'Let's Rock'
By T. 'RockChick' Evans
All characters © to their respective owners, etc etc. This is part of the STC2 continuity, and takes place at the same time as 'The Shadow Echidna.'
* * * *
Morning in some back-end-of-nowhere part of Mobius. The small, run- down bed and breakfast was in fact a 'safe house', one of few establishments that could be considered 'safe' for someone who opposed Robotnik these days. Inside, Shade Phoenix - who was exactly that sort of person- was getting ready for another day. The hedgehog stood in the tiny bathroom and splashed some water onto his face. When he had finished washing, he glanced at the mirror. The golden- brown fur and spines were not what grabbed his attention, nor was the long spiny quiff that hung down over his forehead. His gaze was drawn immediately to the eyes. Even after all this time, his eyes had remained the same. Reminding him of a past he would rather forget. Quickly, the brown hedgehog snatched up a pair of blue- tinted sunglasses from the table next to him, and slipped them on. His eyes looked purplish behind the lenses. Much better. --suddenly, he yelled as something grabbed his shoulder! Who was it? Had they seen? Then the something made a puzzled mewling noise in Shade's ear, and the startled hedgehog sighed in relief. "Sparky, how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?" Shade grinned as the metallic green chao got a firm grip on his head quills. The little creature whined apologetically. "No, I'm not mad at you," Shade replied, seeming to understand him perfectly. "Just don't do it again, okay?" Sparky nodded an affirmative, then took flight and followed the hedgehog out of the room. A couple of minutes later, Shade had located and put on a pair of finger- less gloves and blue Soap trainers, before sitting down and turning on the room's small portable radio. "Let's see what's going on today." The hedgehog fiddled around with the tuning dial for a while, and eventually came across what he had been looking for- a pirate radio station called Underground FM. Underground FM was one of the few remaining 'free' radio stations after Robotnik's takeover. It caused the dictator no end of headaches; partly because it openly opposed him- catering mainly to the few resistance groups and 'New Zonerunners' scattered around Mobius- but mainly because he still hadn't been able to shut it down. No one knew by whom or where from the pirate station was broadcast. Probably somewhere on South Island, Shade mused. The place remained free despite Robotnik's takeover of the rest of Mobius. No one knew exactly why he had never bothered with it, but some suspected the reason was to do with Azure- the mysterious entity responsible for organising the badnik army. Azure had a great influence in deciding which areas were attacked, and no doubt had some reason for not striking the island. On the radio, the morning news was being read. Shade turned the volume down a little, just in case the bed and breakfast wasn't as safe as he'd hoped. Robotnik had ears everywhere. "--News from the underground is that it's been a bad week for old egg- head," the young, cocky voice from the radio chuckled. "There's been reports that that spooky Spectre is at it again, and he's been causing seven different kinds of chaos. Robotnik's troopers had better watch out!" Shade shook his head. Not that story again. People had been claiming that they had seen a ghostly, white hedgehog for months now. Wherever it appeared, it brought destruction with it. Shade didn't believe in ghosts, and had never encountered this mysterious hedgehog- there was definitely some sort of entity at work, but it sure wasn't the undead. And it didn't just target Robotnik; whoever or whatever this 'spectre' was, its behaviour was totally random. "Some people even claim that Spectre is the ghost of Sonic the Hedgehog!" the announcer continued in an eerie voice. The brown hedgehog snorted in disbelief. He had heard that one many times since Sonic had 'disappeared' twelve months earlier. Shade had been there, seen the aftermath of Sonic's battle with the Super Metallix. The pure white snow of the Frozen Zone had been streaked with red. a lot of it. but there had been no other trace; no body, nothing. The blue hedgehog was alive, somewhere- he was sure of it- but he knew, somehow, that Spectre and Sonic were not one and the same. On the radio, the voice had moved on to another news item. "Also, a group of Zonerunners were responsible for liberating fifty of Robotnik's prisoners yesterday, at a complex in the Red Mountain Zone." Shade's ears twitched. This was more interesting. The 'New' Zonerunners had emerged soon after Robotnik started taking control over the Zones. Some of them had been 'Runners during Robotnik's first takeover of Mobius; others were new to the fight. Generally, they amounted to little more than a thorn in the madman's side, but to take on a whole prison complex. maybe they were getting somewhere. "Score one for the good guys," Shade said to himself, rather impressed. Thinking about it, he supposed he could be classed as a sort of Zonerunner. The 'Runners travelled the zones alone, or sometimes in small groups, making trouble for Robotnik- just like Shade did. However, while they often kept in contact with each other, the only group Shade really associated with was Sonic's 'gang'- and that was only when necessary. The Freedom Fighters were still active, despite being much less effective than they had been when Sonic was around. Shade did not fight by choice. The hedgehog had no love for violence of any kind, yet he still fought. Perhaps it was just part of who he was- or who he had once been; he would rather have had a different life, but his hate of oppression made that impossible. It was also a way of making up for things he had done in the past. But, most importantly, there was his 'mission'. Shade's belief that Sonic had survived was not shared by many; and the hedgehog knew that he might be the only one who was able to find him. Sonic was more than a hero, he was a symbol of hope; hope which some of the people of Mobius had lost. If he returned, perhaps there would be a chance. And Shade owed it to him. he had been too late before, and he would not let Sonic down again. The voice on the radio continued. "That place is gonna be out of action for a while. The 'Runners made sure the complex was totally trashed. and if Egg- Belly is listening, he can take that as proof that we aren't finished yet!" Shade grinned as the speakers began to play an upbeat jingle. Perhaps things weren't as hopeless as they seemed; that guy on the radio sure knew how to put someone in a good mood. "Hey, Sparky! There's a whole destroyed prison complex up in Red Mountain. Know what that means?" he asked. The chao blinked, the floating ball above his head forming a question mark. "It means," Shade explained, "That it's scavenge time." Who knew what would be left lying around? The 'Runners had probably grabbed what they could, but there might still be supplies, equipment or even weapons. Shade hated guns, but they were sometimes necessary; especially when facing heavily armed badniks. He would use any advantage he could get. More importantly, though, there might be information- something he could use in the search for Sonic. Getting up, the hedgehog grabbed and put on his denim jacket; shrugging his shoulders until it settled properly over his jutting back-spikes. He opened the door. "C'mon, Sparky. Let's hit the road and see what we can salvage."
* * * *
Some time later, at Red Mountain. "The radio guy wasn't kidding. this place is a mess all right," Shade mused, looking around at the ruined buildings. "The 'Runners must have used some kind of explosives after they freed the prisoners." He glanced towards where he had hidden his antigrav motorcycle in one of the arid Zone's few bushes, then, with Sparky obediently following, cautiously made his way towards the burned- out shell of the prison. He had to be careful; the place might be crawling with badniks. Robotnik would probably want to investigate and start rebuilding as soon as possible. Here and there, plumes of smoke still rose from inside the depressing grey building, which had lost its' roof. The hedgehog shook his head. "It's totalled. We're not gonna find anything useful in that ruin." He sighed. "Well, looks like another dead end." Shade turned to go, but suddenly caught a glint of something shiny out of the corner of his eye. At the same moment, Sparky cried out in surprise. The reflective object wasn't there anymore. The hedgehog frowned. probably a badnik on patrol, so it was best to get out of there. He looked around for his chao, but he was nowhere in sight. then he spotted the small emerald figure, purposefully running towards the building where the shiny thing had been. "What the?! Sparky, come back here!" The chao disappeared through the open doorway, and Shade gave chase. Inside the prison building it was dark, and still warm from the flames. The air was heavy with smoke. He walked down the blackened corridors for a few minutes, and saw no sign of his small companion. "Sparky? Where the heck are you?" Shade hissed, puzzled. It wasn't like him to run off like that. There was a faint whine from a doorway to his left. Shade entered the room, and grinned. "There you are." The green chao looked at him puzzledly, then turned around and pointed. Following Sparky's gaze, the hedgehog peered into the corner of the room. He gasped in surprise. "Whoa, it's another chao!" Chao were still quite rare, although they were quickly becoming more common- especially since the Floating Island had been grounded. That was probably where the exotic little creatures had originated from; they certainly seemed attracted to Chaos energy in any case. The surprising thing was that this new chao was one of the unusual metallic variety, like Sparky- except it was golden rather than emerald green. The gold chao sat in the corner, and glared angrily. The differences didn't end with colour, Shade noticed. Unlike his own chao, this one had long, hedgehog- like quills on the back of its' head- upturned quills resembling Shadow's. The spiny ball above its head, pupil- less eyes and mouthful of sharp little teeth identified it as a dark chao. "Is it me, or does he look familiar?" Shade muttered, surprised. Sparky made a noncommittal sound, and ran towards the other chao. The gold chao backed off and growled menacingly. "Careful." the hedgehog cautioned. Sparky didn't need telling; he kept his distance. Dark chao, Shade knew, were either wild strays or had been neglected by their owners. They developed a vicious temper in order to survive, and wouldn't hesitate about biting anyone who came near. And that included other chao. so it was wise not to approach them. But that wasn't the chao's fault, and Shade also knew what would happen to the little creature if he left it here. Robotnik's badniks would return sooner or later, and it would be defenceless. The hedgehog would have to capture it somehow. He looked at the furious gold chao, then at Sparky. "You couldn't, uh, talk to it or something?" The emerald chao seemed to shrug, and inched closer. He mewed something. The gold one replied with an enraged hiss, leaping to its feet. The tiny fists were raised in an almost comical fight stance, and Sparky instantly scurried behind the hedgehog for protection. Shade couldn't stop the smirk from exploding onto his face. "That'd be a no then." Trying a different approach, he walked slowly towards the bristling chao. "Calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you." he reassured it gently. The chao allowed Shade to get within a metre or two, then zoomed between his feet. He turned to see it glaring at him from the opposite corner. no, not glaring; it actually had an evil little grin on its face. "Slippery little thing." He approached again, the chao letting him get much closer this time. It still wore that wicked, sharp toothed grin. "Huh?" That chao was up to something. Shade's eyes picked out a chao- sized hole in the floor, about a foot away. "Uh oh." There was a creak. And then the floor collapsed under his feet.
* * * *
"Urghh." the hedgehog groaned, as consciousness gradually returned. He had no idea how far he had fallen, or to where. Not opening his eyes, Shade rolled onto hands and knees; feeling around the dusty floor until he found his sunglasses, which had fallen off. They didn't seem broken, he noticed with relief as he put them back on. None of his bones seemed to be broken, either. Shade opened his eyes and found himself staring into a grinning yellow face with pupil- less eyes, only a few inches from his nose. "YAAAA!!" The gold chao chirped innocently. "That was NOT funny, pal." Shade muttered. The chao ran off down the corridor as he got to his feet. The hedgehog stared at it for a moment- it was now some distance away, sitting down with that familiar malicious smirk. For some reason, annoying as it was, Shade was starting to like the dark chao. It had attitude, that was for sure. But still, it was going to be a hard one to catch. Sighing, the brown hedgehog brushed some grit off his shades with the back of his hand. He looked down to see Sparky at his side, looking a bit bewildered. The green chao stared around confusedly, and made a one- syllable sound of puzzlement. "I don't know where we are, either." agreed Shade, examining his surroundings. It seemed to be an underground level of the prison complex, and unlike the floor above, was oddly intact. Even the electricity still worked, to some extent- he was glad for the lighting, if the feeble glow from the grimy strip- lights could be called that. "This place must be armoured or something to have survived that explosion. Maybe it's the high- security section." They were in a corridor lined with cells, he noticed. All the ones he could see from here were not occupied- at first he assumed that the Zonerunners must have liberated the prisoners. Then, examining a cell, he frowned. Like all the others, the cell was empty. It had no bars- just a flickering, still- active force field. "That's weird- it's still locked. This floor was probably empty to begin with." There had been no prisoners in this part of the complex. neither had there been any fighting, judging by the absence of destroyed troopers and other signs of battle. "Maybe the 'Runners didn't find this place." That was good, Shade thought. He was more likely to discover something useful. And if this floor was shielded well enough to escape notice and survive explosions, that meant Robotnik probably had something important hidden away down here. That got the hedgehog's interest. But first, there were other things to be done. "Right." he said to himself. "First I've got to catch Laughing Boy over there, then I need to find a way out of here." Followed by Sparky, he started off down the long corridor. The gold chao stayed put until Shade was almost within grabbing range, then took off again. It moved some distance down the corridor, stopped, and continued to sit down and grin. Shade almost laughed at that. The creature was toying with him. He shook his head, smiling- so, the chao thought it could outrun him, did it? He was about to show it otherwise when another thought struck him. The chao wasn't just playing around, it was leading him. Just like in those old kids' shows where the faithful pet lead help to the injured owner. "Great," muttered the hedgehog. "I'm being given the run-around by the chao equivalent of Lassie." The question was, where was it leading him? "Okay," he addressed the dark chao, smirking. "I'll play your little game. But if you're just leading me to the nearest chao-nut tree, you're in big trouble." The chao grinned.
* * * *
Some time later, Shade and Sparky had been dragged all over the maze of corridors by the golden chao. It never allowed either of them to get close enough to touch; approaches were greeted with snarls, growls and the occasional flurry of snapping teeth. Shade was getting seriously fed up. "That's enough." he grumbled, approaching the still sitting, still grinning chao for the umpteenth time. This time, though, it didn't move. "Huh?" The chao looked up at the confused hedgehog, then into the cell to its right. Shade followed the direction of its stare, as did Sparky, who squeaked in surprise. This cell was different to the others. It was bigger for a start, and looked more heavily reinforced. There were two force fields, one behind the other. The biggest difference was that it was occupied. Curled into a tight ball on the bench that passed for a bed, was a female hedgehog. "Is that your owner?" Shade said to the dark chao. It met his gaze with the same hostile stare, but nodded a little. The brown hedgehog gazed incredulously at the sleeping girl, not having expected to find anyone. especially not someone who looked like this. She appeared to be a young adult, about the same age as Shade. The hedgehog was wearing a denim top and jeans, and purple trainers; all in all quite normal, but this was no ordinary brown hedgehog. Her quills were fused and down-curved, similar to Sonic's but a lot longer. The spines and fur were pure white, but she was not one of the rare albino hedgehogs that turned up occasionally. That was proven by the sky blue streaks which adorned her quills, forearms and the quiff on her forehead. Shade started, realising that the hedgehog girl bore a striking resemblance to Shadow. He knew that Robotnik had been doing something with Dr. Gerald's research; did that mean that she was.? No wonder she had been locked up so securely! But if the girl was in a prison complex, than she obviously was not on Robotnik's side. "Hey!" Shade hissed. "Hey, wake up!" The girl stirred, yawned, and opened a blue eye half- way. She seemed half asleep; but both eyes snapped fully open when she saw the stranger outside. "Oh!" she exclaimed, uncurling. Sitting on the bench, she sized up the other hedgehog. He had a rock- and- roll look about him, what with the denim jacket and those odd, rimless shades. His quills were a little funny looking though, partly fused together and hanging down as far as his waist. Unusual colour too- light brown with a hint of gold. But then again, she was pretty weird looking herself. There was a metallic green chao by his side, she noticed. "Who're you?" she asked shyly, getting up and moving closer to the force field. "Is that really important?" he replied, suspiciously. "Mystery man, huh?" The girl smiled. "Well, my name's Thalia. It's about time someone turned up. there haven't even been any badniks around since that big bang yesterday." She had a slight accent, Shade observed. He couldn't place it. The brown hedgehog felt a little suspicious. if the girl was the owner of a dark chao, that didn't say anything good about her character. "How'd you find me, anyway?" Thalia continued. Shade nodded towards the golden chao, who was getting as close to the force field as he could without getting fried. "This little guy led me here." "Hey." the white hedgehog beamed, crouching down to the chao's level. "I was wondering where you had got to." The chao purred affectionately, its behaviour completely opposite to what it had been before. "He must have escaped during the commotion yesterday." "How come you have a dark chao, anyway?" Shade asked, indicating the gold creature. He met the girl's eyes, searchingly. "Oh, that." She nodded, smiling. "This chao was a stray. I found him wandering around the streets some time ago; he was already a dark chao." Shade nodded, reassured. It looked like his suspicion had been misplaced; he wouldn't usually have trusted so quickly, but it seemed Thalia was telling the truth. "Now, let's see about getting you out of here." he smiled. The hedgehog examined the locking mechanism on the wall outside the cell. There was the usual keypad and screen- a screen which, when he pushed a button, demanded a password. "Hmmm." Shade mused. The code would probably have something to do with the prisoner. he glanced at her quickly, debating over what it might be. Maybe 'Shadow' or. "Got it!" he clicked his fingers. "Bet you the password is 'Maria.'" Shade typed in the code, and pressed 'enter'. The twin force fields obediently flickered out of existence. "Password accepted," the screen read. "Heh." Shade chuckled. "Robotnik is so predictable." "Are you complaining?" Thalia grinned back, stepping out of the cell. He could now sense a lot of Chaos energy coming from her; the force fields had probably been blocking it. Much like the dampening field that Azure had set up, which now prevented Shade -or anyone else- from tracking down the Chaos Emeralds with long- range sensors. You had to be quite close to detect one, these days. The gold chao instantly leaped into the girl's arms, mewling frantically. No wonder the feral chao had latched on to her, Shade thought, if she had a Chaos energy signature. "Calm down, Fury!" the white hedgehog exclaimed, laughing. "Fury, huh? Good name. It suits him." "Yeah," agreed the girl. "I picked it because he looks a bit like Super Sonic." "You can say that again." replied Shade, with a strange little smile on his face. Thalia looked at the brown hedgehog, frowning slightly. "I don't suppose you'll tell me your name." He sighed. He didn't suppose there was much harm in that, now he wasn't suspicious of her any more. "Phoenix." He said, bluntly. "But everyone calls me Shade. Guess you can see why." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm not the only one with a weird name around here, then." Her eyes narrowed, as she thought to herself that it obviously was not his real name. Shade shrugged. "What's with those shades, anyway?" Thalia questioned. "Don't ask." The white hedgehog sighed. She obviously wasn't going to get anything more out of this guy, but she assumed she could trust him- after all, he had released her. "Come on," she said, setting Fury down on the floor. "Let's find a way out of here."
* * * *
The two hedgehogs and their chao wandered around the maze-like structure for a while, searching for an exit. No luck yet- the hole in the ceiling that Shade had entered through was too high to reach, and so far they had found no working lifts or unblocked staircases. There wasn't much talking after that first conversation. Thalia was quiet, Shade noticed, and seemed rather uncomfortable around him; a shy girl. Shade himself was anything but shy- but he wasn't exactly an expert around girls, either. Sighing, he decided to end the awkward silence. "So, what's your story?" he asked curiously, his voice sounding unnaturally loud in the abandoned corridor. "You're obviously no ordinary hedgehog." "You're right.unfortunately." She nodded ruefully. "I didn't always look like this. Ever heard of Project Umbra?" "No. is that like Project Shadow or something?" "Yeah, kind of." Thalia paused uncertainly. "I don't know all the facts. But from what I overheard, the military spent years trying to recreate the Ultimate Life Form." Shade nodded encouragingly. He'd already figured that out for himself. ".But they couldn't get it right. You remember when that satellite nearly crashed into Mobius last year? It was something to do with the scientist behind that, his technology being too complex or something." "Dr. Gerald," the brown hedgehog murmured. "I know. I was right in the middle of that ARK business last year." "Wow," breathed the girl, impressed. "Don't tell me you met Shadow, too." "Briefly." Shade gave a grim smile. "He wasn't too impressed with me. but from what I heard, Shadow and Sonic made a pretty good team." "Do you. do you think they're still alive somewhere?" Thalia asked softly. The other hedgehog thought about it for a few moments. He was positive that Sonic was still out there, and as for Shadow. well, he was willing to bet that it would take more than re- entry to finish him off. He nodded slowly, and smiled. "Yeah, I think they just might be." The two hedgehogs continued walking down the corridor in silence for a moment, a silence only broken by the bickering of Sparky and Fury behind them. "Anyway," Thalia began after a while. "As I was saying. The Project Umbra research was abandoned until Robotnik turned up for the first time. Then the government got desperate, and they started it up again- they weren't able to copy Dr. Gerald's work, so they decided that creating a life form from scratch was too difficult. So they went looking for someone they could use as a template." "Let me guess," interrupted Shade. "They picked you, right?" "Picked? More like kidnapped!" The young hedgehog's blue eyes filled with fury. "They probably chose me because I'm an orphan. No family to go looking for me." Shaking his head sympathetically, Shade waited for her to continue. "These soldiers came and knocked me out," she bristled. "I woke up in a lab somewhere, looking like this." Thalia stared at the sky blue and white fur on her forearm. "It might have been okay if they had got it right," she added miserably. Shade wisely remained silent. Eventually, though,, his curiosity got the better of him. "What happened then? Did they let you go?" "No." she almost- whispered, looking away. "There were tests. and then I. I escaped." Obviously, Shade thought, she didn't want to talk about exactly how she'd escaped. Much as he wanted to know, he knew it was her business- besides, there were things he didn't like to speak of, too. A lot of things. Oddly enough, Thalia continued without prompting after a few seconds. "Luckily, I was forgotten about after Robotnik's first takeover. I would have fought him, but. I'm no fighter. I never was; I just don't have it in me." The hedgehog smiled sadly. "I guess you could say I was. kind of the school nerd. Those army guys picked the wrong person." She sighed. "But a couple of months ago Robotnik captured me, and as soon as he figured out I was no use to him, he locked me up here." Shade listened quietly. Thalia was obviously one of those people that wouldn't say a word for hours, then suddenly come out with a twenty- page speech. At this point she seemed to switch back into silent mode, and he was glad that she didn't ask about his own past. Still, yet again, it was up to him to lead the conversation. He didn't mind; it wasn't as if Sparky ever answered back. The brown hedgehog was secretly glad of the company. "You play the guitar?" he asked after a few minutes, spotting what appeared to be a yellow plectrum on a string around Thalia's neck. "Not really," she laughed, seeming to have cheered up. She held up her forefinger. "One chord. Guess I'm sort of a wannabe rock-chick. You can't beat eighties metal, if you ask me." "Well, 'RockChick'--" Shade chuckled, spotting something up ahead. "It looks like we've found something."
* * * *
Complete with a new nickname, Thalia-- RockChick-- watched Shade examine the thick, firmly locked metal door. No keypad this time, just a slot for a clearance card and a lot of cold, uncaring steel. It obviously led somewhere important, and the white hedgehog hoped it was somewhere safe. She was worried. Very worried. Worried because RockChick had made a bit of an understatement when she said that the scientists 'hadn't got it right'. She wanted to let the other hedgehog know the real reason behind her reluctance to get involved with the fight against Robotnik, and how she had escaped from the military. If they ran into trouble, she didn't want him getting hurt. At the same time, she didn't want to tell him because she was afraid of losing his trust. When a friend found out her 'little secret', they didn't stay that way for long. But then again. she wasn't the only one who was hiding things. He was keeping information back, too, and RockChick had a feeling they had more in common than Shade was letting on. The white hedgehog could sense that he had a Chaos energy signature; a very faint one. Barely even there, in fact. But it was clear enough to her. She sighed dejectedly. Something nudged her leg, and the hedgehog looked down to see Fury. He gave a quizzical whimper. "No, nothing's wrong," she said softly. "I'm fine." Shade heard the girl sigh then murmur something quietly. "You say something?" he asked, looking away from the door. "No, just talking to my chao." The brown hedgehog nodded, then turned back to the obstacle in their path. "Well," he began wearily, "Looks like it's gonna take more than quick thinking to get through this door." He rapped it with a knuckle, causing a dull thunk. He was going to have to rely on brute force this time. He looked over at RockChick, knowing that would mean revealing more about himself than he would like her to know. "I really don't want to do this," he muttered to Sparky, who responded with a sort of chao shrug. Shade started walking back the way he had come. After a while, he turned and judged the distance to the door. "I think that should be enough. Everyone get behind me, I don't want you getting hurt." "What are you going to do?" RockChick asked, complying. The two chao followed. "This." He pelted towards the door, accelerating more quickly than any normal hedgehog could. At the last instant, he leapt and hit the door with a powerful flying kick. Unfortunately, the door didn't yield; the metal bulged into the room beyond, but the door just managed to stay on its hinges. Shade straightened out his jacket. "This door is tougher than I thought. But that should've softened it up a bit," he said. RockChick raised an eyebrow. "Nice. How come you don't like doing that?" "Um." Shade fished for an answer. "It. uh, it gives me an edge if people don't realise what I can do." "Really." "Yes, really!" he replied quickly, thinking- correctly- that his hasty, semi-true explanation had been a bit unconvincing. "Now let me try it," the girl smiled. "Stand back." RockChick attacked the stubborn door in exactly the same way, displaying her own unusual speed. The door collapsed under the onslaught, which was good. What wasn't good was that the white and blue hedgehog suddenly found herself unable to stop, and skidded, out of control, into the room beyond...
* * * *
RockChick crashed headlong into what seemed to be a pile of old machinery. Embarrassed and cursing her own clumsiness, she attempted to stand. and found that she could not. Eight powerful, joined chrome legs suddenly wrapped around her midriff, pinning her arms to her sides in a vice- like grip. "Aaaah! Help!" she yelled. Shade pelted into the room, followed by Sparky and Fury. The hedgehog gasped in surprise. "What?! A Grabber badnik?!" The spidery robot had RockChick in its' clutches. This type of badnik was an old model, but still effective. it must have been used as a guard or sentry. It had been deactivated until a few seconds ago, and was seemingly malfunctioning. "Escapee. bzzk. detained. Activating self destruct. bzzk." The mechanical arachnid droned in a calm, mechanical voice. The trouble with Grabbers was that they were seriously explosive; this one immediately began a 30- second countdown. "Get this thing off me!!" RockChick panicked. Shade nodded frantically, and scrabbled at a panel on the robot's back- he didn't want to risk smashing the badnik, it might detonate. He managed to remove the metal plate and gazed despairingly at the mass of wiring inside. He needed to defuse the Grabber, but didn't know where to start. So he did the first thing that came to mind: he started ripping everything out. Badnik components were strewn all over the floor, but the only real result was that the countdown skipped from fifteen to five seconds. "Shade!!!" yelled the girl. "Oh, hell." he swore. The countdown reached zero. "I. I'm sorry." Shade murmured, diving out of the way as a small explosion ripped through the Grabber, and presumably, it's prisoner. Shade didn't want to look, but forced himself to do so anyway. He couldn't see anything through the smoke. .and at the same moment, his senses registered a massive Chaos energy surge. "What the.?" The smoke parted like a curtain as a figure stepped forward. Its posture spoke of barely contained power and rage; the figure was undoubtedly female, and had midnight black quills streaked with golden yellow. Small sparks and crackles of yellow energy cascaded from its body, like flames. Sparky and Fury took one look at the approaching menace, and made themselves scarce. "Thalia?!" Shade gasped. "My name is Umbra." the creature hissed in an anger-drenched voice. She raised her head and glared at him with pupil- less amber eyes, the familiar chaotic spirals whirling. "Ohhh boy." the brown hedgehog groaned softly. "She's turned Super. That's just great." Umbra grinned maliciously, revealing jagged teeth, and attacked.
* * * *
Shade wrenched himself out of the way, barely avoiding Umbra's powerful spin attack. He did not want to be on the receiving end; those upturned quills of hers could do some serious damage. Well, at least now he knew how she had managed to escape the military before. but that information wasn't going to do him much good. "I'll get you." the dark hedgehog snarled, turning in midair for another attack. Her fists struck home this time, sending the hapless Shade flying across the room. He slammed into the opposite wall, nearly losing his sunglasses in the process. Groaning, the brown hedgehog shook his head and painfully picked himself up- just in time to avoid another hit from the black and yellow bombshell. Something seemed to occur to her then, and she paused in mid- flight. Shade took the opportunity to edge towards the door. He didn't stand a chance, and knew it; better to get out of there and give Thalia some time to cool off. If there was one thing he'd learned from hard experience, it was that sometimes retreat was the best option. Especially where this sort of thing was involved. Unfortunately, he didn't get far before Umbra appeared in front of him in a green flash of light. She knew Chaos Control, Shade realised. This just got better and better. The crazed female hedgehog raised a fist for a killing blow, when there was a second, even greater flash of light. Another energy signature had entered the room. It was powerful, but felt inexplicably wrong. the energy was fluctuating, unstable and somehow corrupted, but at the same time familiar. It made Shade feel dizzy. There was no more time to analyse the strange energy, however. Shade was suddenly knocked off his feet by a shockwave, a pulse of green energy that singed his fur and sent his Chaos- sense into overdrive. Dazed, he struggled into a sitting position and stared towards the source. The brown hedgehog thought at first that what he was seeing was a ghost. It certainly looked like one; right down to its ragged and battered appearance and tendency to waver into transparency every few seconds. It was white all over, like the ghosts in horror stories. Then Shade's common sense kicked in, and he realised that what he was looking at was Spectre the hedgehog. The brown hedgehog warily got to his feet. Umbra was also staring in the white hedgehog's direction, and abruptly took off with a roar of fury. Obviously she considered this new, chaotic arrival better sport than the defenceless Shade. Spectre turned his head towards the approaching black hedgehog, giving Shade a good view of his ruined and partly missing quills. He met Umbra's approach with a blank stare, not even bothering to move out of the way. He seemed confused and distant. The white hedgehog faded into translucence again, and Umbra passed through him as if he was made of mist. But something happened at the moment they touched; Shade sensed a strange discharge of power, as if the energies of the two chaotic creatures were repelling each other. The black hedgehog gave an agonised yell and plummeted to the ground; black and yellow quickly fading to white and blue. "You okay, 'Rock?" Shade asked quietly, his eyes never leaving Spectre, who had backed off puzzledly. RockChick staggered to her feet and held a hand to her head. "Wh-- what? .Yeah, I'm fine. I think." she said dazedly, before noticing Spectre. ".Wow. Who is that?" Spectre regarded the other white hedgehog for a moment, then turned his gaze towards Shade. The phantom's eyes were dull; the pupils a slightly darker grey than the irises. But there was a slight flicker of recognition there. ".You." the ghostly hedgehog sighed, in a voice barely above a whisper. He started to fade out again, and for the first time Shade noticed that he was shaking slightly. His fists were clenched, as if in pain; it looked like Spectre was fighting not to disappear completely. The brown hedgehog realised suddenly that he had seen his face before, but where? "Who are you?" asked Shade. Spectre frowned, then looked down at his hands. "." He didn't even know. Suddenly, the battered hedgehog hissed and clutched his head; a shimmering green aura began to appear around him. He bolted, straight at Shade. The white hedgehog passed through him, exactly as Umbra had. And disappeared with another chaotic shockwave.
* * * *
".Shade?" RockChick's insistent voice brought him back to his senses, and only then did Shade realise that he had been knocked to the ground again and that some unknown length of time had passed. He had been sitting, staring blankly at the floor in front of him. "Uh?" he looked up, and the girl's concerned blue eyes met his. "He went. right through me." the brown hedgehog murmured blearily, still feeling dazed. "Yeah," she replied. "Same here. I think. I can't really remember, to be honest." RockChick frowned, then shrugged. "Are you okay?" Shade nodded, before shakily standing up. Sparky chirped worriedly from somewhere behind him. "I'm fine," he reassured the chao and the girl. "Just a bit shaken up. That was really weird." He shook his head, then looked around. Yes, Sparky was behind him, and Fury was at Thalia's feet. Everyone was present and accounted for. He thought for a moment about what had just happened; he had felt Spectre's unstable energy reacting with his own, and there had been this sense of. some other place. An emerald green, shifting limbo; a dimension made entirely of Chaos energy. That must be what Sonic had described as Chaotic Space- the nothingness that exists between dimensions, through which anyone using Chaos Control must travel. If Spectre existed within Chaotic Space, perhaps it had been Umbra's use of Chaos Control that had brought him here. as if he had hitched a ride. Was that possible? Shade frowned; he'd probably never know. You couldn't understand Chaos, that was its' nature. "Look," RockChick was saying. "I found this when you were out of it." She pointed towards a pair of sliding doors. It looked like a lift, because that's exactly what it was. The lift was marked 'Emergency Exit', and a small, glowing red light showed that it was working. "All right!" Grinned Shade. "C'mon. Let's get out of here."
* * * *
Later, outside the complex. With Sparky holding on to his quills, Shade leaped astride his hover bike and prepared to hit the road. RockChick admired the modified cycle for a few moments. "Thanks for rescuing me back there," she began. "Where will you be going now?" Shade eyed the landscape thoughtfully. "I'm gonna keep looking for Sonic," he said. Something would have to be done about Spectre, but he knew for sure now that the white hedgehog was not Sonic. That left only one possibility as to Sonic's location- not a possibility he liked much, and one he had been dreading for quite a while. But at least it was something. Shade glanced at the striped hedgehog. "What about you?" "I don't know," RockChick shrugged. "I'll keep travelling, I guess." There was a brief silence. "You can, uh, come with me if you want," Shade told her hesitantly. "I mean, I could use your help. You're a better fighter than you think. And it would be cool to have some company--" he smirked. "Sparky here isn't exactly big on conversation." "Really?!" the girl exclaimed. "After that little 'performance' earlier? That wasn't a one- off, you know. It happens all the time." She paused, rather sorrowfully. "If something puts me under pressure, kaboom. Most people run a mile when they find out about Umbra." Shade just grinned knowingly, and chuckled. "I won't. I've seen worse, believe me!" "You have?" Shade nodded. RockChick looked away, shaking her head. "You'd better go. If I tag along, I'll just end up hurting you." "Thalia," he replied firmly, causing her to meet his veiled eyes. "You're underestimating me. I know what I'm getting into here, and I can handle it." The girl remained speechless for a moment. This guy, who had been a total stranger not long ago, seemed to understand her predicament. Not many people did. "Now, are you gonna get on this bike or do I have to sit here until it grows roots?" Shade continued. RockChick looked down at Fury. "What do you reckon?" she asked the dark chao. Fury looked up at her, then at Shade's bike, and flashed his trademark grin. "Fair enough," the white hedgehog shrugged. Moments later she had clumsily climbed on board the vehicle, with her chao firmly hanging on to her shoulder. "I hope you're a good driver." she said, somewhat nervously. Shade looked over his shoulder with a decidedly wicked grin on his face. "You'll see," he smirked, as the hover bike took off into the air.
* * * * ~ The End ~
All characters © to their respective owners, etc etc. This is part of the STC2 continuity, and takes place at the same time as 'The Shadow Echidna.'
* * * *
Morning in some back-end-of-nowhere part of Mobius. The small, run- down bed and breakfast was in fact a 'safe house', one of few establishments that could be considered 'safe' for someone who opposed Robotnik these days. Inside, Shade Phoenix - who was exactly that sort of person- was getting ready for another day. The hedgehog stood in the tiny bathroom and splashed some water onto his face. When he had finished washing, he glanced at the mirror. The golden- brown fur and spines were not what grabbed his attention, nor was the long spiny quiff that hung down over his forehead. His gaze was drawn immediately to the eyes. Even after all this time, his eyes had remained the same. Reminding him of a past he would rather forget. Quickly, the brown hedgehog snatched up a pair of blue- tinted sunglasses from the table next to him, and slipped them on. His eyes looked purplish behind the lenses. Much better. --suddenly, he yelled as something grabbed his shoulder! Who was it? Had they seen? Then the something made a puzzled mewling noise in Shade's ear, and the startled hedgehog sighed in relief. "Sparky, how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?" Shade grinned as the metallic green chao got a firm grip on his head quills. The little creature whined apologetically. "No, I'm not mad at you," Shade replied, seeming to understand him perfectly. "Just don't do it again, okay?" Sparky nodded an affirmative, then took flight and followed the hedgehog out of the room. A couple of minutes later, Shade had located and put on a pair of finger- less gloves and blue Soap trainers, before sitting down and turning on the room's small portable radio. "Let's see what's going on today." The hedgehog fiddled around with the tuning dial for a while, and eventually came across what he had been looking for- a pirate radio station called Underground FM. Underground FM was one of the few remaining 'free' radio stations after Robotnik's takeover. It caused the dictator no end of headaches; partly because it openly opposed him- catering mainly to the few resistance groups and 'New Zonerunners' scattered around Mobius- but mainly because he still hadn't been able to shut it down. No one knew by whom or where from the pirate station was broadcast. Probably somewhere on South Island, Shade mused. The place remained free despite Robotnik's takeover of the rest of Mobius. No one knew exactly why he had never bothered with it, but some suspected the reason was to do with Azure- the mysterious entity responsible for organising the badnik army. Azure had a great influence in deciding which areas were attacked, and no doubt had some reason for not striking the island. On the radio, the morning news was being read. Shade turned the volume down a little, just in case the bed and breakfast wasn't as safe as he'd hoped. Robotnik had ears everywhere. "--News from the underground is that it's been a bad week for old egg- head," the young, cocky voice from the radio chuckled. "There's been reports that that spooky Spectre is at it again, and he's been causing seven different kinds of chaos. Robotnik's troopers had better watch out!" Shade shook his head. Not that story again. People had been claiming that they had seen a ghostly, white hedgehog for months now. Wherever it appeared, it brought destruction with it. Shade didn't believe in ghosts, and had never encountered this mysterious hedgehog- there was definitely some sort of entity at work, but it sure wasn't the undead. And it didn't just target Robotnik; whoever or whatever this 'spectre' was, its behaviour was totally random. "Some people even claim that Spectre is the ghost of Sonic the Hedgehog!" the announcer continued in an eerie voice. The brown hedgehog snorted in disbelief. He had heard that one many times since Sonic had 'disappeared' twelve months earlier. Shade had been there, seen the aftermath of Sonic's battle with the Super Metallix. The pure white snow of the Frozen Zone had been streaked with red. a lot of it. but there had been no other trace; no body, nothing. The blue hedgehog was alive, somewhere- he was sure of it- but he knew, somehow, that Spectre and Sonic were not one and the same. On the radio, the voice had moved on to another news item. "Also, a group of Zonerunners were responsible for liberating fifty of Robotnik's prisoners yesterday, at a complex in the Red Mountain Zone." Shade's ears twitched. This was more interesting. The 'New' Zonerunners had emerged soon after Robotnik started taking control over the Zones. Some of them had been 'Runners during Robotnik's first takeover of Mobius; others were new to the fight. Generally, they amounted to little more than a thorn in the madman's side, but to take on a whole prison complex. maybe they were getting somewhere. "Score one for the good guys," Shade said to himself, rather impressed. Thinking about it, he supposed he could be classed as a sort of Zonerunner. The 'Runners travelled the zones alone, or sometimes in small groups, making trouble for Robotnik- just like Shade did. However, while they often kept in contact with each other, the only group Shade really associated with was Sonic's 'gang'- and that was only when necessary. The Freedom Fighters were still active, despite being much less effective than they had been when Sonic was around. Shade did not fight by choice. The hedgehog had no love for violence of any kind, yet he still fought. Perhaps it was just part of who he was- or who he had once been; he would rather have had a different life, but his hate of oppression made that impossible. It was also a way of making up for things he had done in the past. But, most importantly, there was his 'mission'. Shade's belief that Sonic had survived was not shared by many; and the hedgehog knew that he might be the only one who was able to find him. Sonic was more than a hero, he was a symbol of hope; hope which some of the people of Mobius had lost. If he returned, perhaps there would be a chance. And Shade owed it to him. he had been too late before, and he would not let Sonic down again. The voice on the radio continued. "That place is gonna be out of action for a while. The 'Runners made sure the complex was totally trashed. and if Egg- Belly is listening, he can take that as proof that we aren't finished yet!" Shade grinned as the speakers began to play an upbeat jingle. Perhaps things weren't as hopeless as they seemed; that guy on the radio sure knew how to put someone in a good mood. "Hey, Sparky! There's a whole destroyed prison complex up in Red Mountain. Know what that means?" he asked. The chao blinked, the floating ball above his head forming a question mark. "It means," Shade explained, "That it's scavenge time." Who knew what would be left lying around? The 'Runners had probably grabbed what they could, but there might still be supplies, equipment or even weapons. Shade hated guns, but they were sometimes necessary; especially when facing heavily armed badniks. He would use any advantage he could get. More importantly, though, there might be information- something he could use in the search for Sonic. Getting up, the hedgehog grabbed and put on his denim jacket; shrugging his shoulders until it settled properly over his jutting back-spikes. He opened the door. "C'mon, Sparky. Let's hit the road and see what we can salvage."
* * * *
Some time later, at Red Mountain. "The radio guy wasn't kidding. this place is a mess all right," Shade mused, looking around at the ruined buildings. "The 'Runners must have used some kind of explosives after they freed the prisoners." He glanced towards where he had hidden his antigrav motorcycle in one of the arid Zone's few bushes, then, with Sparky obediently following, cautiously made his way towards the burned- out shell of the prison. He had to be careful; the place might be crawling with badniks. Robotnik would probably want to investigate and start rebuilding as soon as possible. Here and there, plumes of smoke still rose from inside the depressing grey building, which had lost its' roof. The hedgehog shook his head. "It's totalled. We're not gonna find anything useful in that ruin." He sighed. "Well, looks like another dead end." Shade turned to go, but suddenly caught a glint of something shiny out of the corner of his eye. At the same moment, Sparky cried out in surprise. The reflective object wasn't there anymore. The hedgehog frowned. probably a badnik on patrol, so it was best to get out of there. He looked around for his chao, but he was nowhere in sight. then he spotted the small emerald figure, purposefully running towards the building where the shiny thing had been. "What the?! Sparky, come back here!" The chao disappeared through the open doorway, and Shade gave chase. Inside the prison building it was dark, and still warm from the flames. The air was heavy with smoke. He walked down the blackened corridors for a few minutes, and saw no sign of his small companion. "Sparky? Where the heck are you?" Shade hissed, puzzled. It wasn't like him to run off like that. There was a faint whine from a doorway to his left. Shade entered the room, and grinned. "There you are." The green chao looked at him puzzledly, then turned around and pointed. Following Sparky's gaze, the hedgehog peered into the corner of the room. He gasped in surprise. "Whoa, it's another chao!" Chao were still quite rare, although they were quickly becoming more common- especially since the Floating Island had been grounded. That was probably where the exotic little creatures had originated from; they certainly seemed attracted to Chaos energy in any case. The surprising thing was that this new chao was one of the unusual metallic variety, like Sparky- except it was golden rather than emerald green. The gold chao sat in the corner, and glared angrily. The differences didn't end with colour, Shade noticed. Unlike his own chao, this one had long, hedgehog- like quills on the back of its' head- upturned quills resembling Shadow's. The spiny ball above its head, pupil- less eyes and mouthful of sharp little teeth identified it as a dark chao. "Is it me, or does he look familiar?" Shade muttered, surprised. Sparky made a noncommittal sound, and ran towards the other chao. The gold chao backed off and growled menacingly. "Careful." the hedgehog cautioned. Sparky didn't need telling; he kept his distance. Dark chao, Shade knew, were either wild strays or had been neglected by their owners. They developed a vicious temper in order to survive, and wouldn't hesitate about biting anyone who came near. And that included other chao. so it was wise not to approach them. But that wasn't the chao's fault, and Shade also knew what would happen to the little creature if he left it here. Robotnik's badniks would return sooner or later, and it would be defenceless. The hedgehog would have to capture it somehow. He looked at the furious gold chao, then at Sparky. "You couldn't, uh, talk to it or something?" The emerald chao seemed to shrug, and inched closer. He mewed something. The gold one replied with an enraged hiss, leaping to its feet. The tiny fists were raised in an almost comical fight stance, and Sparky instantly scurried behind the hedgehog for protection. Shade couldn't stop the smirk from exploding onto his face. "That'd be a no then." Trying a different approach, he walked slowly towards the bristling chao. "Calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you." he reassured it gently. The chao allowed Shade to get within a metre or two, then zoomed between his feet. He turned to see it glaring at him from the opposite corner. no, not glaring; it actually had an evil little grin on its face. "Slippery little thing." He approached again, the chao letting him get much closer this time. It still wore that wicked, sharp toothed grin. "Huh?" That chao was up to something. Shade's eyes picked out a chao- sized hole in the floor, about a foot away. "Uh oh." There was a creak. And then the floor collapsed under his feet.
* * * *
"Urghh." the hedgehog groaned, as consciousness gradually returned. He had no idea how far he had fallen, or to where. Not opening his eyes, Shade rolled onto hands and knees; feeling around the dusty floor until he found his sunglasses, which had fallen off. They didn't seem broken, he noticed with relief as he put them back on. None of his bones seemed to be broken, either. Shade opened his eyes and found himself staring into a grinning yellow face with pupil- less eyes, only a few inches from his nose. "YAAAA!!" The gold chao chirped innocently. "That was NOT funny, pal." Shade muttered. The chao ran off down the corridor as he got to his feet. The hedgehog stared at it for a moment- it was now some distance away, sitting down with that familiar malicious smirk. For some reason, annoying as it was, Shade was starting to like the dark chao. It had attitude, that was for sure. But still, it was going to be a hard one to catch. Sighing, the brown hedgehog brushed some grit off his shades with the back of his hand. He looked down to see Sparky at his side, looking a bit bewildered. The green chao stared around confusedly, and made a one- syllable sound of puzzlement. "I don't know where we are, either." agreed Shade, examining his surroundings. It seemed to be an underground level of the prison complex, and unlike the floor above, was oddly intact. Even the electricity still worked, to some extent- he was glad for the lighting, if the feeble glow from the grimy strip- lights could be called that. "This place must be armoured or something to have survived that explosion. Maybe it's the high- security section." They were in a corridor lined with cells, he noticed. All the ones he could see from here were not occupied- at first he assumed that the Zonerunners must have liberated the prisoners. Then, examining a cell, he frowned. Like all the others, the cell was empty. It had no bars- just a flickering, still- active force field. "That's weird- it's still locked. This floor was probably empty to begin with." There had been no prisoners in this part of the complex. neither had there been any fighting, judging by the absence of destroyed troopers and other signs of battle. "Maybe the 'Runners didn't find this place." That was good, Shade thought. He was more likely to discover something useful. And if this floor was shielded well enough to escape notice and survive explosions, that meant Robotnik probably had something important hidden away down here. That got the hedgehog's interest. But first, there were other things to be done. "Right." he said to himself. "First I've got to catch Laughing Boy over there, then I need to find a way out of here." Followed by Sparky, he started off down the long corridor. The gold chao stayed put until Shade was almost within grabbing range, then took off again. It moved some distance down the corridor, stopped, and continued to sit down and grin. Shade almost laughed at that. The creature was toying with him. He shook his head, smiling- so, the chao thought it could outrun him, did it? He was about to show it otherwise when another thought struck him. The chao wasn't just playing around, it was leading him. Just like in those old kids' shows where the faithful pet lead help to the injured owner. "Great," muttered the hedgehog. "I'm being given the run-around by the chao equivalent of Lassie." The question was, where was it leading him? "Okay," he addressed the dark chao, smirking. "I'll play your little game. But if you're just leading me to the nearest chao-nut tree, you're in big trouble." The chao grinned.
* * * *
Some time later, Shade and Sparky had been dragged all over the maze of corridors by the golden chao. It never allowed either of them to get close enough to touch; approaches were greeted with snarls, growls and the occasional flurry of snapping teeth. Shade was getting seriously fed up. "That's enough." he grumbled, approaching the still sitting, still grinning chao for the umpteenth time. This time, though, it didn't move. "Huh?" The chao looked up at the confused hedgehog, then into the cell to its right. Shade followed the direction of its stare, as did Sparky, who squeaked in surprise. This cell was different to the others. It was bigger for a start, and looked more heavily reinforced. There were two force fields, one behind the other. The biggest difference was that it was occupied. Curled into a tight ball on the bench that passed for a bed, was a female hedgehog. "Is that your owner?" Shade said to the dark chao. It met his gaze with the same hostile stare, but nodded a little. The brown hedgehog gazed incredulously at the sleeping girl, not having expected to find anyone. especially not someone who looked like this. She appeared to be a young adult, about the same age as Shade. The hedgehog was wearing a denim top and jeans, and purple trainers; all in all quite normal, but this was no ordinary brown hedgehog. Her quills were fused and down-curved, similar to Sonic's but a lot longer. The spines and fur were pure white, but she was not one of the rare albino hedgehogs that turned up occasionally. That was proven by the sky blue streaks which adorned her quills, forearms and the quiff on her forehead. Shade started, realising that the hedgehog girl bore a striking resemblance to Shadow. He knew that Robotnik had been doing something with Dr. Gerald's research; did that mean that she was.? No wonder she had been locked up so securely! But if the girl was in a prison complex, than she obviously was not on Robotnik's side. "Hey!" Shade hissed. "Hey, wake up!" The girl stirred, yawned, and opened a blue eye half- way. She seemed half asleep; but both eyes snapped fully open when she saw the stranger outside. "Oh!" she exclaimed, uncurling. Sitting on the bench, she sized up the other hedgehog. He had a rock- and- roll look about him, what with the denim jacket and those odd, rimless shades. His quills were a little funny looking though, partly fused together and hanging down as far as his waist. Unusual colour too- light brown with a hint of gold. But then again, she was pretty weird looking herself. There was a metallic green chao by his side, she noticed. "Who're you?" she asked shyly, getting up and moving closer to the force field. "Is that really important?" he replied, suspiciously. "Mystery man, huh?" The girl smiled. "Well, my name's Thalia. It's about time someone turned up. there haven't even been any badniks around since that big bang yesterday." She had a slight accent, Shade observed. He couldn't place it. The brown hedgehog felt a little suspicious. if the girl was the owner of a dark chao, that didn't say anything good about her character. "How'd you find me, anyway?" Thalia continued. Shade nodded towards the golden chao, who was getting as close to the force field as he could without getting fried. "This little guy led me here." "Hey." the white hedgehog beamed, crouching down to the chao's level. "I was wondering where you had got to." The chao purred affectionately, its behaviour completely opposite to what it had been before. "He must have escaped during the commotion yesterday." "How come you have a dark chao, anyway?" Shade asked, indicating the gold creature. He met the girl's eyes, searchingly. "Oh, that." She nodded, smiling. "This chao was a stray. I found him wandering around the streets some time ago; he was already a dark chao." Shade nodded, reassured. It looked like his suspicion had been misplaced; he wouldn't usually have trusted so quickly, but it seemed Thalia was telling the truth. "Now, let's see about getting you out of here." he smiled. The hedgehog examined the locking mechanism on the wall outside the cell. There was the usual keypad and screen- a screen which, when he pushed a button, demanded a password. "Hmmm." Shade mused. The code would probably have something to do with the prisoner. he glanced at her quickly, debating over what it might be. Maybe 'Shadow' or. "Got it!" he clicked his fingers. "Bet you the password is 'Maria.'" Shade typed in the code, and pressed 'enter'. The twin force fields obediently flickered out of existence. "Password accepted," the screen read. "Heh." Shade chuckled. "Robotnik is so predictable." "Are you complaining?" Thalia grinned back, stepping out of the cell. He could now sense a lot of Chaos energy coming from her; the force fields had probably been blocking it. Much like the dampening field that Azure had set up, which now prevented Shade -or anyone else- from tracking down the Chaos Emeralds with long- range sensors. You had to be quite close to detect one, these days. The gold chao instantly leaped into the girl's arms, mewling frantically. No wonder the feral chao had latched on to her, Shade thought, if she had a Chaos energy signature. "Calm down, Fury!" the white hedgehog exclaimed, laughing. "Fury, huh? Good name. It suits him." "Yeah," agreed the girl. "I picked it because he looks a bit like Super Sonic." "You can say that again." replied Shade, with a strange little smile on his face. Thalia looked at the brown hedgehog, frowning slightly. "I don't suppose you'll tell me your name." He sighed. He didn't suppose there was much harm in that, now he wasn't suspicious of her any more. "Phoenix." He said, bluntly. "But everyone calls me Shade. Guess you can see why." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm not the only one with a weird name around here, then." Her eyes narrowed, as she thought to herself that it obviously was not his real name. Shade shrugged. "What's with those shades, anyway?" Thalia questioned. "Don't ask." The white hedgehog sighed. She obviously wasn't going to get anything more out of this guy, but she assumed she could trust him- after all, he had released her. "Come on," she said, setting Fury down on the floor. "Let's find a way out of here."
* * * *
The two hedgehogs and their chao wandered around the maze-like structure for a while, searching for an exit. No luck yet- the hole in the ceiling that Shade had entered through was too high to reach, and so far they had found no working lifts or unblocked staircases. There wasn't much talking after that first conversation. Thalia was quiet, Shade noticed, and seemed rather uncomfortable around him; a shy girl. Shade himself was anything but shy- but he wasn't exactly an expert around girls, either. Sighing, he decided to end the awkward silence. "So, what's your story?" he asked curiously, his voice sounding unnaturally loud in the abandoned corridor. "You're obviously no ordinary hedgehog." "You're right.unfortunately." She nodded ruefully. "I didn't always look like this. Ever heard of Project Umbra?" "No. is that like Project Shadow or something?" "Yeah, kind of." Thalia paused uncertainly. "I don't know all the facts. But from what I overheard, the military spent years trying to recreate the Ultimate Life Form." Shade nodded encouragingly. He'd already figured that out for himself. ".But they couldn't get it right. You remember when that satellite nearly crashed into Mobius last year? It was something to do with the scientist behind that, his technology being too complex or something." "Dr. Gerald," the brown hedgehog murmured. "I know. I was right in the middle of that ARK business last year." "Wow," breathed the girl, impressed. "Don't tell me you met Shadow, too." "Briefly." Shade gave a grim smile. "He wasn't too impressed with me. but from what I heard, Shadow and Sonic made a pretty good team." "Do you. do you think they're still alive somewhere?" Thalia asked softly. The other hedgehog thought about it for a few moments. He was positive that Sonic was still out there, and as for Shadow. well, he was willing to bet that it would take more than re- entry to finish him off. He nodded slowly, and smiled. "Yeah, I think they just might be." The two hedgehogs continued walking down the corridor in silence for a moment, a silence only broken by the bickering of Sparky and Fury behind them. "Anyway," Thalia began after a while. "As I was saying. The Project Umbra research was abandoned until Robotnik turned up for the first time. Then the government got desperate, and they started it up again- they weren't able to copy Dr. Gerald's work, so they decided that creating a life form from scratch was too difficult. So they went looking for someone they could use as a template." "Let me guess," interrupted Shade. "They picked you, right?" "Picked? More like kidnapped!" The young hedgehog's blue eyes filled with fury. "They probably chose me because I'm an orphan. No family to go looking for me." Shaking his head sympathetically, Shade waited for her to continue. "These soldiers came and knocked me out," she bristled. "I woke up in a lab somewhere, looking like this." Thalia stared at the sky blue and white fur on her forearm. "It might have been okay if they had got it right," she added miserably. Shade wisely remained silent. Eventually, though,, his curiosity got the better of him. "What happened then? Did they let you go?" "No." she almost- whispered, looking away. "There were tests. and then I. I escaped." Obviously, Shade thought, she didn't want to talk about exactly how she'd escaped. Much as he wanted to know, he knew it was her business- besides, there were things he didn't like to speak of, too. A lot of things. Oddly enough, Thalia continued without prompting after a few seconds. "Luckily, I was forgotten about after Robotnik's first takeover. I would have fought him, but. I'm no fighter. I never was; I just don't have it in me." The hedgehog smiled sadly. "I guess you could say I was. kind of the school nerd. Those army guys picked the wrong person." She sighed. "But a couple of months ago Robotnik captured me, and as soon as he figured out I was no use to him, he locked me up here." Shade listened quietly. Thalia was obviously one of those people that wouldn't say a word for hours, then suddenly come out with a twenty- page speech. At this point she seemed to switch back into silent mode, and he was glad that she didn't ask about his own past. Still, yet again, it was up to him to lead the conversation. He didn't mind; it wasn't as if Sparky ever answered back. The brown hedgehog was secretly glad of the company. "You play the guitar?" he asked after a few minutes, spotting what appeared to be a yellow plectrum on a string around Thalia's neck. "Not really," she laughed, seeming to have cheered up. She held up her forefinger. "One chord. Guess I'm sort of a wannabe rock-chick. You can't beat eighties metal, if you ask me." "Well, 'RockChick'--" Shade chuckled, spotting something up ahead. "It looks like we've found something."
* * * *
Complete with a new nickname, Thalia-- RockChick-- watched Shade examine the thick, firmly locked metal door. No keypad this time, just a slot for a clearance card and a lot of cold, uncaring steel. It obviously led somewhere important, and the white hedgehog hoped it was somewhere safe. She was worried. Very worried. Worried because RockChick had made a bit of an understatement when she said that the scientists 'hadn't got it right'. She wanted to let the other hedgehog know the real reason behind her reluctance to get involved with the fight against Robotnik, and how she had escaped from the military. If they ran into trouble, she didn't want him getting hurt. At the same time, she didn't want to tell him because she was afraid of losing his trust. When a friend found out her 'little secret', they didn't stay that way for long. But then again. she wasn't the only one who was hiding things. He was keeping information back, too, and RockChick had a feeling they had more in common than Shade was letting on. The white hedgehog could sense that he had a Chaos energy signature; a very faint one. Barely even there, in fact. But it was clear enough to her. She sighed dejectedly. Something nudged her leg, and the hedgehog looked down to see Fury. He gave a quizzical whimper. "No, nothing's wrong," she said softly. "I'm fine." Shade heard the girl sigh then murmur something quietly. "You say something?" he asked, looking away from the door. "No, just talking to my chao." The brown hedgehog nodded, then turned back to the obstacle in their path. "Well," he began wearily, "Looks like it's gonna take more than quick thinking to get through this door." He rapped it with a knuckle, causing a dull thunk. He was going to have to rely on brute force this time. He looked over at RockChick, knowing that would mean revealing more about himself than he would like her to know. "I really don't want to do this," he muttered to Sparky, who responded with a sort of chao shrug. Shade started walking back the way he had come. After a while, he turned and judged the distance to the door. "I think that should be enough. Everyone get behind me, I don't want you getting hurt." "What are you going to do?" RockChick asked, complying. The two chao followed. "This." He pelted towards the door, accelerating more quickly than any normal hedgehog could. At the last instant, he leapt and hit the door with a powerful flying kick. Unfortunately, the door didn't yield; the metal bulged into the room beyond, but the door just managed to stay on its hinges. Shade straightened out his jacket. "This door is tougher than I thought. But that should've softened it up a bit," he said. RockChick raised an eyebrow. "Nice. How come you don't like doing that?" "Um." Shade fished for an answer. "It. uh, it gives me an edge if people don't realise what I can do." "Really." "Yes, really!" he replied quickly, thinking- correctly- that his hasty, semi-true explanation had been a bit unconvincing. "Now let me try it," the girl smiled. "Stand back." RockChick attacked the stubborn door in exactly the same way, displaying her own unusual speed. The door collapsed under the onslaught, which was good. What wasn't good was that the white and blue hedgehog suddenly found herself unable to stop, and skidded, out of control, into the room beyond...
* * * *
RockChick crashed headlong into what seemed to be a pile of old machinery. Embarrassed and cursing her own clumsiness, she attempted to stand. and found that she could not. Eight powerful, joined chrome legs suddenly wrapped around her midriff, pinning her arms to her sides in a vice- like grip. "Aaaah! Help!" she yelled. Shade pelted into the room, followed by Sparky and Fury. The hedgehog gasped in surprise. "What?! A Grabber badnik?!" The spidery robot had RockChick in its' clutches. This type of badnik was an old model, but still effective. it must have been used as a guard or sentry. It had been deactivated until a few seconds ago, and was seemingly malfunctioning. "Escapee. bzzk. detained. Activating self destruct. bzzk." The mechanical arachnid droned in a calm, mechanical voice. The trouble with Grabbers was that they were seriously explosive; this one immediately began a 30- second countdown. "Get this thing off me!!" RockChick panicked. Shade nodded frantically, and scrabbled at a panel on the robot's back- he didn't want to risk smashing the badnik, it might detonate. He managed to remove the metal plate and gazed despairingly at the mass of wiring inside. He needed to defuse the Grabber, but didn't know where to start. So he did the first thing that came to mind: he started ripping everything out. Badnik components were strewn all over the floor, but the only real result was that the countdown skipped from fifteen to five seconds. "Shade!!!" yelled the girl. "Oh, hell." he swore. The countdown reached zero. "I. I'm sorry." Shade murmured, diving out of the way as a small explosion ripped through the Grabber, and presumably, it's prisoner. Shade didn't want to look, but forced himself to do so anyway. He couldn't see anything through the smoke. .and at the same moment, his senses registered a massive Chaos energy surge. "What the.?" The smoke parted like a curtain as a figure stepped forward. Its posture spoke of barely contained power and rage; the figure was undoubtedly female, and had midnight black quills streaked with golden yellow. Small sparks and crackles of yellow energy cascaded from its body, like flames. Sparky and Fury took one look at the approaching menace, and made themselves scarce. "Thalia?!" Shade gasped. "My name is Umbra." the creature hissed in an anger-drenched voice. She raised her head and glared at him with pupil- less amber eyes, the familiar chaotic spirals whirling. "Ohhh boy." the brown hedgehog groaned softly. "She's turned Super. That's just great." Umbra grinned maliciously, revealing jagged teeth, and attacked.
* * * *
Shade wrenched himself out of the way, barely avoiding Umbra's powerful spin attack. He did not want to be on the receiving end; those upturned quills of hers could do some serious damage. Well, at least now he knew how she had managed to escape the military before. but that information wasn't going to do him much good. "I'll get you." the dark hedgehog snarled, turning in midair for another attack. Her fists struck home this time, sending the hapless Shade flying across the room. He slammed into the opposite wall, nearly losing his sunglasses in the process. Groaning, the brown hedgehog shook his head and painfully picked himself up- just in time to avoid another hit from the black and yellow bombshell. Something seemed to occur to her then, and she paused in mid- flight. Shade took the opportunity to edge towards the door. He didn't stand a chance, and knew it; better to get out of there and give Thalia some time to cool off. If there was one thing he'd learned from hard experience, it was that sometimes retreat was the best option. Especially where this sort of thing was involved. Unfortunately, he didn't get far before Umbra appeared in front of him in a green flash of light. She knew Chaos Control, Shade realised. This just got better and better. The crazed female hedgehog raised a fist for a killing blow, when there was a second, even greater flash of light. Another energy signature had entered the room. It was powerful, but felt inexplicably wrong. the energy was fluctuating, unstable and somehow corrupted, but at the same time familiar. It made Shade feel dizzy. There was no more time to analyse the strange energy, however. Shade was suddenly knocked off his feet by a shockwave, a pulse of green energy that singed his fur and sent his Chaos- sense into overdrive. Dazed, he struggled into a sitting position and stared towards the source. The brown hedgehog thought at first that what he was seeing was a ghost. It certainly looked like one; right down to its ragged and battered appearance and tendency to waver into transparency every few seconds. It was white all over, like the ghosts in horror stories. Then Shade's common sense kicked in, and he realised that what he was looking at was Spectre the hedgehog. The brown hedgehog warily got to his feet. Umbra was also staring in the white hedgehog's direction, and abruptly took off with a roar of fury. Obviously she considered this new, chaotic arrival better sport than the defenceless Shade. Spectre turned his head towards the approaching black hedgehog, giving Shade a good view of his ruined and partly missing quills. He met Umbra's approach with a blank stare, not even bothering to move out of the way. He seemed confused and distant. The white hedgehog faded into translucence again, and Umbra passed through him as if he was made of mist. But something happened at the moment they touched; Shade sensed a strange discharge of power, as if the energies of the two chaotic creatures were repelling each other. The black hedgehog gave an agonised yell and plummeted to the ground; black and yellow quickly fading to white and blue. "You okay, 'Rock?" Shade asked quietly, his eyes never leaving Spectre, who had backed off puzzledly. RockChick staggered to her feet and held a hand to her head. "Wh-- what? .Yeah, I'm fine. I think." she said dazedly, before noticing Spectre. ".Wow. Who is that?" Spectre regarded the other white hedgehog for a moment, then turned his gaze towards Shade. The phantom's eyes were dull; the pupils a slightly darker grey than the irises. But there was a slight flicker of recognition there. ".You." the ghostly hedgehog sighed, in a voice barely above a whisper. He started to fade out again, and for the first time Shade noticed that he was shaking slightly. His fists were clenched, as if in pain; it looked like Spectre was fighting not to disappear completely. The brown hedgehog realised suddenly that he had seen his face before, but where? "Who are you?" asked Shade. Spectre frowned, then looked down at his hands. "." He didn't even know. Suddenly, the battered hedgehog hissed and clutched his head; a shimmering green aura began to appear around him. He bolted, straight at Shade. The white hedgehog passed through him, exactly as Umbra had. And disappeared with another chaotic shockwave.
* * * *
".Shade?" RockChick's insistent voice brought him back to his senses, and only then did Shade realise that he had been knocked to the ground again and that some unknown length of time had passed. He had been sitting, staring blankly at the floor in front of him. "Uh?" he looked up, and the girl's concerned blue eyes met his. "He went. right through me." the brown hedgehog murmured blearily, still feeling dazed. "Yeah," she replied. "Same here. I think. I can't really remember, to be honest." RockChick frowned, then shrugged. "Are you okay?" Shade nodded, before shakily standing up. Sparky chirped worriedly from somewhere behind him. "I'm fine," he reassured the chao and the girl. "Just a bit shaken up. That was really weird." He shook his head, then looked around. Yes, Sparky was behind him, and Fury was at Thalia's feet. Everyone was present and accounted for. He thought for a moment about what had just happened; he had felt Spectre's unstable energy reacting with his own, and there had been this sense of. some other place. An emerald green, shifting limbo; a dimension made entirely of Chaos energy. That must be what Sonic had described as Chaotic Space- the nothingness that exists between dimensions, through which anyone using Chaos Control must travel. If Spectre existed within Chaotic Space, perhaps it had been Umbra's use of Chaos Control that had brought him here. as if he had hitched a ride. Was that possible? Shade frowned; he'd probably never know. You couldn't understand Chaos, that was its' nature. "Look," RockChick was saying. "I found this when you were out of it." She pointed towards a pair of sliding doors. It looked like a lift, because that's exactly what it was. The lift was marked 'Emergency Exit', and a small, glowing red light showed that it was working. "All right!" Grinned Shade. "C'mon. Let's get out of here."
* * * *
Later, outside the complex. With Sparky holding on to his quills, Shade leaped astride his hover bike and prepared to hit the road. RockChick admired the modified cycle for a few moments. "Thanks for rescuing me back there," she began. "Where will you be going now?" Shade eyed the landscape thoughtfully. "I'm gonna keep looking for Sonic," he said. Something would have to be done about Spectre, but he knew for sure now that the white hedgehog was not Sonic. That left only one possibility as to Sonic's location- not a possibility he liked much, and one he had been dreading for quite a while. But at least it was something. Shade glanced at the striped hedgehog. "What about you?" "I don't know," RockChick shrugged. "I'll keep travelling, I guess." There was a brief silence. "You can, uh, come with me if you want," Shade told her hesitantly. "I mean, I could use your help. You're a better fighter than you think. And it would be cool to have some company--" he smirked. "Sparky here isn't exactly big on conversation." "Really?!" the girl exclaimed. "After that little 'performance' earlier? That wasn't a one- off, you know. It happens all the time." She paused, rather sorrowfully. "If something puts me under pressure, kaboom. Most people run a mile when they find out about Umbra." Shade just grinned knowingly, and chuckled. "I won't. I've seen worse, believe me!" "You have?" Shade nodded. RockChick looked away, shaking her head. "You'd better go. If I tag along, I'll just end up hurting you." "Thalia," he replied firmly, causing her to meet his veiled eyes. "You're underestimating me. I know what I'm getting into here, and I can handle it." The girl remained speechless for a moment. This guy, who had been a total stranger not long ago, seemed to understand her predicament. Not many people did. "Now, are you gonna get on this bike or do I have to sit here until it grows roots?" Shade continued. RockChick looked down at Fury. "What do you reckon?" she asked the dark chao. Fury looked up at her, then at Shade's bike, and flashed his trademark grin. "Fair enough," the white hedgehog shrugged. Moments later she had clumsily climbed on board the vehicle, with her chao firmly hanging on to her shoulder. "I hope you're a good driver." she said, somewhat nervously. Shade looked over his shoulder with a decidedly wicked grin on his face. "You'll see," he smirked, as the hover bike took off into the air.
* * * * ~ The End ~