Shadowed Frontiers

Chaos Island (The End)

"Just like the Ark, huh, Shadz?" Sonic asks the now ebony hedgehog, who groans, remembering the pain of falling onto the ground from space.

Tails and Knuckles fly over. "Guess he's the MVP, but it would be slower if I didn't throw you—" Knuckles attempted to argue, but Sonic shushed him with a snarky remark.

"If you hadn't thrown me like a pinball, Shadow would've still done it on his own. We're only distractions."

Shadow felt his eyelids get heavier and heavier as he closes his eyes.

Distant memories flowed through him, as he felt a wave of relief wash up on him quite literally in the form of water, interrupting his beauty sleep. "Ugh... Maria?" He opened his eyelids, seeing Team Sonic stand over him.

"Good morning sleeping beauty, slept well?" He asked Shadow, him responding with a chaos spear out of instinct.

Sonic had indeed successfully scared him, but he wasn't going to admit that to the blue bastard.

"Whoa, do you respond to Rouge like that when you sleep on missions too?" Knuckles asked, a small and barely noticeable blush forming on his face.

"I don't sleep on missions." Shadow plainly responded. He'd only noticed this just now but they were in their base forms. "Where're the emeralds?" Shadow asked Sonic, his inner composure stirring.

"They scattered? What did you expect would happen?" He told Shadow, whose pupils shrunk to microscopic levels. "You IDIOT!" Shadow proclaimed, punching Sonic in the gut and sending him flying into a wall.

"He did not respond well to that." Knuckles made an observation.

"I can see that." Tails replied.

"You were supposed to KEEP the emeralds! Now what do we do if the End appears-"

"Now."

The End had arrived, and it had taken a more nimble form.

"Shadow, why didn't you tell us?!" Sonic is now starting to panic.

Shadow moved his hand to the position of one of his inhibitor rings, planning on taking it off.

"You'll be down when we turn super!" Sonic stopped Shadow.

"What now?" The End asked Sonic and Shadow, who it recognizes as the most powerful. "You do not have the crutch that you need. I can kill you easily." It readies a lazer, as Sage comes forth, piloting the Supreme titan and holding The End off. "I will not allow you to destroy my family." She says, slamming a fist into the End, knocking it away into space.

"I have devoured many planets and met many heroes, yet yours has been the most intriguing thus far." The End remarked, dodging the punches from Sage easily.

Sonic looked to Shadow, who nodded, signaling that they needed to scatter.

They rocket off with a Sonic Boom, a blue and an orange streak following after them.

Tails and Knuckles were left alone together.

"So... what now?" Knuckles asked Tails, who shrugged.

"We'll explore the island, see what can help." Tails replied, blasting off with a sonic boom.

Knuckles nodded, scattering as well.

Tails looks at the Death Egg robot, an idea popping into his brain. He blasted off towards the robot, and hacked into the console easily.

"Now, let's see if it still works.." His fingers flicked across the keyboard as the huge death machine powered up and began to stand.

He pulls out his Miles Electric™, and plugs it into the control terminal, turning the IPad lookalike into a game controller of sorts.