6Seacat9 Entry: Inevitability

Act 1. Rebirth

Fools. Though I died once, I cannot die. Such is the way of immortality. Just as darkness is eternal, so too are the Black Arms.

Black Doom stared blankly into the void of space as he spoke his thoughts aloud. Speaking aloud was a simply way for him to give his thoughts more substance, and if they had substance, then they had power. His arms were crossed in thought, as he coldly regarded his... unfortunate downfall several years ago at the hands of his very own 'son'. It had taken him a several years to recover, to find a suitable, new comet, as well as to resurrect the Black Arm forces, but a few years was nothing more than a grain of sand against the sea of eternity.

It is simply a minor setback... things will be different this time... my 'son' was foolish enough to grow a heart, the bane of all that lives. All I have to do is break it, and he too will be broken. It should be a simple matter... hearts are like spiders, minute and frail, fruitlessly making webs of connections that make them weaker. Break the web, and the heart falls, crashing to the ground below where it will shatter.

Black Doom's three eyes slowly looked over at a blue planet in the distance, yet not too far away. Mobius, Shadow's chosen home. It would only be a matter of time.

It is... inevitable.

Black Doom smirked. That is to say, one of his eyes narrowed as though there were an evil smile below it.

Sometimes, the best way... no, the only way to win... is by losing.

Black Doom swept his arms outward in a theatrical fashion. However, along with theatrics, it had a very logical purpose as well.

CHAOS CONTROL

---

Act 2. Lost

Shadow paced around his room. He felt uneasy. His right hand was shaking just slightly, and once again he nearly went to the locked chest in his closet. But just as his hand undid the lock with a barely audible click, he stopped.

No. I promised Emra I wouldn't use these anymore... because I don't need them.

Shadow left the chest and went to the bathroom, splashing his face with cold water, before wiping it dry with a towel.

Ugh... what is this feeling? What am I dreading? Shadow asked himself, rubbing his forehead.

"Shadow, what's wrong? I could hear you pacing from downstairs..."

It was Emra. Shadow turned to look at her. Normally, seeing her, being with her, would be enough to quell his uneasiness. However, this feeling wasn't normal. He wouldn't hide it either... not from the woman that he loved.

"It's a feeling, Emra." Shadow said softly, his eyes slightly distant, "It's anxiety... it feels like something dreadful is going to happen... it feels like..."

Then it hit him. This was exactly the same thing that he felt when...

"Like Black Doom is coming." Shadow finished, feeling his left hand clench into a fist.

"Black Doom? But you defeated him several years ago." Emra said, shaking her head, "On Earth, remember?"

Solemnly, Shadow nodded, "Yes... I remember... but still... it feels the same."

Emra tilted her head at Shadow, "You're probably just a bit on edge... I mean, you've been staying up at night lately, since you haven't been able to sleep either." She laughed, "Is my brother snoring again? I thought we broke that habit of his."

Shadow could feel a smile returning. He still felt anxious, but with Emra, it wasn't so bad.

Of course, just as he thought that, he felt the earth violently shift beneath him, and both Shadow and Emra were nearly thrown to the ground. Only by supporting each other they were able to remain standing, even as various things from the medicine cabinet and in other shelves fell onto the ground.

Shadow sighed, and bowed his head sadly, "Emra, I think I'll have to break that one promise... I'm going to use my gun."

Emra nodded, "I understand. Don't tell me to stay here though; I'm coming with you."

Shadow looked up sharply, looking into Emra's passionate blue eyes.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Shadow smiled.

It was a simple matter for Shadow to re-assemble his gun, and soon afterwards he raced out of the house, Emra and Sonic close behind him. Their destination was very readily apparent; it was a small crater in the near distance, smoke still rising from the impact site. The crater itself was actually smaller than Shadow had feared... the asteroid within probably no bigger than a skyscraper... was it actually Black Doom?

At their speed, it took the three hedgehogs very little time to reach the crater. The sight of the small asteroid disgusted Shadow. It was the very same dark, otherworldly material as the original Black Comet, but it was considerably smaller. Already he could see Black Arms filing out of a series of doors at the base of it. That meant there was only one thing to do. Shadow glanced to his right. Emra already had her hands imbued with green flames. He smiled; they were all ready.

"Sonic, take out the underlings!" Shadow called, "Emra, you too! I'll face him myself."

Shadow then broke headlong into a run, going straight down the side of the crater, running for the door, his gun up and blazing, taking down the Black Arms in his way. When they didn't fall in a single shot, he jumped up and dove from one into the other, striking each in succession with his homing strike. However, before he could take down the one in front of the door, it burst into emerald flames, and disintegrated into nothingness. Shadow nearly recoiled in surprise, but wasn't so surprised by the voice that followed.

"Shadow! Don't tell me you forgot what I said; I'm coming with you!" Emra called, still right behind him, "Besides, Sonic can take out the ones we didn't without much problem."

Shadow smiled. Of course... he wasn't alone this time. Together, the two hedgehogs made their way inside.

However, strangely, inside was far less than Shadow expected. The first few floors weren't even trapped at all, consisting of only storage capsules for the Black Arms soldiers that had filed out of the small asteroid. Finally, they reached the top floor. Yet, it was empty, devoid of even the throne Shadow half-expected. Then his gaze drifted upwards a bit, spotting what he had initially missed. The strange form of Doom's Eye.

Doom's Eye flickered open as it sensed Shadow approach, and hovered a bit closer to him.

You look... a bit surprised to see me, Shadow. The Eye telepathically relayed, Did you honestly think you could truly defeat me? You managed to buy yourself time... but in the end, you might as well have failed.

Shadow gritted his teeth, half snarling in answer.

You put up a charade of being strong, but in the end you are weaker than anyone else. You have to have others with you... like the one with you right now...

"Shut up!" Shadow growled, "What you don't seem to get is that being with others is what makes one strong."

Emra nodded, her fists clenched with emerald flame, "Being with each other, protecting each other, people will become as strong as they need to be. This is something someone like you would never understand."

So, you actually believe you'll be enough to stop me...? How amusing... Let's find out then.

With that, Doom's Eye suddenly disappeared, and Black Doom himself dropped down from the ceiling. In his hands was a cruel looking scythe, jagged and black, seemingly made from the same foul rock the asteroid was. Yet, it also bore an aura, a dark energy channelled through Black Doom's hands.

"You may have a scythe, but I have my gun." Shadow growled, and immediately fired.

Black Doom took the bullets, but kept hovering forward, almost ignoring them entirely. Shadow unloaded his full clip into him, but still Black Doom hovered forward... however, Black Doom's concentration on Shadow let Emra sneak up behind him, and set him on fire. In rage, he swung his scythe around, but Emra was too fast, back-pedalling out of range of the slash even as Shadow, who had finished reloading, began firing another round into Black Doom's back. However, Black Doom slammed his scythe into the ground, blade first, and began pulsating with a red aura.

"Shadow!" Emra called, quickly running over to him.

Shadow fired another shot, before taking Emra's hand in his, "I'm ready."

"Chaos Shield!"

The iridescent green, spherical shield appeared around Emra and Shadow just in time. At that moment a large, red burst of energy twice as powerful as chaos blast emitted from Black Doom's form, strong enough to severely crack the shield. Yet, it still held, even under the strain. After the blast faded, Black Doom hovered for a moment, disbelieving, even as he still burned from the emerald fire.

That's impossible...

Shadow smirked, "Nothing is impossible if one fights with the one they love."

Black Doom's eyes widened slightly, before narrowing.

We'll see about that.

He hurled the scythe, smashing it into Emra's shield. With it already weakened by Doom's blast, it shattered, but it still knocked the scythe back into Doom's hands. Seeing Emra dazed slightly, as normal from having her shield broken, Shadow quickly stood in front of her, and held his hand forward.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow exclaimed, launching the blast of energy directly at the head of Black Doom.

There was a burst of blackness from the impact, so Shadow couldn't quite see what had happened, but after it faded, the headless body of Black Doom slumped to the floor, where it continued to burn. Shadow couldn't really believe his eyes. Had he and Emra become much stronger somehow, or was Black Doom not fully recovered as he had claimed he was? Or was it a combination of the two?

"Is that... really it?" Emra asked, disbelieving as well.

"Appears to be..." Shadow replied, as he carefully circled around the body of his enemy, still tense.

After several minutes, the body stopped burning, and crumpled into black dust. That's when Shadow finally relaxed. Well, relaxed in a way; he couldn't help but still feel a bit wary... this was far too easy... and there was the sound of footsteps...

"Hey! Emra! Shadow! You two up here?"

The shout nearly made Shadow fire his gun out of anticipation, but the voice was unmistakable. It was Sonic, who at the same time was leisurely making his way into the room, looking for all the world like he was on his way to a chilli dog stand.

"Whoa, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Sonic asked, seeing Emra sneaking up on Shadow, almost in position to glomp him, just because he was being far too tense.

Emra immediately stopped and glared at Sonic, "Brother, this is no time to joke around!"

Shadow, oblivious to what was really going on, simply shrugged, "Are all of the Black Arms dead?"

"Yeah, even the ones I hadn't got to yet... they just went POOF! and turned to dust several minutes ago..." Sonic nodded, "So, I was just looking for you. To see if you needed help or anything."

"Well, we're good... I guess we might as well leave... there's nothing else to do here..." Shadow thought aloud, his voice uncertain.

"... Race you to the bottom then!" Sonic suddenly called, before running down the stairwell.

"You get back here!" Shadow yelled after him, immediately running after him too.

Emra rolled her eyes, "Boys..."

Emra went to chase after them, but quickly found that her legs weren't responding to her. It was as though they were being held by a thick bog that refused to let them go. Looking down, she cried out in dismay and surprise. She couldn't even see her legs, for they had sunk rapidly into the black floor, all the way up to her thighs. She quickly ignited emerald flame at her hands, and tried to break the floor open, but all that did was cause her hands to get trapped as well, for they simply slid into the dark substance.

Darkness can swallow everything, my dear... even your flames.

Looking up, Emra saw the form of Black Doom staring at her. She gritted her teeth, but there was little she could do. Then she heard the sound of Shadow running up the stairs. She looked over hopefully, but then a dark crystal door slid over the entrance, sealing the room. She could see bursts of light, that must have been from Shadow shooting the door, and even an intense flash from his chaos spear. Yet, despite the crack that formed in the door, it held solid, and she still couldn't hear anything beyond it, although she knew Shadow was yelling her name.

I'm afraid your precious Shadow will be too late to do anything

"We fought an illusion?" Emra snarled.

Hardly. There is nothing in this universe capable of emulating my visage and power, since I have no equal. Besides, with a mere puppet, I wouldn't be able to feel either of your powers... so, no, you did face the real me, but I decided to give you an easy win, to throw off your guards... and now I have my victory.

Despite her rage, Emra couldn't suppress a shiver. She hated situations like this, since she was vulnerable.

Now then, let us go to the real Black Comet...

Black Doom hovered near Emra, and held his hands over her.

Chaos Control

Just as Shadow burst open the door with Chaos Blast, Emra and Black Doom vanished.

---

Act 3. Under Doom's Watch

Emra only saw darkness. That was all there was to see, unless her eyes were simply closed. She couldn't tell. She gritted her teeth, and tried feeling with her hands, but they were numb. Whatever the dark substance was, it seemed to have sapped her strength, so she just lay wherever she was. Eventually, perhaps hours or minutes later, the feeling in her hands returned, and she wasted no time using her emerald fire to create some light for her.

A cage of black metal, with nothing more than a few slits at various spots which she could barely see through. Still, if Black Doom thought that this silly thing could hold her, he was seriously mistaken. She was not going to give up that easily! Emra focused, bringing the green flames around her hand to an incredible brightness.

"Emerald Elimination!"

The one side of the cage got completely blown open, and even destroyed a couple of Black Arms that were evidently guarding her cage who were caught in the blast. Not wasting a moment, Emra moved quickly, taking out the other Black Arms in the room with several homing attacks. Thankfully, it was only dark in her cage; outside in the room and in the hallway, there was significant lighting to let everyone see, which meant stealth here was very difficult at best. She cautiously moved down the corridor. Where she was going, she didn't know, and she didn't really care. All she wanted was to either find a way to escape, which didn't seem likely, or cause as much damage as possible to make things easier for Sonic and Shadow when they came after her. So, she did as much as she could.

However, as she went through a particular doorway, it became evident that she had taken a wrong turn somewhere, for she ended up in what appeared to be one of the Black Arm nests. It was almost like the inside of a beehive, except instead of bees, there were Black Arms in each 'cell'. Emra turned to leave, but the door had already closed behind her. She rolled her eyes. Of course. Well, if this is where she was going down, she wasn't going down without a fight. Many Black Arms began waking up in their cells, trying to emerge, but she wasn't about to let them get that far. Using her chaos flames, Emra scorched and sealed as many of the cells she could before the rest fully emerged from their honeycomb chambers. Although individually the Black Arms were no match for her, there were just too many for her to deal with, and eventually they managed to surround her, despite their heavy losses.

Emra wasn't at her best either, for the numbers were getting to her. She was getting a bit slower, fatigued, and she could swear that her flames weren't as intense as before, but there was no point in giving up. She kept going and fighting. Even as the fatigue grew worse, she kept going, until finally the fatigue was too much. Yet, she smiled. There were no Black Arms left to take advantage of her fatigue. Panting heavily, she nearly collapsed on the ground, but then she felt it. The ground shifted slightly, and Emra turned to see the Black Arms that was trying to sneak up on her. Unlike the other generic Black Arm soldiers, this one seemed amorphous and globular, made of a strange black substance... the same black substance that caught her in the first place. Emra quickly backed away, but that's when her fatigue betrayed her. Instead of skipping backward, she stumbled, and felt herself fall on the ground. That was all the opening the monster needed, and it quickly grabbed her, before it started taking her somewhere.

Initially, Emra thought that it was taking her to a different cell, but instead it took her to a throne room, where she was greeted with a slow clapping of Black Doom's hands.

That was... impressive, although pointless. Then again, it does show that you are a worthy companion of Shadow...

Emra snarled at Black Doom, even as she was chained to the far wall. At a wave of his hand, the monster left the room, leaving her alone with him. She would've tried to fire at him then, but she was still fatigued, and the paralytic aftereffect of the black monster's substance was also keeping her from doing so. Black Doom could see her attempts, and it amused him.

Now then... do you know who I am?

Emra sighed. In this situation, it was better to just let go, and so she looked up, emotionless and passive. "Yes," She replied, "You're Black Doom. The one who tried to use Shadow to destroy the planet."

Black Doom chuckled. So, she wasn't uninformed after all... still, he wasn't quite certain of the extent of her knowledge.

Correct. That is most correct, my dear. But I suppose your precious Shadow left out all the 'important' details...

Emra shook her head, averting her gaze to the side, "No. He told me everything." She said, "He has your blood in his veins... But it doesn't matter. You may be his biological father, but you can't stop him."

Ah, so she was indeed knowledgeable. That vaguely surprised Black Doom. He hadn't quite expected Shadow to open up so much, but then again, that proved that he had grown a heart, and had woven a web... so his plan would work. Black Doom smirked.

We'll see about that Emra, won't we?

Deciding that the interrogation was over, Black Doom snapped his fingers. Immediately, the black monster returned and grabbed Emra even as it unshackled her.

You possess a fair amount of power within you... power that could pose a hindrance to my plans... therefore, it will have to be neutralized, along with you.

Black Doom chuckled. He knew exactly what he would do. The capsule was designed for Shadow, to hold him in a weakened state, but as he now intended to kill Shadow, there was no need to keep it vacant. The black monster extended a hand to Emra's head, and she fell unconscious.

---

Act 4. Confrontation

"EMRA!!" Shadow exclaimed, rushing into the room, even as he saw Black Doom disappear with her.

From the floor a strange creature seemed to bubble up, taking on a vaguely humanoid form. It was completely black and almost globular in a way. However, in a burst of rage, Shadow immediately destroyed it with a second Chaos Blast. He was fatigued from using so much chaos energy in such a short time, but at the same time, his blood boiled, fuelling him with adrenaline. He had lost Emra because he wasn't wary enough, and he felt as though he wouldn't stop until he knew she was safe.

However, that was much easier said than done; he didn't know where Emra was to begin with, and he didn't know if he could follow her.

He vaguely heard Sonic come back up, but he didn't want to face the hedgehog. He was still in the midst of a myriad of emotion, and he didn't know what would happen.

"Shadow, what's going on? Where's Emra?" Sonic asked.

"Sonic, why do you always have to run off without thinking?" Shadow's voice was deceptively calm, but both hedgehogs could tell it was forcibly restrained.

Sonic averted his gaze, and walked over to Shadow, before placing a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find her." He promised.

Shadow nodded grimly, adding, "You bet we will."

Wasting no time, the two hedgehogs quickly ran out, trying to come up with a plan as they went.

"If this was a decoy, then the real Black Comet must be somewhere else..." Shadow thought aloud.

"Yeah, but how do we find it? It wouldn't be the easiest to spot." Sonic replied, "Assuming it's even close to here anyway."

"It's got to be close... Black Doom can't transport something this big very far through space without the help of a chaos emerald." Shadow reasoned, "As for finding it... that's why we're heading to Tails' place. He's the only one who can easily get us to the comet as well, unless you plan on hijacking a rocket from Eggman sometime soon."

"Don't tempt me." Sonic chuckled.

With a plan now in mind, even if it was only vague, the competition between the two hedgehogs returned without need to mention it, and they quickly began racing each other to see who would reach Tails' lab first. Poor Tails nearly jumped into the ceiling from the sound of the door crashing open.

"Oh, yeah! Who's the man? Sonic's the man!" Sonic catcalled, doing a victory break dance on the floor.

"SONIC!" Tails called, exasperated, "Did you break my door?"

"You know, I actually stopped to go to open the door." Shadow snickered, stepping in through the broken doorway.

"Uh, oops..." Sonic said guiltily, trying to sneak out of the house before-

SPLAT! A glue filled water balloon landed directly at Sonic's feet, gluing him to the spot.

"Good shot, Tails." Shadow complimented, laughing at Sonic.

Tails walked up, balloon launcher in one hand, hammer and a bucket of supplies in the other, "Thanks." He stopped next to Sonic, tapping his foot, "Alright Sonic, you know the deal by now... if you promise to fix my door, I'll dissolve the glue... and this gets done before you go adventuring and forget about it!"

Sonic averted his gaze. "Sorry, I can't this time Tails..."

Shadow patted Sonic on the shoulder, "Don't worry about it. If I have to use Chaos Control to go after them, I won't be able to take you with me. Well, I could, but I can only warp two at the most, and who knows the situation we'll have to come back with; there might not be enough time to do two trips."

Sonic nodded grimly, "You're right..."

Tails looked between the two hedgehogs for a moment, before saying, "I think you two should tell me what's going on."

After Sonic and Shadow filled Tails in on the situation, Tails quickly began thinking. He unglued Sonic, who then in turn began work on fixing Tails' door, while the fox walked upstairs, beckoning for Shadow to follow. They went into a room at the end of the hall, which ended up heading into an observatory.

"Alright, Shadow, I'll need some information on the Black Comet to try to find it. The sky's pretty big after all." Tails said, quickly logging onto his computer.

"It's black, and it probably, if it's like the last one, absorbs light rather than reflects it." Shadow mused.

Tails nodded, "Well, then it's easier to find out where it isn't... just a moment."

Rubbing his hands gleefully, like a kit with a brand new toy, Tails began typing away on his computer. On a different monitor, a layout of the night sky appeared. Immediately, it was inverted, so that the stars and other features showed up as black dots on an otherwise white surface.

"Just let me cross-reference several night sky images from GUN satellites..." Tails murmured aloud, and the black dots began to get larger, reducing the amount of white on the screen, "How big is it?"

Shadow shrugged, "I can't say... a good sized asteroid at least."

"Good, that means that I can ignore possible spots up to 45 km in diameter." Tails thought aloud, "And I'd assume that it has to be relatively close, so taking that into account, a 45 km diameter would be, in relation to the moon, about 23% of its size- wait a minute!"

Tails paused for a moment, before asking, "Black Doom is very smart, isn't he?"

Shadow nodded, "Yeah, I'd assume so."

Tails nodded as well, "Yeah... so, if he's smart, why would he even bother risking his comet to be seen from Mobius? So, assuming that, as well as the fact that he has to be close to this planet... I'm pretty sure I know where he is!"

Tails quickly changed his monitor and view to display the moon.

"The moon?" Shadow asked, slightly incredulous despite himself.

"Well, no. Not on the moon, but rather behind it." Tails replied, "That's the only clear and easily determinable blind spot to any satellite or land-based astronomical surveillance based from Mobius."

Shadow blinked, "Tails, you're a genius. One problem though... how do I chaos control safely to the comet if I can't see where I'm headed?"

Tails smiled reassuringly, "From what you've told me about chaos control teleportation, you are, for the most part, sent in a straight line from the original point to the destination point, right?"

Shadow nodded, "Yes... it seems that way."

Tails nodded, "Have you tried altering the speed at which you go?"

Shadow blinked again, "The speed? It's instant though right?"

Tails shook his head, "You think it's instant, but in truth, although time is stopped for the duration, you do have a speed... it can't be measured by seconds, but you do have one."

"This... is a bit confusing..." Shadow admitted.

Tails winced, "I'm sorry. Just consider it as you being shot like an elastic band, okay?" Tails picked up an elastic to show, and shot it into a corner of the room. "Although it seems instant, it's just because you're travelling so fast. However, you, unlike an elastic, should be able to change your speed. My theory is that if you launch a bit beyond the right side of the moon, and in space reduce your speed so that the moon's gravity affects you, you should in turn be drawn to go in almost an orbit around the moon. Of course, you'll need to feel for it, which is where your emotions come into play. The second part of my theory is that if you draw upon both your feelings for Emra and your anger against Black Doom, that will let you warp almost directly to them. How close, I don't know... that depends on how strong your feelings are. Launching yourself into an orbit around the moon will probably get you close enough for you to feel both of them, and from there you can direct your path to them."

"Why can't I warp directly through the moon?" Shadow asked.

Tails winced again, "I know chaos control teleportation allows for some ability to phase through matter, but we have no idea what its limitations might be; a direct passage directly through the diameter of the moon, which is 3745 or so kilometres of solid matter, might have unprecedented consequences." Seeing the somewhat blank look on Shadow's face, Tails added, "Worse case scenario, it could cause the moon to either explode or implode."

Shadow winced, "Okay, that would be very bad... and I've done enough damage to the moon as it is..."

"Don't start with that," Tails warned, "Anyway, do you have an idea of what you need to do?"

Shadow nodded, "I'll make it up as I go."

"That doesn't sound all that convincing," Tails sighed, "Just trust your feelings."

Shadow pulled out his chaos emerald, "Right, wish me luck."

"Good luck!" Tails called, fully meaning it.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow intoned.

The emerald glistened with energy, before both it and Shadow vanished in a burst of light.

It wasn't like the teleportation Shadow was used to. Instead of running through something like a tunnel of light, he quickly was enveloped in darkness. He almost panicked, but then he remembered he needed to try to go slower. He felt his path curve slightly, was this the moon's influence? However, there was something else. He felt both a light and a darkness ahead and to the left of him. Shadow followed the curve of the path, and soon headed toward the felt, but unseen light and darkness. He felt a warm, soothing feeling when looking towards the direction of the felt light, and a hot, burning feeling when looking towards the felt darkness. Then he realized, one was reacting to his love, and the other was reacting with his hate. Now he had a choice to make, which to go to.

There really was no question about it. He would go to Emra first, and then they would make their stand against Black Doom, together.

Resolved, he ran towards the light of his love.

However, when he came to the room where Emra was inside the Black Comet, the sight in front of him made him stop, stunned momentarily.

"Emra!!" Shadow cried, racing over and bracing his hands on the strange capsule, feeling the rubbery sides and the slime that coated it. Shadow looked up at the unconscious Emra, growled, and reached one hand back to bust open the capsule's side...

Not so fast... My son...

The voice came from the shadows, but Shadow knew who it was.

"Doom." Shadow growled as he whirled around. Black Doom chuckled and his eyes flashed wickedly. Shadow looked at Emra, then at Doom, glaring with hatred and anger. "What are you doing to her?!" Shadow demanded.

Keeping her energy at a level where she will present no threat or annoyance. But you needn't worry; she might live, but the one you should be more concerned about right now is yourself.

Shadow growled, his blood boiling in his veins, "Doom, if I have to rip you to pieces with my bare hands to save her... then I'd be happy to!"

Brave words... yet you are a fool... do you honestly believe you can truly defeat me? Things are different this time... I'm stronger, and you're weaker than ever...

Shadow growled. There was no more need for words. In an instant, he had his gun up and blazing, firing as quickly as he could at Black Doom. Unfortunately, Doom had anticipated the movement and melted into the shadows.

You cannot hope to defeat me here... these are my grounds. Here, I control everything...

Shadow suddenly felt his stomach lurch, the only warning there was, before he was thrown against the ceiling as gravity reversed. His gun skittered out of his grasp, landing far enough away from him to be troublesome, but he didn't dare to grab it.

"You coward!" Shadow snarled, "Face me and be done with it!"

... What do you think I'm doing, my son?

Shadow felt gravity shift again, but this time was ready for it. As gravity returned so that the floor was 'down', he quickly spun to land on his feet. Unfortunately, Black Doom wasn't going to let it be that easy. A fierce, dark wind ripped through the room, forming into a funnel at the centre and catching Shadow in mid-air. He grunted in pain as the winds sharply caught him, slashing into him, drawing blood. Each time he came close to landing on the floor or ceiling, another wind would catch him and juggle him in the air. There was no way out.

Shadow felt his grip on consciousness slipping, but he gritted his teeth, holding on and feeling the pain of something biting into his clenched fist. The chaos emerald! Yet, even as he spun out of control amidst the dark wind, he had no target, nothing he could strike.

Do you understand yet? If this mere wind is able to rip you apart, you cannot hope to match my full power. Give up now, and die quickly.

A lance of the corrupted air smashed sharply into Shadow's side, and he winced, grunting in pain.

'This is it,' Shadow thought, 'I... really can't beat him...'

As his mind sunk towards despair, his eyes began to wander, without the mind to concentrate on something. Yet, as his eyes were drawn to the flickers of his own blood in the air, they landed on the top of Emra's capsule. Shadow gasped. Of course.

'Maybe not alone... but I'm never alone.' He resolved, before taking aim with his chaos emerald even as he was hurled against a wall. "Chaos Spear!"

The lance of energy was true, and struck the base of the alien capsule holding Emra, before an explosion rocked the room, and Shadow couldn't see anything else of that side of the room. Shadow's mind immediately filled with doubt. What if he did more damage to Emra than the capsule? What if the capsule didn't break? What if...

In his concern, Shadow barely felt himself be slammed into the floor, rolling limply towards where the capsule was. Because of the remaining smoke, he couldn't see, but his free hand brushed upon something. Fur, an arm. Instinctively, Shadow held onto it, even as the wind swept him up once more.

Yet, in spite of his pain, Shadow smiled. Emra was swept up along with him, and he held onto her arm, even as he could hear somewhere, a world away, Black Doom saying something, and the winds cutting his own arm, trying to make him let go.

"Emra! Wake up!" Shadow called, grabbing onto her arm with the other hand, even as he dropped the chaos emerald.

Emra stirred, and looked around half awake for a moment, before her eyes caught Shadow's. That's when Shadow knew. Everything would be alright. He pulled, bringing Emra into his embrace. She felt weak and limp in his arms, so Shadow closed his eyes and concentrated, transferring some of the chaos energy within his own body into hers.

As he did so, the winds seemed to stop, and he didn't hear them anymore. Surprised, Shadow opened his eyes and looked around. He and Emra were inside a sphere of energy, an energy he recognized as the Chaos Shield. What happened?

Then he saw it. The chaos emerald, hovering right beside them, feeding both of them energy. It must've reacted on its own from the emotions in him and Emra, Shadow realized.

"This is it, Emra." Shadow murmured gently, reaching out to grab the chaos emerald, "Are you ready?"

Emra nodded, reaching for the emerald as well, "Yes."

They grasped the emerald at the same time, together. Just in time too, for at that moment, the shield was broken. Shadow and Emra held onto the chaos emerald, but were blown back by the ferocity of the attack. Black Doom hovered in the air, dark scythe in hand, glaring at the two of them.

Why would you put your lives on the line for each other? It is nothing more than a fool's gamble, for even if you succeeded, you just draw ever closer to the inevitability of death.

"You'd never understand." Emra growled.

"It's simply a way people become strong." Shadow smiled, "We'll be as strong as we need to be, to protect the ones we love."

Insolent fools! Let us end this! It is the path of your own choosing!

Black Doom launched a large wave of dark energy at the two hedgehogs, but neither of them were about to be intimidated.

"Emra! Get behind me!" Shadow called.

"Right!" Emra replied, quickly moving behind Shadow.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow bellowed, hurling the lance of energy directly in front of him.

The lance of energy broke through the wave, just enough so that it passed Shadow and Emra harmlessly.

Black Doom snarled, and his cloak flared, before mutating into dark, leathery wings. Along the edges of her vision, Emra saw the dark wind returning.

"Shadow!" Emra warned, quickly taking hold of Shadow's hand, "Chaos Shield!"

Even as the piercing winds tried to break it, Emra's shield held strong, fuelled by the power of both hedgehogs. Yet, outside of the shield, both of them saw Doom coming in fast.

"Split up!" Shadow called, breaking away from Emra, before both ran in opposite directions, even as Black Doom brought his scythe down in a massive dark blast where they were.

Quickly coming back together, Shadow and Emra each held a hand forward, the chaos emerald hovering between them. However, it reacted in a way they didn't anticipate. It began pulsating, with rays of light emanating from it, revealing strange round plates, seemingly of chaos energy, which began spacing themselves around their arms, forming the unmistakable shape of a cannon, even as Shadow and Emra began hovering into the air.

If you think that will be enough to stop me, you are sorely mistaken.

Unafraid, Black Doom just began advancing on the hedgehogs, even as the chaos array formed in plain view. At its front, an orb of energy began forming.

"Chaos Destruction!"

Later, neither Emra nor Shadow would know which of them said it, or if they said it at all, but regardless, the orb of energy fired, before engulfing Black Doom within it. Yet, although he was caught by it, Black Doom didn't appear to be bothered too much, only wincing slightly as the energy threatened to tear him apart. Unfinished, pillars and arms of energy stretched outward from the cannon, forming an array almost like a satellite dish. Suddenly, all the ends of the array launched streams of chaos energy, all striking through the energy orb, irrevocably destroying it. Yet, even though he was destroyed in an instant, Black Doom's psychic screams lingered for a few minutes afterwards.

Shadow and Emra fell unceremoniously to the ground, where they simply stood for a moment, leaning against the other, neither truly having the strength to stand alone.

"I guess... that's it." Shadow said sheepishly.

---

Act 5. Well Earned Rest

Beneath the two hedgehogs, the ground began to shake and tremble violently, nearly throwing both of them down.

"What's going on?!" Emra asked with an urgent tone to her voice.

"It's the comet... without Doom, it's probably breaking apart!" Shadow replied, just as urgently, "We have to get out of here!"

Quickly grabbing the chaos emerald, Shadow and Emra held hands.

"Think there's enough power for a chaos control?" Shadow asked.

"Not like there's anything else we can try." Emra replied.

"Then let's go." Shadow said, more confidently than he actually felt, "Chaos Control!"

The trip back to Mobius was far less rushed than Shadow's trip to the Black Comet. It felt as though the two of them were simply walking leisurely through a park together. Going at a slower rate ensured that they wouldn't burn out their energy, and so they were both confident that they'd make it back.

Eventually, the light tunnel collapsed, and the two of them set their gaze upon where they ended up. It was a park, not that far from Station Square, if Shadow's memory was correct. They began walking back towards the city, but it didn't take long for their exertion in the past while to take its toll as they walked by a tree near the park's edge.

"I-I'm sorry Emra. I have to stop for a few moments... I'm exhausted..." Shadow gasped as he nearly collapsed beneath the tree and set her down. Emra sat against its trunk and pulled Shadow over to her.

"It's alright, Shadow. You rest... Rest..." Emra said soothingly. Shadow laid down with his head on Emra's lap, letting his exhaustion finally catch up with him, and he closed his eyes. Emra smiled and ran her hands across Shadow's quills, stroking him as he relaxed.

"Just rest Shadow... You saved me... you've earned it," She whispered. Emra leaned down, and gently kissed Shadow's ear, watching it flick to the touch of her lips.

"I love you, Shadow," She whispered into his ear.

And then Emra closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Shadow didn't open his eyes, but smiled.

"And I love you, Emra." He said softly, before falling asleep, still smiling.

Fin