Bad Kids

Chapter 71

Those in Dark Side slightly panicked upon hearing the shield begin to collapse and disappear. Pistol, Envy, Nick, and Hypno raced together to find anyone who would listen to them about the real situation going on. "C'mon! Everyone take cover! We've got help coming in!" Pistol shouted to them. Everyone followed his lead and hid where they wouldn't be found or would be safe from any potential debris caused by fights. Shadow stormed in, heading straight for Eggman's base.

As everyone else was heading there too, Eggman witnessed their breakthrough from monitors in his security room. He laughed evilly. "Well! My plan has just gotten interesting! Trying to use the element of surprise on me now, are they? Ha! Too bad that won't work! Robots!" he shouted. His machinery moved around before they faced him. "Stall the main army. I don't need any of them trying to stop me. As for Shadow... Let him come through. I'm feeling like a family reunion today!"

They were dismissed and sent outside where the army had already gathered to take down Mobius' forces. Shadow saw this but didn't stop. Sonic knew that he wasn't and tried to catch up. "SHADOW WAIT!" Sonic cried out to him. Shadow ignored the yells and jumped over and crashed into robots but continued to move forward. Rouge followed her best friend's lead and did the same thing, flying straight through the chaos. Scourge, Mephiles, and Infinite split up as they ran off to join Shadow's side. "Do they ever listen?!" Gadget cried. "Hardly. I can tell they won't stop for anyone. They're worried about their kids and I understand why. But we can't let them do it alone! Eggman's undoubtedly shown he's dangerous again!" Knuckles replied.

"Then go ahead! We'll hold down the front! He's hoping Shadow came alone! Now go!" Tangle reassured them. They nodded. Sonic, Silver, Gadget, and Knuckles went ahead to catch up. "I'm going too! I have to be sure Shadow doesn't do anything he can't take back!" Fiona told them, using robots to jump off of. She ran off, avoiding collisions as she ran along. "Oh god. We're on our own now guys! We need everyone to attack the center! I need to be sure that there's no chance they'll reach their borders! Go!" Blaze ordered them.

No one argued with her as they lunged at the robots that were ready to take down their opponents.

Meanwhile, Rouge, Scourge, Infinite, and Mephiles caught up to Shadow. Shadow was trying to break down the door to Eggman's base, creating dents in it. "Shadow, move!" Scourge snapped. Shadow backed away, letting Scourge use the full force of his body to break the door down properly. With a loud crash, they all walked into the base which seemed to be empty at first glance. "Don't worry... I'll keep an eye out..." Mephiles reassured them, sinking into the shadows and disappearing. Scourge scoffed before walking ahead of the others. "I don't know about you, but I'm pissed the hell off! I'm going ahead and finding this son of bitch while finding something worthwhile to use! Y'all have fun." he hissed, going off somewhere else.

Surprised, the three remaining only shared glances. "I don't plan on running off hun. You can count on me." Rouge promised, giving Shadow a warm smile. "Same here. Someone has to be sure we don't get captured all over again." Infinite added. "You're just lucky my blood lust has relaxed. Let's get this over with. I'm so sick of this back-and-forth conflict." Shadow snapped, taking the lead.

Rouge rolled her eyes and began flying while Infinite hovered after them.

After a couple of minutes, they made it to Eggman's main base where he was sitting in a chair with two robots at his sides. "Well! If it isn't my old friends! It's been such a long time! Despite being in the same town, none of you ever had the thought to visit me! Didn't even invite me to the coronation! I had to find a way to watch what was happening from a distance. Oh well! We can't all be happy! But once again! It's so good to see you!"

Shadow and Rouge's boots clanked hard against the ground as Infinite's hands slightly glowed from his power igniting. "Cut the crap and tell me where the hell my daughter is." Shadow hissed. "Oh, not even a hello? Such a shame."

Losing his temper, Infinite used his power to break the robots by his side and broke other things in his perimeter. His mask wasn't even able to hide the rage he felt. Rouge flapped her wings. "You better have something strong than those if you plan to protect your own ass against us." she warned, her hands balled into fists. "Oh? Is that how we're going to do things? To think I wanted you as back as my partners! I can see why we parted ways. You're weak deep inside. But, you can't save everyone!" Eggman then began laughing as he does in his chair, reeling his head back. Finally snapping, Shadow lunged towards the old man who didn't even react.

Sitting in his chair, he just smiled wickedly while Shadow kept coming for him. Just before Shadow could lay a hand on him, he was tackled by a black blur, sending him flying back into a wall. Rubbing his head, Shadow peeked up with his eyes widened. Midnight stood in front of him, her eyes bright green as she glared at him. "HAHAHA! I knew you would try something so reckless!" Eggman taunted.

Suddenly a sound made Infinite and Rouge turn around. Mystic and Diamond were staring at them, readily waiting for them to do something. "Coming back into town was only the start of your attack, I figured that much out. Your kids are honestly smart! They wanted to fix everything after the damage my robots had caused. But obviously, I couldn't just let them throw opportunities away! So naturally with them being defiant, I took matters into my own hands and went along with some new ideas! She's the spitting image of you Shadow. Let's see just how much she takes after you!"

Holding the green Chaos Emerald up to their view, Midnight dashed forward, reaching out to grab Shadow. He moved in time to get a decent distance. Diamond and Mystic split both ways, taking on Rouge and Infinite. "Ah, shit." Rouge muttered, bracing for her daughter's impact. Infinite formed a blockade while Mystic sent out his attacks. Fade and Smoke came out from the dark, alerting Shadow of their presence. "ROUGE!" he shouted, trying to get her attention. But he saw she was dealing with her own issues. Infinite peered over his shoulder and sent an illusion out.

One of his strikes hit Smoke from behind, making him fall. Fade turned to look at him just as Mystic grabbed his arms firmly, pinning them behind his back. Infinite scoffed as Fade punched directly into his face. The impact of it broke his mask, cracking it down the middle. Infinite was left stunned, stumbling around as he tried to create another illusion. Fade shook out her hand. Her power allowed her to absorb the impacts of attacks. As he recovered, Rouge threw Diamond in another direction, causing her to collide with Midnight.

Shadow then took this chance to head back towards Eggman who simply sat there watching all the drama unfold. "You never learn do you?" He pressed a button on his chair that called out to his remaining robots. With a sinister smile on his face, he watched as Shadow was tackled by large heavy metal robots which had sharp pinchers, one of them barely clipping the side of his cheek. Shadow grunted as he hit the ground.

Seeing things getting out of control, Mephiles appeared from the dark corners. "I didn't think it could be this bad." he huffed, sending the dark shadows out. They wrapped around Midnight, keeping her down in one place. Midnight's strength though was going against him. "Mephiles don't!" Shadow cried, trying to reach out. Smoke then used the same technique as his dad, making his own wisps wrap around his ankles, trying to drag him into his territory. Mephiles struggled to keep the focus on two of them at once.

"HAHAHA! You're all weak! I knew you were! Once I got your kids involved, I knew you'd fall straight to your knees! Now as the newest leader of Dark Side, I will make sure we get the revenge none of you were capable of getting! All I need is the weak ones out of the way!"

Midnight then broke out of her hold, sending several blasts at Infinite, Rouge, and Mephiles, sending them flying back. Shadow could only watch as they landed on their backs, making a loud crash.

"It doesn't have to be like this Shadow. I was forced to sit on the sidelines hopelessly. None of you have to live through that same travesty. Trust me, it's not a nice feeling. Join me, we can conquer more together!" Eggman taunted. With fearful eyes, Shadow turned to face the older man who held the fate of his daughter in his hands. And even with that threat breathing down his neck, he got up to his knees, gritting his teeth, making a smile that made Eggman feel cold.

"You can take your offer... And shove it up your ass."