Shadow the Hedgehog 2 - Part 2 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The Fight before Christmas

Eggman and Makuta stood at a throne they 'borrowed' from England. They watched as robots and Dark Hunters gathered for the coronation ceremony. Orbot and Cubot swept the red carpet that stood between the door and the two evil tyrants.

In a short moment, that door opened. There stood Maria and Eclipse standing side by side. They slowly approached the old man and dark Kendov. The Dark Hunters on both end of the carpet each held out a sword for them. Each one lifted theirs as they passed under.

Once they got to the end, Eggman stood before them and cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "today, we are gathered to see the next generation assume the throne and become ruler of the Eggman Empire!"

Maria shrugged. "Let's get this over with…"

"Certainly her highness is not opposed to becoming a queen, hmmm?" Eclipse pointed out. Maria kept silent after that. She didn't want to be queen, but it was the only thing keeping her friends safe.

Eggman looked over at the girl. "Maria, will you solemnly swear to govern the people of Earth, according to my respective laws and customs?"

"I have no choice," she said. She was implying that she didn't want to but had to.

"Now," the old man said, "if anyone here has any reason against this coronation, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

"I object, Doctor!" a voice shouted. "This time, you've gone too far!"

The Dark Egg Leigon and Maria looked out the window. There in the distance was Shadow, and behind him was a massive army. Everyone from the now destroyed Knothole and a large portion of the G.U.N. had arrived.

The old man was scared beyond belief. "H-H-How did they escape?!"

"And now I do have a choice," Maria smirked. "The deal is off, Eggman."

Her former cousin growled. "That's it! No more Mr. Nice Guy! (Not that I ever was a nice guy, mind you.)" He turned to his commander. "Makuta! Send them out!"

Right before the Freedom Fighters, an army of metallic objects were either popping out of the floor, aiming at them, or both.

"Destroy!" Eggman and Makuta yelled. Cannons fired, and robots and Dark Hunters charged.

The resistance charged towards the creatures and avoided being blown to smithereens by the laser turrets that were pointed at them. The hedgehogs quickly took the robots by using their homing attack abilities. Shadow used one as a grenade and threw at others with his super strength.

A robot nearby tried to crush him, but Knuckles and Shadow combined their own power to defeat the mechanical beast. Another horde of robots appeared to attack, but G.U.N. soldiers blasted them off the edge from their heli-carriers. Those who didn't fall off were hammered by Amy.

Dark Espio leapt into the action as well, his intentions to destroy Shadow. He lunged at his target trying to fulfill his purpose, but Charmy and Vector pinned him down. "Sorry, buddy," said the latter. "This is for your own good."

Team Knothole and Chris were an especially powerful asset for the battle. Bunnie and Chris blasted multiple Dark Hunters with their cannon-arms. Antoine and Rotor smashed and slashed. Nicole inserted her programming into the machines, causing them to shut down. And Omega's weaponry destroyed many of the cannons that fired.

The Dark Egg Legion could only watch. The resistance was surprisingly more to them than they could imagine. "Is this part of your 'master plan,' Doctor?" asked Makuta with aggression.

The elder doctor snorted. "A minor setback," he replied.

Then Makuta saw something appear from the clouds. "Your setback is no longer 'minor.' Dii zeymah bo wah krif." He told Eggman as he left.

Seconds later, another large horde of Dark Hunters appeared, this one being larger than the first. They proved to be a challenge as they began shooting down heli-carriers.

"There's too many of them!" shouted Blaze. "We need some backup."

"Ask and you shall receive!" a voice shouted as an unforeseen beam shot down and blasted the Dark Hunters away. The fighting resistance looked up to see angel-like being descending from the heavens.

Shadow knew who they were. "Takanuva! Your timing couldn't be any better." He said with gusto.

"Pruzah wah lost fahdon ko lok staad. It's good to have friends in high places." Takanuva and Shadow plowed through the opposing army together. The Kendov used his staff to blast any Dark Hunter, while the hedgehog used his Spin Dash.

As they neared the way back into the Dark Egg, shots of power hit around them from above. Makuta was charging down on them. But his younger formed a barrier to protect them. The Dark one crashed into the shield and fell to the floor.

"Go to the woman of light!" instructed Takanuve. "I shall hold of my brother."

"Much obliged." Shadow took off down the corridor.

The younger one stepped toward his older brother, ready for the battle. When Makuta got up, something was notably different. The paleness around his face had been replaced with color, and the blacks of his eyes were white. "T… Takanuva? Where are we? Where's father?" he asked in a different voice.

The younger brother was surprised. There was face he had remembered from long ago… from before their father was cursed. "Ekimu?"

Suddenly, the color had been reverted with the rest of his body. "Ekimu is mine!"

"What are you?!" demanded Takanuva. "What have you done to my brother?! Answer me, you monster!"

"Oh, no… it's what he has done to me…" he replied as they began their battle.

Those at the throne room saw everything from a camera nearby. They knew that Shadow was headed their way. "Allow me," said Eclipse. He left the altar to face his enemy. Once he got down, the door opened.

There stood the black and red hedgehog. He was soaking wet. "Okay, why do you even have that lever?" he asked Eggman as he reigned the water out of his quills.

"Your guess is as good as mine..." Eggman activated a shield that kept them out of the way. Maria was trapped on his side. She wanted to help, but she couldn't without a Chaos Emerald.

Shadow and Eclipse approached one another slowly until they were both in the middle, yet they were both a few feet away. Before any punches were thrown though, Eclipse spoke up. "Shadow, I was made to kill you, and you've given me every reason to do so… But you are also the last of my blood. The only thing I can call a family." He held out his claw. "So I'm giving you one last chance… Join me, brother. Let us harvest the life on this planet, and begin our life anew."

This wasn't the first time the darkness had appealed to Shadow. Eggman, Black Doom, and now Eclipse… but he had learned his lesson. He had led the world into agony far too often, each time because he had been deceived. Not this time… but he could also see that he didn't want to fight. He knew what must be done.

"You're right," Shadow began. "We're about as close to being related as possible… but we aren't children in Doom's eyes. We're tools, only for misery and destruction. I know you are capable of more than this. Black Doom's purpose is beneath you. Don't be lead astray as I was."

As he was speaking, Eclipse lowered his claw. He listened to each word that Shadow had to offer. Maria watched from behind the barrier as well, and she was genuinely touched.

"That girl behind you… she taught me what it means to live a different way of life… a better, more meaningful life. I can do the same for you. I feel like I'm meant to. But I can't unless you let me. Please… reject Black Doom. Live here on Earth with me. Let's be what you want us to be." He held his hand out to Eclipse. "Let's be brothers…"

After a brief silence, Eclipe held his hand out to Shadow's… only to swat it away. "I tried to be reasonable… but now, you're going to die, traitor!"

At that moment, the two began their final battle. Eclipse growled and tried to destroy Shadow, but to his surprise, the Mobian proved to be more of a challenge. Though he still could not use his Chaos abilities, both seemed to be evenly matched this time.

Shadow struck the alien down to the ground. Eclipse panted out of exhaustion. "You were created to join the Black Arms, not destroy them. It wasn't supposed to end this way."

"If I'm going to protect this world… my friends… I'm sorry Eclipse. But I've got to put you down!" Shadow picked up a sword one of the Dark Hunters dropped. The coal hedgehog held it to his chest, while Eclipse held it back. "And I blame Doom for making me do this!"

The Black Arm growled loudly and started to glow a menacing red. "NO!" Suddenly, his body started to transform right below the black hedgehog. He became twice as large with solid plating growing on his head and limbs. The now larger Eclipse threw Shadow off of him and into the side. "Well, Shadow? Surprised? Satisfied?! I was created to destroy you! You're nothing to me!" He was more of a challenge than before. In seconds, Eclipse had the upper hand, and Shadow was under his foot… almost literally.

Maria was worried. Without an Emerald, she could only watch and hope.

Eclipse proved to be the better of the two in that instant. He grabbed the hedgehog by the waist and held him against the wall. "Traitor! Black Doom gave you life, and you took his in return! Now, I shall avenge my master… Now, you will join our father in Oblivion! Any last words?!"

"His blood may run through my veins… but Black Doom was never my father!" As Shadow continued to speak, he somehow grew stronger. His fur slowly turned gold. He didn't have his Chaos Emerald, but it felt like he was being powered by something stronger. "My father was the man who raised me, and taught me almost everything I knew. My father was driven to creating me for help others. His love for Maria, not lust for power, was what drove him to not only the creation of my body, but the birth of my soul." Within seconds, Super Shadow broke free. "My father is Gerald Robotnik! I promised him that I would protect the billions of people below. I will not break that promise until the day I die!"

"Oh, crud…"

Right there and right then, the Ultimate Lifeform gave the alien menace the finishing move. "CHAOS… BLAST!" A great blast sent Eclipse through the barrier that kept Maria away and crashing through the window. Eclipse screeched in anger as he fell to the abyss beneath them.

Maria ran through the hole in the wall and straight to the gold and red hedgehog. She wrapped her arms around Shadow and held him tight. "I knew you could do it," she said with a smile.

As they held one another, a certain old man crept to the distance. He had set up an emergency escape pod behind a wall earlier just for the occasion. But before he could open it, a Chaos Spear barely missed his nose and destroyed the control.

He looked over to see that the one who threw the spear was... "S-Sh-Shadow!" Eggman stuttered.

The Mobian approached him slowly. "You don't deserve to live…"

Eggman fell to his knees. "I-I'm sorry!" he began to beg. "R-Really! Please, go easy on me! I'll turn over a new leaf, I swear! Just give me a chance!"

"Why should I believe you? Everything I ever heard from you was a lie."

"What're you gonna do?" asked the Eggman. "You wouldn't kill an old man, would you?"

"And stoop to your level?" he replied. "Besides, that would be against my promise."

The old man breathed relief. "Thank you, Shadow. If there's any way I can repay you, don't hesitate."

"You can start by putting these on," said another voice. Sonic walked into the room along with many others. He threw a pair of handcuffs on the floor before him. "Ivo Robotnik, or rather Dr. Eggman…"

"By the authority of the G.U.N.," another voice said.

"And the Freedom Fighters," yet another voice added.

"You are under arrest!" everyone shouted.

"Like you said," Shadow concluded, "in every game, there are winners, and there are losers… In this game, evil never wins."

But Eggman still had one more trick up his sleeve… literally. "Gotcha!" He quickly pulled out a strange remote and pressed a button. A strange machine appeared from the sides of the walls and from the roof. What looked to be guns were pointed at several in the middle, and the machine forced all them out, except for Maria. Eggman laughed maliciously. "I don't know how you got them out, Maria, but that's against the rules… and as you know, in my game, cheaters…" He pressed another button. "…get roboticized!"

A surge of red coursed into Maria. The hedgehog girl's screamed in pain and agony. She couldn't break free at all.

"NO!" shouted Shadow.