Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic characters. Sonic characters belong to Sega, and Nazo belongs to Chakra X (I think).
A/N: I have not played any Next Gen Sonic games, so I only have real knowledge of up to the first Sonic Riders.
6 months after what has come to be known as the Angel Island Miracle, Shadow the Hedgehog has begun a new search. This is something new in a way, yet old in another. Ever since he was awoken by Eggman, he has been finding the Chaos Emeralds. The only new part is that for once he's not taking them solely for himself, nor is he finding them for a battle of good vs evil. No, he just wanted to test the abilities of him and his rival. That accursed blue hedgehog who he has yet to truly surpass, even with his natural Chaos Energy.
As he approached the cave, and he smirked when he realized how typical it was to find one here in the Mystic Ruins, a headset he'd been wearing spoke to him. "Hey Shadow, you sure about this? We could end up using them constantly, and it's totally possible that it could cause the return of that beast, or even something worse." Shadow held the button on his earpiece as he entered the darkness slowly. If a Chaos Emerald was here, he'd better be prepared. Those things tended to have some protection of fate. They often ended up in ruins and other random places you'd think were harmless. Then something strange tended to happen, making them a hassle. "Yes, Knuckles. But while the risk is great, we need to be prepared for just that; something bigger. We got lucky last time. But I know if it were to happen again, me and Sonic couldn't do that at will. We need to learn how we really did it in the first place." Shadow had let Knuckles the Echidna in on his search, for like Shadow, Knuckles could also sense Chaos Energy.
Shadow was so busy talking to Knuckles and gazing at the purple Emerald in the back of the cave he almost didn't detect the bear swiping its paw at him. Shadow ducked it, and kept walking. "Hm, the Emeralds are losing their touch if a bear is all fate put up to protect them." He did a roundhouse kick into the bear's next strike. He saw cubs as he did this, and realized why he was being attacked. "Hm, so it feels I'm threatening its cubs. I don't have time to deal with this." Shadow said, to no one but the bear. He grabbed the emerald from the section of the wall it was almost embedded in. "Excellent. Chaos Control!" And with a flash of blue light, blinding the creatures of the small cave, Shadow was sent straight to the Angel Island Shrine, where the beast Nazo had transformed and where Knuckles generally guarded the Master Emerald.
Today, however, the Master Emerald was not there. The Cyan Chaos Emerald was on its old place at the altar. Knuckles reappeared in a flash of Green Light, Master Emerald and Red Emerald in hand. Shadow smirked. "It seems you're getting the hang of Chaos Control, Knuckles." Shadow remarked. He ducked as a large red robot swiped its own claws at Shadow. Apparently claws liked him today. "Omega, it's us. Stand down." The E-Series robot in question stopped its attack. They had trusted Omega to guard the emeralds while they looked for the remaining ones, telling Omega he had full rights to stop Eggman or anyone else from stealing them anyway he thought necessary. Omega had practically short-circuited in delight at the thought of toasting Eggman. The Master Emerald's absence from the altar, obviously, was useful for Knuckles to use Chaos Control to help look for Emeralds.
"3 down, 4 to go." Knuckles said as he placed the Red Emerald in its place. Shadow closed his eyes, trying to home in on another Emerald. His senses came up blank. "I can't sense any more from the island. We're going to have to start looking farther away." Shadow took the purple emerald back, for using Chaos Control across longer distances. Knuckles left the Red Emerald there, focusing on the Master Emerald and shrinking it (How do you think he carries the damned thing) and putting it in the folds of his gloves. Omega took his place behind the Master Emerald's usual spot at the altar.
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Sonic was feeling oddly lazy today. The paparazzi had been all over him since the news footage of Angel Island, where they'd seen the comeback. The cameras had failed due to the energy and overwhelming light from the fusion, but they had enough helicopter footage to know Sonic had made a powerful comeback. So since everyone expected him to be on the run, he was hiding … at Tails's workshop in the Mystic Ruins. Tails was cooped up in his lab. He wouldn't even let Sonic know what he was working on, though he'd seen the fake emerald in Tails's possession when he came out to eat.
"Hey Tails, try coming out the lab to hang out, buddy." Sonic said from the chairs and cushions he was using as a makeshift couch. Tails didn't use his TV for anything but news, so he'd never invested in anything comfortable to watch it on. "Can't Sonic, I'm making sure we have the upper hand in case Eggman does something crazy again." Sonic shrugged wordlessly, and flipped on a race.
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"Damn, I'm still not getting anything on my senses." Shadow cursed. "Maybe the rest have gone to other continents?" His headset suggested. "Oh wait, I just picked one up. I'll meet you back at the island when I have this emerald; we'll discuss where to look next there." Shadow could hear Knuckles using Chaos Control, and sighed. "We're gonna be leaving the emeralds we have in the hands of Omega, whose creator could try stealing them at any time. This is just perfect. Chaos Control!" A bright light surrounded some trees as Shadow disappeared.
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"That's weird." Tails said while testing his project. "I just fixed this thing to work better. Is it a coincidence?" He was staring at the emerald radar he'd been using shortly before the Ex-World Grand Prix. He'd increased its range, by further study of his own fake Chaos Emerald. "Hey Sonic!" Tails said, taking the radar with him. Sonic was sprawled over the couch, trying to take a nap. "What is it, buddy?" Tails flashed him the radar. "Four emeralds in one place? That's quite a coincidence. So that's what you've been working on?" Tails nodded. He then went on to explain their location. "Sonic, this has something to do with Knuckles. They're on Angel Island." "What?!" Sonic jumped up, ran to Tails's room, and grabbed the original radar. "C'mon Tails, fly us up there." Tails showed the way to the hangar, where the Tornado 2 was still kept.
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The train to the Mystic Ruins had arrived. Everyone on the train was staring at its only Anthro passenger. It wasn't the fact that he was an Anthro; they had seen Sonic and his friends enough to get used to them. It was the fact that he was as tall as a teenage human. Sonic and his friends, except for Big the Cat, were generally short. He had a mane surrounding his face, with yellow fur. By those looks, one would guess him as a lion. His eyes were solid orange, as was his own chest fur. The eyes were slanted top and bottom, in a serious warrior's stare.
He had gloves whose folds were the yellow of his fur, with orange thumb, index, and pinky fingers. The other 2 fingers on his gloves were red. The fur at the end of his long tail was an orange gradient, from light at the base to dark at the tip. His shoes were the same color scheme as his gloves, but with grey toes. The top of his shoes were red, while the rest was orange.
"I sense a powerful being." He said in a serious voice. At the stairs to the train station, he turned his gaze to the only other building visible. "He's over there. He's one target. Chaos Control!" People gasped as the being was transferred to the workshop in a flash of orange light.
A/N: What do you think? Who is the lion who just found Sonic? What is his mission? And what will Sonic do about this? Rate &Review, please.