*Shadow's POV*
We didn't waste a second. Once the three of us were ready, we went from base to base, trying to find where the machine was located. We stood at the edge of Eggmans final base, Rouge, Sonic, and I ready to face what could be the end of everything we knew.

The machine was ready to fire, and the countdown had already begun. We had minutes before the machine could activate the powerful shockwave that would destroy everything as we knew it. Including ourselves.

"There it is." Rouge pointed at the massive structure looming ahead of us. The core of Eggmans machine was glowing, beating like a heartbeat as the energy inside it grew.

"This is it. We go in and take down the core before Eggman can push that button." Sonic cracked his knuckles, then his neck, as he got ready.

I nodded, my mind sharp and focused. "Stay sharp, Eggman is going to throw everything he has to protect the core."

"It's a good thing I called for back up then." Rouge smirked, and before we could question it, the fox's plane flew above us, the echidna and the pink hedgehog jumping down from it as the fox circled around and waved at us from above.

"Alright. We can talk about how you lied to us later. For now, we've got bots to destroy!" Rose said as she held her hammer up in the air, ready for battle.

"Yeah. No more excuses, Sonic. Let's smash these robots and settle the rest later!" The echidna hit his palm with his fist.

"Right. Let's take them down fast. We've got no time to lose!" The fox shouted from above as he flew above us, a little lower so Sonic could jump on.

"Great to see yah again, buddy." Sonic smiled and nodded at us. "Alright, team! Let's do this!" With that said, he launched himself forward and off the plane, spin dashing a few bots on his way down.

"Well. Well. Well. I should have known the blue rat wouldn't go down so easily." Eggman laughed as he stood inside one of his bigger robots, controlling it. "But no matter! You're too late! In minutes, the world will crumble, and nothing will stand in my way!"

"You're out of your mind, Egghead! If you destroy the world, there will be nothing left for you to rule over!" Sonic shouted, I landed beside him, covering his back as I threw chaos spears at some bots that got too close.

I could tell Sonic was afraid. He was afraid because his friends were here. This hadn't had been the plan. We were supposed to do this alone. But we wouldn't have been able to. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how big this was, even for us. We needed Sonic's crew whether he liked it or not.

"I'll rebuild it to my liking! This world doesn't deserve to exist anymore, and neither do any of you!" His glasses reflected the flow of the core. He ran to us with his robots and raised his arms, ready to crush us.

Sonic and I looked at each other, I grabbed his hands and turned a few times, letting go just at the right time for him to go high in the air. I jumped just before Eggman could crush me, and we both landed on the robots arms. "You ready, Shadow?" Sonic grinned. At least he was having some fun. I nodded at him as we both did a spin dash, cutting through the robots shoulders and destroying them.

"Why you little -!" Eggman shouted.

I looked back to the team, they were giving everything they got, but unless we reached the core in time, this would all have been for nothing. The clock is ticking, and with all these distractions, I wasn't sure we would make it.

"Need a lift, boys?" Rouge grabbed our hands, lifting us on the air. "We are counting on you. Tails is trying to shut it down from the control panel, but the system is locked. You need to get to the core and destroy it manually." Sonic and I exchanged a look, both knowing exactly what needed to be done.

"Let's end this." Sonic nodded.

Eggman sent wave after wave of robots once he saw us getting closer. She did a spin in the air and threw us further ahead just before she got knocked down. There was no time to look back. She could handle her own, and with the rest of the team there, I knew she'd be okay. Sonic and I were quickly descending, getting closer and closer to the core. Robots kept trying to stop us, but we both tore right through them side by side. Our focus locked on the core and nothing else.

Sonics blue blur intertwined with my red as we reached the ground and sped straight to the center of the machine. Finally, we stood in front of it. It was radiating power that sent waves of energy through the air. I could feel the chaos energy inside it, ready to unleash devastation.

Sonic looked at me, his usual cocky grin softened by the gravity of the situation. "Ready, Shadz?"

I nodded. Sonic grabbed my hand as we both launched forward into the core. With our combined energy, Sonics' raw speed, and my control over chaos energy, we unleashed a blast as we made impact, causing the core to shudder violently.

"You fools! You'll destroy everything!" Eggman shouted, pressing buttons on his console, trying to shut it down. But it was too late.

The surface of the core began to crack, the energy inside it growing as it combined with ours. We pushed harder, pouring every ounce of power into destroying it. Until finally, the core exploded, throwing us backward into a flash of light with the shockwave that was caused.

*Sonic's POV*
Shadow and I got thrown back into a wall, taking the hit of the shockwave and watching as robots began to fall on us, as well as the structure that held the machine up. I weakly turned to look at Shadow as my vision began to blur. He looked as beaten up as I was.

"Get out of there!" I could hear Amy shouting. I looked up, watching the structure making its way down to crush us, but just before it did, I got lifted into the air by Tails as Rouge picked up Shadow.

They both flew as fast as they could away from the chaos. "You've got a lot of explaining to do when we are home, Sonic." Tails said as he flew forward as fast as he could.

I chuckled weakly, releasing a cough and a grunt of pain. "You've saved me again, Tails."

"I'll always have your back." Tails laughed softly and landed far away from the chaos.

"What now?" Knuckles asked as we watched everything fall.

Rouge was holding Shadow steady, and Tails was doing the same with me. "Now we rest." I smiled.

"What about Eggman?" Amy asked.

"He wasn't fast enough to make it out." Rouge spoke next.

"Well, that was fun." I laughed softly and held my stomach in pain.

"You call that fun?" Rouge raised a brow.

"What's life without a little chaos." I shrugged and let go of Tails, then walked to Shadow. "Thanks for having my back, Shadz." Shadow looked at me and gave me a slight nod.

"We make a good team, Hedgehog." He let go of Rouge and quietly hissed when he tried to take a step forward. He raised his hand, his glove was covered in blood. My eyes went wide as I watched him stumble back and fall, but I managed to catch him.

"Shadow!" I gasped and sat on my knees as I held him. I looked at his side where the blood was coming from and pinned my ears down. A piece of the core had stabbed him. It was stuck on his side.

"Let me see." Tails ran to my side, kneeling beside me as he checked the wound. "The core. It was designed to target those with chaos energy. It's draining him of his chaos energy. He is unable to heal. It's weakening him." Tails spoke quickly.

"Do something! Quick! Remove the shard!" I reached down, but Shadow grabbed my hand, squeezing gently as Tails also stopped me.

"If you remove it, you'll only make it worse. We need to take him to my lab. I can help him there. But we need to be fast. We don't have much time." I could feel the panic all over my body. I nodded at Tails.

I stood up and carefully picked up Shadow and grabbed Tails wrist. I ran, ran as fast as I could towards Tails lab, the weight of the two of them taking a toll on me and slowing me down, but I pushed through. I felt like I was about to pass out, but I kept on going. I couldn't slow down. Shadows' life was at stake. I couldn't lose him.

"Don't give up, Shadz. You can do this." I whispered as I ran, trying to reach top speed but failing.

"Quick. Put him in on the examination table." Tails said as soon as we reached his lab. He ran around, gathering his stuff, then ran back towards Shadow.

Come on, Shadow. Don't give up now...