Crumbling

Chapter 5- Sonic's Confrontation

"Man, water really sucks", thought Sonic as his legs made a red flurry beneath him, sailing over the surface of the ocean like a hypersonic speedboat. He was never one for swimming.
But he made an exception, since Tails had identified the island (now bobbing closer and closer) as Shadow's location.

Speaking of the little guy... Sonic glanced behind him to see if his best friend was still tailing him and smirked when he saw that he was. The kid was really starting to pick up the pace! Of course, this wasn't Sonic's fastest speed, not by miles, but if he ran that fast the kid would feel bad.

Sonic leaned into his sprint as the shore quickly closed in, noticing that the beach ended in a cliff wall. May as well keep up the momentum and get to the top!
Sonic rolled his body into a blue bladed ball, increasing his speed. As he hit the shore the sand flew up like a fountain behind him. His body hit the cliffside wall- almost immediately yielding to the speed and friction. Sonic burrowed a tunnel up until, just as his momentum was beginning to fail, he broke through the top of the cliff amid a spray of rubble.
His body unfolded from its ball like a spring and he stood facing the ocean, a cocky grin on his face.

"COME ON TAILS! DON'T FALL BEHIND! YOU WERE DOIN' GOOD!" The hedgehog shouted out, his free hand cupped over his mouth.

His other hand held one of Tails' gadgets: a little flip computer of some kind. Sonic didn't know a thing about this techno-mumbo-jumbo, but he was happy to use these things when Tails made them (even though the squirt didn't appreciate it when Sonic grabbed it from him and ran). And this one was made specifically to track down that Faker, Shadow.
Sonic glanced at the screen of the little gadget, disappointed to see that the little red dot that had been flashing was now gone. Tails had mentioned something about cloaking or whatever, but he wasn't paying attention.

Sonic looked behind him, brow furrowed a little. He wasn't absolutely sure, but he swore that he had seen the red dot close to the shoreline on the computer's map. Then he spotted the little abandoned bungalow and his face perked up.

"Hey... Whatcha wanna bet..." Sonic said with a cockeyed grin, tossing the gadget over his shoulder for Tails to catch while he strode toward the little home.

Sonic pushed the door open without hesitation.

"Yo! Any shadowy figures in he- AMY?" The hedgehog spat suddenly, immediately spotting her in the corner.

What the heck? Why was she here? He thought they left her in the dust a while ago. Sonic leapt over to the pink hedgehog, looking her over with mounting curiosity.

But before any questions could be answered, a familiar voice echoed from behind them.

"Sonic. Get out of here." The voice growled. Sonic turned and saw Shadow standing menacingly in the doorway, a red glint in his eye.

Sonic took only a moment to process this, then a wicked grin spread across his face. "Kidnapping? Really? Trying to pin that on me too, Faker?"

The little walky-talky at Sonic's side began to crackle.

"Sonic! Wait for me! I'm almost there!"

Shadow dropped the sandwich and his boots ignited so that hovered a couple inches off the ground. Sonic could tell just by looking at him that Shadow was there for a fight, and he was always ready for a fight- Or... He thought he was.

The walky-talky clattered to the floor as Amy jumped Sonic from behind, throwing her arms around his neck. It seemed the smell of her lover had jolted her out of a dead sleep.

"I knew you would come looking for me! Myyy hero." Amy nuzzled her face into him, hanging limply off his body.

"Augh! Amy! Get off of me I'm DOING Something right now!" Sonic said indignantly, prying her off. It was especially effective. She didn't just fall on her bottom. Her whole body hit the ground, head to toe. Sonic hadn't quite meant to be that rough, usually she was holding onto him with a near stranglehold- her weakness took him aback. Even Amy was surprised.

"Ouch!" she yelped as loud as she could. It took extra effort to pull herself up, and not just because she wanted Sonic to feel bad. She propped herself on her elbows, just in time to see Shadow bury a solid kick right into her sweetie and sending him flying backwards through the door. The childish light died from her face, replaced by a mix of anger and astonishment.

Shadow glanced down at Amy. "Stay here." He said, then aimed to fly out after Sonic.

"Hey! Leave him alone!"

Of course, Shadow wasn't interested in what she had to say. Instead he flew out after Sonic, who had just landed with a giant splash in the center of the river. It took a little struggle, but Amy was on her feet in an instant and chasing down the contenders.

As Shadow streaked toward the water, a blue ball shot back out and slammed into Shadow. The black hedgehog was sent flying; but he quickly adjusted his position in the air, catching himself on his feet.

"Shadow! He's not here to fight you!" Amy shouted with all her might. Although the free-for-all between them suggested otherwise.

"Gee, I thought you were a good guy now, Faker. Looks like I was wrong!" Sonic said with a sneer, ignoring Amy. It wasn't true anymore, this guy started a fight and Sonic wasn't about to back out.

Shadow scowled and relaunched himself at Sonic who caught him in a handhold, their powers pushing against each other.

"You'd better leave, blue hedgehog. You are going to be the death of Amy." Shadow growled, which only received a sarcastic look from Sonic.

"Yeah she's doing great with you! I guess that's why she's so eager to-" Shadow cut Sonic off before he could finish any quips, throwing him to the side- which was followed up by a spindash that sent the blue hedgehog flying off the cliff.

xxx

Tails wasn't too far off now. He had all the eagerness, but none of the hustle. His breath came in quick huffs, and he was exhausted, but the sight of the ever-approaching cliff kept him going. He'd do it for Sonic. The fact that Sonic hadn't responded over the walky-talky worried him. Of course, it wasn't exactly abnormal for Sonic to get caught up with other things or simply not care enough to respond. Still, Tails worried. He could be in danger.

"I'll save you Sonic," Tails thought to himself, his expression dead set and determined. The cliff was so close now he found himself reaching out to brush his fingers against it and-

Sonic had attempted to readjust himself before he hit the ground, but unfortunately for both him and his buddy, he'd hit the incoming fox with all his falling force, and now they were both coughing up sand.

"Jeez! You okay, man?" Sonic said with a wince, leaping up to help his friend up- then looked up at the cliffside. "WHOA, WATCH OUT!" Sonic shouted suddenly as Shadow, standing on the cliff ledge, summoned a barrage of Chaos Spears, raining them down on Sonic and Tails from above.

Sonic hauled Tails over his shoulder, dodging the barrage of spears with a sudden panic. He could deal with this alone, but not with Amy and Tails around- Shadow had clearly lost his mind or something.

One thing that did seem to be clear was that Shadow wasn't... Hurting Amy? That would have to be good enough for now. Sonic yelped when one of the spears came dangerously close to hitting him, then, focusing on the long shoreline, he sped off with Tails on his shoulder.

"I'm super-duper, Sonic..." the foxboy managed to say, his head spinning.