*Sonic's POV*
"Geez. You've looked better. Are you okay, Shadz?" I walked to him, wrapping an arm around his torso when I saw how beat up he was. He didn't try to fight back and accepted my help, wrapping one arm around me and resting it on my shoulder.

"Thanks." He rolled his eyes at me, making me chuckle. "Where is it?" He spoke with a quiet grunt.

I walked with him to the other end of the room, showing him the machine. Suspended in the air by thick cable, towering above us like a mechanical titan.

"That's Eggmans ultimate weapon." I mumbled and let go when Shadow pulled away to step closer. "You really think he'll use it?"

"Once he knows you're alive, he will. We still have time. We can destroy it before it's finished." Shadow took a few more steps forward, ready to attack and destroy it, but I grabbed his hand quickly and stopped him.

"Wait. It's a trap." I said as I let go once he looked back at me. "Think about it. Why did Eggman let you come down here so easily? Why is this place not guarded. There's something going on here." He remained quiet for a second. "So what's the plan? We take it out fast?"

"No. We destroy the power core. Once that's destroyed, everything else will collapse, too." I grinned, liking the plan.

"Sounds good to me." I got ready, but before we could leave and search for the core, the floor rumbled, causing us to stumble and hold onto each other for balance. "Whoa. What was that?" I looked up and noticed the machine was on.

"We are not alone." Shadow said as he pointed behind me. From the shadows, I saw glowing red eyes, Eggmans robots.

"Let's finish this." Shadow growled.

"Right behind ya, Shadz." I cracked my knuckles with a grin.

"We take them out first, then the machine. Can't afford any more wasted time." I was surprised Shadow was letting me help him in this case instead of telling me to hide. I wasn't about to remind him either. I wasn't going to leave Shadow alone this time. Not after seeing how tired he looked.

"Alright. Let's show them what we're made of." Together, we charged forward, ready for whatever else Eggman threw our way.

The first robot swung at me, but I was faster and dodged, landing a quick spin dash right into its chest. I bounced of that one and hit another 3 on the way. I landed on top of one and glanced at Shadows direction, he had destroyed all the cameras around and already had a pile of robots, which he sliced with his chaos spear. I watched as he chaos blasted a few more. He was always a step ahead in battle, never wasting energy. It was like watching a storm, relentless, calculated, and destructive.

"Don't slow down, Faker!"

"Like I ever do!" I laughed despite the chaos around us.

The next wave of robots came in quicker than the last batch we just took down. They were evolving, adapting quickly to our attacks.  But it didn't scare me. No, if anything, it made me more determined to see this through. I was not going to let Eggman win, not after everything he's out us through. Not when lives were at stake here.

"We are running out of time!" Shadow shouted as he chaos blasted a few robots effortlessly. I used a spin dash against yet another one, cutting through its circuits as I went straight through its chest.

"We need to destroy the core before it's fully charged." Shadow said as we landed beside each other. We panted heavily, both getting pretty tired from this fight, but the robots seemed to not come to an end.

I nodded at Shadow and gave him a thumbs up. "On it." I jumped backward, quickly turning and dashing towards the machine. Dodging the debris of the robots that Shadow was destroying and throwing back to clear his way. Soon enough, I watched as Shadow skated towards me, close by. We were almost there until a wall of robots blocked our way.

"Not so fast, Shadow." I quickly hid behind the remains of some bots when I saw Eggman above the large TV mounted above the machine. I wasn't sure if he could see me, but I wasn't about to risk it. "Did you really think I'd let you come in here and destroy my latest creation?" He laughed. "You see, this machine is far more than just a weapon. It's the pinnacle of all my research. YEARS of perfecting the art of destruction. And now I'll with a simple command, I'll wipe you from existence!"

"Im not going to let that happen, Eggman." Shadow clenched his fists, his eyes never leaving the machine.

"Oh, but you're out of time!" Eggmans laugh was more than enough to get me into action. I swiftly moved behind the debris of falled bots, making sure there was no camera in sight that would give me away as I got closer.

With a simple press of a button, the floor trembled once more, and the cores' energy surged. I could feel its raw power radiating from it. This thing was more dangerous than I thought. The TV was now off. My guess was that Eggman was making a run for it, and the energy it was creating would destroy everything here.

"We've got to take that core out!" I called over the communicator as I sat on the floor, my back resting back against a robot as I glanced around, unsure of what my next move should be. Shadow didn't want me to go at it alone, but he needed to keep Eggman busy.

"Im aware!" Shadow snapped back. His voice tense. He quickly moved, dodging the robots attacks, but I could feel the seconds ticking. I knew if I didn't do anything, then it would be too late.

"Im sorry, Shadow. I've got to do this." I called through the communicator, giving him a heads up about my plan.

"Are you insane? You'll get caught in the explosion!" He shouted back through it, his voice full of concern. As much as he hated to admit it, I've always known that he cared. 

"Did you forget who you're talking to, Shadz? I can outrun anything." I grinned, my eyes focused on the glowing core above me. I used the robots flying above me as a ladder and jumped up.

The core was right in front of me, I could feel its energy. It was as if I was standing by a lightning storm. This was bad.

"You've got to live, Hedgehog." Shadow spoke through the communicator, a smile tugging at my lips as I dashed forward and into the core.

The moment I made contact with the core, everything around me exploded with light and sound. The force of the machines power trying to tore me apart, but I pushed through and spinned faster, breaking its defenses with all the strength I had left. And then. With a final burst of speed, I shattered the core.

The explosion that followed was defeaning. I felt the force of it hit me like a tidal wave, sending me flying backward. But I didn't stop moving. I couldn't. The moment I did, I would get stuck in the blast. So I ran. I ran faster than I have ever run before, pushing myself past my limits.

The walls around me blurred as I sprinted through the corridors, trying to find a way out of the building. The entire base was collapsing behind me.

"Come one. Come on. Come on!" I muttered to myself, feeling the heat of the explosion at my back.