「 light in the darkness. 」

≻ . battle

The teeth of the creature snapped at the two hedgehogs, a fierce roar piercing the air as its neck stretched, claws dug into the dirt beneath it. Sonic stared, processing the situation. It was unlike Eggman's machines where he could simply rip apart wires and be done. This was an entirely different situation; the creature was very real, very big and clearly not going to be so easy to beat.

Torn away from his thoughts, the blue hedgehog was able to avoid the incoming dirt flying their way by only a hair. It was unlike Sonic to get distracted in a battle with such high stakes, but his mind had not so long been on Amy, their unborn child and now every mobian he knew. What would happen to them if he and Shadow were to fail?

"It's trying to blind us so we'll be easier to kill," Sonic groaned, rubbing the dirt particles itching the tip of his nose. Shadow growled, unaffected by the dirt as he'd moved before it came near. He had promises to keep, therefore he had to keep his full focus on the situation. The only promise he wasn't concerned much on keeping was ensuring no harm came to Sonic; he was able to hold his own and Shadow knew it.

"Try to attack from behind it. It can only see what's ahead of itself," Shadow spoke, he and Sonic exchanging a glance— a glance that lasted barely a split second as the two quickly separated to make way for the spiked tail slamming down between them.

The creature could travel fast, but because of its large size, its attacks were slower. That gave the two a big advantage, given their speed. The two were powerful, but power would not always work if they were up against something they could not hit. Fortunately, the beast's large size and slow attack pace gave them the advantages they needed.

"I will distract it. Attack the back of its head with all you have. Surely it will deal enough damage," Shadow spoke, earning a confident nod in response from Sonic. He and Shadow may not be friends, but they worked together well. The two knew each other's strength. The fact they were so similar made it easy for Shadow to tell Sonic what needed to be done. Shadow knew he was capable, just as Sonic knew causing a distraction would be a piece of cake for him.

There was a small flash and Shadow disappeared, immediately reappearing upon the end of the beast's long snout. Digging the metal heel of his shoe into its scales, Shadow glared into blazing purple eyes, an angry snort escaping the creature as it opened its jaw. However, before it could complete its warning and snap shut, Shadow disappeared again, the creature only rediscovering him when a chaos spear hit the base of its neck.

Howling, the creature slammed its tail down again, shattering the small home behind it. It began to move,  jaw snapping at a hovering Shadow whilst Sonic waited for the right moment to strike. As Shadow flew up and circled its nose, a low screech was heard and the beast set on following Shadow to attack. This gave Sonic his window to attack whilst it was occupied.

Speeding over, the creature failed to notice the blue hedgehog scaling up its back, towards its head. It was a powerful spindash that caused a loud, pained squeal to be heard. The creature howled as Sonic struck again; after seeing it worked, he'd wasted no time in going back in to attack.

"You can hit harder than that. Hit it again," Shadow demanded, landing on his feet. The creature was no longer trying to attack him as it was much too focused on the pain being inflicted upon it.

"You got it," Sonic replied, making to land another attack. However, before he could successfully do so, the beast threw its head back. It made impact with Sonic, sending him flying back and hitting the ground. It had been sudden, especially given as Sonic hadn't expected it to be able to move as fast as it did just then.