Chapter 24: For True Story
Chapter 24: For True Story
The artificial air was cold against her skin, the only heat she felt caused by the swelling of every muscle in her body as she pushed herself to go faster and faster. She could see the spire in the distance, but it wasn't getting any closer.
She twirled in the air, Shadow right below her as he didn't even spare her a passing glance. She brought a buck down towards him as they kept up their insane speeds.
"Chaos Control," he spoke, vanishing as her buck struck the floor. She winced but pushed herself forward with her momentum. She flipped herself over. She knew exactly where he was. He was pulling off the same trick she just did. His kick struck her from above, but she brought her hooves up just in time, making sure her face avoided the powerful blow.
The strike sent her flying ahead of him. Dang it, she couldn't afford to slow down. If she did, she would be done for, and so was the earth. She used the boost from his kick to keep on going, doing whatever she could to put distance between them, even if it didn't last long. She rubbed her forehooves, the pain from that hit finally registering. It felt far worse than some kick. It was like a train had just tried to plow through her.
She didn't have much reprieve. Almost immediately Shadow was at her side again, his shoes gliding across the metal floor as if it was made of ice. "You have to know that you can't win!" he spoke over the blowing wind. "But, why do you keep persisting?!"
Rainbow groaned in a mix of pain and annoyance. "You think I'm just going to give up that easily?! You don't know who you're dealing with, bub?!"
"Says the equine who's contesting against the ultimate lifeform!" he shot. "Now, allow me to show you the power of Chaos Control! Chaos Spear!"
The barrage of golden bolts sailed toward Rainbow. Her eyes went wide with sudden fear. It took a great amount of precision, along with a bit of luck, but she managed to angle her body in several positions that caused the spears to shoot right past her, sometimes coming close to grazing her. Shadow suddenly sidestepped into her, sending her flying towards the wall. Rainbow quickly corrected herself, taking care not to hit the wall, but nearly lost track of Shadow as he spin dashed right towards her. She twirled her body, sailing inches over him as his quills grazed her fur. Shadow now was the one to hit the wall, but his spinning allowed him to bounce off, heading right back to her as he uncurled into a punch. She threw her own punch, the two meeting fist to hoof. Her shoulder shook under the intense pressure, but she didn't back down, not this time. She grit her teeth, putting all of her strength into this one action.
Shadow looked genuinely surprised at her sudden strength. He didn't even bring an emerald here, and yet she still found the power to fight back. She suddenly brought her rear hooves up, coming down with them in a hammer-like motion. Shadow was forced to focus on that, bringing both of his arms up to block it. The force caused his feet to skid across the floor, his speed changing drastically. Darn it; he couldn't let her get the better of him like this. It was embarrassing, and more so, it was humiliating.
As he fell slightly behind, he jumped forward, going into another spin dash as she dodged out of the way. Their speed only increased from here. They were nothing but streaks now, disappearing and reappearing as they impacted with one another. They kept this up for some time until Rainbow flew high, circling him before divebombing right toward the hedgehog. It wasn't high enough for a rainboom, but fast and powerful nonetheless. She zoomed down, only for Shadow to suddenly flash right in front of her, a firm roundhouse kick striking her right in the face. She was sent flying high above the trench, her mind in a daze as it racked inside her head.
"Chaos Spear!" Shadow yelled, swiping his arms as a flurry of golden spears shot towards her at high speed.
Rainbow shook her head, escaping the daze as she flipped back over. She found purchase on a small asteroid, the loose piece of debris just one of many as they littered the outer areas of the Ark. This was only a second of reprieve, however, as she had to make a quick jump around the floating rock to avoid the spears, each one impacting it with a furious explosion. Rainbow rocked as she held for dear life to the craggy boulder, the whole thing spinning from the impacts.
She grits her teeth hard. "Darn it! What do I have to do to get a break here?!"
With the sound of another flash, she looked back to see that Shadow had teleported, this time right behind her. While a red flash in his eyes, he spun right to her. She audibly gasped in surprise, but managed to roll out of the way, but only barely. Shadow spun into the asteroid, loose rock and dust flying into Rainbow's face as she jumped away.
Now high above where the trench once was, she had abandoned it as she started weaving around many of the other asteroids. As long as she didn't go too high, she should still have plenty of air to keep on going. That was the plan at least, as she didn't really have any clue on how this place worked at all.
Her thoughts were interrupted as a blast of air blew past her, her eyes stinging to the touch and her mane blown completely back, nearly taking her with it. It was strange, as the wind seemed to have an unnatural tingling sensation to it, almost like static as it passed her body.
"What the?!" she swore. She looked up as it stopped. Then, she eyed the spire.
"ECLIPSE CANNON SEQUENCE COMPLETE IN T-MINUS 10 MINUTES," the deep voice spoke again.
…
No…
The spire was now completely opened, the arms extending our over most of the station now as the center glowed with a near blinding energy. It nearly almost done charging its weapon. Darn it! Darn it! Darn it! Darn it! This was…just…impossible… Dang it, where was that bat-girl?! If it was true that she was supposed to be distracting Shadow, what was taking her so long?! Or, could she even get into position in time to even do anything about it?! After all, it was taking her this long just to get to the control room.
"No, come on Rainbow Dash," she mentally slapped herself. "This isn't the time to be thinking about that. You made a promise, remember. And you always keep your promises."
Her breath was suddenly knocked out of her, somepony impacting as she gasped. She now saw what it was, and she glared angerly at her aggressor. "You won't be keeping this one," Shadow stated simply as he grappled with her, the two flying off as two streaks intertwined with one another.
Rainbow winced. He was gripping the fur around her chest tightly, not giving an inch as she tried to shake him off. He tried throwing a punch, only for her to block it before taking her rear hooves and bucking him in the stomach. He lurched as he was flown into another asteroid, colliding as he recovered. Rainbow wasn't letting him off that easy, however. She flared her wings to stop before charging straight down at him, hooves outstretched as she took aim. He only just managed to dodge it, flipping backward on the rock as she struck it. She winced from the impact of rock against her hooves but still looked on strong, right at the hedgehog across from her.
"Do you actually believe you have a chance?" Shadow taunted. "Just like before, you're trying to change the future, only failing to realize that what's inevitable doesn't change because you want it to."
"And what is that supposed to mean?!" Rainbow questioned.
"It means you have neither the power nor the will to change a thing!" he yelled, charging into her as they collided.
They remained on the asteroid, circling its body in streaks as they struck one another with punches and kicks. Little by little, they started chipping away at the rock.
"If you keep this up, you'll end up just like that blue hedgehog!" Shadow shouted, spin dashing into her.
She blocked it, gritting her teeth through the pain, but completely aware of his words. "How can you even say that?!" she yelled, pushing off his spinning body as he sped past. "You two are supposed to be friends! You're—" she rushes back at him, looking to land any strikes she can, albeit quite difficult with his reaction times, "—supposed to be on the same side! So what gives?!" she shouted, anger in her magenta eyes as she took a surprising maneuver.
Shadow's eyes almost went wide as he saw her head flying towards his. He crossed his arms in front of his face, Rainbow's skull slamming into them. It hurt immensely for both of them, but Rainbow wouldn't let that stop her. She immediately brought the rest of her body around to sweep under Shadow's legs.
"What are you trying to say?!" he questioned with an incredulous tone. His eyes darted to her sweeping legs with a streak of red. He jumped over the attack, her rear hooves gliding right under him. "What are you talking about?!" he yelled, flipping over he as he jumped away. "Chaos Spear!"
At his roars, the yellow bolts flew out from his hands yet again. It was no use for her to try and dodge. He was still too close for her to do so and even if she tried, he was ready for that. Up. That was her best choice. With his attacks aimed where she stood, she would naturally try and fly above the attack before charging at him again. She was so predictable at this point it was almost painful.
It was therefore completely unexpected when she didn't fly upward but head-on into the Chaos Spears. The exploded the second they made contact with her, the golden light completely enveloping her body.
"What?!" Shadow yelled in shock. Was she stupid or something?! She took that attack head on without so much as a second thought!
He racked his brain for reasons for her reckless action but found none. "Was she that foolish?" he asked himself, watching as all the dust settled. Most of it floated out into space. However, some of it…burst out towards him.
Rainbow reappeared straight through the cloud, eyes filled with both anger and determination as her hoof was already reared back. Shadow was taken aback at her mad rush. Her body was covered in dust and singed fur, her hair an absolute mess. There was even a streak of blood running down her forehead and cheek, but she was still going! But how?!
He had no time to dodge. Her hoof struck his face dead on. The strike was so hard that it sent him flying right off the asteroid and back down towards the Ark. She gave him no reprieve. She chased him down, instantly striking him in the gut. "I've had enough of you!" she yelled in anger, not even caring of her own words. "What do your friends even see in you?! You reject everypony so that you can be alone! You want to destroy the relationships that everypony has built up!"
He tried to block her, but she ended up flying beneath him, bucking him in the back as he now flew upwards. "You don't care about anything! Only about your own messed up and stupid goals!" Tears were starting to form in her eyes now, the watery substance clouding her vision. She delivered another blow to him, only causing him to fly higher. "So, you tell me…why does anypony care about you?!"
She gave one last uppercut, striking him right under the chin. His head jerked up, and Rainbow could almost hear the cracking of bone.
A gunshot rung past her ears. Shadow screamed against a glass tube; just like the one Sonic had been trapped in. And in his sight was a girl, a young girl. She was frozen, crystal-clear tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked to him. She…smiled…before falling to her knees. She then fell to the floor, unmoving.
Rainbow's eyes widened. What…what was that? What did she just see? That girl—
"M-Maria…" she heard from the flying hedgehog in front of her, his voice, for the first time, sounding week and pitiful. It was…filled with emotion.
He jerked his head back to her, his eyes filled with nothing but a red glow. It wasn't just his irises, but the entirety of his eyes, whites and all. Hid aura was beyond massive now. It was unwieldy, blasting forth in front of her face.
"You're dead," he spoke, his tone no longer monotone. It was a pure, guttural threat. "Chaos…" he spoke, his black fur taking on a red glow to it, a wave of heat washing past Rainbow's face. "Blast!"
It all happened in a flash. The scorching heat. The blinding red light. The burning sensation rippling across her skin. Rainbow screamed, the pain so unbearable she felt completely paralyzed by it. This was pure unrelenting chaos, the power of a hate-driven adversary. And she felt every inch of his hate.
The energy expanded around the two, creating a massive red orb that exploded out into thousands of energy sparks. The shockwave washed across the surface of the station, the air becoming visible as it spread. The inner core of the blast seemed to shrink before exploding out again, the entire place illuminated as it ruptured one more time.
Rainbow was now falling, a smoky trail following her close behind as she faded in and out of consciousness. The red blast was now dissipating, but everything just looked upside down from her point of view. She just continued falling. Time was lost to her. She didn't even know how long it took before she reached the ground, her body taking a rough skip and tumble in the low gravity. Then, she finally came to a stop.
Shadow landed shortly after her, his breathing ragged. He held his left arm with his right hand, the seeping ache coursing through it. Darn it. He used too much energy for that. Too much energy for her. He mentally cursed at himself. He shouldn't have lost his temper like that, not to a creature as lowly as her. But…what exactly did he see after she had struck him? It was like he had just relived the moment in which he had all but forgotten, the moment he never wished to relive in the first place. Maria…she had…
He shook the thought out of his head. He needed to forget all of that, everything that had happened before now. None of it mattered at this point. He focused back on the pony, her unmoving form lying before him. She looked pathetic. Most of her fur was completely burned, and her wings and hair were an absolute mess. Shadow just huffed in disgust. It was unlikely she had survived, especially after taking an attack like that point blank.
…
…
Her body shifted.
"What?" Shadow questioned.
Her body shifted more, albeit very slowly and each movement looked to be full of pain. She lifted her upper half up, pained grunts reaching his ears.
"How?" he asked, still in disbelief.
"I…I told you…" she muttered, still trying to pick herself up as she looked to him, her eyes glassy and red. "I'm…not giving up…not that easily…"
Shadow growled. "Just. Give. Up!"
He rushed over, delivering a firm kick to her stomach. She lurched, skidding further away from him.
There was a moment of silence afterward, Shadow unmoving as he watched her body.
Then, she picked her back up again.
"Why do you keep going against fate?" Shadow questioned, his anger and confusion already starting to rise again. "You know you have no chance, yet you keep on getting back up. You know that if you keep this up, you'll die, right?"
"You…really think I care…?"
That caught him by surprise.
"Yeah…," Rainbow spoke, but weakly. "You know…before now, I'm sure I would've just thrown in the towel by now… And guess what…I want to… But…I know that I can't."
She looked up at him again, but this time there were tears. Not held back this time but let loose for all to see. "This whole world is counting on me right now, counting on Rainbow Dash to make everything right. Well, I already know that I messed up. More than big time. I…I lost a friend of mine because I couldn't beat you before… We may have butt heads a bunch, but…I still wanted to get to know him better. Now that he's gone…" she gulped after that last bit, "I want to make sure nothing else is messed up… If I gave up now, I couldn't forgive myself, knowing I didn't even try."
The two sat in silence now. Rainbow was still on the ground being held up by her forehooves, but only barely. "I'm not like you," she stated. "I don't give up."
Shadow looked at her contemplatively. Just who was this pony? Did she really believe the words that she spoke? Here she was, beaten and broken, completely at his mercy. Yet, she was still holding onto the idea she could still change something in this world. Well, she would have to learn the hard way that things truly don't change because she wants them to. "I don't know where you came from," Shadow spoke, pacing towards her, "or what you're hoping to accomplish. But I'll tell you what I know about this world."
He stopped before her, his intense glare sending chills down her spine. "I've experienced firsthand how something you cherish can be taken away from you in an instant. I've experienced it every time I shut my eyes. Loss is just part of how this world works. It gives you life; then it takes it from you right before your eyes. Don't talk like you know me. You don't. Whatever pain you feel right now, it doesn't compare to what I feel every day of my life."
He extended his hand out to her. At first, Rainbow was confused. Was he offering to help her up or something? Soon, however, she realized the reality. His palm was opened toward her, right in her face. She froze. His glare had only intensified, a distinct yellow glow forming in his palm.
"Now, this way you won't have to feel that pain anymore," he said, his monotone voice now back. "It's like I said before, the promises you made will only end up broken."
The glow grew brighter, a single spear-like shape forming in his palm. Rainbow was still unmoving. She just stared defiantly back at the energy, any fear she once had completely vanquished. If this was how she was going out, at least she didn't go quietly. She just wished…she could've had more time…
"Now,"
More time…with Sonic and the others…
"Vanish!" Shadow yelled.
Then, he shot the spear from his hand, the energy impacting with a crackling boom.
…
…
She was gone…
Shadow stared at the now empty spot, its only occupant being the scorched metal where she once stood. A brisk wind passed him by. A back blast. But…
Rainbow had just had the wind knocked out of her, the sudden sense of whiplash overtaking her. Her vision was tunneled due to the sudden motion. But what had done this? She was no longer touching the ground, on her back as she felt suspended above it. She was being held in somepony's arms. Ever so slowly her vision cleared, the light of the Earth returning to her. And that's when she heard it…
"Man, you don't look so hot, Colors."
…
Colors…?
She turned her head, a completely different shade of blue now taking up her vision. It stared back at her with bright emerald eyes and a pearly white grin. She was taken aback, but so shocked she was paralyzed. Was this…it couldn't be…could it? She stared at the hedgehog that held her in his arms, now realizing it was he who had swiped her off the floor. She just…couldn't believe it.
"So, how much of the party did I miss?" Sonic asked, his snarky grin growing even wider at her.
Rainbow could feel her eyes quivering at the sight of him. She gingerly felt the need to poke his shoulder, not caring about how he was holding her. Indeed, she felt him. He was real. She looked back to his face. This was insane! How was he here?! How was he alive?! How was he—
Rainbow didn't question it any further. She just did what came naturally. She reached out and pulled her friend into one of the biggest hugs she had ever mustered. She wrapped around his neck, Sonic partially tumbling at the shifting of weight.
"S-Sonic!" she stuttered, a wide smile forming on her face as she felt the joyous tears burning her eyes. "H-how is—how are you here?!"
Sonic couldn't help but laugh at the action. Although, he had to prevent himself from stumbling from the shift in weight. "H-hey! Easy! I don't need both of us toppling over. And hey, why shouldn't I be here?" he jested.
Rainbow pulled herself away from the hug, looking him dead in the eyes. "You know exactly what I mean!" she yelled irritant. Even so, the smile she held still never faded. "I thought…I thought you…"
She didn't continue, but Sonic still nodded. "I getchya. You actually thought ol' Egghead could get a one up on me?"
"B-but…I saw you in that tube! I thought you were blasted into space! B-but you're here! How?!"
"Hehe," Sonic chuckled with a wink. "I have my ways." He set her down gently, making sure she could stand on all four legs. She stumbled a bit, but with his help, she could at least stay upright.
"Seriously," Rainbow questioned, still partially in disbelief, and trying to ignore the welcoming warmth of his body. "How did you get out of that? It's not like you can just run out of there, or teleport."
Sonic smirked, pulling out a familiar yellow object that caught her eye with a glint. The yellow Chaos Emerald. No. It wasn't. It was the fake one, its surface completely dim and devoid of life. But that would mean.
"Wait, Chaos Control?" Rainbow questioned. "So…you can do it too? But that's a fake emerald, isn't it? Doesn't that kind of count as…I don't know…counterfeit?"
"Nah," he stated simply. "Like I always say, life gives you lemons, use them to save you from a space fairing deathtrap."
"I'm pretty sure that you've never said that," she puffed. "But that doesn't explain how you managed to do that in the first place! You were unconscious, remember?!"
"Heh, I guess I have you to thank for that," he smirked.
"Wait, what?" Rainbow raised her brow.
"Yeah. I was flat out cold when I was in that thing, soooo…I may have missed some of the details, but what I did see was you socking one to Shadow over there," he gestured with his head.
"Wait, so you saw that? How?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm not really sure. But whatever you did, I felt…I don't know; a sudden rush of energy inside me. I only saw white in place of most of it, but whatever it was, it woke me right up. Well…" he rubbed the back of his head nervously, "at least until I had to take another 40 winks. Body still needed to recuperate I guess, hehe."
Rainbow stood in awe at him. He was here…because of what she did? What did she even do? She hit Shadow back then? She knew her memory of those exact moments were iffy, but you'd think she would've remembered something like that. But…whatever she did…it saved him. She had no idea what had happened, but she had to just smile. She had saved him. Well, at least in one form or another.
She looked up to him, her smile still beaming as he did with her. She didn't know why, but it was truly refreshing to see his snarky face. Yeah. Strange. There was just something about that you couldn't help but smile to. It was enthusiastic, warming, and welcoming. Heh. She kind of wished she had noticed it sooner.
"So, you learned how to master Chaos Control?" they heard not too far from them.
They both looked pasted each other to see Shadow, the black hedgehog sitting patiently for their little reunion to wrap up. His hands were balled into fists at his sides, and his expression was intense, but for once it was not to Rainbow, but now it was for Sonic. "But with a fake Chaos Emerald? That shouldn't be possible."
Sonic stepped forward, putting himself between Rainbow Dash and Shadow. "Man, that's a first. The faker is the one who's speechless. You know I have half a mind to smack the red right out of all that black, bud."
Shadow just huffed, clearly unimpressed by his quip. He slowly started walking forward, his boots echoing off the metal. Sonic mimicked his counterpart, walking away from Rainbow with a similar confident stride. Rainbow just looked on. His back was to her, but even without seeing his face she knew the kind of expression he was holding. "Sonic…" she called.
Sonic must've heard her, as he looked back at her with curiosity.
"You…be careful. Alright, Blue Boy," she urged, flashing him a tired grin, but one that he could be proud of.
And indeed, he flashed a similar one back to her. "You got it, Dash," he assured, giving her a thumbs up before he continued walking, right towards Shadow.
The only noise that could be heard was the echoing footsteps of the two hedgehogs as they stepped closer and closer to each other. Neither one showed any form of hesitation, no fear, no concern. Just resolve. Both for vastly differing ideals, but both that would not go down silently.
"There's a lot more to you than meets the eye, hedgehog," Shadow commended. "I can't help but wonder," he narrowed his red eyes, "what exactly are you?"
"Are you kidding?" Sonic smirked. "I'm just some guy who enjoys the adventure. It sounds to me like someone doesn't like their toys being used by someone other them. Talk about selfish."
They were close now, but even now they still didn't stop walking.
"Do you think knowing the secrets of Chaos Control will help you win?" Shadow taunted.
"It's worked for you so far. You can't blame me for wanting to get on the fun, too. Besides, once we stop you, this way we can be chaos buddies if you want," Sonic quipped.
As they took their final steps, they were a mere couple of feet from one another. They soon stopped, their last steps halting as their feet passed by one another. There they held their respective spots, one leg in front of the other as they crossed, their fists at their sides as they glared heatedly at one another. They were literal inches from each other. Any close and they'd be competing for the placement of their foreheads. The tension was high in the surrounding area, a wave of killing intent from one hedgehog only being dissipated by the enthusiasm of the other.
Their respective auras rose, Shadow's dark energy colliding with Sonic's white. They never mixed, they only pushed against one another, the opposing energies slowly forming a gentle but encompassing vortex.
"ECLIPSE CANNON SEQUENCE COMPLETE IN T-MINUS 5 MINUTES."
"Then let me ask you this," Shadow spoke up, their auras completely covering them now. "Do you think you can beat me in less than five minutes?"
"Hehe," Sonic laughed. "Nah, I bet I'll beat you in less than one."
Neither of them so much as moved a muscle. Their eyes never wandered from the other, keeping a watchful gaze on any sudden movements the other one made.
"So, are you gonna take the first swing or what?" Sonic smirked.
"I could ask the same about you," Shadow responded.
…
…
…
In what seemed like a blur, the two hedgehogs each threw their own punch. They had cross-countered, both Sonic and Shadow taking the strike of the other to the cheek. Even from where she stood, Rainbow could easily make out the pained looks on their faces, their respective fists digging into the other's cheek. They were blasted back, and like that they were gone.
Rainbow soon found herself surrounded by dancing streaks of lights. The room shook with shockwave after shockwave as the blue and red streaks collided. As much as she tried to spot them, it was no use. She didn't have the reaction time to keep track of them. They suddenly shot passed her, causing her to nearly jump out of her fur at how close they came. As the back blast of wind came afterward, it sounded much more like a jet passing by rather than two hedgehogs, topped off with a loud thunderclap.
With Sonic and Shadow, it was almost impossible to tell who had the upper hand. As they ran and ran, each hedgehog kept trading blows with the other. Both could tell that there was little room for slip-ups here. Every attack had to count. Every block had to pull through.
Sonic eventually managed to land a blow on Shadow, causing him to pull back with a grunt. Shadow planted himself down, extending his arm out. "Chaos Spear!" he shouted, the spears blasting out of his palm in quick successions.
Sonic saw them coming, quickly flipping out of the way as each one came. He dodged the last one but didn't notice that Shadow himself had dashed towards him. Shadow punched him square in the gut, taking away all his air as he was sent flying. Shadow gave chase, and like that they were speeding around the room again. They kept this up for what seemed like hours. When one got the upper hand, the other quickly turned the tides back in their favor.
From where Rainbow sat, she couldn't see an end to this fight if it kept up like this.
"You aren't half bad," Shadow passively commended, blocking a series of punches from his blue counterpart.
"You haven't even seen the half of it," Sonic boasted with a smirk, his knee catching a strike from Shadow's. "Ya know, I'm starting to think you aren't even trying with me here. Where's the fire?"
"Trust me, hedgehog, that's the last thing you want from me. Chaos Control," Shadow disappeared, reappearing behind Sonic before kicking him square in the back.
Sonic screamed out, the force causing both of them to stop in their tracks instantly. Rainbow watched as Sonic's face contorted in pain, right before Shadow went into a spin dash and slammed into his back yet again. Shadow shot across the room, carrying Sonic with him as the blue hedgehog slammed front first into the wall. The force must've been tremendous, as with a loud crash and the bending of metal there was now a mangled and gaping hole in the wall. It led to only darkness.
"Sonic!" Rainbow shouted in worry. While her body hurt like no other, she couldn't let him take this alone, not like she has so many other times before. She fought through the pain, flaring her wings before shooting for the hole. Indeed, it did hurt, but she still didn't stop.
She followed them through. Her eyes had to adjust from the light outside to what was now the darkness of the Ark's interior. As soon as they did, however, she wasted no time in searching for the two. The area was like that of the inside of the Egg Carrier all that time ago. Several pipes, electrical wires, and other doohickeys stuck out from the walls. An engineering area from what it looked like. But that's not what she was concerned with.
Another blast rung past her ears. She looked down, seeing the blue and red streaks falling further and further into the black abyss of the station. She swore, giving chase. The obstacles she flew past sounded like the wind to the ears as her eyes were set on her targets. While they were just falling, she was flying down to them, allowing her to catch up relatively quickly.
Shadow looked to have punted Sonic away, letting him freefall without much direction. "Chaos—" Shadow started, charging the yellow energy in his hand.
"No!" Rainbow shouted, flying full speed into Shadow. He was so preoccupied that he must not have noticed her, as she headbutted him right in the gut. She heard him grunt at the strike but flew away to Sonic before he could retaliate. "Sonic!" she shouted, reaching her hoof out. "Grab on!"
He did just that, his hand squeezing tightly around her hoof. With her in control, this gave him a bit more direction as they continued to fall. As what seemed to be a large circular platform fast approached, she slowed their descent, flapping her wings hard to compensate for the extra weight. It was close, but just as they reached the bottom, she had slowed enough to where they landed with a light thud, at least for Sonic as he landed feet first. Rainbow herself couldn't seem to keep it steady, however, nearly falling straight to the floor. Thankfully, Sonic caught on to this and caught her in his arms.
"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed. "Thanks for that, Rainbow, but aren't you hurt? You were in more danger of crashing than I was there."
Rainbow breathed heavily, a bit dizzy, but nothing major. "Yeah right," she chuckled. "Were about to be splat all across the ground if it were for my ability to fly under pressure."
"You can keep thinking that," he jested, taking time to dust her off slightly. "But still, thanks anyway."
They heard a flash somewhere above them. Looking up, they saw Shadow falling steadily down to the floor, going to his knees before picking himself up. He must've used Chaos Control to get down safely, avoiding most of the trip down in one go. He stood there with piercing red eyes; his fists balled up so tight they looked to be about to burst out of their gloved confines. "You…" he seethed, his dark-flamed aura rising even more than before. It was as if it was a visual representation of all the hate and anger he had bottled up inside him; all of it directed at the two of them.
Sonic patted Rainbow on the shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, let me take it from here, alright. It's me that he has beef with. You just take ten for a bit, ight."
"Heh, that's funny," Rainbow laughed. "You think I'm gonna let you take this creep on alone? Yeah right."
"H-huh?" Sonic stammered. "But you're hurt, ain't ya? You look worse than Tails after his first flight in the old Tornado."
It was true. Rainbow could feel all the damage slowly catching up to her. That combination of the Chaos Spears and explosion she took earlier left a large amount of lasting damage. It wasn't until now actually that she noticed the trace amounts of blood that had run down her forehead. Thankfully it wasn't anything major, but that didn't mean it wasn't affecting her. She swore internally. He was right. But…she hated that he was. Too long had she spent watching from the sidelines as Sonic tied to take on everything himself, either out of jealousy on her part or just the sheer inability to do anything.
She just looked away from Sonic. As bluntly as he put it, she appreciates his concern for her. She just…
…
What…was this…?
Rainbow took pause, and this didn't go unnoticed by Sonic. "Hmm? Colors? What's wrong?"
She didn't answer. This feeling…was it… Yes, it had to be! This warmth. This comfort. This sense of a burning shock in her heart. She smiled, very widely. "Hey, don't worry about me," she responded, starting to stand on her own. Sonic raised a brow at this. Her movements, it was as if she was completely ignoring the pain. She was moving more freely, able to stretch out with her legs and wings.
"Huh?" Sonic questioned. That's when he saw it. Coating her cyan fur was a thin layer of soothing red energy. The glowing image of a red lightning bolt flashed in front of her chest. What was she doing? Out of the corner of his eye he could see his own, unnatural white aura rising as well, although he wasn't doing anything to raise it himself. Something was going on, but he had no idea as to what. It just looked and felt so comforting though, like little flames drawn to her like kindle.
She now stood tall, flashing Sonic a cocky smirk with determined eyes. "You're not leaving me out of it this time," she stated firmly. "This time, we're in this together."
Sonic stood there, slightly shocked, but more excited at her words than anything else. His own wide grin grew even more. "Well, I doubt I could stop you even if I tried. Just don't blame me if you keel over before the show gets good."
"You were the one he knocked out first," she taunted, wafting her wing in his face. "At least I held my own."
Sonic didn't respond to that one, just looking away with a groan as he rubbed his head. "Yeah yeah, we forget all of that, alright."
He looked to Shadow, whose glare had only grown now. "Well," he spoke to Rainbow, "Shall we?"
Rainbow nodded enthusiastically, taking position next to her friend. She gave Shadow one last glare of her own, no hesitation in her eyes this time. "Yeah!"
With that, they both planted their feet and hooves. Their respective white and red auras suddenly rose to great heights, like they were explosions of fire just let loose from their confines. Shadow tensed up, the two lights almost blinding. 'What's going on?' he thought hastily. 'This power, it's not like they were before. And that pony…this is the same kind of power that she used last time. But she shouldn't be able to do that, not without a Chaos Emerald nearby in any case.'
The platform shook, the two speedsters giving excited grins as their auras mixed.
'It must be…yes,' he affirmed to himself.'The Eclipse Cannon is close to its full charge now. We must've gotten close enough to the core for the excess chaos energy to be reaching her body. It's not a lot, but I suppose she doesn't need much.'
Everyone in the room was unmoving, the only activity being from everyone's auras. Shadow's flowed like murky water with no clear direction, the lowest of hums to its nature. In contrast, Sonic and Rainbow's auras were like wildfires, quickened pulses radiating off them like visible heartbeats.
"You ready?!" Sonic kneeled.
"Ready!" Rainbow responded, flaring her wings.
Shadow just stood there, but slowly took one step forward. "Come on," he goaded.
It didn't take so much as a second for them to respond in kind. Sonic and Rainbow dashed forward at tremendous speeds, both readying strikes to deliver to the black and red hedgehog.
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Whoo that was a ride! I love your take on Shadow. Something many authors do is make our lovable Edgehog that I've seen is make him too weak, or too OP. However, I feel like you did a wonderful job of balancing his power vs Dash and Sonic's.
All in all a wonderful chapter. I did note a few mistakes here and there, but they weren't numerous enough to distract from the reading. Can't wait for the next chapter!
Also, take all the time in the world if you need it. As
much as we might despise ittiring as it is, education is important so don't worry.9252118
May I ask where you saw the mistakes?
And thank you. I'll get the next chapter out by Christmas.
NOOOOOOO, I NEED TO SEE WHAT'S NEXTTTTT
9262527
More will come soon, I promise you. In fact, it may be out sooner than you may expect. 😄
I've been reading this story for a while but now i just have to say some things
1. You make sonic look week as heck i mean like with metal sonic.Sonic could easily beat metal sonic he plays with him.giving a boost would not make much of a difference.
2.Rainbow dash is way to overly powered she has trouble with her friends against people like tirek and discord metal sonic is on a complete different level.
but all and all this a great story and i hope you will make more soon
9292877
Hmm, I see where you're coming from, but you must take things into account.
1. Sonic doesn't always have the upper hand against Metal. The games were never the best at portraying this as it's all down to player skill and not directly Sonic's. Plus, remember these villains are gaining a power boost of some kind, so it's expected that these villains may outclass him in some ways.
2. It was a massive balancing act when it came to Rainbow and her face off with the villains. While yes, she struggled with her own villains, she never had the powers she has in this story. They've given her at least a fighting chance. Without them, that would be a different story.
But I do appreciate your take on it. I'm curious, what would some of you have done differently in my encounters so far?
well honestly you can flat out suck at sonic games and still beat metal without much trouble and when it goes to cut scenes he isn't even tired after the fight. and a boosted form would would make rainbow as outclassed as Goku vs applejack though maybe if rainbow went super then.....maybe she would be able to keep up
2. I'm not trying to hate on your story it's incredible
3.rainbow dash would stand a chance if she got a massive boost from twilight and the rest of the main 6 along with the elements of harmony (heck at that point she might even win )
I'm not sure how i would have it but either way the story I'm making is going to suck.
9296575
I'm sure it's not man. Every writer will suck at first, whether they admit it or not.
And true, in terms of the games, he usually isn't that hard of a fight. But it wouldn't be an interesting story if you knew Rainbow had no chance against Metal or if Metal had no chance against Sonic. I don't think you're hating. The fact that you want to address this means you just care.
I do take some inspiration from comic book Metal, as just from what I've seen, he's a bit stronger than he is in the games. I think it's just to be expected from a robot Sonic. He's just as fast, he has no stamina, and is made of, well, metal, so he's durable. We can pass this back and forth all we want, but in the end, it just comes down to reader preference.