(Well, it's time to bring this fic to an end… The Finale is HERE! Yuji Naka, Sonic Team, and SEGA own Sonic and the gang, not me. Now, the finale.)

CHAPTER 13

In the middle of Holy Summit, Shadow, Sonic and the gang materialized from the Chaos Control right onto the grassy plains, right near the ruins. This was the spot where the last time Shadow was here, the Chaotix were busy keeping Fury at bay. Now with the other 4 members of the Nega-5 terminated, and Sonic and co safe, Shadow felts as though it was smooth sailing again. But when they arrived at their destination…

Shadow opened his eyes, as he felt the grass beneath is feet. When he looked around, his jaw dropped. In various spots, there were signs of a battle, with scorched earth, ripped up ground, and to add to that, the Chaotix were worse for wear themselves… Espio was lying face down on the ground looking burnt, Vector was lying amidst the rubble and rock of a stone pillar, and Charmy was laying flat on his back in a deep crater in the shape of his outline. "What the hell?" Shadow looked around. "Did Fury get away? And where's Ambient?"

"Get back!" Ambient's voice rang out.

Shadow and the group turned their attention to their right, and sure enough, Ambient came running into view, and it looked like he was shooting at something with his chaos revolvers.

Shadow, Sonic, and Tails ran over to meet their friend, as he skidded to a halt.

"Ambient!" Sonic exclaimed. "What's going on? What happened to the Chaotix?"

"And what's with the destruction around?" Tails added.

Ambient looked up. "Sonic! Tails! So Shadow got you guys out… Thank god. We've got a BIG Problem here…"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "It's Fury isn't it…? But she couldn't have had help… I already killed off Pain, Fear, End and Sorrow."

Ambient shook his head. "She doesn't have help… She got out on her own… She got a hold of one of my prism emeralds…" He said with dread. "She suddenly broke free of the Team Blast and snatched one of my prism emeralds. She then ate it and her own chaos emerald as if they were fruit, and then she…changed…"

"Changed?" Shadow asked.

"She changed into what?" Sonic demanded.

Ambient gulped. "Look behind me…" He pointed.

Sonic, Tails and Shadow looked over Ambient, over the hill which he came from, only to have their blood run cold…

Rising over the hill, something began to emerge. It resembled a silver furred, female hedgehog, whose hair had gone wild, and long, her bangs and quills spread out all around. Her eyes were yellow and feral, and her mouth carried sharp jagged teeth. She looked slightly taller than Sonic and Shadow, and was both voluptuous, yet muscular, as her ripped, partly button less GUN uniform showed. Her hands and feet carried lethal sets of claws, and around her was a hazy, burning, colorless aura.

Shadow's eyes widened. "Is that Fury?"

Ambient nodded. "And she's eaten a prism emerald. Thus it changed her into this beast…"

Sonic got into a battle stance, with Tails right beside him. "Looks like we got a fight on our hands…"

Shadow spread out an arm in front of Sonic and Tails. "No… This is my fight… You guys got mixed up in all of this… It's my fault that you guys got abducted by these freaks, so it's my duty to stop them." He glared at the demonic form of Fury. "I've beaten 4 of them now. All I have to do is take out this last one…" Before Sonic could protest, Shadow had already pressed ahead. Shadow stood defiantly as Fury, stalked towards his direction. Fury's eyes seemed to focus intently on Shadow, as her feral eyes seemed to burn into his soul. Shadow knew that this had to end now. 'But first…' He turned to Sonic and the gang, who were helping the Chaotix to their feet. "Everyone… I want to apologize, for everything that's happened because of me… GUN went too far this time, and I should be the one to deal with them."

Sonic protested. "Shadow, you're one of us. You're problems are our problems too."

"Come on Shadow, you've got let us help you out." Knuckles egged on.

"Please, we may not know what you're going through… But you still matter to us." Amy added.

Tails nodded. "We want to help you anyway we can, and avoid any more tragedies!"

Rouge added her own 2 cents. "Please, consider what we can do for you. We want to help."

Cream gave Shadow the look of an innocent, hopeful child. "Mr. Shadow… We'd hate to lose you again, please let us help."

Shadow looked on as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and Rouge looked at him pleadingly, wanting to help him in this battle, that may very well cost him his life. Choking back the tears, as he realized how much he actually mattered to them, he held out the prism emerald. "Everyone… I…" The emerald flashed. "I'm sorry! CHAOS CONTROL! TAKE EVERYONE BACK TO STATION SQUARE!"

Chaos energy engulfed the Sonic and the others, before bathing them in light, and carrying them off back to Station Square. All they could do was cry out Shadow's name, as they were teleported off to safety.

Shadow then turned his attention back to Fury, who continued watching him like a hawk. "Now it's just you and me… Of course, I need to do one last thing…" He suddenly clutched the prism emerald to his chest, concentrating all his power into it. Shadow's body began to crackle with energy, and his quills began to waver. Suddenly his eyes shot open, glowing white, and with one yell, he exploded with energy, transforming into Super Shadow. The prism emerald was now dust in his fingers, which seemed to absorb right into his pale yellow furred skin. "Now, we're on equal power lengths… Only I haven't become a savage monster like you." He stood in a fighting stance, his eyes narrowed and teeth clenched, as he made a "come towards me" motion towards Fury. "Come and get me."

Fury let out a primal scream, before lunging bestially at Super Shadow, claws drawn, at the speed of a bullet, knocking into shadow, and taking him for a ride.

Super Shadow however, grabbed, the lapels of Fury's ruined shirt, and threw Fury off of him, allowing him to come to a stop. He vanished from sight, only to reappear seconds later using his erupting energy field, the Chaos Burst, near Fury, sending her into the sky.

Fury was not about to go down easily, and suddenly let loose a cannon of chaos energy from her gaping mouth, at such a speed, Shadow was blown away, sent flying from the site of impact. But she didn't end there as she once more tackled him, and gave out her "Chaos Shock," which electrocuted Super Shadow, pumping him with 40,000 volts of chaos energy, causing his fur to sizzle heavily, as she released him.

Super Shadow stumbled backwards, disoriented from the shock. He stumbled around the battle field for a moment, before the weight of a mighty beast threw itself upon him, crushing him as if he were marshmallow. He could feel the claws dig into his arms as Fury pinned him into the ground, and felt the blood trickle down. He knew Fury was trying to overpower and intimidate him, but he refused to succumb. "CHAOS NIGHTMARE!" Super Shadow's whole body erupted with chaos energy, creating a force field of sorts, which engulfed Fury, pumping her body full of energy, before forcing her off of him. He then leapt off the ground, and stuck down Fury with his "Shadow Eagle."

Fury hit the ground, like a bomb, causing a small crater. But she remained conscious, on her front, and sent a spray of needle-like quills towards Super Shadow, who found himself with an armful of quills, as they shot right into his arms, drawing more blood from his already bleeding limbs.

Super Shadow snarled to himself. Already he was injured on the limbs, and yet, with all the hits he landed, all Fury seemed to have was singed fur and ripped clothes. He watched as Fury seemed to stand up with no trouble. He quickly dodged to the side as another barrage of razor quills came at him. He landed on the ground as Fury began to stalk towards his direction, on all fours, like a beast. 'Isn't there ANYWAY for me to damage her?' He asked himself. Before he could think of a strategy, Fury lunged at him, and swung her massive claws at him, raking his chest, splattering his blood on the grass, and making him stumble backwards. He had no time to react, as Fury opened her mouth and breathed out a beam of chaos energy at him, which slammed into his chest, throwing him across the field like a baseball. He skidded across the ground, tearing up grass, dirt, and gravel, cutting through his skin. He lay on the ground, already feeling the power of his super form waning. "Damn it… How could I be getting weak so fast?" He demanded of himself. Then he looked up, to see Fury towering over him, with a sadistic smile.

Fury leered down, smiling at her foe. "Pitiful Shadow… Don't you see? I can't feel pain, I can't suffer damage, and it's more like you're hitting me with snowballs!" She then punched Super Shadow in the stomach, hard, causing him to cough up blood.

Super Shadow felt sick to his stomach, and now, he felt like hew was growing weaker. Almost as if his very super energy was being sucked out of him. Suddenly, he noticed his pale yellow fur, loosing its glow, and was slowly darkening back to its original black color. 'No…she's sucking out my power…' He thought as he felt his power fading, and noticed Fury's aura getting brighter and stronger, until he was regular Shadow again. Apparently, Fury had the upper hand all along, and now, Shadow's only fate was death…

BANG! The sound of a gun rang out, and suddenly Fury was pushed backwards by 4 feet.

Shadow, witnessing the event, wondered who fired the shot. But he cut his thought short when he saw two large prism emeralds near him. "Ugh… Little good these will do me now… I'm too weak to transform or even use Chaos Control… My number's up…" He took one more look at the prism emeralds and noticed the wave lengths of energy following between them as they stood so close together. He smiled a weak smile. "But maybe… There's a way I can stop her." He reached over and picked up the two prism emeralds, before weakly standing up. "Even if it kills me… I'll save the day… Heh… It's just like the time at ARK. Only this time, I'm not going to come back…" He watched as Fury walked right up too him and grabbed him by the chest.

"So…" Fury began. "Are you ready to succumb to my power yet?"

Shadow suddenly began clacking the prism emeralds together, generating sparks.

Fury raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What on Mobius are you doing?"

Shadow said nothing but clacked the emerald faster, generating more sparks, and causing them to glow brighter.

"Are you trying to put on a light show?" Fury asked in bewilderment, as the emeralds grew brighter and more sparks flew all around.

Shadow looked at Fury right in the eye, and then gave a cocky smile. "Oh there will be a light show… In fact…" He raised the emeralds in front of Fury's face, which soon contorted into a look of terror. "We're gonna be the fuel for it!"

Fury's eyes widened. "NO! WAIT! DON'T!"

Shadow smashed the emeralds together.

Meanwhile…

Way down below in Emerald Town, Sonic and the gang jumped in shock as a huge explosions of light erupted from Holy Summit, engulfing the mountain in the energy of the chaos emeralds, causing everyone to shield their eyes.

"GAH! What power!" Sonic exclaimed. "It's like the whole mountain is ablaze!"

After a few seconds of the miniature supernova, the light gradually faded out.

Sonic and the others were in shock and silence for a moment, in disbelief of what had happened.

"No…" Sonic breathed. "It…can't be…" He suddenly took of in a burst of speed, heading towards Holy Summit.

"S-Sonic?" Amy called out to her boyfriend. "Wait!" She ran after him, followed by everyone else.

When Sonic arrived at the very spot that he last saw Shadow, the entire area was burnt, with no trace of grass or plants… It was nothing but scorched earth. "Holy shit… Shadow and Fury really tore this place up…"

Amy came running up the hill, and saw Sonic, looking frantically for Shadow. She came up right beside her boyfriend, and joined in the search.

Both hedgehogs search frantically for any sign of the black hedgehog, until their eyes settled on something that made their hearts stop. In one spot, there were the remains of Fury's GUN uniform…along with one of Shadow's rocket shoes, burnt up, and shredded…

Sonic felt himself go completely numb. "N-No… This can't be… Shadow…" His hands began to shake, as hot tears stung his eyes.

Amy already had tears streaming down her face, her mascara running and streaking. She was choking back sobs, as she gazed at the ruined sneaker. "Sonic…sob…is he?"

Sonic picked up the sneaker, which was all that was left of Shadow. Now he too was sobbing, as his tears sprinkled onto the ground. "Sh-Sh-Shadow…"

Tails and Cream arrived on the scene at that moment, along with Knuckles and Rouge. They arrived only to see a grief stricken Sonic and Amy, who looked close to a breakdown. Then they looked at the surroundings, and what Sonic held in his hand. That's when they put 2 and 2 together.

"Sonic…" Tails said, feeling tears coming on.

"Is Shadow…Is he?" Cream asked in a shaky voice.

Knuckles and Rogue said nothing, being in complete shock and disbelief.

Sonic turned to the others. "Guys… Shadow… He's…. He died a hero!" He dropped to the ground, and sobbed his heart out.

Amy ran over and held Sonic tightly. She too was sobbing.

Tails and Cream ran over, hugging them both, as all 4 cried their eyes out.

Knuckles put a hand to his head, finally as it sunk in. He felt Rouge's arms encircle him, and her tears falling onto his shoulder. He then allowed his own tears to fall as he hugged his beloved.

Sonic, Amy, Tails, Cream, Knuckles, and Rouge all stood there, holding each other, sobbing and mourning over the loss of Shadow.

Later that night…

Everyone had gone home, after their cry fest, their hearts heavy with such a loss. The Chaotix had gone back to their HQ, and had given up on the search for Ambient, who had mysteriously vanished. His supposed house in Emerald Town was empty. After what he had done for everyone, they decided to let him go, not sure if they'd ever see him again. The others however, had not gone back to their homes alone, as of tonight, they felt as though they needed each other. Knuckles had gone with Rouge back to Club Rouge, while Tails and Cream had gone to Tails' house, and Sonic and Amy had both gone to Sonic's house. Right now, the couples needed to find strength in their love and in each other.

Sonic lay on his bed, starring up at the ceiling. 'Shadow… I can't believe he's gone again… First it was for almost a year, now it's forever… I hope he'll find peace at last…'

"Sonic?"

Sonic looked over at Amy who lay next to him, wearing nothing but red bra and panties, stroking his arm. "Oh, Amy. Sorry honey, I was thinking about Shadow again."

Amy nodded. "Me too… Do you think he's happy where he is now?"

Sonic sighed. "I don't know, but I hope so. He may have even been reunited with Maria."

That earned a small smile from Amy. "I think so too, he's probably up there with Maria, and smiling down on us…well…did Shadow ever smile?"

Sonic started to laugh. "He did once in a while, and if Maria's up there with him, then he'll DEFINITELY be smiling." He then turned to Amy. "Ames… I don't ever want to lose you, like Shadow lost Maria… There's no need for a tragedy like that to be repeated between those who love each other." He said as he held Amy's hand.

Amy wrapped her arms around Sonic and brought him close. "Sonic… We're a lot like those two, in that we love each other very much… The only difference is we have a chance to share that love still…"

"Amy…"

"Sonic…"

Both hedgehogs drew closer until their lips pressed against each other. Sonic and Amy kissed for what seemed like an eternity, knowing that their love, as well as everyone else's would stand the test of time, and not be broken apart.

THE END

EPILOUGE:

Ambient's car sat on the very top of Holy Summit, as Ambient himself looked down on the town below. He sighed to himself as he gazed at Emerald Town. "I made so many friends here… But I don't belong here. They don't need me anyway. They have each other." He allowed himself a small smile. "It looks like Sonic and Amy are gonna get along just fine. They make such a cute couple, even cuter than those little kids Tails and Cream. Knuckles and Rouge, now… Hoo boy, they're relationship will certainly be an amorous one…" He turned his back to the view. "Well, it's time for me to go." He walked back to his hover car, opening the driver's door and sitting down in his seat. He turned and looked at the passenger seat. Sitting there was a black hedgehog with red tints in his quills, and he looked as though he was sound asleep. "Heh… You truly are the "Ultimate Life Form." Man, you really took a beating out there from that bitch, Fury. Good thing I hid and stayed behind to help out. Bet Fury wasn't expecting that emerald bullet I shot her with. That was a ballsy trick you pulled on her, making an "Emerald Bomb." It blew her to bits, but also took you for quite a ride, and nearly scorched you too. Lucky for you, I was able to heal you partly with the prism emerald, but the rest you'll have to either sleep off or I'll take you to a doctor about." Ambient started up the car, and pulled out of the area, before driving out of the mountains. As he began to drive out of Holy Summit, he looked at his passenger with a smile. "I wonder what adventures the future will hold for us, and what destiny has in store, eh Shadow?"

END

(Well, this tale has ended. Thank you for reading this fic, and if you enjoyed it, then I thank you again. Ja-nee.)