "A weapon you don't know how to use belongs to your enemy. On that note, let's hope Black Doom isn't yet too experienced with harnessing all of that Emerald's power."

"Well, even if he is, he won't be able to enjoy it much longer," Sonic said, and then Scourge came blasting at them and almost slit Sonic's throat.

xxx

In slow-motion this would have looked like Matrix, Sonic was sure. The only thing he always regretted was that it was impossible to bring a high-def camera to a fight.

As it was, the hero of Mobius bent backwards like water as the blade of his green doppelgänger cut the air above him where just a second ago his neck had been, the hero of Mobius twisting away as if this was a particularly deadly version of limbo dancing. Sonic skidded to a halt in his crouched position and whirled around, his head turning just in time to see the dust settling on the braking tracks leading up to where Scourge had skidded to a halt behind him. Both hedgehogs had been travelling at hundreds of miles per hour and Sonic was pretty sure it was only his reflexes able to dodge bullets that had saved him from getting his head cut off like a blue asparagus. Shadow had also slowed to halt, his maneuvering always just a split-second slower than Sonic's, rocket skates not having quite as much friction on the ground.

"Scourge," Sonic said slowly, looking at the other hedgehog that resembled him even more than Shadow did, both of them carefully circling now. "Long time no see." Emerald eyes flickered to a green-furred brow. "You pick up a silly hat while we were gone?"

There was a faint spasm in the face of the green hedgehog, a sort of twitch below the right eye, that Shadow would have recognized only all too well from any enemy that ever had to deal with the blue speedster. Nevertheless, Scourge managed to control himself for the time being, and when he showed his teeth it was not snarl, but a cold sneer.

"Funny you shouldn't recognize my 'silly hat'," the green hedgehog drawled. "After all, you especially should know its meaning - it's the exact opposite of that collar designating you as the general palace fuck toy." Scourge's eyes lit up the second the humour in Sonic's expression died and just as the sun briefly poked out and let a ray glint off the metal securely resting between his two ears. The green-furred general grinned like a shark.

"It's called a crown, bitch."

xxx

Shadow had managed to come to a halt, but was still further away from Scourge than Sonic. That didn't seem to bother the green hedgehog, however. Sonic had dodged the first cut of his blade neatly, and now both azure and emerald were carefully assessing each other, Sonic trying to get a rise out of the other with a taunt, but the general that had ursurped his position as heir to the throne giving back as good as he got. Sonic had called it a 'silly hat', yes – but Shadow recognized the crown perching on the green hedgehog's skull only all too well.

It had sat on his own brow just two days ago, after all.

Well, there definitely goes my double's royal status.

"Shadow! Do what we came here for! I'll take care of this avocado of a poser!" Sonic shouted at this point, only briefly glancing over at Shadow, most of his attention already focused on Scourge. The black hedgehog briefly nodded. He understood.

Shadow had wondered what would have become of him if he had been born into this world. Sonic was now able to see it.

The similarities between Scourge and Sonic ran deeper than the surface. Black Doom's general not only fought with the same moves that let him look like a dancer, tore across the battlefield with a speed to match Sonic's, but it was more. The same self-assured attitude that let Sonic own any room he stepped into was just as visible in Scourge, only he used it to entertain himself, not entertain others. The same cockiness that was Sonic's trademark had become pure and utter elite arrogance in the green hedgehog's bearing. And where Sonic wanted to save the world, his steel-eyed double might have been equally happy to burn it if he couldn't rule. The hero of Mobius was fighting against a what-if version of himself born from a nightmare.

"I defeated you once in the throne room! I'll defeat you again, and then you'll be mine!"

"Defeat me to collect me? What are you, twelve years old and playing too much Pokémon?"

And despite the jokes, Shadow could actually see the fury directed at the green hedgehog in every word, every attack and every movement of his partner's body. Because Scourge was just as strong, just as fast, just as powerful as Sonic...and then hadn't used that power to change anything for the better about this world.

And that, and only that, meant that Scourge the Hedgehog was currently facing the utter and complete wrath of the hero of Mobius.

Shadow turned and skated toward Black Doom.

xxx

Before him, the lines of the enemy army were a dark and featureless mass, because Shadow wasn't concentrating on them. Who he focused on stood only a couple of hundred yards away, on the slight rise where had intended to oversee the battle – Black Doom in full regalia, outlined against the storm clouds behind.

Well, didn't think I'd see that scene again.

Arrows impacted to the left and right from Shadow, who dodged them without even noticing, wooden projectiles so much slower than laser beams. Sand erupted into the air like applause where power skates let their owner shift to the sides ever so slightly whenever necessary. The front line of frightened and confused enemy soldiers – poorly equipped and scared-out-of-their-mind- farm boys and slaves, barely able to hold onto their shaking spears – came closer at a record rate. Shadow leapt.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

It was a low-level attack. Sonic had asked him not to kill without reason.

The pressure wave mowed over the field like an invisible tsunami, professional soldiers as well as terrified recruits sent flying into their comrades, bodies impacting into the earth and rolling away from where they had been blasted – and Shadow landed in the middle of the cleared circle as the panic broke out.

He met Black Doom's gaze, staring up at his 'father' atop the hill in front of him.

"Well, well, if it isn't my wayward son," the alien king growled. Around both Shadow and him the soldiers tried to collect themselves, shoot Shadow, develop a tactic, anything, but to both the Ultimate Lifeform and the dark tyrant they could have been immaterial at this point. "If you're here, I suppose Scourge failed his objective again."

"He's still trying," Shadow stated. "Sonic will be taking care of him."

"You can't be seriously attempting to still oppose me now, Shadow." Black Doom's arm swept around. "You're facing my army."

"You're facing me," Shadow stated simply, and then tan lips stretched into a smirk just as crimson eyes started to reflect the emerald flames now burning in his hands.

"There's no strength in numbers."

xxx

"Well, there goes your master. This time there's no one around to bail you out, pet. Prepare to be either killed or stomped into the dirt under my boot." Scourge's voice was still oozing superiority as he kept subtly adjusting his stance and his blade to every move Sonic made. The blue speedster's eyes narrowed as he kept his focus on both the green hedgehog and the advancing army behind the general, even though they were more than confused whether they should be attacking him or Shadow at the moment. No one was shooting their arrows at them so far, probably out of fear of hitting their own general. The few projectiles that were fired at Shadow, the black hedgehog dodged as easily as other people breathed.

"Big talk for someone who had a face full of potato mash the last time I saw them," Sonic shot back, a grin back on his face, but his body language still far from relaxed. He wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating Scourge this time.

"Big talk from someone who'll be bent over my bedside later," the green hedgehog retorted, blue eyes glinting with amusement at the death glare the insult got out of his opponent.

"Cute. You're talking as if when Shads and me have finished with this pigsty you call a kingdom you'd even still have a bed."

"You actually want to take over the kingdom," Scourge said, shaking his head and grinning. "You are completely insane. If I didn't have to defeat you, I'd make you my ally." And with that, just as the battle of Chaos between Shadow and Black Doom began as well, Scourge finally shot forward, blade swishing through the air to slice the unarmed hero of Mobius in two.

To be continued...