Shadows of a Broken Future

Chapter 4

Sonic brushes his hands together as if the whole fight had been nothing. He then crosses his arms and looks up at Eggman, eyes gleaming with mischief. "Defenseless? You must be losing your touch Eggface," Sonic shoots back, his voice laced with playful arrogance. "You're looking at the fastest thing alive. You can't catch me, and you sure as heck can't destroy me."

Eggman sneers, his fists clenched in fury. "You think you're untouchable, don't you, hedgehog?" he growls, slamming a button on his control panel. "Let's see how fast you are when you're buried under a pile of machines!" With that, a fresh batch of robots-bigger, stronger, and armed to the teeth-emerged from the shadows, surrounding us.

I stepped forward, my fists clenched. It didn't matter that Sonic was here now and alive. There was still that vision in my mind-Him sacrificing himself to save everyone. The memory of it haunted me, and every instinct in me screamed to protect him, to stop it from happening again.

"Stay behind me Sonic" I growl, my voice rough and sharp. My gaze never left Eggman, but even as I said it, I knew it was pointless. Sonic would never back down from a fight. What am I even doing? I couldn't believe I was actually trying to protect him, did I really care that much? Whatever.

Without warning, I surge forward, unleashing chaos spears in rapid succession. The energy blasts tearing through Eggman's robots with explosive force. But it wasn't enough. More kept coming. I could hear the whirring of machines behind me as I pushed forward, letting my rage and the pounding memories of the future drive me.

Sonic was right beside me, his spin dash tearing through the enemies with a fluid grace I couldn't help but admire, but I couldn't shake the image of him in the future, injured and falling. It made me reckless.

One of the larger robots, a hulking menace with a massive hammer, swung at Sonic. It was too fast. Shit! Without thinking, I lunged forward, knocking Sonic out of the way just in time. The hammer came down with a deafening crash, the ground shuddering beneath us.

I was thrown back, my side slamming into the hard ground. Pain shot through me, but I didn't care. I scramble back to my feet, eyes immediately searching for Sonic.

"Sonic?" I mutter, though my voice barely rose above a whisper. My body was on autopilot, but I couldn't stop thinking about him. I couldn't lose him. I couldn't lose anyone. I couldn't be alone again.

Sonic scrambles to his feet, brushing himself off and quickly regaining his usual energy, though when his eyes lock with mine I could see a flicker of concern flash through them. "That was close thanks Shads! Are you okay?" He asks with a strange hesitation in his voice.

I don't respond. I turned back to Eggman, the fury now boiling inside me. I needed to end him. He can't destroy everything if he's gone.

The robots keep coming, and I keep fighting, my chaos spears cutting through them with precision, and my chaos control sending me in and out of positions to take them down faster. The frustration, the rage-it all mixed together. I wanted to destroy him. I wanted to make him feel the pain I had felt when he ruined everything.

The battle raged on, but Eggman's machines were starting to falter. I could see the panic in his eyes as his robots dwindled. The more I attacked, the more my power surged. I could feel my inhibitor rings on my wrists burning, the energy surging within me pushing against their limits. I was slipping, the memories of the future flooding my mind, pushing me toward something darker. My rage started to take control.

I made it to Eggman, effortlessly chaos controlling on top of the glass dome surrounding him, sitting high above in his giant mecha of destruction. "Huh? Get off there you lab rat!" Eggman shouts, his voice seething with rage.

I ignore him, focusing instead on summoning a chaos spear. With a quick motion, I thrust it forward, stabbing through the glass and shattering it in an instant.

"Holy shit" Eggman panicks, his voice cracking in fear.

I grab him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off his seat. His feet barely touch the floor, and his clothing tightens around his neck, making it hard for him to speak. "Now, now Shadow. Let's not do anything crazy" he stammers, his voice strained.

My gaze hardens, a low growl rumbling from deep within me. I punch him in the face. Over and over and over again. I drop him back down and just as I go to unleash a wave of chaos spears to rain down on him, a figure appears behind me-Sonic. His hand grabs my arm, stopping me from striking again.

"Shadow, stop!" he shouts, his voice laced with genuine concern. "This isn't how we do things! This isn't right-let Eggface go!" His words cut through the haze of my rage, but my fists clench tighter. All I wanted was to make Eggman pay.

"You're not thinking straight," Sonic continues, his gaze intense. "You can't let him get to you."

I want to lash out. I want to finish this-finish him. While I was distracted by Sonic, Eggman took it as his chance to escape, knocking us off his mecha while letting out a frustrated snarl. "This isn't over!" he yells, his voice filled with rage, before retreating behind a cloud of smoke. His machines, battered and broken, followed suit.

No no no! Fuck I let him go! Sonic's grip on my arm loosens, but he doesn't let go, his eyes are filled with concern. "You okay Shads?" he asks, his voice softer now.

I stared at him for a moment, unsure how to respond. The truth was, I wasn't okay. I wasn't sure I ever would be.

But there was no time to think about that now. Eggman had retreated, but this battle wasn't over yet. Things wouldn't go the way they did in the future. Not if I could help it.

I yank my arm free from his grip and turn away. "Next time, don't try to stop me Faker" I mutter under my breath and walk away.

You think your safe, Eggman? I snarl, narrowing my eyes. I'm just getting started.

~~~

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