"Do you think he will ever be the same again? Look at you the same way again? Your efforts are in vain, Shadow. Everything you're trying to save died by my hand long ago." 

Infinite taunted his opponent as their war waged fiercely across the beach, each blow dealing a massive shockwave that blew back the sand, waters, and trees, making all forms of nature bow to their power. The neon sparks of black and crimson versus the fire of red and yellow eruptions lit up the dark of night with their radiance. Although the jackal could easily rain hell on the black hedgehog from a distance, he found it more sporting to stay within reach of his furious foe. 

"Tell me the source of your rage," Infinite mused strangely calm, despite the ferocity of their battle, "is it purely out of revenge for your mate or for the salvation of your own dignity?"

"--SHUT UP!!!--" Shadow yelled before unleashing a wave of chaos spears at the mercenary, "--DISAPPEAR!!!" 

Infinite shielded himself from the blazing blasts of gold, the clashing of the chaos energy with his ruby's power causing an electrifying smoke to resonate from each impact. Barrowing through the fog of luminescent gray, Shadow took advantage of the opening and punched the jackal across his covered face, effectively knocking his mask off. The mercenary was caught off-guard by this impressive show of force, but angered more than anything. Instinctively, he covered his face before creating a pulsing explosion to push the Ultimate Life Form back. Shadow dodged the attacks as he skidded a short distance away, staring curiously while Infinite retrieved his mask in a gentle manner. 
In that split-second, he noticed something that he was not expecting.

"I know you..." Shadow admitted, the glimpse he caught of the jackal rekindling his memories of their first encounter. 

Infinite didn't bother turning around. He returned his metal sanctuary to its rightful place on his face before scowling in the deepest voice he's ever spoken, the tone practically swimming under layers of deepseated hatred, "Oh, you do now?" 

Rather than get into a conversation about it, Shadow dashed ahead for another assault. The fight turning into an array of kicks and punches as Infinite utilized the Phantom Ruby to keep up with his enemy's accelerated speed and incredible strength. The exchanges looked almost as though they were dancing to the death, with each point of contact creating a loud bursting sound while fumes radiated off their bodies. 

"WHY?!" Shadow demanded. As he did his best in focusing his anger and energy into his physical prowess rather than let his rage consume him, he couldn't help but let some of his wrath filter into his voice, "Your vendetta is against me. WHY DID YOU INVOLVE SONIC?!"

"YOU STILL HAVEN'T FIGURED THAT OUT?!" Infinite retorted angrily as he leapt backwards away from the volley until he hovered above the ocean waves, the ripples of the dark blue waters glistening to the light of his crimson presence. He took this brief moment to collect himself, returning his demeaner to its usual composed state.
"You created me, Shadow. Everything I had, everything I was, you stripped away in an instant. It seemed only fitting that I return the favor." 

He then tackled against the black hedgehog, grabbing him by the throat and shooting upward above the treeline, the energy spiraling off the two made them appear as though they were a pair of fireworks blazing into the night sky. "The little blue savior was a delicious pawn to twist the knife in you, but I'll admit, I've grown quite fond of him as well." 

Shadow gripped the jackal's wrist and forearm, trying to find a weakness to exploit in order to force his enemy to release his hold while the mercenary continued his monologue in their skyward flight, "The rodent has features that are very tantalizing. The way his body trembles in delight of being penetrated. How he moans and screams at the ecstasy of my teeth sinking into his flesh, truly exquisite wouldn't you say?"

Remembering the times he saw Sonic being violated by the bastard drew out the deepest, purest forms of rage from within the Ultimate Life Form, who began emitting a black aura amid the red. Without so much as drawing a breath, he screamed "CHAOS BLAST!!!!", unleashing a gigantic explosion that forced his enemy to falter and plummet downwards in the swirling ocean waters below. 

Residual streams of the energy trickled through the entire area, including the thicket of the jungle, where they tickled the listless form of the blue hedgehog whom laid slumped against a tree. The tranquilizer was still very present in his system, and in combination with everything else he endured, he could barely move. However, that small familiar spark of chaos energy was enough to awake him. Slowly raising his head, he saw the lights of the two individuals piercing the darkness through the canopy leaves in a jumble of blurriness. 

"Sh-Shadow?" he mumbled groggily. Hearing the music of battle, Sonic was compelled to head towards it, regardless of the difficulty in doing so. 
"Wh-what is he f-fighting?" he wondered as he crawled across the wild terrain, the rocks and up-turned roots scraping across his knees and hands. Although he noticed the blood, he didn't feel any pain whatsoever. He had long since learned to ignore the permanent numbness in his right arm, but to not feel anything anywhere in his body was admittedly disturbing. He wasn't sure if it was because of the blow dart's effects or if he had suffered so much damage that now he was numb all over. Either way, it made it impossible to determine the layout of the land in the pitch blackness by touch alone. 

As he neared the wall of the jungle, the close proximity of the war between the powerful beings made him shutter. It had been so long since he was exposed to such tremendously furocious energy that now he had become sensitive to it. Another shockwave shattered the wind, and though the broken hero tucked himself into the brush, he couldn't stop feeling the intensity of it all shake his very core as if he were hollow. One of the players was definitely Shadow, and knowing he was holding his own gave him a small sense of relief....however, in recognizing his partner's opponent, every muscle within Sonic tensed, reawakening the sleeping nerves that created a domino of pain throughout his previously numb body and sent fear streaking across every corner of his mind.

There was no mistaking it. He knew who it was.