Holy crap this took a while. Sorry.

He knew misery loved his company, but this was getting ridiculous.

Shadow fought the urge to sneeze as dust from the cavern's ceiling fell upon them, settling on his sensitive nose. He struggled to manta in his stoic composure, grimacing briefly as the desire to sneeze faded away.

The cobalt hedgehog at his side however held no such qualms, letting out a loud squawk and nearly smacking himself unconscious against his raised hand in the process. The Ultimate Lifeform glared half halfheartedly at the oblivious speedster for this, fighting the urge to lash out against him as Sonic darted about, edging deeper into the massive cavern system, a whirlwind of chaos in every sense of the way. His blue fur gleamed under the scarce light, outline his small form.

The blue hedgehog seemed utterly oblivious of his rival's somber thoughts, and it only made Shadow more restless. It was unnerving how the younger male bounced back with every obstacle thrown in their path. Had he been in the blue one's shoes, Shadow would have gone into a rage the moment G.U.N. tried to blackmail him into doing their bidding.

He woud never allow anyone to even try their hand at controlling him; Sonic however was a completely different case. The speedster had accepted being the humans' lap dog with only a few grumbles, which stumped the ebony warrior. Wasn't freedom everything the hero stood for?

Why did he let such a vile organisation steal his, as brief as the time was?

The Ultimate Lifeform knew how selfless and amicable his counterpart was, but once again he was surprised by the youngster's actions. Sonic was treating this mission as if it was a walk in the park instead of him being carried off across the ocean to be blackmailed into rounding up some criminals. The situation was just absurd in Shadow's mind; it baffled him that the smaller male bent to the will of the humans so easily.

I shouldn't be surprised. Scarlet eyes stared at the blue hedgehog furtively. He's pathetic, letting others command him around like this. A light frown overtook the ebony immortal's features as he examined his unaware rival. And yet...

...something was not right. He didn't know the annoyance for long, but Shadow had spent enough time to notice some aspects of the mobian's demeanour were off. The Faker's silly grin was a bit more forceful than usual, and his smile was set hard on his lips. The vibrant emerald eyes lacked the bright light that made them so recognizable, and he swore he saw a hint of guilt in green orbs.

The ebony warrior cast a furtive glance over to Rouge, who was uncharacteristically silent. He didn't miss the a dark gleam in the master thief's eyes. Shadow silently wondered what kind of exchange had gone on between the two Mobians to have resulted in such a fallout. For once, he was irritated that he went ahead after stopping Sonic from killing one of the men-

The Ultimate Lifeform nearly stopped walking as the answer came clear to him. That fight might just be the reason of their dispute. After all, what occurred had been unlike anything he would expect from his counterpart. Remembering the event made Shadow feel surprisingly uneasy. The sapphire one stood for freedom and everything it meant; seeing him looking lost -so guilty- after he'd grabbed his wrist was unsettling.

The biological weapon of mass destruction could only wonder how much the cerulean one hiding from him. He knew the blue hedgehog well, but ever since the end of the Metarex war it wasn't unusual for him to witness dark clouds hover over the speedster's head, although Faker quickly cleared them away as soon as he noticed someone watching. Shadow wasn't stupid however. His smaller companion had a haunted look in his eyes.

(He wondered if the blue hedgehog trusted him enough to ever reveal his secrets.)

The cavern began thinning as the black mobian led his companions deeper into the tunnel; the temperature grew hotter as the air became dank and humid, clinging to their fur and having them feel a bit more sluggish than usual. Shadow resisted the urge to sneer. This mission was a nightmare from the very start. Shadow knew he would at least require a whole bottle of vodka to forget this hell.

A muffled curse drew the obsidian immortal out of his thoughts, making him glance at his companions -who sported slightly miffed expressions- and then at the path ahead. The Ultimate Lifeform couldn't help but scowl at their newest obstacle.

"This is going to be a problem." Rouge grumbled, and both of the mobians at her side silently agreed with the stoically delivered statement. A natural stone archway was in their path, giving them only a small opening a inch taller than Sonic for passage; normally it wouldn't be a problem, as all three mobians were pretty nimble and two of them were hedgehogs, allowing them to curl up into very tight, deadly balls of razor quills. Rouge would have no problem with this obstacle as well, her training as a professional thief allowing her to fit inside small spaces.

None of them would have difficulty passing the archway; a human could fit through it with ease. What made the three allies irate however was the fact that their non-organic companion was unlikely to fit through.

Rouge gazed the entrance intensely, muttering obscenities beneath her breath as she took in the natural stone pillars. "It's holding the ceiling up." The white bat revealed with a low voice. "Blowing it to bits is likely to make the whole thing fall on us."

"Great."

Omega let out a small metallic hiss as it stepped pass the mobians and leaned closer to the collapsed tunnel, black claws trailing against the cracked stone, leaving deep trenches. The crimson optics of the war robot glowed dimly in the darkness of the cave, bathing the cavern in a scarlet glow. The three sapients waited -quite impatiently in Sonic's part, judging by the tapping of the red and white shoes- for the machine to come to it's own conclusion.

Finally, the massive robot righted itself, towering above it's comrades with ease. The carmine machine let out something akin to a sigh, clicking it's talons together in silent fury as it spoke:

"I have scanned the structure; results show the residual presence of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate."

"Gunpowder." Quite surprisingly, it was Sonic who clarified the robot's words. The cobalt hedgehog frowned as he turned to the other mobians, noticing how their expressions were unreadable. "They blew up the caves. Why would they do that? Wouldn't they trap themselves by doing this?"

"It's foolish...unless they aren't trapping themselves." Rouge muttered, her eyes darkening as she glanced at the taller ebony hedgehog. "Didn't the captain say there could be more than one exit?"

The elder nodded slowly, his gaze fixed on their newest obstacle."Given the age of the mountain and how little the cavern system has been explored, he said it was more than likely." Shadow replied, dark ruby eyes narrowing.

Curious, Sonic edged towards the opening and peering in the dark hole -only to yelp as his older rival quickly grabbed one of his quills, the sharp spine unable to slice the Ultimate Lifeform's tough skin as Shadow sharply pulled the surprised hedgehog away from the stone archway.

"Which means they intentionally destroyed the tunnel to keep large troops from moving in." The obsidian male continued, unperturbed by the glower his younger companion sent his way.

"Smart." Rouge whistled appreciatively. "Dangerous, but smart."

"More like annoying." Sonic rectified, still rubbing his sore quill as he glared his rival, scowling at the darker male's indifference. The sapphire hero briefly thought about smacking the other over his head or elbowing the arrogant bastard, but he refrained. The hero would find a better time to get his revenge. "What should we do now?"

"Given the situation, I am no longer able to provide direct assistance." Omega answered, a hint of danger in it's voice. "I will retreat and gather the humans we have defeated. Should anyone try to follow you from behind, I will annihilate them." The machine exclaimed quite blandly, ignoring the expression of incredulity the blue hedgehog did as it turned around and began walking up the tunnel, towards the small amount of daylight that filtered in.

"Be careful, Omega." Rouge said absently as she examined the archway, peering in. Sonic glared at Shadow halfheartedly, silently wondering why the ebony hedgehog wasn't grabbing the bat by her hair or wing for getting too close to the small entrance.

Omega peered down at them for a moment before turning back around, claws clinking together loudly. Even if he knew the creature very little, Sonic could see that the robot was irritated by their situation.

"Farewell. Paint your path red, organic fleshbags."

"He has issues, doesn't he?" The mortified blue hero asked faintly as the war machine left, making the ground shake with each heavy footstep.

"Don't start, honey." Rouge exclaimed with a mild chuckle, shaking her head. She stepped into the small archway, tucking her wings in as to pass through more easily. "That's a can of worms you don't want to open." She added over her shoulder, just before slipping into the archway and disappearing into the darkness.

Shrugging, the Blue Blur ducked through the small gate with ease due to his nimble and short stature. Shadow stood behind him, patiently waiting until the last strand of blue fur had vanished before turning around and glancing at the upper section of the tunnel, making sure that he could still hear Omega's footsteps slowly fading away before walking through the archway after his younger rival.

The opening, as it turned out, was in fact a small but long tunnel precariously carved through the collapsed cave. The dark immortal almost smacked his face into a wall of blue quills more than once, and would have accidentally impaled himself on the deadly spines had he not possessed eyes that could see through the darkness as if it was daylight.

Still, he couldn't help but growl at the younger hedgehog as if it was the blue one's fault; the small blue ears perked up in front of him, signifying that the other had heard the sound. Soft, amused chuckles were the black hedgehog's only response, making him snarl and want to kick the fool down and walk over his battered form.

A loud gasp startled him; Shadow snapped his head up and nearly broke his skull against the ceiling in the process, golden Chaos churning at the tip of his fingertips as he heard Rouge curse loudly somewhere in front of him. Grunting in pain, the Ultimate Lifeform opened his mouth to question why such colourful language was needed, but he paused when as he quickly discovered what had caused the disturbance.

The stench of rotting flesh was all but assaulting his nose, making his lips and nose curl in disgust. The thick, humid air of the cavern was all but carpeted in it, and had he not smelled worse during his line of work Shadow knew he would have doubled over and thrown up from the smell alone.

It didn't mean that scene was less unpleasant, however, when he stepped out of the small tunnel and into a broad cave.

The stone beneath his feet was red.

Shadow sombrely stepped into the large cave, feeling his shoes become heavy and slick from the drying blood. Eyes the same shade than the murky liquid surveilled the cave in silence, scanning for threats. The chamber was eerily silent, the nimble footsteps of the black male's companions and the quiet crackle of electricity the only sounds that pierced the veil of silence. The Ultimate Lifeform's scarlet eyes travelled to the source of the inorganic sound, noting the broken lanterns hanging from the ceiling, their cables holding together by mere threads of metal, sparks occasionally lighting the end of the damaged cords.

Guns lay thrown about the cavern, twisted polls of metal with nearly unrecognizable features. Shadow kneeled down next to the remains of one weapon and carefully lifted it up with one hand, a frown growing on his face as the handle crumbled in his grasp, the sliver of metal still connecting it to the rest of the device unable to handle its weight.

It's useless. The Ultimate Lifeform gently turned the gun over, his gloved fingers trailing over the large dents littering the tool. Hacked apart, but by what? The dark immortal suddenly glanced back at the blood covering the floor, noting the deep trenches marking the walls, ground and ceiling of the cavern. Ruby eyes looked back at the ruined weapon, noticing the similarities between the marks on the stone floor and the gun. It almost looks...chewed on...?

Footsteps echoed behind him, alerting the obsidian one of Rouge's approach. Scarlet eyes glanced back at the master thief, noting her grimace. Unlike himself, Rouge never quite got used to the gruesome sights their jobs forced them to face. She coped better than most G.U.N. agents, but this carnage was pushing her limits.

"Any ideas?"

"Something with a jaw strength capable to bend metal came through here. The humans must have tried to fight back instead of fleeing." The ebony warrior sneered in disgust. "Fools."

"Are you sure it's something alive? Couldn't it be a robot?" Sonic asked faintly from the other side of the cavern.

"No." His rival immediately discarded the theory. "See that? Bite marks. It chewed on the metal. That-" The digit moved to the cave walls. "Have been made by claws. And finally..." Shadow raised the ruined gun up for the two mobians to see, pointing at a clear substance dripping off it's surface. "...I think you're smart enough to know what this is."

"Saliva." Sonic said automatically, not bothering to call out his counterpart over the thinly veiled insult. The young hero then grimaced. "Ew." The expression only grew as Rouge kneeled down and carefully took a small sample of the horrendous liquid.

Ignoring the childish comment, Shadow stepped around the bloodbath, his eyes scanning for more clues. There were no bodies to be seen, but the keen-eyed immortal was quick to notice something among the pools of dried blood.

Strips of flesh lay scattered across the lakes of red, the thin strands mingling among the dust and rocks of the cavern. Shadow heard Rouge give out a sharp gasp as she realized what the chunks of matter floating among the drying substance, finally noticing the flesh as she was taking the sample. The smell was choking them, making their throats dry and their stomachs heavy with disgust. Shadow found himself wanting to move on.

There was nothing here for them to examine anyways.

"We need to keep moving." The eldest commanded, his voice bringing the two other mobians out of their shock. The ebony hedgehog jerked his head towards the tunnel's lower bowels, where they could see a white light. Knowing they would soon follow, the immortal turned around and started walking towards the source of the luminosity.

A muttered agreement echoed from behind him; small, quiet footsteps , assuring the striped warrior that the mobians would follow him. Unsurprisingly it was Rouge who stepped after him first, the jewel thief more used to the carnage than her blue companion. Sonic silently trailed after them, his posture tense as he struggled to reign in his emotions after making such a horrifying discovery.

Shadow's frown deepened as they finally reached the end of the second tunnel. The walls and ceiling spread out widely into a large cavern snug enough to fit a small plane. White mining lights were hung on poorly installed crochets from the ceiling, lighting the chamber.

Unlike the last cave, which had small paths leading to other tunnels, this one was a dead end.

...a it was very obviously a subject of interest for the inhabitants of the mountain.

Looming high above their heads stood a massive pair of intimidate doors; intricately decorated black clashed against the browns and greys of the cave, making the gate stand out even more. Seemingly carved out of obsidian stone, the strange doors were covered in a complex array of lines, and in the middle of it stood a large disk of stone. The gate was entirely made from the same, seamless black material, one Shadow couldn't recognize.

All three mobians paused at the sight of the gate, taken off guard by the sudden appearance of the ebony doors. It looked so...out of place which such normal surroundings. It was disconcerting to look at.

Ominous.

(A strange cold licked at their heels, setting the hair at the back of their neck on end.)

Sonic was the first to snap out of his daze, his curiosity taking over as he edged towards the strange building, blue brows furrowing as he glanced around, expecting more thugs to jump out of the shadows. The white lights however kept the place well lit, until the mess in the previous chamber. "What is that...?"

"No idea." Rouge answered breathlessly as she stepped closer to the gate, tapping it quickly. Seeing no reaction, she ran her fingers on the thick, crystal-like stone, examining the smooth object with narrowing eyes, her amazement fading the longer she stared at the gates intensely. "My guess is onyx, or something similar. It's very old."

"This must be it." Shadow said sombrely as he gazed at the doors sombrely. There was no doubt in the mobians' minds that this was their targets were looking for. "What now?"

"I don't know."

"Should we blow the door up, take a look at what's behind?" Sonic suggested as he peered into the door, as if trying to see through a imaginative crack in the stone. The gate was unnaturally smooth and symmetrical, and without the pattern of the engravings marking the seam, he would have never thought it opened at the middle.

"Too dangerous." Rouge interjected, quickly shooting the sapphire hero's idea down. "From the way it's shut, they haven't opened it yet. I wonder if there's a key for it." A deep frown darkened her features as she took a step away from the gates and stared at them in contemplation. Her wings shifted nervously on her back, the only sign her companion could denote of her inner struggle. "These markings...they're peculiar...why those nine holes? Call it a hunch, but it looks like something must fit in there."

Sonic suddenly perked up at that, jade eyes widening in realization. Nine slots. Strange markings. Familiar cold energy. While he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, he knew what this meant.

"Wait!" The cerulean speedster called out as he stepped towards the gates, signalling for the master spy to give him space. "Move aside. I think I know what to do."

"Truly? You could have asked more nicely." Rouge sniffed as she complied, smoothly stepping to the left. "Don't get blown up, blue boy."

Sonic ignored her remark as he stood on the tip of his feet to take a closer look at the door. He stared at the markings with narrowed eyes, feeling something stir inside of him the longer he stared at the large, complex array of engravings decorating smooth black rock. He stepped even closer, instincts drawn to the mysterious structure. His hand landed on the large disk in the middle, noting with a frown the multitude of small, chicken-like scratches riddling the corners and the insides of the incisions.

They looked like some form of geometry. He glanced around, noting the natural curves of the cavern. There were no other structures like it in the chamber. No path, not stairs, no pillars, nothing. It was as if the gate had appeared out of thin air...

He gently traced the disk, feeling the texture of the stone in silence.

The cold rose around him, familiar fresh winds sinking into his heart and revitalizing him. He knew what this meant. Sonic knew what it was, but couldn't understand how it was here. He remembered his lessons well. Ether did not remain active for long without the presence of a source, unlike Chaos who fed on emotions. It shrivelled up and dissipated, and it was incredibly hard to draw it back out.

And yet...

Click. The stone disk in the middle suddenly shifted, the dark coloration turning as pale as the moon before a pulse of iridescent light travelled through the faint marks littering the gates. Emerald eyes widened at the sight, the blue hedgehog barely reacting to his companions' sudden movements and alarmed shouts behind him before the runes let out a flash of inner light as if they were miniature stars, nearly blinding him with their vibrant white light.

A force tugged at his chest gently, growing increasingly stronger as time went on; the hero allowed it to consume him, letting his instincts run free as familiar golden slabs emerged from under his skin, glowing like a pale moon as they spun softly around his heart. Buzzing made his ears twitch and Sonic followed the sound, letting the Life Plates follow the call of the black gates. He winced as they briefly left him, breaking the delicate formation he was used to seeing them in.

A sound not unlike metal brushing against stone was heard as the Plates slipped into the awaiting slots, a pulse of iridescent light travelling the decorated gate as the dormant Ether that made up the black stone awoke. Sonic watched on as the thin line between the two doors glowed faintly, the halo of the Life Plates reflecting beautifully on the smooth obsidian mineral as the artifacts retracted. The Blue Blur sighed softly as they returned to him, sinking into his chest and coiling around his heart -where they belonged.

Their return reinvigorated him; the sapphire mobian lifted his arms and stretched contently as the black gate slowly opened with a loud metallic hiss. Iridescent sparks danced along his arms, dancing in between the doors and himself. He had to restrain himself from answering the call in his blood, to draw upon the Ether in his heart and change into something completely different, something unnatural.

Footsteps echoing to his left drew him out of his daze. Jade eyes fluttered open as he cut off the flow of energy spilling out of him, not wanting the volatile power to lunge at the beacon of Chaos energy Shadow was.

"Ether."

The flat tone dripping with disbelieving skepticism was a good pointer of the Ultimate Lifeform's general state of being.

"Yup." Sonic said in a deadpan manner, himself not quite believing what just transpired. He was however someone who learned to roll with things, so the hero wasn't sporting the slightly indignant expression on his rival's features, who was still trying to overcome the absurdity of the situation. "Seems so. The whole thing is made out of dormant energy, which is weird, ya' know?" The mobian shrugged as he poked the doors, sensing that the Ether in them had returned to it's dormant form.

"How's that?" Rouged questioned as she walked over to him, peering at the shadows beyond the door. Since she was a bat, she probably saw better in the darkness than he ever would. The jewel thief seemed to have found nothing out of the ordinary and turned back to the vexed cobalt male for the much-needed answer.

Sonic could feel Shadow's heavy gaze alternate between the door and himself, but ignored it in favour of coaxing his voice into providing a suitable answer.

"Well, Ether isn't present outside of the Aether -that is, unless a great spirit or a Holder expelled the energy. Even then..." The blue hedgehog's deceptively relaxed expression turned into a frown as he understood the implications of what he'd just said. Emerald turned towards the doors, a small sense of fascination overtaking him.

Had it been built by one of his predecessors? Had the entire volcano been created by a Holder, or maybe a Element Spirit? To be fair, Sonic knew almost nothing about those who were before him, nor did he know much about the spirits themselves. Sure, the young hero knew what they were -giant shards of the Life Plates that were able to gain a conscious- but the speedster didn't know them personally. He had tended to stick to those few he knew, because from what he'd learned not all of them were friendly.

Even if he didn't have much contact with the creatures, Sonic was sure he would have heard something about-

"Faker."

Huh?

He turned to Shadow; the Ultimate Lifeform seemed just a tiny bit miffed at being ignored. "Yeah?"

"We're leaving." The ebony warrior stated with a no-nonsense tone as if it explained everything, pulling out the red Chaos Emerald from his quills. Rouge stood by him, the bat's hand on the immortal's shoulder. Her other was stretched towards Sonic, inches away from his left arm. "Grab hold, Faker."

How the heck didn't he notice the two moving about? Sonic knew he was prone to daydreaming, but this was a bit overboard...which reminded him of something.

"Please repeat that for me."

"We are leaving."

"You're saying that as if it explained what you're gonna do." Sonic parroted back, his left ear flicking as dust from the ceiling fell on the sensitive fur at the tip of the appendage.

"Standard protocol." Rouge informed him sharply, putting herself between the two hedgehogs in case Shadow decided he had enough and grabbed Sonic by the quills -which would end up with a fight that would probably destroy most of the mountainside. "We are abandoning the mission."

"Wait? Why?!" The sapphire male exclaimed, surprised.

"You."

He had to love Shadow's inability to give a straight answer. Wait, actually his responses were pretty straightforwards -as in, so flat and unhelpful that you couldn't understand what he said unless he was up your face about it.

"What did I do this time?!" Explaining never was his forth, Sonic knew, but this was getting tiring. Shadow's bluntness was both a advantage and a huge disservice for those who were on the darker one's side, as the Ultimate Lifeform tended to dive into battle and ignore any attempts at assistance or teamwork.

"You did nothing, blue!" Rouge responded with her hands raised defensively, the black hedgehog at her side pinching the bridge of his nose, struggling to reign in the sudden urge to knock out the smaller hero and drag him back to base by a leg. "In all seriousness -this is a breach of protocol. Think about it, kid. Isn't it strange that you get asked to participate in a mission for a publicity stunt and just happen to be the only one capable of opening this door?"

In any other situation, Sonic would have argued that he wasn't a child -he was probably a few years older than her thanks to his immortality- but he paused, thinking over what the master thief was seeing. Because when he thought about it, Rouge was right.

He wasn't just the only one present capable of opening the gate -he was the only one on the planet capable of doing such a feat. Publicity stunt my ass. The cobalt hero muttered in his head, not liking where this was heading. By hiding this information, it was clear the Commander was hiding something. Sonic knew the man was manipulative, but this was something else entirely.

"How...how does he know I'm a Holder?"

"G.U.N was in charge of getting the materials for the portal Chris built. As such, they must know it's design, and what powered it."

Oh. Sonic resisted the urge to grimace. He'd kind of shot himself in the foot with that one. The idea that a organization as shady as G.U.N. had access to that kind of information did not sit well with the young hero.

"Can we go now, hedgehog, or do I have to leave you here?"

"Nah, you guys can go." Sonic exclaimed confidently, turning towards the doors. Invisible cold winds rushed up to his heart, cementing his decision. "I'll handle things here." He tensed up unwillingly, knowing what would come next.

(Because there was no way his counterpart was going to let his smartness comment go.)

He proceeded to jump aside as a gloved hand tried to grab him by a quill. Spinning around with ease, Sonic met his rival's gaze head on. Shadow's expression was dark, but he could sense that the elder's destructive desires not directed at him -but the irritation shining within the ruby orbs clearly was his doing.

"Geez, rough much? Save it for the Commander."

"This isn't time for jokes, Faker. Grab my hand or I'll leave you here."

"Heh..." Sonic's voice trailed off, unsure; the green eyes stared longingly at the doors. He wasn't about to give up on a adventure, as risky as it was. Whatever lay in the darkness beyond the gates was calling out to him. Despite the lurching heat from the doors, he felt a familiar cold seeping into his bones, making him shudder. Emerald orbs darkened as thoughts swirled through the hero's head.

He needed to see what was hiding inside. There was no other option.

"Not your call, Shads." Sonic declared softly, his voice slowly gaining strength. "I'm staying."

"What is it now, hedgehog?" Shadow's aggravated voice echoed behind him. "Stop staring and get moving, Faker. Stop wasting our time."

"We can't leave." The cobalt hedgehog replied quickly, sensing that if he didn't rectify the situation quickly he would find himself dangling by his feet from the top of a mountain. "I mean, we came this far. There's not use turning back now." The hero pointed out, noting how Shadow's eyes narrowed into thin sheets of ice.

He was half expecting the older male to drag him out of the chamber by his quills. It was a testament to Shadow's patience that he hadn't done so already.

Once again, it was Rouge who decided to intervene.

"Blue..." The female sighed tiredly, crossing her arms. She glanced at the Ultimate Lifeform, wary of the dark cloud hovering over her companion. "This isn't Eggman. These people kill with no remorse. It's just work for them." Hesitation made itself known as she said the last phrase, blue eyes flicking to Shadow, who was surprisingly solemn. "We can't afford to be careless."

Sonic unconsciously clenched his teeth at the soft reprimand. Unlike what many thought, he wasn't stupid. He knew this was different.

Eggman was greedy and vile, but he had honour. He tried his best to not injure his opponents; and he never, ever dealt with hostages with lethal force. The mad scientist could only bluff; he didn't have it in him to hurt someone. The Blue Blur respected him for that, and it was one of the many reasons why he's never brought himself to actively seek out and capture the man or use the more direct routes to pacify the human.

He simply did not want to go back to what he was before; he knew this kind of people far too well. More than Rouge or Shadow gave him credit for.

Green eyes flicking between the white bat and the black hedgehog, Sonic opened his mouth and replied with unusual hardness. "Whatever this Circle wants, it's behind that door. I bet the Commander wants it too. And they got me to open whatever that thing is. If we leave now, we won't be able to come back in time to stop them from getting what they are looking for." The sapphire hero responded, unrelenting, emerald eyes meeting with ruby.

Both rivals held their ground, refusing to give any ground for their counterpart to take advantage of. A helpless Rouge looked on with amusement and irritation as the duo continued to fight with their gaze, both too stubborn to give up.

It seemed as if the fight was inevitable.

"He has a point." Shadow suddenly agreed, surprising the two younger mobians, who broke off their intense staring and turned to him in bewilderment. "What these humans must be searching for is better in our hands than theirs."

"Besides," Sonic chirped, feeling strangely happy that his rival was on his side for once. "Tails could study it, and we'll know what it is and what it does soon enough!" He smirked victoriously. "That way they can't use it against us. It's perfect!"

Rouge let out a soft chuckle, resigning herself as the two males looked at her expectingly. "This wouldn't be the first time we've gone against the rules." Her expression darkened. "Let's hope it's a weapon, because I won't to shove it up the Commander's ass."

"Great!" Sonic exclaimed energetically despite the female threatening to brutally maim someone in front of him. He bounced towards the open gates, swiftly ducking under Shadow's hand as the unamused Ultimate Lifeform tried to pull him back. The sapphire hedgehog peered down the open gates, gazing silently at a dimly lit staircase leading below before looking over his shoulder at the two mobians. "Come on!"

Amusement coursed through the sapphire male as his rival let out a audible sigh of exasperation. Even Rouge looked torn, but the master spy seemingly shrugged it off and began walking after him. Chuckling, the young speedster began his trek down the broad staircase.

Sonic paused, frowning as he noted how dark and damp the place was. And the heat... Mentally preparing himself for the torture, the determined hero began walking down the stone steps in silence, sensing that his companions were following. Darkness engulfed him, turning his bright blue fur a dusty shade of gray.

It was at this moment that he wished he was an owl. We might need a torch for this...

Crunch.

The three mobians immediately whirled around immediately, Sonic nearly slipping down the staircase in his haste to turn around and jump out of the gate. His exclamation of surprise was lost as a second, louder scrapping sound was heard, this time closer than the last. The heroes took a step back, wary as their eyes darted across the room, seeking the source of the sudden sound.

"What was that." Rouge hissed flatly, her wings spreading behind her in a desire to take off. Tense silence only greeted her question as the two males continued to scan the cavern, growing apprehension taking hold of their minds as they found nothing of interest.

Crunch.

A muttered obscenity left Shadow as he heard the same noise for a third time, too close for his comfort. The Ultimate Lifeform growled, gold crackling around his forearms as he waited for their uninvited companion to show themselves. The sound had been too close. Dangerously so. In fact, it almost seemed as if it was coming from-

The claw marks in the other cavern.

Floor.

Walls.

Ceiling.

Shadow's eyes widened and he looked up, scarlet eyes immediately noticing a mass of what seemed to be grey rocks suddenly turning a disgusting, sickly white. Sharp, jagged teeth gleamed brightly under the white lights, covered in a thin layer of drool as the thing stilled, muscles tensing over it's thin, emaciated frame, preparing to leap down upon them.

"Above!"

A long white object suddenly shot out from the ceiling, slamming down on the agents and the hero with tremendous brute force -but the mobians dodged it, jumping aside as their attacker hit the ground and sent up a cloud of dust. The thing above their heads shrieked, the sharp sound not unlike the scream of a dying animal startling the agents and the hero into action.

It unlatched itself from the ceiling and fell heavily on the floor, cracking the stone ground with it's weight. Sonic, Shadow and Rouge backed away quickly as it stretched, nearly overtaking the entire cave with it's body. It wasn't bulky however, spindly and bone-like, alike a spider. A very overgrown spider with a very long tail and a very big, gaping mouth that looked disturbingly human. It had six legs, the frontal and posteriors long and gangly with disturbingly human-like hands for feet, while the middle pair were insect-like in nature.

"What the hell is that?!" Rouge cried out, horrified as the beast turned around, the single yellow eye perched atop of it's jaws shifting between it's three targets with a eerily intelligent shine, tactfully analyzing them, probing for weaknesses. "Never mind, how the fuck didn't we notice this asshole?!"

"I don't know, but it looks awesome!" Sonic exclaimed as he kicked one of the thing's legs, making it stumble and nearly hit the ground. The arachnid-like monster snarled, turning it's full attention to the blur of cobalt buzzing around it. The long tail swished over head, the pincer ending clicking loudly as it tried to snag the blue hedgehog off the ground.

The Blue Blur was making things hard for the beast, continuously changing directions, kicking the legs of the aggravated beast off balance, which made the thing more irritated by it's tricky prey. Surprisingly, its hide held against Sonic's reckless charges, the thick, pasty white skin unmarred from the continuous spindashes.

Despite the lack of wounds, it was still angered by the attacks. Snarling, it whirled around and swept it's long tail across the floor, the slim appendage catching Sonic's knees and making the young hero tumble to the ground with a surprised exclamation. Seeing that it's target was down the monster lunged at the fallen hero; eager to enact revenge upon the vulnerable mobian-

"Chaos Spear!"

-it quickly backed off as a luminous lance struck it in the face, narrowly missing it's massive eye. Angered, the beast turned to the source of the attack and let out a high-pitched shriek that made the entire cavern tremble. Shadow was unfazed by the threat display, giving the howling monstrosity no more interest than he would to a angry child begging for candies. Gloved hands glowed red with power as the Ultimate Lifeform lived up to his name, forming more of his signature weapon.

The air became thick with power as the immortal weapon of massive destruction got ready to destroy his opponent. Sensing it's impending doom, the monster looked around, a throaty hiss leaving the beast as it's bloodshot eye settled on a certain winged mobian standing by the sidelines, ready to provide a distraction if her companions needed it.

Shadow's eyes followed the creature's calculating stare before widening.

"Rouge!"

The clawed end of the monster's tail snapped open with a metallic creak before shooting towards the G.U.N. agent, their owner ignoring how a small blue hedgehog rammed himself against one of it's legs, trying to get it to stumble but failing as the thing anticipated the attack and pushed him away with a flick of its leg. Rouge spun around and tried to fly away from the approaching appendage, but it was quick enough to grab her by her left ankle and pull her closer, before letting go and grabbing her midsection tightly, painfully forcing her wings closed.

She thrashed, snarled and spat at her captor in fury as the skeletal tail pulled back, holding her close to the monstrous entity's head. Rouge kicked in the iron grip of her attacker, but she was unable to escape it. Aquamarine eyes glanced down at the panicking hedgehogs below. Shadow was standing by the black gates, left arm poised back, ready to throw a Chaos Spear but having stopped as their opponent put his partner in front of itself.

"It would be nice if you hurry up, boys!" Rouge hissed as the pincer tightened around her chest, making her torso ache. More than likely, tomorrow she would wake up to a nice array of bruises dotting her stomach. "I really don't want to deal with broken ribs!"

"Working on it! Be still!" Shadow barked as he tried to speed around the creature and it's captive, only to be refuted as the thing tracked his movements with ease. A pair of front legs armed with claws as sharp as blades lashed out at the Ultimate Lifeform, threatening to gore the hedgehog.

"Shads, she really can't do anything but be-"

"Not now, hedgehog." Shadow growled through clenched teeth, his attention solely on their opponent. The Ultimate Lifeform watched the beast in silence, returning the sharp glare with one of his own, the Chaos gathering in his hands fading as he reevaluated the situation. The monster's actions were strange; it was holding Rouge in front of it, over its vulnerable eye, the sharp pincers of the tail threatening to slice the female apart at any sudden move. Was that amusement he saw in the thing's wretched eye?

He didn't miss the fact that the creature had put Rouge directly in his line of fire. It's attention was focused on him -as if it was deeming him as the biggest threat, even if it was Sonic who had done most of the offensive...

Ruby eyes glanced back at the said hero, watching as the speedster hollered at the monster, kicked it's legs and stomped on it's thin paws, trying to get it's attention but failing despite making it stumble several times. The animal only reacted when the mobian got a bit too close to it's eye for comfort, a vicious hiss leaving it's lipless mouth as it clutched Rouge tighter, not enough to suffocate her but more than enough to hurt.

That death grip relaxed each time Sonic backed off, and Shadow watched it repeat the motion twice to the hero's irritation. His counterpart yelled and attacked the creature continuously, but he couldn't land any serious blows without the beast looking ready to stop Rouge in half. From the way it protected it's weak spot and used the jewel thief as a shield, it was clear that the animal possessed some form of human-level intelligence.

The Ultimate Lifeform's eyes gleamed darkly as he gathered green-gold flames at the tip of his fingers, something dark gleaming within the ruby eyes of the immortal as he spread his legs slightly, giving himself more stability for the upcoming battle. There was no doubt in Shadow's mind that this was going to be a interesting fight.

But first, he needed to get it away from Rouge. Sonic had the good strategy of hitting the long, spindly legs in a attempt to make the creature fall, but it was obvious that he lacked power and weight behind his attacks. He needed more than speed, more brute force to push the being five times his size off balance. Brute force was something Shadow had in spares.

Flicking his eyes to the left, the obsidian male let out a roar as wave of golden lights came into being above his head, hovering over him docilely before they sailed across the room and struck the animal's left shoulder in a concentrated blow, the force being the impact enough to pop the bone out of its socket with one clean strike.

The monster buckled, a low screech leaving it as its balance was lost and it fell forwards. The flat, toothy snout hit the ground as the remaining legs scrambled to get back up. The injured limb laid twitching at it's side, unable to hold its owner up. It snarled, scrambling to rise, the long tail whipping about, dragging Rouge around like a doll, the sharp grapple digging into the mobian's sides, probably drawing blood-

-until it suddenly wasn't holding the jewel thief anymore, but was rather reduced to a stump of flesh and bones twitching on the floor.

Sonic stood tall in front of the wriggling, screaming creature, his expression one of stoic resignation as he set Rouge down, helping the injured bat stand as the jewel thief's blood was finally allowed to rush down to her lower torso and legs, something the tight grip had prevented. She spread her wings, rolled her shoulder and stretched her arms before looking at Sonic with a mixture of annoyance and gratitude for not saving her sooner.

The Blue Blur did not respond to her muttered thank you, staying uncharacteristically silent as he turned dark eyes to the injured animal, which thrashing and shrieking in fury at the entrance of the cave. Blood freckled his body, dripping down curving quills and staining fawn fur brown. The dark substance was highlighted by the contrast the plush blue pelt made, a sight that would have scarred a normal man.

Injured but still able to continue the assault, the beast growled as it finally stood up, the dislocated leg angled oddly as it turned towards the three mobians, but managing to support its owner's weight through sheer determination. The sharp yellow eye stared at them in cold, restrained rage, calculative. The amount of intelligence in that orb staggering. Sonic and Shadow tensed simultaneity as it took a step closer, lower jaw twitching with the need to snap at them.

The creature suddenly jumped back, startling them with its quick speed. It reared up on it's back legs, mouth opening wide in a deafening shriek and before either of the hedgehogs could do anything, both of its front legs slammed the ceiling with enough force to make the chamber shudder.

Oppressive silence followed as it slowly lowered itself back down, bloodied tail flicking. A bright amber eye gleamed a cold, collected glow as the gangly beast shuffled back, waiting, ever so patient.

Crack.

With a humongous groan, a massive spidery tear grew on the ceiling.

The mobians froze, a sense of realization striking them as their eyes shifted from the prowling monster to the damaged ceiling. The rip was slowly growing, delicate fissures stretching out and spreading like a fungus. Stalactites crumbled and fell one by one, and the small trickle quickly becoming a raging storm of dust and volcanic stone.

"Dammit!" Sonic heard someone shout over the commotion; he was pretty sure it was Shadow. Stalactites crumbled, the earth parted beneath his feet and dust fell from the ceiling as the room threatened to collapse. The mobians were forced back towards the black door as large chunks of earth fell from the ceiling, several nearly crushing them if not for their quick reflexes.

"We have to go!" Rouge exclaimed through the thundering crashes that followed as the earth shuddered and groaned around them, beginning to bury them alive.

But which direction? Sonic thought in a panic. They couldn't turn back, not with that thing in the way. The monster's actions were forcing them deeper into the cave system, and something told Sonic that it would be a while before he saw the light of the sun again -if they ever made it.

But could they try to escape by going through the beast? The blue hedgehog glanced at his counterpart. He knew Shadow was thinking the same. It would be safer to try and get through the monster than go deeper, where the unstable cave system could take their life.

"The door is our best option." Huh? Green eyes turned towards smouldering ruby, noting the fury hidden deep within his counterpart's gaze. He couldn't believe it. Had Shadow just proposed digging themselves deeper into this death trap?

"Shads, as much as I trusts your judgement -which isn't much- that's the worst idea ever." Sonic retorted through the roar of falling stone. Already the ground was starting to crack under their feet, moments away from splitting wide open and swallowing them whole. "We need to get through that thing! Staying inside the caves is asking to get buried alive!"

"Have you forgotten about the tunnel, Faker? It probably collapsed by now!"

Shit.

He'd forgotten about that.

A loud shriek came from their opponent, silencing their short lived argument. Sonic whirled around towards the source of the deafening scream, only to scramble away as a spindly humanoid hand landed where he was before.

Even with the dormant volcano threatening to fall on top of them, the creature was still focused on them. Another heavy paw landed next to him, forcing the mobians back. The monster reared up in front of them, uncaring of the rocks repeatedly pelting it's flakey, pale hide. The clawed hand reached out again, too close to avoid in such small quarters; Sonic jumped back as far as he could, letting out a shout of indignation as it managed to catch one of his legs. He fell heavily on his back in front of his companions, wincing as he felt the sickle-like claws dig into his flesh.

"Get off!" Ignoring his command the creature began pulling him forwards, trying to drag him back to it's massive head. The monster crawled closer, unable to move much as the cave slowly became filled with rubble. The blue hedgehog kicked and flailed with fervor, choking through the dust falling from the ceiling as he desperately tried to free himself. Rouge cursed somewhere behind him, her voice distorted and faint as his senses focused on his unavoidable fate.

The thing edged as close as it could, sharp teeth gleaming, slick with saliva as the bright yellow eyes gazed at him with vengeful intent, the intelligence behind that glare too human for him to believe-

Arms wrapped themselves around his torso, stopping the creature from getting it's meal. The animal roared at Shadow, who glared back just as viciously, his grip on the captive hero tightening. Sonic glanced back at his rival with worried -and slightly relieved- eyes, but found the Ultimate Lifeform's attention solely on the beast.

Unfortunately, the ebony male's hands were too busy keeping Sonic from become a chew toy to be able to summon a Chaos Spear to get rid of the threat. Shadow's immense strength was enough to keep the tug of war in a stalemate against the being five times his size, but the cobalt hedgehog being used as the rope in the said tug of war was starting to feel as if his leg was going to fall off.

"It's not working, Shads!" Sonic yelped in a panic. The muscles and tendons of his leg were screaming now, threatening to snap at any moment.

"Shut up, Faker!" Was that a waver he heard in the elder's voice? Shadow did not waver. Shadow was a stubborn asshole that needed to be beaten to the ground to change his opinion. He did not waver.

(He was so going to get his leg chewed off, wasn't he? )

Sonic wasn't one for hysterics, far from it despite his friends describing him as eccentric. But it so wasn't like the most important part of his body -because he was nothing without his speed- was about to fall off, ripped away for him to spend his final moments bleeding out in horrifying agony.

Had not pure panic been flowing through his brain, scrambling his senses and making his death grip of his rival's arm tighten to the point of stopping the blood flow, Sonic would have laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Who would have thought that Shadow of all people would be trying to prevent his death?

I've got to buy him one of those sweet rolls when we get out of here...

Promise made and written down on a mental notebook, Sonic slowly let go of his hold on Shadow's arms. He felt the Ultimate Lifeform mutter a low curse somewhere above him and winced. If Shadow loosened his grip by the slightest, the thing might just pull both of them forwards and swallow them whole; on the other hand, if neither side was willing to give up, Sonic might just kiss his leg goodbye -as well as running. Fortunately, the other front leg of the animal had been disabled, preventing it from getting a good foothold, otherwise they would be dead already.

The matter of the fact was, this wasn't going to remain a stalemate forever.

Clapping his hands together, Sonic allowed a comforting cold to spread out from his heart to the rest of his body. He slowly opened his palms, feeling the familiar sharp sting of Ether gather in the empty space between them as a sphere of pulsating light. The cave rumbled around them once more, his heart pounded loudly in his ribcage and a shard of rock somehow managing to find it's way into his left ear, but despite this he managed to remain concentrated.

"Hope you like this, sucker!" Sonic snarled as he flung the orb at the creature, watching with satisfaction as the thing stiffened at the sight of the glowing projectile.

The surprised beast let out a low warble as it ducked, laying it's body flat on the ground just in time for the sphere of energy to sail over it's crested head and crash into the furthest wall, collapsing stone over their exit and its tail. Sonic winced at the sight, knowing that he'd effectively trapped everyone in the unstable cavern.

The hold on his leg had loosened somewhat, so the cobalt hedgehog had no issues kicking the hand with enough strength to knock it open. Sonic's ankle ached from the rough treatment, but relief flooded through him at the realization he'd been able to come out of the situation unscathed. Wiggling out of the giant appendage, the young hero quickly grabbed his rival by the arm and ran towards the black gates where Rouge awaited, the jewel thief clutching her right shoulder, bloody after being hit with rubble.

A enraged roar echoed behind them as a shadow loomed over their heads, too close for comfort. Green eyes over their shoulder, easily picking out the stark white hide of the beast slowly growing bigger as it closed in on their location, relentless despite the danger of being buried alive. In any other situation, the two hedgehogs would be at the gates by now, but with the falling debris it was a death trap to run through. Stalactites fell around them, exploding into shards that scraped their skin and sent dust in their eyes but despite this they headed towards the doors without getting killed.

Sonic stumbled through the ruins, hacking out dust and dirt as he hazily dodged giant pieces of rubble from crushing him. He felt a familiar hand curled on his left wrist, both leading and dragging the half-blinded hero through the chaos. The sapphire speedster followed after the older male with surprising obedience, not minding having his rival's actions as he was to busy trying to not die.

Eye widening, the monster let out a howl of outrage as it reached out at them again, this time trying to squash them with a backhanded slap.

Sonic's narrowed eyes flashed iridescent.

"Ether Shield!" A gleaming barrier sprang up around them at the needless shout, momentarily blocking the waterfall rubbles threatening to bury them alive. Sonic spread his arms out and felt the iridescent shield comply with his wishes, tightening in front of them to absorb the incoming attack.

The Blue Blur wasn't expecting the giant hand to go through the wall of energy.

He didn't even have time to think, much less dodge the attack. The surprised Sonic took the full strength of the blow, the massive limb striking him in the front and sending the unfortunate speedster flying back into the two other mobians. Neither of the duo were ready for this turn of events, and were thrown back by Sonic's body.

All three of the heroes fell back, tumbling to the dust-ridden ground, through black doors and down the flight of stairs. Heads banged against stone as the two warriors and the master spy rolled down the giant staircase and into the darkness, the screams of the beast above loosing strength as they fell farther and farther away.

Shadow could not for the life of him remember when they came to stop at the bottom of the stairs, as all he could feel was a dizzying pain. His eyesight spun out of control, his limbs fell weak and his muscles ached from their encounter with the stone stairs. Groaning softly, the obsidian warrior slowly lifted his head up, trying and failing to blink away the dizzy spell that had fallen upon him. He heard Rouge moan softly in pain to his right, the white bat finally coming back to her senses.

A wing twitched against his back, confirming to Shadow that he was more than likely situated within a pile of limbs. Shakily trying to get up, the Ultimate Lifeform growled to himself as his arms gave away beneath him and he fell back down on something warm and soft.

(It smelled nice too...)

Ruby eyes snapped open.

The fuck.

His head snapped up, his enhanced eyesight noticing the blue form laying beneath him, breathing regular as if asleep. Sonic had somehow managed to end up at the bottom of the pile; his quills were unruly, even more than normal, and Shadow noted quickly forming bruises around the smaller male's chest and face, probably from the beast's backhand.

I should have killed that thing outright, a part of him chastised as the battered agent slowly rolled off his smaller rival, pulling a faintly resisting Rouge off his back, the white bat just as tired as he was if the way she slipped to the floor like a sack of potatoes and promptly passed back out was any indication.

Another dizzy spell struck Shadow, making the G.U.N. agent growl as his arms gaze out under him, making him collapse next to his rival. He tried to stop it, but his limbs refused to answer, crying out for rest. The Ultimate Lifeform cursed silently as his cheek pressed against smooth stone.

Blue clung to the corner of his vision, reminding him of his position. He halfheartedly pushed the smaller hedgehog away, only to pause when he heard a faint keen of pain from his rival.

Suddenly remembering how the speedster had been sent flying via a slap of a giant, clawed hand Shadow quickly sat up, forcing his eyes to work as he reached out and pressed his fingers to the hero's neck, checking his pulse. It was normal, if not a tad slow for his liking. Next, the ebony male ran his fingers through the blue fur, quickly checking for broken bones.

Thankfully, he found nothing save several bruises; there was still the possibility of a sprained limb, but it would be impossible to affirm this until Sonic woke up -and continued to make his life a living hell.

Satisfied that his rival was in working condition -because if someone was going to break the idiot, it would be him- Shadow sat next to the pile of fur and began his watch over the duo, uncharacteristically patient with them as he waited for his companions to wake up.

The young hero sleeping at his side let out a small groan and fidgeted, but Shadow unconsciously traced the tip of Sonic's ears gently, remembering what had happened the night before. The sapphire male quickly went back to sleep, leaving the Ultimate Lifeform to sit alone in the darkness.

Almost 10k for this chapter. Holy crap, good thing the last two are mostly written out. I don't know what I would have done otherwise.

Also, anyone got any times on how to write Omega? I've never been good with robots.