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If Shadow was going to learn anything from this experience, it was as follows:
Fighting Sonic over and over could become tiring, and punching metal repeatedly hurts.
He would have words with the cobalt hedgehog when they got out of this— if they could walk away in one piece. If Sonic hadn’t insisted on staying in the Grim, trying to break through to Nine, stubbornly refusing to leave his side even when he told the other hedgehog he was fine; maybe Shadow wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.
If only Sonic had listened from the beginning.
These thoughts kept Shadow going as he fought an endless horde of Grim Metal Sonics, locked in a sealed crevice like someone had plugged up a slice of clay they’d carved.
At first, he didn’t think it would be so bad. He threw Sonic out of the Grim and hopefully to safety and help, then he’d fought the five alpha robots—minus Birdie, to his disappointment—with everything he had. Just enough to buy time for Sonic to get away. If Nine got his greedy little paws on the blue blur, all realities would be doomed.
“Is that all you’ve got?” He taunted, despite having just taken a beating from the robots and the exhaustion pulling on his limbs, demanding that he rest. Him, the Ultimate Lifeform, resting! But, to him and him alone, he knew he could use a nice, long nap.
He was a little more like Sonic than he’d care to admit. Insulting the enemy was a classic Sonic move. But he’d wanted one last quip before he inevitably had to fight again.
It came in the form of Grim Alpha Sonic slamming into him with such force that he’d briefly seen stars. The next thing he knew, he was falling down the crevice that Nine had carved into the Earth to stop him from getting Sonic away. The darkness seemed to swallow him like an endless, cold blanket; but it was only mere seconds later when he crashed onto the bottom after striking the wall and plummeting.
Shadow lay there for a moment, recovering, trying to breathe properly after the wind had been knocked from him. He squeezed his eyes shut and curled his fingers. In, out. In, out. His whole body throbbed with pain, and new bruises already ached. Fresh cuts from the Grim robots made his skin sting. He longed for the chaos emerald and the healing he could use with it.
Pebbles fell onto him. He squinted upwards— What is Nine doing? He realized a moment too late when the canyon suddenly went dark as it closed up again, plunging it into darkness. He stumbled to his feet and grit his teeth, still eyeing where daylight had been moments ago.
Shadow frowned. He wasn’t worried about the dark so much as he would have no way to tell how much time passed. He could wait, he could be patient; but he wouldn’t know if Sonic or any of his allies came back to the Grim.
Alright, fine. He had time. He could find a way to climb the canyon walls and burrow out. He was a hedgehog, for Chaos’s sake. He could dig.
Before he could, however, the earth opened up briefly and five glowing forms dropped down, followed by a clang of metal. The blue lights sped towards Shadow.
His attention immediately went towards the threat and away from escape as the first Grim Sonic reached him, throwing a punch he couldn’t see. The blue visors of the robots only provided enough light for Shadow to see where to strike, but their fists and feet were practically invisible. He spindashed between them like a pinball, hoping his attacks would do the trick. Two robots dropped into metal scraps.
One of the Grim Sonics managed to scratch his arm before he yanked it away. Mistake, Shadow thought savagely. He knew where the robot’s arm was now. His hand snatched out and wrapped around the metal limb, causing a satisfying warning to pop up on the android’s screen. His other fist swung hard into the robot’s head, and it went dark.
A fourth swung its leg under Shadow’s. He careened towards the ground but used the momentum to curl into a ball and slam into the fifth robot. Then he circled back and crashed into the last remaining bot.
Panting slightly, Shadow stood over the metal scraps. They really weren’t a tough opponent, but fatigue already slowing him down made it harder.
Now, back to escape—
Another few robots dropped down.
Shadow grit his teeth and prepared to fight.
***
The amount of torn robot limbs quickly increased, littered across the ground and making the battlefield treacherous. In the brief periods of rest between fights, Shadow made sure to sweep up the debris and pile it up on one end of the crevice. He didn’t want a twisted ankle on top of all the other wounds piling up.
Fights became further between one another, giving Shadow more breathing room. He wanted to use the time to find a route to the surface. But he was exhausted. The only thing he wanted to do when he wasn’t fighting was to sit down and relax for the few welcome minutes of reprieve.
The next fight, for whatever reason, Nine had sent in a larger horde—maybe twenty or so bots. Shadow didn’t bother counting. Their glowing blue faces became a sea of bright color that his eyes weren’t used to from the dark of the cave, making him slightly dizzy as he tried to keep track of his opponents. A spin-dash here, a well-aimed kick there; slowly, too slow, their numbers dwindled.
Not without blows of their own, though. Shadow could feel more bruises forming, and his fur was disheveled, caked in dirt and blood. His hands ached from all the metal he’d punched. It was nothing too major, but the cuts annoyed him.
If only he had that damn chaos emerald.
Only a few more bots left, and then he could take a break. Out of the corner of his eye, Shadow noticed the crevice opening again and two more Sonics fell through, and he grimaced. The earth closed up again and Shadow had to return his attention back to the few robots still remaining.
His attacks on autopilot, Shadow thought about the other Sonics that had fallen in. Why would Nine send only two? And in such a short time?
Also, the earth above wasn’t closing up again. He could actually see his opponents as he finished them off. He stood motionless for a moment, chest heaving for breath, body shaking ever so slightly from the strain of keeping himself on his feet.
From the other end of the pit, where he’d piled up all the scrap metal, he heard a shriek of pain and the sound of metal hitting flesh.
Sonic.
He raced down the pit, skates propelling him in a streak of gold. A Grim Sonic stood over the Blue Blur himself, foot raised and poised for a final blow. Shadow curled into a ball and bounced off the wall. He slammed into the robot from the side, sending them both to the opposite side, where the robot crumpled.
The ebony hedgehog straightened and turned back to Sonic with a hand on his hip, glaring. Took you long enough, he wanted to say, but the words died on his tongue when he saw the state of his cobalt rival.
His harsh expression fell as quickly as it had come. Sonic blinked hazily and it took him a long moment to realize who had saved him. He wasn’t attempting to get up from the scrap metal, which no doubt had been painful to land on.
“Shadow?” Sonic gasped, cloudy eyes widening and his ears perking up. “You’re alive!”
The ebony hedgehog approached him. “I survived,” he replied shortly. He ached and his whole body was sore. He wasn’t in the mood for Sonic’s never-ending chipperness. “Nine deployed a massive army to keep me down here, and without the chaos emerald, I couldn’t teleport out.”
Sonic shifted slightly, then froze with a sharp intake of breath. Shadow studied his actions carefully. His ruby gaze landed on the back of Sonic’s left arm—and the scrapped metal claws digging into his flesh.
“You appear to be injured,” Shadow observed flatly.
“Yeah, it’s been a rough day. Thanks for noticing,” Sonic muttered. He reached around and grabbed the metal claws, immobilizing them as he pushed himself upright. “You don’t look so good yourself, Hot Topic.”
Shadow rolled his eyes. “Do you want me to help or not?”
Sonic sighed and caved. Shadow knelt next to the other hedgehog and studied the wound. The three claws that broke skin weren’t embedded too deeply, but it probably stung like hell when they moved. “Sharp pain,” he warned, then yanked the claws out.
To his credit, Sonic did manage to hold in a cry of pain. Shadow immediately clamped his hand over the wound to stop the fresh flow of blood. He glanced at the now-removed weapon in his hands, the metal claw tips stained red, and tossed it away.
“You have terrible bedside manners,” Sonic complained after a moment, the words strained.
Well, Shadow thought, if he could complain, then he could walk. “I assume you brought your friends?” He questioned instead of acknowledging Sonic’s protest.
His tone must’ve betrayed his ongoing grievances against the shattered versions of Sonic’s friends from Green Hills. Sonic’s ears twisted back and his expression hardened. “Yeah, they’re here,” he replied. “Ready to kick robot butt.”
Shadow checked the wound. The bleeding had subsided into a slow flow that would stop on its own. He stood. “Are you finally ready to admit that Nine’s a power-hungry menace who needs a reality check?”
Sonic sighed but still didn’t try standing. “…Sure,” he muttered eventually.
They both knew he was lying. Both were too tired to argue about it.
“Then let’s get out of here and back into the fight,” Shadow hummed.
Sonic studied him for a moment, then shrugged. “Sure. Since we’re both in tip-top shape, let’s throw a boss battle into the mix, just for fun.”
He couldn’t get up on his own, Shadow realized, and was stalling. He briefly closed his eyes. Did he always have to be the one to do everything?
He offered his hand.
Sonic blinked slowly, then reached up and grabbed his hand. Shadow pulled him upright; the blue hedgehog stumbled upon standing and would’ve tipped to the side if Shadow had let go.
“Sorry,” Sonic mumbled, pressing a hand to his head and wincing, his body shaking ever so slightly.
Shadow threw up his mask of apathy to hide his worry. “Don’t tell me Sonic the Hedgehog has to sit out on a battle,” he quipped, both as a distraction and a silent message asking if Sonic could even fight.
“This hedgehog has had a little too much excitement for one day,” the Blue Blur admitted. “But I’ll be fine.”
Before Shadow could say anything, rubble fell onto them from above. They simultaneously glanced skyward at the Grim robots peering down the pit at them.
Shadow should’ve known they wouldn’t have long to rest.
“So clearly you’ve been here a while,” Sonic hummed. Despite his pain and exhaustion, he broke into a grin. “Up for smashing a few more mes?”
If it meant finally breaking free of this place, then yes. Always.
The two hedgehogs curled up and ricocheted to the top of the canyon, using ledges on the walls of the crevice as platforms to jump off. Towards the top, they used the Grim robots like stepping stones, homing attacks striking exactly the right spot to dismantle the bots with one hit. They landed triumphant on the ground.
The daylight was a nice change after the who-knows-how long Shadow had been stuck in that pit. He glared at the massive purple fortress in the middle of the battlefield.
Nine—!
“Wow,” Sonic spoke suddenly, breaking Shadow out of his train of thought before it could fester into something violent. He glanced at the blue hedgehog, who studied him with something akin to a smirk, though heavily tainted with fatigue. “You look terrible.”
Shadow glared at him. “Have you seen yourself?” Out in the daylight, he could see bags under Sonic’s eyes, and dirt, blood, and soot stained his cobalt- and peach-colored fur, especially his left arm. His quills stuck up in random angles, something Sonic would not normally be seen with. “Maybe reconsider.”
Sonic gave himself a once-over, then shrugged unapologetically. “Could be worse, given I’ve been fighting nonstop for the last couple ’a days.” Shadow raised a brow in surprise, but Sonic didn’t seem to mind his situation.
Of course he didn’t. No matter how tired or hurt he was, Sonic would never walk around without that irritatingly cocky smirk on his face. Already he was hiding his exhaustion. Shadow had no doubt that if they didn’t have to fight, Sonic would be out like a light, asleep in the most random place.
“Are you sure you can keep fighting?” the ebony hedgehog pressed. Not that he was worried about Sonic’s well-being, of course—just that a weakened and exhausted fighter was a liability, not an asset, even if they were as powerful as Sonic. “You look like you’re about to drop.”
“Whaaaat,” Sonic gasped, dragging out the word. “Is this concern I’m detecting?” He leaned closer with a smug grin, eyes half-lidded. If Shadow didn’t know his rival as well as he did, he wouldn’t have known that Sonic was too tired to have his eyes open fully rather than to taunt him.
Shadow shoved him back, and even though it was not hard or powerful, Sonic stumbled for footing. “Don’t push it, hedgehog,” he grumbled.
Sonic shook himself with a wince. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he mused.
Their moment of rest came to an end when Grim robots noticed them and circled around for an attack. Shadow glared at them and stood straighter. The fight wasn’t over, far from it; and it was time to get back into the action. Even with as tired and injured as the two hedgehogs were, one from fighting in the Grim and one from fighting everywhere but the Grim, they had a job to do.
And if Sonic couldn’t get through to Nine, or whatever other plan he could think of, then Shadow would make sure the fox knew how much he appreciated fighting an endless horde of his minions in pitch-darkness without a break.