Sonic: Realm of the Hollow Cross
Chapter 1: Amongst Friends and Foes
"Incoming… Unidentified object: Land-based; traveling at 756 kilometers per hour…"
Shadow lifted the lens of his digital tracking device, which downloaded information received from the base, which was originally intended as a hideout for Team Dark, though the trio stopped working under that name long ago. Thinking it was Sonic, an annoyed grimace captured him as he darted off to meet the hedgehog, gun at his side. When he approached, he saw a hedgehog that was unfamiliar. He was white with a black cross consuming most of this chest and belly, and his eyes were a deep grey.
"Hey, get back here!" Yelled Shadow as the unknown being continued to run, completely ignoring that it had passed Shadow and was running towards his base. Shadow took pursuit, following him through the barrage of traps that lie ahead.
Shadow saw the hedgehog effortlessly dodge weapons systems, making his defenses look like toys. He realized how much faster he was going than before. Shadow was actually feeling a bit tired from running at such a speed. He pulled the lens back over his eye, the computer inside detecting the speed of the intruder.
"Estimated speed: 1346 kilometers per hour," the device announced as Shadow listened in interest. This being had exceeded the speed of sound without a sonic boom, and Shadow, who had not, was getting behind. He ran as fast as he could with the energy he had, able to jump from tree to tree and catch up with the other hedgehog, sonic boom scaring away the birds that were local to the area. As soon as he jumped to intersect the white menace and grab him, Shadow felt nothing. The hedgehog sank into the ground right before his eyes, and the speed he was moving at made Shadow slam into trees as he missed his target, cracking some in half as he skidded across the dirt. He lifted his head, shaking it as the pain still flowed through his body.
"What was that?" he asked to himself, getting up. Shaking his head a final time before running, though rather reluctantly, to the two people he knew would be able to help: Sonic and Tails.
"Sonic, I need a favor from you." Shadow mumbled, Sonic with Knuckles, Amy, Peach, Rouge, and Tails.
"Hey, Shadow! How are ya?" Sonic greeted, losing enthusiasm as the kind words completely went past Shadow. "Hehe, um, what do you need?"
"Tails and you to help me by giving me any information you have on a pale hedgehog. That, Sonic, is what I need; not a lame greeting."
Sonic walked off, getting tails. His rather clandestine way of saying, however, was loud enough for all those near him to hear, and the entire group walked over to him Shadow sighed, a faint smile on his face as the others came.
"A pale hedgehog?" Tails asked, eyes revealing he was browsing through his database of memories. "Yes, I have gotten some reports of one. On the news, the people say it is Silver, but we saw him yesterday, and the images are too different. I think it might be another hedgehog, but I'm not sure who it could be, or where it came from."
"It ran, eh? Well, a punch or two is all it would take for the coward." Knuckled grunted, a malicious grin on his face.
"I think we should find Silver and ask." Amy stated, the others seeming not to care.
Shadow and Tails sighed, the others bickering over what to do. "Do you mind taking me to your computer?" Shadow asked, looking at the others argue.
"Sure!" Tails smiled, leading the way. There, in the computer room, was a massive screen, and the scans and processing going on told Shadow their computer was as advanced as his. "See," Tail pointed to the image of a hedgehog on the screen. It was similar to the one Shadow had seen. "I think this is what you saw. I managed to scan its energy and found out that it had an energy release frequency like that of a chaos emerald. I think these might have access to the one neither of us have." Tails sighed. "I can't seem to track where they go when they disappear." He frowned. "Maybe they can shift dimensions, even though I doubt it. A teleportation method, most likely."
"Like Chaos Control?" Shadow asked, clenching his fist. "But how would they be able to do something like that?"
"They could be being brought to a place by someone else. I really don't know right now. Maybe we should get the others to come with us."
Just as tails finished his sentence, I news report came in on his computer.
"There is a dragon-like beast attacking the city! It has tentacles and a black cross across it's chest. It has not changed location, but is causing catastrophic damage."
"Eggman?" Shadow guessed. Perhaps the old man had something to do with this.
"No." Tail replied. "No way he'd do something like this in such a short amount of time." He walked out to the rest of the group and told them of the news. They all grinned, eager to battle after such a long time of inactivity.
"Damn." Shadow sighed. "Now I have to deal with ALL of them."
The group followed him as they began to go towards the city. Something told Shadow that using the power of any Chaos Emeralds would only worsen the battle, but he kept it to himself, traveling.
The group approached the leviathan, which, at the moment, had extended upwards seven tentacles. Its proportions were awkward in this manner, as it would seem to have only two arms with the rest of its body shaped so. It remained silent; the sounds made only being from the clashing of materials it tossed at it looked throughout the city for its targeted object.
"What the hell is that thing doing?" Shadow asked, looking to Tails for an answer. "It has something in one of its arms. A Chaos Emerald!" Shadow exclaimed, running toward the best.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Sonic called after Shadow, running as well.
Tails sighed, not bothering follow. "Well, since those two ran off, I can tell you all what we should do to help." He smiled, eyes then glaring at Knuckles, who had been about to run after the other two. "This thing has a Chaos Emerald, so we should try to avoid using ours. Knuckles, you back up Sonic and Shadow! The rest of you, come with me."
The group agreed with the command Tails gave them, and though they did have their questions as to exactly what they would be doing, they kept silent. The beast seemed to be a decently organized searcher; it pushed things aside, but rarely tossed objects. Noticing the Chaos Emerald Amy was holding via its glare, the beast twisted in her direction, Amy stepping back.
Sonic and Shadow were ready to attack, but had no idea as to what to do. They looked at each other and then the creature, jumping. When they made contact, however, they slipped through, falling on the other side. The being ignored their presence, Arm reaching out for Amy.
"Amy! Look out you guys!" Sonic managed to shout, still dazed from the fall.
Amy shrieked, Knuckles and Rouge attacking the arm, which, had by then, already wrapped around Amy's leg.
Sonic's fur bristled as he ran towards the group, eager to aid in the fight.
"Why didn't you attack it's HEAD?!" Shadow hissed, eyes wide.
Sonic attacked as well, Amy engulfed by the pale, fluidic arm. As if the body itself maintained a current, she was pulled towards the beast's main body, and her screams vainly left bubbles in the now annoyed nuisance. Sonic and knuckles willingly jumped onto the arm to follow her, slowly absorbed as well. Tails, Rouge, and Cream decided not to participate in the tackling of non-Newtonian fluids.
"What?! Should we do something?" Rouge asked, dumbfounded at the current happening.
"Leave it be! We need to figure out how to take it down before we attack!" Tails shouted, beast sinking into the ground.
"I don't think we need any further calculations…" Rouge sighed, an annoyed glance directed at Tails.
"Sorry." He muttered, blushing about his excessively calculative attitude.
Shadow and Sonic approached, Knuckles carrying Amy behind them. Amy, Knuckles, and Sonic managed were covered in fluids, and Shadow, who was left alone for a bit to attack the being, managed to avoid being engulfed. Amy's Chaos Emerald was not in her hands.
"Did it get the Emerald?" Rouge asked, immediately noticing the lack of it.
"You know, Rouge, you could have asked if Amy was okay first. Since you asked ever so worriedly, she is, and it did." Knuckles grumbled, frustrated over his failure to protect the gem.
"Hmph!" Rouge scoffed, walking away.
The rest of the group looked as each other, an eerie pause amongst them. The city was left in ruins, yet there were no lesser creatures running wild. Tails then noticed how similar the being was to Chaos, and sighed. With some relief, the team departed, Tails persuading them to come to his base.
After all, it wasn't the last time something familiar to the group would attack.