Book Three: The Invasion/Chapter Six

The sixth chapter of Book Three: The Invasion by Flashfire212, which marks the beginning of the invasion. 
==Chapter Six: Speedsters and Shadows==
Sonic stood in the middle of nowhere. Literally. All around him was ocean, and a metal prison. Oceanus Prison. Nobody knew who built it, but whoever did must have done a good job, Sonic thought. Nearby sat a yellow plane, lined in orange, nicknamed the Super Sonic Starfighter. Sonic smiled, his grin offsetting the uncomfortable situation of being surrounded by ocean. He turned once; to make sure Scourge hadn’t arrived and found the emerald yet, then turned again. That second turn was all the time that was needed before a green sole of a shoe came flying across his face, throwing him to the ground.
“HA! Now that’s what I call speed!” came the inevitable voice, the one Sonic was expecting.
“Call that speed? That’s nothing! I’ll show you speed!” Sonic roared back at his counterpart, who grinned, flicking down his blue sunglasses as he lowered his head and dropped down into a spindash, launching himself at Sonic. Just as quickly, Sonic dived forwards, under the spindash, before retaliating with a rapid stream of kicks, which Scourge only just managed to block and dodge. Quickly, Scourge leapt up again, seeming to hover before launching himself at Sonic. The blue blur stuck his hands onto the cold, metal floor, and threw himself into the air, foot first. The two hedgehogs struck each other, bouncing away just as quickly. 
“So, you’re still using those old tricks.” Scourge commented, letting his green fur shake.
“So, you’re still that arrogant jerk I beat many times before.” Sonic retorted, his quills bristling in anger. Scourge scowled, before charging at his counterpart again. Sonic used a breakdance technique to throw himself to his feet, and then raced at Scourge, head down and ready to hit. The two hedgehogs hit each other, went flying backwards but bounced and spindashed each other, each hit sending them flying like a pair of balls, but they kept attacking each other as their duel wore on. 
Down in Mercia, Team Dark bolted into the castle, hunting for King Rob. 
“Bianca, go with your mother. Shade, stick with me.” Shadow ordered, hurling a Chaos Spear directly into a Moebian that tried to stop him. Quickly, the two bats in the team flew off towards a nearby turret, leaving Shade and Shadow to get in through the main door. 
“How are we going to get in, dad?” Shade asked, looking at the cast-iron palisade and the solid wood gate behind it with apprehension. Shadow smiled at his son’s apprehension, before responding.
“We knock.” Shadow’s hands arced out, wrapping around the solid metal bars of the palisade as Shade watched his back. He grunted, trying to avoid letting Shade see the strain represented on his face as he put all his strength into bending the iron bars, which started to groan and bend, then snapped part-way through. Shadow looked over his shoulder, expecting to see Shade still behind him, but saw instead a pair of Moebians throwing punches at Shade, who was dodging rapidly. Suddenly, Shade lashed out with a powerful spinning kick, kicking both Moebians at once and sending them flying. Shadow smiled as Shade ran over.
“I see you’ve learned a few new tricks, son.” Shadow said, letting pride at his son’s strength filter into his voice. Shade smiled back, before looking at the gate.
“What you waiting for, dad?” Shade asked, smirking. “Too tired from bending the bars?”
“Hahaha. Nope, just making sure you were paying attention so we both go in together.”
“Riiight.” Shade clenched his fists, before curling into a spinball. “Ready to try one of Sonic’s rapid entry tricks?”
“Right. Lets…GO!” Shadow shouted, kicking Shade directly forwards through the gate.
“GOALLL!” Shade roared as he landed, uncurling and knocking down a Moebian who’d got in. Suddenly, he stopped.
“What’s the problem, Shade?” Shadow asked, before seeing the window had been destroyed by a grappling hook, and Moebians were climbing in, masses of ‘disposable’ troops. Quickly, he dropped into a combat position, then realized that the Moebians wasn’t what Shade was looking at. She stepped lithely down the stairs, wearing a silky purple satin dress with gold neck and waistbands, and a rapier held lightly in her echidna palm. Suddenly, she swung herself onto the banister and slid down, catching a Moebian soldier in the neck with her foot as she landed in front of Shade and Shadow, between them and the Moebians. Close up Shade noticed the neckband was in fact Princess Joy of Mercia’s royal necklace, this was either the princess or a masquerading handmaiden. Shade didn’t care. His heart rate got higher as he watched the young echidna charge at the Moebians, knocking two down with a single spinning kick, and then blocking a sword stroke lightly with her rapier. Suddenly, and to Shade’s astonishment, a second echidna appeared from behind the Moebians, from up the rope. Taller and broader, with red fur in comparison to the girl’s orange-tan, he hefted a massive two-handed broadsword as if it weighed nothing, knocking down Moebians between himself and the girl. He wore a brown hooded shirt, like the king. Quickly, he rushed at Shadow and Shade, tapping his fingers on the hilt of the blade, but Shadow raised a hand and stopped the blade on his palm.
“Who are you?” the echidna demanded, furious. Shade could see his eyes were burning from the inside, but Shadow didn’t even flinch.
“Shadow the Hedgehog, leader of Team Dark from the Guardian Unit of Nations, protectors of the United Federation. With me is my son, Shade.”
“Bad place for work experience, kid. I’m Jon, eldest son of King Rob and Mari-An. That’s my little sister, Joy.” Jon gestured with his sword at the young princess, who walked over.
“I’m not that little, bro,” she retorted. Shade blushed slightly as she smiled at him. Shadow gave his son a look, but then returned his gaze to Jon.
“We were sent out here upon the Moebian invasion to secure and hold the local Chaos Emerald. Can you take us to it?” Jon shrugged, seeking out Shadow’s gaze.
“I could, if it was still here. My father took it with him to Lake Silverwind, to the east. The other source of power is the Albion Chaos Emerald, and Albion’s under siege. I just came from there. Mum’s still there with our brother.” Jon shook his head “There’s no way to get to Albion now, even with your support. Albion has fallen.” Rouge and Bianca flew over.
“No Moebians over on the east side, Shadow.” Rouge reported, eyeing off the large mound of unconscious and semiconscious Moebians near the stairs. Bianca smiled at Joy and Jon, each of whom reacted differently. Jon grunted and rolled his eyes, while Joy smiled back. Shadow watched the display, then returned his view to his wife, taking in the shattered stained glass window, the damaged stone walls and the Moebians lying on the staircase and floor in mounds where Joy and Jon had left them. He turned to Jon. 
“Feel like a trip to New Mobotropolis? We need to drop Shade and Bianca back off there ready for stage two deployment anyway on our way to Central City to report to Commander Towers.” Jon thought about it, stroking the well-groomed goatee on his jaw before responding.
“Well, if Joy goes, I’m going with her. No point in guarding this castle anyway. Albion furnishes this place too lavishly, so it’s going to get looted even worse. Let’s go.” Joy smiled at Shade, who managed a shy smile in return before turning to his father and sister, who closed their eyes at the same instant. Shade’s hands reached out, one wrapping around his mothers, the other around Joy’s. Shadow could sense each of his kids tapping into the Chaos Force around them, Shade only barely dipping in, letting Shadow do most of the work due to his experience, while Bianca tried too hard to pull her own weight, and was channeling too much energy. Shadow sighed inwardly, and used the precise amount of energy as the epicenter of the three charging beings, before the three spoke as one. 
“Chaos Control!” they shouted, and disappeared, leaving a blue glow that was swallowed by the dark building behind them. 
Sonic hated to admit it, but he was tiring. Scourge had the stamina of a hedgehog almost ten years younger, and the physique too. Sonic liked to think that in the last ten years he had kept himself trim, but he was in his thirties and had lost a little bit of strength from lack of use. Scourge, on the other hand, had spent ten years in prison, and had every inch of a fighters build and strength, while the Master Emerald’s radiation had done more than just change Scourge’s color, but even increased his stamina to a heightened level and allowed him to keep his body in a shape rivaling Manic’s, considering his son was coming close to his twentieth birthday. He blocked Scourge’s left-footed kick, but wasn’t fast enough to dodge the right foot coming right behind it, which hit him in the eye, leaving it darkening. 
“Heh, so the great Sonic the hedgehog has fallen. That’s rich. Now, tell me where the Chaos Emerald you brought with you is, and I’ll leave…for now.” Scourge grinned, showing a mouth full of glistening sharp incisors. Sonic tried to think of a witty retort, but his body was slowing down, signs of exhaustion. Scourge waited for a response, but when none came he started getting irate.
“TELL ME!” he roared, wrapping his hands around Sonic’s shoulders and hoisting him up, then struck him with a right hook. Sonic stood, and suddenly realized what it felt like for Scourge after he powered down from his Super form in their last fight, when the Anarchy Beryl had left him completely drained. Scourge turned and looked at Sonic’s plane, before kicking him again.
“Nice plane. Did the mutant brat make it for you? I bet it’s got what I’m looking for!” Sonic’s strength started to jump, as his fur darkened and his pupils disappeared, but Scourge noticed the change, sending Sonic flying with an energy blast from his left arm.
“Heh, that Master Emerald did more than just keep my bod at peak. Thanks for the emerald, by the way.” Scourge plunged his arm into a hatch near the engine of the fighter and withdrew a glittering blue gemstone, the color of Sonic’s fur. Scourge laughed as he faced Sonic.
“Better learn to Chaos Control without emeralds, coz you aren’t going to be leaving here for a while.” Scourge’s spindash sliced the engine clean off the plane, leaving it useless as he Chaos Controlled away, leaving Sonic alone. Sonic reached into a new compartment on the plane, withdrawing a small microphone.
“This is Sonic. I failed. Requesting immediate pickup.”
“Copy that, Sonic. A GUN helicopter is on its way to collect you.” Commander Towers replied, before terminating the link. Sonic sighed and started looking for a good place to wait, away from the ocean around him. 
==Dramatis Persona==
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