The Ultimate Lifeforms

Fixing This Mess

Sonic ran through Station Square in search of Shadow. With his speed, it should have been no problem at all to find him, but the blue speedster found himself having to make continuous stops, be it to save a citizen in danger or stop a stray robot here and there. After a good half hour, he finally spotted the black hedgehog tailing what he knew was the president's limousine.
Mildly curious, Sonic hung back even further, wondering what Shadow was doing. He watched as Shadow tailed the guards, sneaking around the back of the building and climbing into a window.
Within moments, steel doors appeared behind the normal glass, sliding ones, sealing off the entrance. Steel coverings began appearing on the windows and all other entrances to the building before suddenly stopping.
Sonic smiled at his luck. Jumping onto the building directly across from the bank headquarters, he began ricocheting back and forth between the two buildings until he was halfway up the skyscraper, in front of the first unsealed window. He felt around the window, in search of a way to open. Seeing as there was not one, Sonic jumped back across to the adjacent building. Curling up into a ball, he rolled in place for a bit, building momentum before launching himself into the unsealed window of the headquarters, smashing it to pieces.
As soon as he was in, he took off down the hall. Running up and down every flight of stairs, he searched every office, every cubicle, every meeting room he could find. Just as he ran through the hall of the 27th floor, he caught a glimpse of two figures in an office, one his height whom could only be Shadow. What made his heart jump the most was the fact Shadow was holding a gun at the president. Making a U-turn, Sonic burst into the office, jumping directly at Shadow and tackling him to the ground.
"Shads, no!"
The two hedgehogs slammed into the wall as Sonic maintained his grip on Shadow's waist. Getting his bearings back, Shadow looked down to see what had suddenly knocked him off his feet.
"Sonic?" Dumbfounded and surprised to see his little brother with him and not on the ARK, it took a moment for the information to process. Once the initial shock faded away, Shadow grabbed Sonic and pulled him into a rib-crushing hug. He pushed Sonic away after a moment, still holding onto the blue hedgehog's shoulders. "How... What...?" He grabbed Sonic's wrist and turned it over. The bomb was gone. He pulled him into another hug, this time much gentler, and purred softly.
"Okay. I get it, Shads. I'm happy to see you too," Sonic said, patting Shadow's back. He pulled out of Shadow's grasp.
"What are you doing here?" Shadow asked, still unclear of how Sonic escaped the ARK and managed to remove the device without blowing himself up into thousands of pieces.
"What am I doing here?!" Sonic asked in a sharp, yet hushed tone. "What are you doing here?! And what is this?!" He picked up the gun from the floor and held it up.
"What is this, Shadow?!" he asked once more.
"It's..." Shadow looked over to the president, who was trying to listen in to their conversation. "a bit of a long story."
"We're fixing this, Shadow. Now!" Sonic stood up, grabbing Shadow's arm and forcing him up along with him. He dragged him along to where the president was seated on the office floor.
"Sorry about this, Mr. President, sir." Sonic began. "There was a bit of a miscommunication between me and my friend here, but we've got it all sorted out now. Right, Shads?" He gave him a jab in the side with his elbow.
"Err, right," Shadow played along, not knowing where Sonic was going with this.
Sonic leaned over and whispered into Shadow's ear. "Go help him up!"
Shadow walked forward and awkwardly extended his hand to the president. "Let me give you a hand, sir."
Unsurprisingly, the president did not accept his offer. The hedgehog had held a gun to his face; for all he knew there was still something else hidden up his sleeve.
Noticing the president was not going to cooperate with Shadow, Sonic stepped forward and pulled the president to his feet.
"It's best if you stay here, sir," Sonic instructed him. "If we find any G.U.N. agents, we'll send them your way. Meanwhile, Shadow and I will go clean up the mess outside, save the world, you know, do what we do best."
"Of course." The president straightened his suit jacket out and cleared his voice, trying to regain his authoritative air. "Please, save the people of Station Square and the rest of the world."
"Will do, Mr. President." Sonic gave him a salute. "Now, if you'll excuse us-"
"Oh, Shadow," the president stopped Sonic before he could take off.
"Yes, sir?"
"I expect to have a meeting with you and Agent Rouge as soon as this ordeal is over."
"He'll be there. Don't you worry, sir. You have my word," Sonic answered. He grabbed Shadow's shoulders and physically turned him around, forcefully pushing against his back to march him out of the room.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Shadow turned around and moved Sonic's hands away from himself.
"I'm really happy to see you're okay, Sonic, but you still haven't told me what you are doing here."
"I'm saving the world, Shadow." Sonic stopped in his tracks, taking on a more serious tone. "Now, either one of two things is going to happen. Either you're going to fight with me to take down Eggman." He moved his feet so he was in an attack-ready position, arms up and ready to strike as well. "Or you're going to fight against me."
Shadow put his hand over Sonic's fist, pushing it down.
"I'm on your side, Sonic. I'm not going to fight you." He would be the stubborn hero until the end; he knew that much for sure.
Sonic dropped the serious act, a smile spreading across his face.
"Great! Come on!" In a flash, he had run to the end of the hall and smashed another window open to exit the building. Shadow followed after, catching up with Sonic.
"So, what's Egghead's grand scheme this time?" Sonic asked as soon as Shadow was at his side.
"Eggman's turned the ARK into one massive Roboticizer, pointed directly towards the planet. In the meantime, he's launched a robot invasion of the whole planet; probably trying to make sure no one can launch a decent counter attack against him. He's already destroyed G.U.N. communication satellites, so most of the military is running around blind at the moment."
"No, it's not an invasion." Sonic had seen this before in Robotropolis. He knew exactly what Eggman was truly planning to do. "He's not even trying to roboticize the planet. Shadow, do you know what happens if you try to roboticize a robot?"
"No." He had never even seen someone be roboticized.
"It explodes. And not a little short-circuit or anything, we're talking a huge, 30-foot explosion in every direction. All the robots here are not to invade or prevent a counter attack; they're to serve as massive, easy-to-make bombs. Eggman's not going to roboticize the planet; he's going to level it so he can build his empire on top of the remains."
"You're sure of this?" Shadow asked.
"Definitely. I've stopped this scheme before, and I'll stop it again." Hopefully, this time, no one will be roboticized in the process. "Where is the Egghead now?"
Shadow's communicator went off as both heard Eggman's voice. "Shadow, come take care of this traitorous scum at once!"
Sonic smirked. "All right, then! Let's go!"