After Spike and Shadow left the Ark again, they found themselves back within the white space they appeared in before, it was one of the strangest places they've ever seen, it was as if the life from it was sucked away by that monster they encountered before, and with it being most likely Sonic and the other's are stuck in here, Spike only hopes that his mother is here too, and they'll encounter her very soon.

As the two of them were walking away from the portal leading to the Ark, the color and life in it was restored, and it gave them the idea that in order to find a way to escape, they need to go through similar places like this, whatever lies ahead, is something they'll need to find out.

But as they kept walking, they could both feel the new power they were given flow through them, neither of them liked the feeling of it going through them, while it was strong, it gave them a bad feeling, and it felt like it could get worse the longer it's within them.
"What was that power? I've never done anything like that before. It's not something I should be able to do, yet.. for me it felt.. natural.." Shadow said with fascination while Spike saw the energy flowing through their body's.

"I've.. never felt anything like this before, even when I was on the Starfall Islands, these powers are completely different.." Spike said with worry while Shadow looked at him with confusion.

"Why do you think these powers are different to what you can do now?" Shadow asked while Spike looked at him again, and tried thinking over it.

"These powers are likely from that.. Black Doom we saw before, the powers I gained was from the Cyber Corruption that almost took over me and Sonic, we pushed through it, and were given a power to destroy a being that could've been The End to everything, it doesn't feel like something I should have.. while the Cyber powers.. felt like something I.. should.." Spike said as he manipulated some of his fire for an example which interested Shadow knowing this.

"Interesting.. but even if these powers are dangerous, we'd best put them to good use. Whatever that monster was, we could put an end to it, and Black Doom if we find them." Shadow said with determination which Spike could agree with, even if he already has a feeling Sonic's taking care of the former.

"If they're somewhere in this void, we need to find a way through here." Spike replied just as Shadow looked ahead, and despite them faintly seeing what looked like.. a castle of sorts, the moment Shadow looked closer to it, he suddenly gasped with shock as he saw someone familiar far off in the distance..

Even the person he saw ahead could see them both, but before she could try to reach out to them, someone else stopped her, someone that also sounded familiar to him. And even from this distance, it looked like..
"Maria?" Shadow asked with shock as he looked ahead in the distance, but couldn't see anything after it as the castle looked to be fading away.

"Shadow? What's wrong?" Spike asked with concern while he tried seeing what he could, but Shadow soon brushed this off and tried regaining focus despite how similar they looked.

"Forget it Spike, I was just.. seeing things." Shadow replied as he remembered the awful moment where Maria was shot on the Ark, and he was sent to Earth over 50 years ago in her dying moments, and it was a memory that even to this day, still felt like a heavy burden he can never get rid off.

Even if Spike could tell something was off, he could see Shadow isn't wanting to discuss something like that right now, they did just meet a while ago too, so talking about something like this now isn't the best option. And as Shadow turned away, he and Spike agreed to just keep moving.

And as they looked towards a strange gate ahead of them, and just next to it looked like a shrine of sorts that it could be used for.
"Shadow, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Spike asked as they looked at it, and felt a dark power coming from it even from this distance, and with a simple nod from Shadow, they both walked up to the shrine to see what it does.

The shrine looked like something from Black Doom yet again, whatever he was doing here, he was clearly trying to spread his influence around this void, Shadow could feel something from it, and the powers he now had, felt very similar to what he's feeling from this..
"Something.. is calling to me.." Shadow said with fascination while they both came up to it, and even if Spike got a bad feeling from it, they don't really have a choice, and if this gear will activate it, he only hopes whatever they gain from this will help.

"Here goes nothing.." Spike replied before he held the gear they had in front of it, and just at that moment, the strange shrine suddenly activated, and what looked to be a strange eye of sorts appeared in the dark center of it, it shot a strange beam towards the gear which pulled it into it, and the power from it erupted and began flying out of it, and directly into them.

Spike screamed again with pain as he felt the power flowing through him again, spreading even more through him as the last time it happened. Even Shadow could feel the pain from it's corruption, and they both groaned with pain as they felt something changing in them yet again.
"What.. is.. this?!" Spike asked with pain before he suddenly felt himself take a deep breath, and as both they're eyes flashed after the power fully merged with them, they both made a loud scream of rage as they unleashed a new ability from them.

Shadow suddenly held out his hand and shot multiple Chaos Spears at a nearby gate that had target markers on them, each of them hit the markers easily and somehow opened up the gate, they were just like the strange wings they got before, but for Spike, his was a bit different.

Spike suddenly shot out a powerful stream of fire that was now a dark red color, and as the stream went across the floor, it suddenly exploded and left a big trail in it's path, followed by Spike shooting multiple dark red fireballs out of his mouth, and as he shot the last one, it collided with the others and made a much bigger explosion, and as the powers calmed down, they both took heavy breaths and looked at themselves as they felt the new power within them now.

"Ugh.. now I wish this was the Cyber corruption instead.. this isn't something I should have.." Spike said weakly while he tried recovering, and getting used to these new powers he now has within him, even Shadow agreed that whatever these powers were, it wasn't something Sonic or the others should use either.

"Neither of us should have these powers, but if Black Doom is wanting a fight, then we'll put these powers to use, it will just take a while to fully get used to them." Shadow replied as Spike finally recovered, and sighed with relief as they looked at the open gate ahead of them, and saw it leading to another place in this white void.

"If these will help us move forward, so be it, come on, let's see what's over there." Spike said as he and Shadow started making they're way to the next area ahead of them, despite how strange this place was, it was as if multiple places from different points in time were here all at once, and wherever this next place was, it was likely another place Spike hasn't been too before.

Spike and Shadow didn't waste any time to head over there as fast as they could, making they're way through the void that only had one set path for them right now, they cleared they're way through a few robots, and went over some rails that were here too, it was like the islands Spike had explored with Sonic before, and he only wondered what else they'll encounter the further they go.

They managed to clear through another gate that needed to be hit with more Chaos Spears again, it was a simple but quick way to keep them moving, and as they finally made it to the area ahead, they saw another strange area that was drained of it's life, and didn't look like it was gonna last unless they help it. And just ahead of it, was a huge looking castle with something at the very top of it, but they couldn't get to it right now given it looked like they'll need to explore more to find a way to get through it, and with this being the only way forward, there wasn't much left to do besides head to this new area.

"Do you think that monster brought this place here too?" Spike asked as they came up to the entrance of the strange area, and it looked like a strange canyon of sorts.

"It's likely every place we encounter was brought here from that monster, if we're gonna move forward, we need to bring life into this place next too." Shadow replied as they looked behind them, and could still see that strange eye looking down at them from far above, and Spike just got a chill at the sight of it knowing it's watching they're every move.

"The sooner we get this done and stop both those monsters, the sooner I can find my mom, you ready to do this?" Spike asked as a portal was appearing in front of them which lead to this new area, and Shadow clutched his fists and got ready to run.

"Try to keep up." Shadow replied before he suddenly ran towards the portal and jumped into it, and Spike didn't waste any time to head after him to see where this portal leads.

"Let's do this." Spike said with a serious look as he jumped into the portal next, and they both began falling through a dark void which was taking them to another place.

They both fell besides eachother as everything around them was strangely shifting into somewhere else, as they were falling through the portal, they soon saw a light appearing at the end of it, and as they dove into it, they now found themselves in another area Spikes never been too before.

They soon fell through the portal and emerged in a ginormous canyon with tons of rails and mechanical stations all over it, large gun machinery was seen at the top of some of the mountains, firing at places from far far away. Spike was completely shocked at the sight of this new place, it looked like it had very limited area to move around in aside from all these rails, even if he can fly, the risk of them falling here is higher then ever, and he made sure to be careful as they now had to go through this place next.
"Shadow! There!" Spike shouted as they saw a pair of rails just below them which they could grind on, and as Shadow looked around, he recognized what this place is, and knew how to get around it.

"Follow my lead! I've been here before! And I know how to get us out!" Shadow ordered before he skillfully landed on one of the rails and began grinding down it, and Spike soon spread out his wings and flew over to the next rail nearby and landed on it too, and they both began grinding down the path ahead of them to try and get through this place.

"Lead the way!" Spike shouted as they kept they're balance, and soon boosted along the rails to make their way through the place.

This place had limited ground for them to move around with how huge the canyon is, the only way forward through it looked to be only on rails, and around the area had tons of machines and strange devices to help connect it all like it was some sort of train track, and it made things more dangerous as they saw strange carts with bombs heading around the place, seemingly heading straight to them.

Spike and Shadow soon came to an end of one of rails paths and started moving across some of the metal platforms that were all connected together, multiple Eggman robots could be seen around the place that could lead them to other areas, and while some had spikes coming from them, they're new powers could be useful.
"Alright, let's give this a shot!" Spike shouted as he took a deep breath and felt his new powers flowing through him again, and he suddenly shot multiple fire balls at each robot flying towards them, and destroyed them instantly upon contact, and as they went towards one of the strange spiky robots, Shadow used his new power and shot multiple spears at it, and robots that were just above it, and that was enough to stun each of them as it helped them move forward.

"Come on!" Shadow screamed as he teleported in front of the robots and destroyed each of the robots upon contact, Spike soon made a high jump and quickly landed on another rail that would change paths once he hit a red and blue switch, and once he hit the switch which turned it red, it lead them to another path leading the way out of here which really came in handy.

"Guess Sonic's been here too huh? This looks like an Eggman base!" Spike shouted as he saw more carts coming to them on more rails, and he quickly pulled out his sniper and shot each of them down while still trying to keep his balance.

"We were all heading through this when Eggman tried taking over the world again with a huge armada! But when we made it to that place finally, we soon found out that Metal Sonic was behind all of it!" Shadow shouted which confused Spike a bit since he hasn't been caught up on that story yet.

"Metal Sonic? Is he another one of Eggman's creations or something?" Spike asked just before he yelped a bit and nearly avoided falling off a rail that reached it's end point.

"You really need to catch up on what's happened kid, there's likely foes we'll face from my past that will be a challenge, and whatever we face, you will need to know how to take them down." Shadow warned which Spike took in, and they looked ahead again as they were heading towards a place where tons of trains were seen moving around.

"I'll catch up on that stuff later! Right now, let's try and avoid these trains!" Spike screamed as multiple of them were about to move down the rails towards them, and already knowing what to do, Shadow hopped across one of the rails and went in front of Spike, and soon held out his Chaos Emerald again to make things easier for me.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow shouted once again as he briefly stopped time again which halted the trains progress for a few moments. And using the time they had, they made their way around the trains before they could run into them, and just as they were reaching the end, they saw another light trail leading to another rail leading into a station ahead of them which they could use.

"Now!" Spike screamed as he and Shadow hopped into the trail together and soon warped through it and went through most of the area around them, and they soon reached the end and hopped onto the far away rail just as time resumed again, and everything around them started moving again.

And as they grinded towards the area leading them into the station forward, just as they entered the place after the doors opened, something began happening again.

The entire area began shifting around them again, and as the rails were suddenly detaching from themselves, and everything around them was falling apart, they heard a familiar laugh just from behind them.
"You again?!" Spike asked with frustration as they saw the Doom's Eye use it's power again to shift reality around them yet again.

The rails were all detaching from eachother, and Spike and Shadow tried they're best hopping across each one before everything fell apart again, and they both fell into another void again as everything shifted again to look like that same place they've been too before, Radical Highway.

"This place again?" Shadow asked with annoyance as they saw the buildings and highways around them were all floating around again, it was a bit nauseating to Spike seeing everything shift around them so fast, but he tried pushing through it as they saw Black Doom moving around the obstacles leading out of here.

"This way, Shadow, and Spike!" Black Doom ordered as they chased him along a long bridge that suddenly began floating upwards, and lead to another bridge they had to grind across to avoid falling.

"Why should we follow you?!" Shadow asked with anger while Spike looked ahead of them and saw more robots in the way, and he quickly used his new powers to shoot a stream of fire along the ground, and as it went under the robots, it exploded yet again and destroyed them so they could move forward.

"Can you afford not too?" Black Doom asked mockingly as they boosted through the fire and headed up a dash panel that helped them run along a collapsing building that broke apart as they ran along it. And even if it's dangerous, it still looked like the only way out of here, and they had no choice but to follow along.

"Fine!" Shadow said with annoyance while Spike jumped onto another rail just above him, and he grinded his way across the place while Shadow jumped off the building, and sky dived his way down through parts of the buildings that were being twisted and changed from Black Doom's powers.

"Was he ever able to do something like this before?!" Spike shouted as he hopped onto the next rail that Shadow also got on, and they both chased after the eye moving through the twisted illusions around them.

"No! He never was able to this before! It must've been because of that monster!" Shadow declared as they saw multiple of those eyes appearing around them, and to try and prevent them from moving forward, they came in they're way and stretched out they're tentacles like spikes, and moved around like a fan to push them back.

Shadow didn't waste time to deal with them, and he simply show more of his spears at them which stunned them enough so they can push through them, and just as they reached the end of the path, gravity around them suddenly shifted upside down which made them fall into a completely different direction.

"Whoa!" Spike screamed as he turned upside down and landed on another bridge and grinded down the side of it, Shadow followed along and teleported across multiple robots in they're way, and they could see springs ahead of them which could help them get out of here.

"We're getting answers from you Black Doom! One way, or another!" Shadow screamed as Spike jumped on one of the springs which launched him into a few more, Shadow soon did the same thing, and gravity shifted around them again which had them run along the bridge that was slowly twisting around them like a spiral, and Black Doom could only laugh seeing they're determination to get to him.

"Very good you two! I hope my little gifts to you both have proven useful!" Black Doom screamed while Spike shot one of the fireballs at one of his eyes to destroy it, but more of them kept appearing around them which made it more frustrating.

"So this was because of you! What are you trying to do?!" Spike shouted with anger while Shadow grabbed his arm, and they both screamed as Spike shot more fire around them which hit the eyes one by one, and as they were falling down towards the last Doom's Eye in front of them, Shadow threw Spike directly towards it who didn't hesitate to deliver a hard kick to it, and that made it drop another one of those strange gears which floated to Shadow, and he quickly grabbed it as they were finally reaching the bottom.

"You'll both understand soon! But it's still not enough!" Black Doom shouted again as he soon disappeared in front of them as they jumped across one more ramp, and they soon landed down on another rail while everything around them began turning back into that strange canyon area again.

"Not enough? What did he mean by that?" Shadow asked with confusion while they saw things return to normal again which was relieving a bit, but they didn't have much time to relax, as they had soon emerged back into the canyon again, and began grinding down one long rail track that seemed to lead them out of there. There was a single portal in the distance which was they're way out.

"We'll find out the next time we see him! Let's get out of here!" Spike shouted as they headed down towards it, but as they were nearing the end of the rail, they could hear multiple trains heading towards them from behind, and Spike screamed with surprise as he barely avoided being hit by one of them, and Shadow quickly had to jump across each rail as the trains were moving down.

"Watch out!" Shadow screamed as Spike barely dodged another one, and as they kept moving, one last very large train chased after them, and they both boosted as fast as they could to escape. But when it looked like it was about to get them, Spike got an idea on how to escape this place

"Shadow! Grab my hand!" Spike shouted as he spread his wings again to try and fly, and already seeing what he's implying, Shadow took Spike's claw and he held on tightly as Spike took off into the air and saved them from being hit by the huge train which soon fell off the rails and exploded as it hit the bottom.

And using the free space they have now, Spike flew his way towards the portal while Shadow kept an eye out for any more threats, and just as he saw some carts heading towards them with bombs ready to be thrown, Shadow shot more Chaos Spears at them which destroyed them before they could do no harm.
"Finally! Let's get out of here!" Spike screamed as he and Shadow flew through the portal and finally escaped this huge canyon.

They both flew through the void before they finally came out of it, and soon landed down on the ground in the white void once again, the area they were in soon had most of it's life and color restored to it, mainly just the huge canyon they were just in, while the rest of the place that looked like a station or sorts still was all white.

Spike and Shadow sighed with relief at once as they found themselves back in the white space yet again after going through all that madness, and as they took in this moment to rest, another gear appeared from the area they were just in, one that looked like it could open another one of those shrines.
"Hmph, so the more we make our way through these places, the more the life returns to these areas..:" Shadow declared as he grabbed the gear piece for later, and before Spike could respond, the other gear Shadow got from Black Doom suddenly floated away from them, and soon flew all the way towards the eye in the sky again, and with it's power, another dangerous looking eye appeared from it, both of which were looking down at them, and they could both feel they're growing power the more they were here.

"That things likely where Black Doom is hiding, coward." Shadow mocked while Spike crossed his arms and looked around the place, and as he looked at the strange castle behind them, he could see another one of those shrines that could give them yet another power. It could help them lead to whatever's at the top of it.

"As long as this is helping is move forward, that's all I need to know." Spike replied as he glared towards the eyes again, and growled at the sight of them, knowing that it'll likely be their final destination. And with very little to do right now, Shadow and Spike looked up at the shrine again, and knew it was the only way forward after what they went through.

"Black Doom is wanting us to keep getting these new powers, that much is obvious now, but for what?" Spike questioned while he looked at himself again, and still felt the powers moving around him.

"We'll get the answers from him the next time we see him, but if not, they're just another method we'll use to destroy him! We can't allow him to escape this place, if he returns to Earth, everyone else won't stand a chance, especially with these new powers of his." Shadow said as he clutched his fists at the thought of it, and knowing what's at risk, they can't waste any more time here.

"Don't worry, we'll get strong enough to take him down for good when the time comes. For now, let's just find out what's at the top of that castle." Spike declared before he started making his way through the place to get the shrine, and Shadow didn't hesitate to follow him, wherever both those monster's were, they aren't gonna stop until this is all finally done.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading this everyone! Sorry again for the long wait on this chapter, but I'm still trying to plan out how to handle Spike in this story since there is quite a lot I've got in store for this, I know this was mainly on act 1 of Rail Canyon, but I have ideas on how to keep things moving forward without it feeling like a 1 to 1 with the games. I will include the movie DLC pack as well as a few other original stuff I'm gonna be doing for the story when I get to it, so I hope that will be interesting to you all when I eventually get to them.

I'm sorry I take a while with these updates, but I have a lot to work on which makes it hard for me to find the right time to work on stories like this. And with a recent loss I've been going through lately, it's been tough for me. But I'll try getting through this story fully one day, I know it's rough waiting this long for an update, and I do apologize for it. But I can't guarantee when I can update something again with how much I'm still working on, but when I know how to continue things, I'll make sure to update the story when I can, even if it could take a while, so I hope that's understandable.

I just hope I handled this chapter well, we'll be switching to Angel's perspective for the next few chapters or so to focus on Sonic Generations, while Sonic Generations didn't have much of a story at all, I'm gonna try to make it more interesting with her there at least. But I hope I did good with this chapter, again, sorry for the slow updates, but I just hope I've been doing good with this story so far. Thanks for reading this everyone, and hope you have a good day!