Chapter 8 - Mechanical Resonance

Sonic's midnight marathons over the coasts, highways, and plains were the only thing keeping him from completely ruining his vacation. Even at night, the vast regions of United Federation suffered from the hot climate that pilled up in the early afternoons just to spite him. As it turned out, almost the entire continent was drowning in an immense heat wave which according to the weather reports wasn't going away anytime soon. While everyone else threatened to melt because of the sun's irrational behavior, the only thing it did well was help the tourism a little earlier than usual. By the end of the week, every building that even remotely resembled a hotel sold out entirely. But it kept shining down on them with such power, eventually even the fans couldn't handle it and broke down completely. Anything that was of plastic origin didn't manage to survive for very long.

The blue hedgehog found it extremely difficult to get a good night sleep and instead hoped his super speed would find the cold wind and bring it back into the city. However, that was just wishful thinking on Sonic's part and he'll probably have to suffer the heat along with the rest of them. He was the kind of guy who could handle a slowly approaching magma closing in on his every orifice, but that was nothing compared to this summer. At the very peak of his hotter than life thoughts, he even thought about jumping into the ocean to cool off. But the only thing he would successfully accomplish by that would be drowning himself which in this painful weather seemed like an easier and sweeter salvation. However, since he wasn't a suicidal type and enjoyed life far too much, he quickly dismissed that idea, as swell it may have seemed the first time around.

Sonic was going slightly out of his mind ever since the mad Doctor decided to retreat and literally disappear from the face of the Earth, leaving him with nothing to work with for months. He spent his days running away from the giant hammer, wandering through the country with barely any time to stop and find a different source of entertainment. The Fastest Thing Alive was horrendously bored and there was nothing that could make him feel better. Even the engrossing and highly addicting pinball machines couldn't keep him amused for more than a few minutes.

When the Blue Blur decided to leave further up north in search of anything interesting such as, in all possibility, a colder climate and to test out the newly built highways, it wasn't long until a luxurious black limousine caught up with him on the bridge to another continent. Curiously, he slowed down to see what the deal was, only for the window to open as he was invited inside by the President of the United Federation himself, much to Sonic's surprise who barely had an idea of how he managed to find him here in the middle of the night. Although clearly not interested in whatever the big guy had to offer at this time, the younger hedgehog decided to accept his offer anyway and lounged on the back seat along with the human for a little while.

''Excuse me, Sonic the Hedgehog,'' the President felt the need to apologize, ''I hope you forgive me for making such an abrupt appearance.''

The blue mammal merely grinned and flailed his hand around to imply nonchalance, ''No problem. Who can sleep in this heat anyway?'' he snorted lightly and folded his arms, ''What's up?''

''I was hoping for your help with something very important,'' the male sounded hopeful as he held a curiously shaped box in his lap.

''Oh, yeah?'' closing his eyes for a short second due to weariness, Sonic wasn't really interested enough to be talking favors right about now, even if it was from the authorities that actually respected him for once, ''I'm not exactly in the right mood, so…''

Lifting his head, he replied quickly with a lower voice, ''Please, will you at least listen to my offer before you decline? It might sound interesting to you.''

''I doubt it…'' the Fastest Thing Alive held little hope that anything could brighten up the boring atmosphere around him. However, he decided to listen to his problems anyway as he propped one of his hands against his muzzle in sheer disinterest, ''Fine, I'm listening.''

Coughing out a short, Mr. President opened his box and pulled out a curiously shaped laptop. He typed something before turning the bright screen over to the emerald eyed hero to give him a concise explanation, ''Here's a short briefing. A few hours ago, the G.U.N. intelligence reported to have located a curious landmass east from here, an island that many believed to have been lost for years. Nobody knows how it appeared there. We haven't managed to find any proper information about it, so we have no idea what we're dealing with here.''

Looking at the map of nothing but light blue sea and small dots that indicated various locations, the blue hedgehog shrugged and asked, ''Okay… what does that have to do with me?''

''We need someone to check it out first to see if it's any threat to us,'' the human explained, ''That's where you come in.''

''So it's routine then?'' the fragile speedster asked.

''You could say that.''

Rubbing his gloved finger around his earlobe, Sonic still didn't sound convinced that it was his kind of adventure and replied with a bored expression on his face, ''Sounds like a G.U.N. mission. Are they busy or something?'' he didn't know if they even cared about small missions like this as much as he did, but that usually wasn't surprising by now.

''I believed it would be far better to send out a scout first before the military. The press has been hanging over their heads for a while now and I don't want to concern the citizen with such a hassle. Somebody who is more familiar with the people of Station Square wouldn't cause as much mindless tension about it,'' the President answered with blatant honesty.

''Great, it's a publicity stunt,'' the blue hedgehog mumbled to himself under his breath and asked the big guy a more curious question, ''But why me? There are others out there who could do the job just as fine.''

Mr. President was quick to reply as if he said the same exact sentence before in his life, ''We want to be discreet about it. We don't want to make a big fuss out of it if it turns out to be nothing important. You are low profile enough and already a wanderer on your own anyway.''

''Makes sense, I guess,'' the Blue Blur understood somewhat, but it didn't help his interest about it being anymore lower than it was right now.

''The island is located somewhere around here…'' clicking on the keyboard, the chessboard map zoomed out to reveal the distance between this continent and the mysterious island which was located in the middle of nowhere. As he handed a scribbled piece of paper over to the blue hedgehog, Sonic had a difficulty staying present at this time when the President talked further to explain anything he might have known about the enigmatic location and keep the hero interested about it. However, the younger mammal felt sleepier with every spoken word, ''We're not sure how it moved there on its own, but we're positive that it's not another Angel Island. While most information about it has been lost, we do know its name.''

''Only the name?'' the emerald eyed mammal grinned with half lidded eyes, ''Humor me, Mr. President.''

''It's called Christmas Island.''

''That's impossible, I'm from… wait a second…'' at the very mention of the name, Sonic widened his eyes significantly and went completely silent as he stared at the male and eventually turned toward the paper with the exact coordinates. The island's name echoed in his mind ever since he told him about it, zoning out entirely into his own world. It was a name he hadn't heard in a very long time, but many years ago that was the only thing he knew about himself as well. He very well expected not to care anyway, as it only mattered back then and the past wasn't something that sounded exhilarating to investigate. But why did he feel the need to reinstate if this thing was actually real?

The blue hedgehog looked up to the dark haired male, hesitating to ask as if afraid this was an actual fact, ''Did you say… Christmas Island?''

''That's right,'' the President of United Federation nodded. Noticing Sonic's empty expression, he asked with a worrisome voice, ''Is something wrong with it?''

''What? No, it's nothing. Actually that sounds kinda…'' the Blue Blur still appeared to be intoxicated in his own thoughts. However, he already made a decision for himself as he unexpectedly chuckled out to confirm it again. Not to keep the other at bay anymore, Sonic smirked greatly and jumped on his feet to shake the human's hand much to his surprise,''… awesome! Consider it done, Mr. President! You can count on me!''

''That was quick…'' the President had to blink a couple of times before coming up with the present events, ''Usually it's harder to convince you.''

''I'm all for an adventure, especially in this heat!'' the blue hedgehog replied with a brush to his chin and eventually jumped out of the limousine through the car's ceiling window back onto the road right beside the Presidential car.

Quickly, the Mr. President opened the window to say his last appreciations to the blue speedster, ''Thank you very much, Sonic. I'm not sure how to repay you.''

''No problem, it's what I do! I'll be back before you'll even notice I've left!'' with those last thoughts out of his mind, the emerald eyed hero skidded on the road to leave his mark and turned back toward the city of Station Square to start a new adventure and possibly rediscover the meaning behind all of this.

XXX

''You… did… what!?''

Shadow was completely shocked and widened his eyes in clear astonishment at Sonic's awkward chuckling. All this time, the Blue Blur was using him, pulling his nose wherever he went next like a marionette. He could barely believe it… Shadow was tricked by Sonic the Hedgehog. He, the Ultimate Lifeform, the protector of this planet, the G.U.N. agent and the superior user of Chaos energy was tricked by a 15 year old speedster who probably couldn't even spell his own species' name for that matter. It simply did not compute with him. All this time he believed there was something wrong with his blue counterpart and it constantly bothered him, but at the same time he held hope his rival wasn't the type to do something like this. It seems Shadow was wrong and he always underestimated him, but this was low even for him.

Sonic took advantage of him in barely a day. He never believed the Fastest Thing Alive could do anything like that. This turned out to be incredibly embarrassing as he finally shouted at him on top of his lungs, ''You knew all this time and you didn't bother telling me!?''

The younger mammal retaliated with a softer yet stumbling voice as soon as he tried to explain, ''Calm down, I was just-

He interrupted him immediately, ''I don't want to hear any of it!'' the black hedgehog's hands started forming into shaking fists as soon he brushed the Blue Blur off. He was in clear danger of exploding with rage and doing terrible things to his counterpart.

Sighing, the Blue Blur started sounding desperate, ''Just listen to me.''

''No, Sonic! You can deal with this crap on your own!'' the G.U.N. agent had enough and decided to turn away to get out of his sight as soon as it was possible. He couldn't even stand him in his presence anymore, much less look at him ever again. He did not like to be taken for a fool, yet his rival just managed to do so in the most unexpected of places.

''I didn't know what to expect…'' Sonic tried to explain quickly as he was left behind, ''I didn't know it would turn out like this…'' he wanted him to see that this was not his fault, for all good it did, ''I didn't want to get my hopes up!''

Stopping in his track, the Ultimate Lifeform tilted his head back at him with no remorse and pointed at him with his finger, ''You should've thought of that before you started fooling around with me! I'm getting out of here! You can stay here for all I care!'' Shadow was determined to leave all of this behind him.

''Shadow, if you just hear me out…'' the blue hedgehog ran after him in belief his darker counterpart would start listening to him if he bugs him enough about it, ''I can explain. I was-

Clenching his fists even tighter at the irritating voice following him, he turned toward him and ended up with the emerald eyed hero right face to face. Shadow raised one of his hands against his muzzle in a threatening manner. The other was slightly taken aback as he couldn't even finish his sentence but didn't dare to move aside, ''Don't you even think about it! You… you little…'' the black hedgehog wanted to pummel Sonic's face and his cringe inducing smirks into the ground so hard, he wouldn't even know what hit him. He deserved it for all the annoying crap he had to put up with. There was nothing the Fastest Thing Alive could possibly do or say that would make him change his mind about it.

And yet, the blue hedgehog didn't say anything to counter him. Sonic didn't even grin for that matter. No sarcasm and no explanations came from his side. He just stood there with the most heartbreaking expression Shadow has ever seen on his blue counterpart, along with his ears folded next to his head and half lidded eyes. It seemed like he decided to take whatever was coming his way after all… the way it should've been in this situation anyway. But even as he convinced himself that was the perfect punishment for him, Shadow still hesitated to do so and refrained from swinging at him as hard as it was possible.

When his arm dropped back to his side, the Blue Blur closed his eyes for a slight second, as if he really believed he was going to get hurt in some way. Upon opening his eyes again, the black hedgehog growled at him with a raised fist, ''You're not worth it,'' and skated away.

''Shadow, I…'' the blue mammal only managed out a weak voice the older one couldn't possibly hear. Sonic downed his head and propped himself against his knees with a heavy exhale. Why did he have a feeling he was now scaring people away from him? The only thing he knew it wasn't a very good moment to be spouting out the truth. Yet another team member has abandoned him and he could do nothing that could make anything better.

''This hasn't been the greatest week of my life. First Knuckles… and now Shadow…''

XXX

The black hedgehog was enraged. Completely and utterly enraged.

Leaving the sneaky Blue Blur far behind him in this building, there was only one thing on his mind; getting off this damn island. He didn't care how much the storm intensified during their heated argument. He was going to get through it no matter what, just to get away from Sonic and this tedious place. This wasn't like him at all. Shadow wasn't the type to fall for such stupid tricks, less from someone like Sonic. He could barely believe a hedgehog like him even succeeded. It instantly shook his confident disposition and made him look like a complete fool. As soon he finally realized his blue counterpart was pulling his strings through the whole ordeal, Shadow knew that was his cue to leave and save himself from further embarrassment.

This was probably the most awkward thing he had to go through in his life and he'll never look at him the same way again. For a very long time, the blue annoyance was merely a small thorn in his heel, but this time he crossed the line completely. He might as well despise him even more than anytime before. He knew Sonic was up to something, yet he didn't want to believe it. He hoped the other had more brain cells in his head than to pull off something like this without a proper warning… and with him in the middle nonetheless. The Ultimate Lifeform felt completely exposed and betrayed.

But there was one thing he couldn't figure out… why did he hesitate in front of him? Why didn't he just let his anger get the best of him and beat the crap out of Sonic when he had the chance? He was even expecting it, for the love of Chaos! Yet at that moment, he couldn't even punch him and he was looking the informed hero straight into his eyes. He didn't move or anything, it's like he was giving him a chance to strike him down. And how was he going to tell Tails about this mess? That his proposed older brother of sorts was a self-centered liar? Then again, does he really need to know? With a scoff, he pushed away those thoughts. He was far too concerned with getting off this island first and back to the metropolitan homelands.

Shadow found himself in the room with the pit… he didn't care what anything was in this place anymore. He wasn't completely sure how he'll get back home, but the black hedgehog was ready to do anything that was physically possible to get away. He was surprised that Sonic hadn't come after him already. Then again, he was going outside and considering just how much the blue annoyance hated water of all things possible, it was entirely obvious that his good for nothing rival wasn't going to dare steeping outside. But it wasn't like the older mammal himself was even remotely enjoying the atrocious weather dissonance that came up a moment ago. The lightning flashes and loud thunder that continued to accompany each other throughout the sky didn't make things any better.

Much to his displeasure, the irritating footsteps of the blue hedgehog's hyper friction resistant shoes finally managed to come after him, ''Shadow, wait! Listen to me!''

Gritting his teeth, the other wasn't going to have any of it as he sped up, ''I'm done with that, hedgehog!''

''I was just-

Having been accidentally led into a corner by some very inconvenient chance, Shadow turned around with a stomp and stopped his blue counterpart from nearing him even slightly as he pointed a finger at him. The Fastest Thing Alive stopped immediately, as if the Ultimate Lifeform was about to launch a Chaos Spear right into his face, ''You're a complete idiot for thinking I would go along with this.''

The blue mammal was quick to turn that reply around, ''What, are you saying you'd tag along if I told you in the first place?''

''Of course not!'' the black hedgehog shouted, creating a pout on the other's face, ''But at least you'd be honest about it!''

Sonic exhaled out significantly before folding his hands in a very awkward position and avoiding his rival's death glare. With no particular expression on his muzzle, the Blue Blur composed himself for the time being as he tried to calm him down with a smoother voice, ''I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want to believe this was real.''

''Why the hell is that!?'' as much as he started to show that he didn't like being yelled at, Shadow kept continuing with a heightened tone that eventually started echoing throughout the entire room in an almost frightening way, ''You traded away a simple explanation for your own selfish reasons and now look where we are! Why did you think it would work anyway?''

''I never asked for much, Shadow…'' the peach arms sagged back to his sides, ''I wasn't expecting to get you into this mess, but I had no choice. I didn't want to be here alone.''

''Sonic…'' he tried to keep himself from bursting out completely at him yet again, although he literally couldn't stand this conversation anymore. The older mammal decided he wasn't going to let something like this haunt him ever again, ''This is your mess, not mine. I'm done with that sort of thing!''

Sighing harshly, the black hedgehog nodded erratically as he walked past Sonic and slightly bumped their shoulders together as if to discourage him from following him around anymore. Now, one of the few things left to do were to never look back again and just keep on walking. The Ultimate Lifeform understood clearly what his younger counterpart wanted to do in this place, the black one found himself in that same exact position as well. But the way he did it was completely unacceptable to him or anyone else for that matter. It's one thing to be fooled by an enemy, but a different thing entirely when tricked by someone you've known and fought by their side.

When he finally believed he was far enough from him, he could still hear that particular sentence from him that managed to both frighten and puzzle Shadow for whatever reason, as he could feel shivers going down his spines, ''At least you remember it!'' the whole reason was the blue hedgehog's high pitched voice which sounded like it was going to break down at some point for good. That was also another part of his confused past self the crimson eyed agent wasn't glad to be reminded of.

The emerald eyed hero managed to be both surprised and disappointed, although he couldn't figure out if most was directed at himself or Shadow. Then again, he didn't have a reason to feel anything against the Ultimate Lifeform as he did play with him long enough to figure something like this was bound to happen. He must've been pretty naïve, if he really believed the other would take it all in its stride and go along with no hesitation. This was Shadow after all, he never expected sentimental things like that from him. Sonic could've told him from the beginning why he was interested in this island, but if this wasn't actually his Christmas Island he believed it was, then he was bothering himself and everyone else for nothing.

Sonic had a faint idea that if he went back to somewhere familiar, he'd manage to remember something. It seemed to work with his darker counterpart after all, so why wouldn't it be the same with him? But coming here in a flash of quick decisions, everything from the jungle to this building was completely foreign to him. He started wondering if this was his home island at all. It was mere luck that brought him here, but Sonic started thinking that he shouldn't have come back here in the first place. Some things were better left in the past and were never meant to be rediscovered again. This was probably just one of those things, but the younger hedgehog was too stubborn for his own good to pass such an opportunity. Shadow was probably right… this was his own mess to clean up.

''What's that?'' Sonic's ears twitched into a particular direction not far away from him, having heard a very distinct sound somewhere beyond the nearby wall. It was approaching slowly with a threatening sound as if it was coming for someone. Hearing a significant pitch in the noise, there was never a better time to freak out, ''Shadow, watch out!''

He turned around with an annoyed expression on his face, deciding that this will be the last time he will ever speak to the blue hedgehog, ''I told you-

But as soon he opened his mouth, the wall between them was smashed in by an unknown force with a ear piercing screech and threw its pieces to the ground like a broken toy, lifting up a great deal of dust in the air. It happened so fast the two didn't have time to react properly and coughed loudly due to the smoke. When the place finally cleared away after a few seconds, they could finally see what punched it aside like a ragdoll. It reached out from the gigantic hole with a mechanical claw, supporting itself when it entered the room with a stomp that could easily emulate earthquakes. A robotic creature, almost as big as any of Eggman's flashy toys and better equipped than any sort of armed vehicle in military's possession, looked from a hedgehog to a hedgehog with a rotating head and yellow eyes that functioned as its scanners. The machine growled out with a particularly screeching techno sound and steeped out into the open, adorned in a dark material and glowed with electricity from top to bottom until it disappeared entirely.

It looked like the being also woke up recently, but didn't exactly appreciate the effort, ''What the… I thought this place was deserted!'' Sonic yelped at the giant robot, only to have the metallic beast turn his way in mild surprise and crush the iron debris with ease in-between its giant claw.

''Wait a minute…'' the black hedgehog was left astonished at the sudden events taking place as he took on his attack pose, ''Could it be Doctor after all?''

The younger hedgehog somehow managed to hear him over all the noise caused by the machine, ''No way! That doesn't look like anything he'd create!''

Shadow didn't know why the blue annoyance was so certain. However, the only recognizable robots of Eggman's were the Egg Pawns created in his image, along with the irritating grin, round spectacles and obnoxious fat design. Other than that… this robot could've belonged to anyone. Screaming once more, the machine dislocated its arm in an awkward way and launched itself at the black hedgehog, only to have him dodge it in the last second. The arm traveled back to the robot's body through a chain hanging out of its torso. Shadow grunted out as he landed, ''I think it wants to fight.''

''That's fine by me!'' the other hedgehog replied and jumped into his well known pose to start the battle.

''Ready?''

Shadow motioned in agreement and they ran up at the machine from their flanks. The blue hedgehog dashed into the air to build up enough speed and spun at the robot's chest, only to almost knock it over but did no damage to speak of. As an amazing turn, the robotic beast had no qualms with its position and punched the air with its claw hand extraordinarily precisely, flinging Sonic into the opposite wall. In the meantime of Sonic's recovery time, the black hedgehog launched himself behind the robot and tried to strike it with a Chaos Spear. While it might have done more damage than the blue one's spin dash, it still largely appeared to annoy the robot more than anything else. Using its hands as a weapon, the machine started flailing wildly at Shadow, eventually hitting him from the side but that didn't stop the Ultimate Lifeform.

Jumping back onto a safe distance and starting a spin dash out of necessity, the black hedgehog dashed around the robot's legs to confuse it and double it over with a makeshift tornado. When he believed he had it at his advantage, Shadow spun back upwards only to be caught by the stumbling machine's claw at the last moment much to his irritation. As much as the agent resisted against the hold, the more the robotic being threatened to crush him completely.

Out of nowhere, the blue speedster charged at the head this time from both sides and up its chin, slightly dislodging it from its initial position and grinded back to the floor on its back. He then quickly hurried to its feet and caused him to fall by taking advantage of Shadow's whirlwind, creating a combination with his own. Before it could even hit the floor and take the rest of the damaged wall with it, the black hedgehog managed to pull himself out of the situation and jump backwards along with the Blue Blur.

''Charge while he's down!'' the blue hedgehog replied with an almost ordering voice, gaining a mere rolling eye from his rival. The two quickly charged up their dashes to finish off the robot, only for the machine to envelop itself entirely into an electrical field which stopped them in their track immediately. While they were distracted by the pain coursing through their bodies, they were punched to the floor like old scraps of metal. As much as the robot appeared incredibly well protected against their attacks and how much beating the mammals had to endure in the process, the two hedgehogs got right back up again and started pounding the machine even more just to get some sense of satisfaction through it.

While Sonic continued dashing at its head, the black hedgehog powered up himself and shot a quick successive chain of Chaos Spears against the robot. The robot stumbled as he tried to hit the blue hedgehog dashing up and down his enormous body until he was eventually pushed backwards by Shadow into the same hole the machine came from the first time around. The younger one was trying to find a weakness somewhere on its body, although he was prevented from going anywhere to its upper parts by the rotating hands that started defending its shell. It turned on its electric shield once more, staying in a stationary form in front of the two.

Grunting out of annoyance, the black hedgehog was getting impatient and his Chaos energy will soon need some time to recharge if he continues like this. He wasn't about to wait for the robot to move again and expose itself as he created another Chaos Spear and decided to throw it right through the shield.

''Shadow!'' the blue hedgehog tried to stop him and ran after him when he didn't listen. The black hedgehog launched it at the shielding machine, only to be greeted by an electrical bolt coming for him. Sonic, who came after him, pulled the Ultimate Lifeform out of the way much to his resentment and in turn pulled himself away from his rival. The emerald eyed hero merely shrugged at the G.U.N. agent's ungrateful attitude. As Shadow turned back to the machine, he dodged another bolt trying to hit them.

He moved out of the way right after Shadow, ''Ouch! Just by a hair!''

''This is unacceptable!'' the black hedgehog pointed at the stationary robot that continued to defend itself with electricity. This must've been the first time the Ultimate Lifeform looked particularly angry in battle and was ready to launch the next attack hastily, despite not being a reckless type. He only wanted to get over with it as soon as possible. His distaste for this island only managed to become higher, ''Stand up, coward! Show me what you're made of! Now!''

As if the machine actually listened to his demanding voice, it started to move slowly and got up with the shield still on as if to wait for the right moment to attack. The two prepared themselves for whatever surprise attack the robot was going to pull this time. It finally removed its hands away from its chest and launched them like rockets at light speed, causing them to dodge quickly as they tried to reach the machine and destroy it once and for all. Yet again, they spin dashed at its chest simultaneously for some elaborate damage and pushed it backwards some more. Getting back its detachable claws, the robot began destroying the floor between them, trying to catch the hedgehogs into a corner like a pair of mice in a labyrinth.

Sonic ran alongside the black hedgehog, but was eventually separated from him as the massive machine punched entire holes into the ground right between them. Without further ado, the blue one had to find a way to defeat the robot faster. Speaking from experience, attacking the head was usually the best way, however this time around he only scratched it and their spin dashes continued to prove useless.

It was time for another tactic. Almost tripping over the scraps in the way, the robot's hand blocked his path completely and threw the iron debris at the Blue Blur. Jumping into the air at a quick reflex, Sonic pushed himself away from the incoming piece of metal and kicked the incoming one right back into the machine's face. Hearing a clearly disturbed sound coming from it in slight surprise, he finally realized what he did and turned to his darker counterpart, ''Shadow, the top!'' bright vicious sparks coming from the top of its head indicated that he finally found its weak point, ''That has to be its weakness!''

''Watch its patterns and learn them!'' looking toward the mechanical monstrosity, Shadow was determined to finish it off himself as he ordered to his rival, ''Distract him long enough for me to get up there!''

Pouting at the Ultimate Lifeform's suggestion, he was quick to object, ''Hold on, why am I the bait!?''

''Consider it a payback for lying to me, hedgehog!'' the black mammal still sounded incredibly bitter, ''But don't worry, that's not the only thing waiting for you!''

Facepalming himself, the Blue Blur could hardly wait as he replied in exasperation, ''Oh, brother…''

He turned to the machine to take its attention away from his darker counterpart as he flailed his hands through the air, ''Hey, buddy! Come on and catch me!'' the robot was quick to smash its fist down on him which startled the blue hedgehog who jumped away just in time. Seems like it had enough of fooling around and finally got down to business. Sonic continued to mock the giant nonetheless, sticking out his tongue during his dash and show it to the gigantic robotic creature, only for it to grow even more violent and pissy as he progressed. It started trampling everything beneath it just to get to the speeding annoyance and crush it as fast as possible.

The emerald eyed hero did everything to keep the deranged robot on his trail and dodged any incoming attack from behind as best as he could. However, he was starting to run out of places to run freely and the machine was slowly catching up to him, ''Shadow, I know you're probably enjoying this but could you hurry up a little!''

As the black hedgehog predicted, his plan worked. When the robot focused entirely on Sonic, his job was to get high enough and strike the top of its head with the last Chaos Spear he might be able to produce for a while. However, he needed enough time and speed to be able to pull it off just perfectly as he watched the robot from afar. Seeing the yelling blue hedgehog getting chased around made for great entertainment in his eyes, but the Ultimate Lifeform had to prepare himself for the final attack.

The machine cornered Sonic and bent over slightly toward him with a large fist hovering right over his head, finally giving the crimson eyed agent the advantage he waited for. Dashing toward it with great speed, he spun and hit its back at the right angle, launching himself higher to land perfectly on its head. Shadow immediately jammed the Chaos Spear down the electric conductor on the robot's head, also giving an opportunity to the blue hedgehog for a quick escape sequence. It spazzed out completely, the electric current went through its entire body and prevented it from moving anywhere anymore.

Pushing away from it, the black hedgehog landed back on the ground near the Fastest Thing Alive as they shielded their eyes from the bright electricity that covered the entire robot. The twitching machine eventually gave up under its weight and sagged onto its knees, leaving the room yet again in terrifying silence. The smoke started emitting from the burned robot and covered the entire room, just as it fell to the ground with an outstanding echo.

When it settled down, the blue hedgehog sighed with a tired sound as he hesitantly neared the robot with a question, ''Is it over?'' he overlooked the still twitching machinery and dragged himself closer. The emerald eyed hero eventually kicked the shell with his foot and jumped backwards into his attack pose.

Nothing happened, much to his relief.

Shadow was positive the raging machine was never going to get back up ever again, ''That should have taken care of it,'' but as soon the Ultimate Lifeform turned around to take his leave, the quiet air started echoing with a strange clicking noise.

''What's that sound?''

''It's coming from the robot…'' the Blue Blur pointed at it with his gloved finger. The strange feeling the two hedgehogs shared about now only managed to turn even worse.

''Shi-