A violent pummel of flesh against ground echoes throughout YCR.

”Guess Sonic lost.” Shadow mutters under his breath, voice controlled and stoic like always.

Shadow sucks his teeth, eyes narrowed in concentration. Guess Sonic’s dead. He quickly scours through the destroyed wreckage of Eggman’s Base, his air shoes helping him search the area more faster. Along the way, he walks past the bloodied corpses of Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Eggman, and Cream. How unfortunate of them.

He pauses the moment he senses the faint aura of Chaos Energy behind a door. Quietly, he sneaks in, his ears pinned back.

The sight is.. gruesome, to say the least. There, lays Sonic’s bloodied corpse, his eyes rolled back in death, his skull basically shattered to pieces. Hovering above him is Fleetway, the Maniac Super Hedgehog, currently degrading the hero’s dead corpse.

”LOOK AT ME! Look at how much STRONGER I AM WITHOUT YOU!” Fleetway cackles, rudely kicking the body.

Shadow, seizing the moment, quickly rushes in and DROPKICKS Fleetway’s back. The manic Super Sonic staggers forward, his insane eyes widening for a second. Angrily, he turns around, his quills glowing more brightly with the force of his disdain.

”Tch. Always SNEAKING in. Guess what, SHADOW. Constantly sneaking behind each others BACK ain’t gonna bring ya precious Maria back!” Fleetway spits out her name like poison.

Shadow’s eyes widen. Maria.. the girl that Shadow cherished the most. He remembers her body collapsing to the floor, her blood puddling beneath his shoes. He grits his teeth, holding back in his emotions. He speaks to the evil Super Sonic, with his usual coolness.

”Alright then. Let’s get to the main area, and see how I can pummel you without needing to sneak.”

Fleetway cackles, clutching his belly.

”Oh, ALRIGHTY THEN! I can kill ya over there!”

The Super Sonic quickly flies to the main room, his fangs dripping with blood. Shadow sprints alongside him, his eyes filled with anger and determination. Shadow must not fail! He must take down Fleetway Super Sonic once and for ALL.

VAINGLORY AND BRAVADO