"Chaos Control!" Shadow yelled, firing off a blast of energy, or at least trying to. All that happened was he was knocked backwards into the wall. He swore and got up. "Chaos Control!" Again, he was slammed into the wall. "Why the heck isn't this working!" He exclaimed angrily, hitting the target he was trying to shoot, with his fist.
"Did you try time-bending?" Tails asked through the intercom. He was behind a blast wall, watching Shadow, and trying to figure out a way to fix the problem. Since Sonic had been taken captive, Shadow was the closest thing the kitsune had to an adoptive brother, not that this situation worked very well.
"No." Shadow replied, shaking his head. "I'll try that, but hopefully it won't turn me inside out!" Tails grimaced as the black and red hedgehog muttered. "Chaos Control", and seemingly vanished, only to appear with a bang, falling from up near the ceiling and hitting the floor with a thud. "Ok, that didn't work…" He murmured. "It's no use Tails, it's totally busted." Shadow walked out of the room, heading around the corner and down the hall to where Tails was, who was heading over to him with a saddened expression.
"It's hopeless." Tails said sorrowfully. "We're never going to get Sonic back!" Shadow gave Tails a bored, dull look.
"No, it's not hopeless. We will get Sonic back, so pick up your chin and we'll get this on with. There's got to be another way to get this problem fixed." The kitsune only sighed, but nodded. Then, he got a thoughtful look on his face. His expression brightened greatly, and he said excitedly.
"I've got an idea! I can't believe I didn't think of this before!"
"Well spit it out and I'll know what your idea is." Shadow said with slightly snappy tones. He was getting impatient. The fact that he'd lost his Chaos controlling abilities was hitting him hard. Tails seem slightly affronted with Shadow's response, and replied with much less cheerfulness.
"Well, we could bring in somebody else! You know, to take Sonic's roll in this while the real Sonic isn't here!"
"You mean a clone or a copy?" Shadow mused, a dull expression on his face.
"No, somebody completely new! A brand new person to do the job and save Sonic! An outsider to our world!" Shadow raised an eyebrow.
"Uh huh, and how would you bring about that one?" Tails perked up again, and actually smiled.
"I've got a special machine that can bring help like this! I didn't say anything about it before, because I didn't know if it would ever be useful! That and I've never tried it before." Shadow rolled his eyes.
"Fun, a machine that is "supposed" to summon somebody up, but it's never been tried before. Sounds like fun." Tails' tails drooped and he said quietly.
"It's still a plan…unless you want to keep on failing with trying to get your Chaos under control…" Shadow glared at the kitsune, but knew he was right: there wasn't really another option at this time. They'd already sent Blaze after Sonic, and she was found soon after beaten to a pulp and lying just a little ways down the road from their fortress.
"Well, let's do it then." Shadow said after a pause. "It probably is our last chance anyway." Tails perked up slightly, and nodded.
"Ok! Let's do this!" And he tore off down the hall, using his tails to propel him forwards towards the mechanics room. Shadow rolled his eyes and followed, using his jet shoes. He'd found out that they were more useful in the fortress with Sonic and Tails around, than they were outside.
Tails flicked a light switch on in the mechanics room, and pushed a small green button, which turned red instantly. The floor slid open, and a huge machine came up on a panel. "That's it?" Shadow asked, looking at the strange contraption with amused surprise. He hadn't expected that. The machine was covered in wires, control panels, and switches. There was a cage-like section connected to one side of it, and it seemed almost like a torture device. Tails grinned.
"You like it?" He asked excitedly, watching the hedgehog with hopeful and cheery eyes.
"Yeah, but does it work?" Shadow asked, an eyebrow raising. Tails shrugged, and replied.
"Not sure, but that's what we're finding out isn't it?" The kitsune quickly scrambled up a small ladder, and sat down at a large computer panel with many different buttons, keypads, and other paraphernalia. Shadow followed Tails up the ladder, and watched as the kitsune started typing rapidly on one of the keyboards. The contraption vibrated and started up. It sounded almost like a jet engine.
"Now what?" Shadow yelled over the noise. Tails just smiled, not looking up, but typing something on another keypad, and hitting a yellow button.
"Go hit the teal button over there!" Tails called back, pointing at a panel with several buttons on it not far off from where the pair were. Shadow nodded, not really liking the fact he was taking orders from a ten year old, but did what he was told to do. He hit the button, and the machine gave a lurch, firing a large beam through a window up above. The glass shattered and showered the hedgehog, who let out a yell of surprise.
"Was that supposed to happen!" He shouted in annoyance. Tails just nodded, not looking up from the screens in front of him.
"Now hit the red button!" The kitsune shouted back, typing something on yet another keypad. Shadow grumbled something, but hit the red button. Another beam shot through the broken window, this time a green one instead of blue. "Hit the yellow one now! Quickly!" Again, Shadow hit a button, and a yellow beam shot through the window.
"And would you like a soft drink with that order!" Shadow yelled, obviously not liking being told what to do by somebody at least five times younger than he was.
"Got one thanks!" Shadow had to shake himself and think that over. He looked at Tails, and noticed that the kitsune had a can of soda beside him. Tails grinned, then looked at a screen. His grin broadened. "Shadow come see this!" The hedgehog muttered something that couldn't be heard over the noise of the machine, but he walked over and looked at the screen that Tails was pointing excitedly at. There was a figure appearing on the screen. It was a hazy image, but was definitely human.
"You called a human!" Shadow asked with disbelief. "Why didn't you get another person like us!" Tails only smiled and pushed a purple button eagerly. The image started to change, shift shapes, and it seemed to be morphing into a copy of Sonic. Shadow stared at the screen with amazement. He didn't know what to say next, something that rarely happened to him. Even with his extremely extensive, and colourful, vocabulary, there was nothing he could say about this. Finally he said. "Weird…"
"Isn't this great!" Tails asked happily. "It'll take about a day for the newcomer to get here, but…"
"A day!" Shadow exclaimed. "Tails, the whole world could be destroyed in that time! Can't you speed this up!" Tails looked saddened, and slightly put out.
"I can't help it! That's the fastest it'll go! It takes time to turn somebody anthromorphic! Just please don't lose patience." Shadow rolled his eyes and headed for the door. Tails looked on the verge of tears. "I'll tell you when they get here then…" He said quietly. But Shadow was already out the door, and halfway down the hall. The mechanics room door closed automatically, leaving the kitsune alone with the feeling that he'd failed the whole group. How wrong he was…