We look in the direction of Shadow's house. Shadow scoffs.

"Wow, what a whiner," he scoffs. He earns an elbow in the gut by me.

"Wouldn't you be offended as well if you were him?" I counter. "This harms his pride, and he is a very proud Number."

Suddenly, there is crashing heard inside, and Shadow twitches in realization and annoyance. He starts to storm over, but I stop him.

"Heisinultimateformdonotdisturbhim (he is in ultimate form do not disturb him)," I mutter in his ear. "Trust me."

"Fine," Shadow huffs, reluctantly backing off. "He's wrecking my house, though."

"Justlethimtakehisfrustrationout (just let him take his frustration out)."

A few moments later, we enter Shadow's house and find Black Mist sitting on a huge pile of rubble with his arms and legs crossed and a calm demeanor. This does not bode well. At least he is back to his humanoid form except for small bursts of flame spurting out of his shoulders like his beast and the slightest sign of teeth on his stomach.

"Have you calmed down?" Shadow demands.

"Meh." Black Mist shrugs. "Depends on your definition of 'calm'." He tenses.

Shadow scowls. "Yeah, well look what you did to my house! You think I'll be able to clean this up?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Black Mist shrugs again. "I guess you'll have to see." He smirks.

Shadow growls. He starts advancing on the evil Number, but Black Mist wags a clawed finger at him and summons his three overlay units.

"Ah, ah, ah," he scolds. "Can't touch me. I know how to use these units wisely since there are only three. If you release your full energy, I'll use one of these babies." He starts morphing to look like his beast. The horns on his head poke out, the fire spouts out, and some of his skin gets blacker in some places and kind of grey in others. His claws gets sharper and silver, a demonic tail waves out, and the mouth appears. In short, he has some of the features of his beast, but he still looks the same. "Come at me if you dare." He flicks his tail.

Shadow sees reason and backs off. "Alright, you win for now." He crosses his arms.

"A wise choice," Black Mist says with approval as he morphs back to his original form. "So, now what? If we're gonna storm that fat bastard, I call being in the front line."

"We're not gonna storm the place," Sonic says. "I mean, I can because I know the layout from the inside out."

Black Mist huffs. "Fine, what do you suggest we do?"

"We need ro come up with a plan," Jet points out. "Eggman keeps everything well-guarded with passwords and everything."

"Good thing Wave, Jet, Silver, and I are expert hackers," Tails says with pride.

"Aren't you forgetting about me?" a new female voice asks. A white creature with big ears, a black outfit that is tight-fitting, a heart over her chest, and white boots and gloves strides into Shadow's home. "I happen to have those skills as well. You'd be surprised at how many jewls I've stolen without getting caught."

"Oh, no," Knuckles groans. "Not Rouge."

Shadow walks up to Rouge. "Are you hear to help?"

"I might consider it if I get something in return."

Black Mist growls and starts morphing again. "If it's too extreme, I'll teach you a lesson," he growls, his voice becoming deep and growly.

"Relax. All I ask in return for my help is just one shiny ring. Not ten, not one hundred, just one. I love their luster! And if you can get your hands on a chaos emerald, I want it. Those are my requirements."

Before anyone can answer, Black Mist replies, "Done." He morphs back. "Do not even think about using trickery because I will know about it. I am the master at trickery. Nothing gets past me."

"Alright, deal." Rouge and Black Mist shake hands to seal the deal. While doing that, some black slime attaches itself to Rouge's glove.

"Just to seal the deal." Black Mist smirks.

"Why did you do that?" Knuckles demands when Rouge flies off. "She'll betray us."

I cross my arms. "Black Mist has done this before. That is a seal that he places on the person's hand, head, or anywhere. It will make sure that they stick to what they wanted and nothing more."

Silver nods. "Wow, that's really cool."

Sonic grins. "Pretty handy. Maybe we can use it on Egghead."