Sonic's Legacy: Volume 2

Genesis Rising

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic or the characters from Ken Penders, Sonic Team, or Sega. Though some of these characters were created by me, the basic style and likeness of these characters originated from the creators of the Sonic comics and Sonic games, as well as the companies Sonic Team and Sega and comic artist Ken Penders. Thank you and enjoy this unofficial story.

Keep in mind that this is the second Volume of the first book. If you are new to the story and have just found this story, you might want to read the first volume first. (Links don't work in here as I have found out. ^^; So, it's called Sonic's Legacy: Volume 1, The Hero's Child. You can find it at my profile :D

For those of you that have stayed with me since before the changing from one story to volumes thanks for sticking with me through the chaos :D You guys are the best :D

(Note: All the reviews from before the change are still in the first volume.)

For those of you that are returning readers from the first volume, I won't keep you waiting any longer.

Enjoy :D

Chapter 18: Tracking Shadows

Narrator: None, third person format.

Two years later…Near Former Station Square…

The Station Square Freedom Fighters have been exploring the old bases surrounding their area for months, trying to find clues as to where G.U.N.'s militia have disappeared to. If they couldn't find them, the least they could do was find materials and weapons they desperately needed to keep the Exus robots away from their camp.

Trace was now twelve years old and now, his teammates as well as himself, were old enough to become vital members on base raid missions. For the leader of Former Station Square, having a member with Trace's unique skills could seriously give them an advantage against the Exus.

The team made it to their destination. Valor kept his gun in position, in case of an ambush. Since every one of the bases were filled with traps, it took a really long time to disable them just to allow entrance into the bases. Luckily for them, the prep team had already disabled the trap at the entrance. However, once inside, the team will be on their own.

The komodo dragon gave the signal that it was clear and Caper leapt forward first. The wallaby gave a swift kick into the door and it fell back with a loud crash. He then flipped and landed several feet away.

Valor then looked back at Trace. "Okay kid, your turn."

Trace walked forward till he was just a few feet away from the entrance. He then knelt down and placed his hand on the soft ground. The wolf closed his eyes.

After channeling the gift passed down to him from his ancestors, Trace's eyes sprang open revealing bright glowing irises. "All traps at the entrance are disabled…There are a few more still active inside, but nothing we can't handle."

"What kind of traps?" Valor asked.

Trace focused again, his vision traveled deeper into the base. "The guillotine wall is the closest, triggered by a loose stone about thirty paces in… After that is a laser grid, one shock should disable it though…"

Caper crossed his arms and smirked. "Heh, easy eh? Sounds like trouble to me, mate."

"At least we know what to expect though, good job Trace." Rain congratulated.

Trace's golden eyes stop glowing for a moment as he turned to his teammates. "Don't thank me yet. We still have get through safely." Trace's eyes glowed again as he channeled his energy. "Follow my steps exactly, I'll let you know what to watch out for."

Caper and Rain nodded.

Valor gave the command. " 'Right team, lets move in."

The team runs into the base. Trace counts each step they take to make sure they don't miss the first trigger…the thirtieth tile. "Twenty…twenty-five…now!" As everyone leaps over the tile at the same place Trace does, the wolf's foresight suddenly picked up something and he stopped. "Caper! Your tail!"

Just as Trace said that, Caper's tail just barely touched the tile, causing it to trigger the guillotine wall.

Right when he heard Trace's warning, Valor ran back and grabbed Caper just in time before the sharp bladed wall fell.

Trace's eyes were wide, the only thing that could be seen in the darkness. "You alright?"

" 'old on." The wallaby grabbed his tail and was relieved to find that it was still there. "Whew, thanks mate. That was a close one."

Both Trace and Rain let out a huge sigh. Trace's golden eyes were then drawn toward the direction ahead. When Trace is seeing the past or future, it's all in the same space as they are in. So, often times, Trace has to filter out what is happening in that instant and what is a part of his vision. When he is in this state, it is like whatever he is foreseeing is calling to him, drawing him toward a destination. And the biggest risk to using this ability…is that Trace's mind could possibly be lost to his vision…if he tries to use it beyond his ability to control it.

That's why he made sure that someone kept tabs on him to keep him grounded to this timeframe, kind of like an anchor. Today…that anchor was Rain. "Trace…you still with us?"

Trace looked behind him and nodded to acknowledge that he heard her, he then continued with what he was going to say. "The laser grid is just ahead."

The team readied themselves and ran on ahead. Trace then stopped a few feet ahead and moved his arm in front of the group to stop. "Wait!" The wolf then took a bold step forward, triggering the trap. The laser grid lit up the hall in a bright red light. The laser wall then slid forward toward the group, leaving them no way to escape.

A metal bracer on Trace's wrist sparked and the wolf leapt forward and right at the base of the lasers sent a shock flowing into the ground. The shock blew the circuits in the defense grid and the lasers dimmed. He landed safely unscathed. He then turned to his comrades. "We're good."

The group continued forward until they got to the first room. It was the war hanger where all the weapons, robots, and planes were stored. Well, it's where they would be…if they were still there. Now it was just a massive, empty room.

"Whoa…" Caper looked around surprised. "When those blokes cleared out, they really cleared out, eh?"

"Yeah, it certainly looks like it." Rain added, clearly as surprised as Caper.

Valor caught up with the young troups. "Just like the first two bases Vault and I checked out…empty." Vault is Caper's father and is the guy that Valor normally went on missions with, but Vault was off training other new recruits like what Valor was doing right now with these three.

"They were here…" Trace answered, his eyes still glowed as he looked around. He was trying to pinpoint the day in time they had left, he wanted to see how it happened. "…at least as recent as six years ago."

"Six years ago…the day that Surge X returned?" Rain asked.

"Bingo." Valor answered.

" 'ow could every machine in 'ere just disappear like this?" Caper, along with everyone else was trying to figure this out.

"I'm not sure…but I intent to find out." Trace said as he took a few steps forward.

"Be careful, you don't wanna push yourself." Rain said worryingly.

Trace gave her a slight nod and continued forward. The other's followed close behind. Trace looked around, using his foresight to find anything unusual.

"See anything yet, kid?" Valor asked as he looked around.

While all the others could see was an empty room, Trace was watching years of mobilizing robots and planes in fast forward time frame. "Looks pretty normal so far…" He then saw something to his left and slowed the vision's time around him. "Wait!"

His keen eyes picked up what looked to be a Mobian flying into one of the hanger's upper floors. That's strange…what's a Mobian doing in a human military base?

The wolf then ran to the left and then jumped up on the wall, he then pushed off and landed on the floor under where he saw the ghost from his vision enter.

"Trace wait!" Rain called to him.

The others made it to the platform under Trace and he yelled down for them to hear. "A Mobian was here six years ago, I'm gonna check it out." The wolf then leapt up to the next platform and dashed down the hall.

"Not without back up he's not." Valor mumbled and then leapt up to follow Trace. The others followed their leader in pursuit.

Trace ran to the end of the hall and saw the Mobian stopped by the exit. Even though the vision couldn't see him, instinctively Trace hid around the corner. He leaned over just enough to get a better view.

The others caught up to Trace and stopped at the corner.

Rain was the first to say something. "Are you crazy? Why did you run off just now?"

Trace quietly shh'd Rain and focused his ears toward the Mobian in his vision. Rain realized that he found something and kept her voice down low. "What is it?"

Trace spoke in a hushed tone, he didn't want to speak too loud and miss any vital information. "A bat…female."

"Really? How can you tell?" Rain asked curiously, it was really dark in there.

"Her outfit…it's pretty obvious."

"She's hot, isn't she?" Caper spoke out.

Trace's eyes widened and he lightly blushed, Rain whipped around and gave Caper a 'what the hell' look. Caper simply shrugged his shoulders. "What?"

Trace leaned even further around the corner. He caught sight of the bat's blue eyes as she looked back. She looks like she's…worried about something…

Suddenly, the bat jumped out the exit and took off. Hoping not to lose her, Trace ran around the corner. He instantly stopped at the edge when he realized that the floor was at least forty feet from where he was. He looked around to see where she could've gone. His eyes guided him to the left and he saw her land on the ground and run into another room.

Well now I know where she went…

He looked down at the daunting task that laid before him.

Now, how the heck am I suppose to get down there?

Trace brought his vision back to reality and his eyes stopped glowing. He almost fell backward, but caught himself on the wall.

Rain saw this and ran to Trace's side. "You okay?"

Trace shook his head to bring himself back into focus. "Y-Yeah…I'm good."

Caper looked over the edge and whistled. "That's a long way down."

Valor turned to Caper. "Think you can jump that, kid?"

The wallaby in question gave him a confident smirk. "Whadaya kiddin'? O' course I can." His gaze then returned to the drop. "…but…don' know if y'all will be so lucky, mates."

Rain then thought of something. "I have an idea. Trace, you stay here and recover. Caper, you come with me." Rain then ran back down the hall where they came from and turned the corner.

Caper then ran after her. "Y' got it, Sheila."

The two jumped down platform to platform and Rain made a b-line for the nearest plane rigging. She grabs the thick metal cable. "We can use this."

Caper walked up to the cable and grabbed it firmly in his hands. "Allow me."

Rain stepped back and Caper pulled on the line. He then swung himself up so that he was above the rigging line in the air. The wallaby swiftly kicked the pulley at the top and broke the line loose. He gracefully landed on the platform. "There y' are." Caper handed the cable to Rain.

"Thanks, nice work." Rain congratulated and then the two quickly returned to Trace and Valor.

Rain showed the cable to Valor. "We can use this and zip-line down to the ground."

Valor gave her a satisfied grin. "Good plan."

Rain noticed Trace stood up. "Feeling better?"

Trace crossed his arms and gave her a nod, "Yep."

The painted wolf then turned to Caper. "Okay, when you land on the ground safely, tie this to something sturdy and pull it tight."

"No Prob." Caper smiled and without hesitation leaped out of the doorway and gracefully landed on the ground forty feet down. He then ran over to one of the support columns and tied the metal cable and held onto it, pulling it till it was taut.

Rain jumped up first and slid down the top of the wire. She gracefully landed on the other side.

"Nice" Caper complimented. Rain returned his compliment with a smile.

Trace swiftly followed in the same manner and also landed easily. He then grabbed the end of the wire behind Caper.

Caper looked up at Valor and hollered. "Kay boss, yer' up!"

The dragon grabbed the line with one hand and slid down. He jumped off a few feet from the floor. Both Valor and Trace let go of the line.

Trace went right back to tracking and his eyes glowed. He ran toward the doorway he saw the bat enter and ran right in, the others followed close behind.

Trace made it to the end of the hall and could see the bat had encountered another Mobian. This new intruder was different though, it was cat-like with golden-reddish brown fur and black markings on the tip of it's tail and on it's arms stopping just below it's shoulders. Trace was trying to listen in on their conversation, he was still too far away from them to hear them clearly.

The tone of the cat's voice told Trace that it was a male as he overheard. "Did you find them?"

"No…" The bat answered out of breath.

"Me either." The cat looked like he was on edge, like something was lurking in the shadows around them.

The bat shivered, but quickly shook it off. "I just don't understand, how could G.U.N. accuse Shadow? He would never…" She trailed off for a moment to regain her composure.

"I don't know, but the important thing is that we have to stay calm." He kept looking behind him, he then turned back to the latter. "This place is too big for just the two of us to cover. We're gonna need some help. What about those friends of yours, can you get a hold of them?"

"Sure, but they're in the Mobian Mountain region. It'll take them at least thirty minutes to get here if not longer than that."

"Give them a call anyway. I think we can stall for at least that much time."

Suddenly the cat's ears rotated back toward what was one of the large hanger doors entering into the room. "Rouge, get down!"

In that instant, the hanger door bubbled and blew apart sending debris and shrapnel in every direction. Though Trace wasn't really in this timeframe, he could still hear the deafening sound generated from the blast and it forced the wolf to cover his ears. Not wanting to miss what was happening, Trace didn't take his eyes off of the scene ahead. He had to keep reminding himself what he was seeing had already happened and any of the stray pieces of mangled metal were not going to hit him.

The two Mobians were blown back toward the far wall. The cat grabbed Rouge to shield her from the blast and slid back first on the metal floor. They both looked toward where the blast came from.

A massive G.U.N. issued robot walked in and aimed it's missiles directly at them, threatening to fire. A voice was heard from the loud speaker in the craft. "Stealth Ocelot and Rouge Bat…"

Regaining his resolve, the ocelot leapt up and stood in front of Rouge, defending her. The mech pilot continued, "For conspiring with the rogue agent, Shadow, you are both under arrest."

"Oh really?" Stealth smirked and unsheathed his claws at the end of his finger tips. " 'Cause as I recall, you and your squad attacked us first."

"Last warning, stand down!" The pilot's voice was becoming very shaky over the intercom.

"Now, you have two choices. 'A', you stand down and leave. Or 'B', I mess up that fancy paint job." Stealth's eyebrows creased forward toward the end of that threat.

The mech fired, but Stealth jumped back and the bullets just missed his feet. The ocelot then swiftly grabbed Rouge and moved her away from the mech's firing range, which was just a few feet from where Trace stood. Stealth looked back at Rouge, "Stay here."

He then rushed back out into the open. The mech shot frantically, only managing to graze Stealth's shoulder. The wild cat didn't stop or slow down, but instead leapt into the air and unsheathed his claws that came out of slits in his shoes. He dug the claws into the cockpit of the mech and looked in at the pilot. "Wrong answer." He then broke the glass, shards flew in all directions outward instead of inside the cockpit.

Stealth's plan was to frighten the pilot into abandoning the cockpit, but instead the pilot pressed a button with his trembling hand. The glass dome of the cockpit began to slide backward, with Stealth's claws still attached. The wild cat retracted his claws, but the momentum from the glass dome pushed him toward the back of the robot. Refusing to give up, he swiftly dug his claws into the metal.

The pilot tried to shake Stealth off of the mech. "Let Go!"

But the ocelot didn't budge, he started tearing at the metal to get to the wires in the back of the mech.

In a desperate attempt to stop Stealth, the pilot rammed the back of the mech into the iron wall. A loud yell was heard and it echoed off the walls to where Trace stood. The wolf looked around the corner and saw what had happened. Stealth had flipped up at the last second, saving himself from being crushed. But he wasn't able to get his left arm out the way in time and it was broken and wedged between the mech and the wall.

"Stealth!" Rouge yelled and took a couple steps from where she was.

"No! Stay there!" Stealth yelled.

She stopped and looked in disbelief as one of the guns on the mech turned and faced the pinned wild cat.

Luckily for him, the gun was within his range and Stealth kicked it so that the barrel of the gun faced the ground and it shot and hit the mech's leg, causing it to move slightly and release Stealth's arm. He used his good arm to pull himself up so that he was facing the front of the cockpit. He then lifted both feet and landed one on the pilot's shoulder and the other right by his head. With the momentum from both the blast and Stealth's kick, the mech went crashing down to the metal floor. The pilot was knocked out from the force. Stealth stood on top of the mech for a second, trying to catch his breath. He then unsheathed his claws and swiftly cut off one of the pilot's sleeves, without leaving a single scratch on the human.

Rouge flew toward him as the cat wrapped his arm with the torn sleeve. "You're hurt."

Stealth held a part of the cloth in his mouth and pulled it tight, he grunted through his teeth. "Not the first time."

He then leapt off of the mech effortlessly. "Now, back to business. You give your friends a call and search this level for Shadow, Ill check the upper level."

"What are you nuts? You can't climb up there, not one handed!"

"Wow, how long has it been? Ten years and you know nothing about me, really?"

"Let me check the upper level, I can fly."

"You've already been flying for an hour, you're exhausted." Stealth then took his good arm and reached into his boot, he then took out a gold coin. "Lets make this fair, we'll flip for it."

The bat crossed her arms and gave him an untrusting look. Stealth saw this and nearly laughed. "What, you don't trust me?"

"You are an ex thief."

Stealth gave her an 'oh really' look. "So were you." He then flicks the coin into the air. "You call it."

"Tails."

The coin falls back down and Stealth catches it with his good hand. He opens it and reveals the coin's choice. "Heads." He places the coin back in his boot.

Rouge sighed and shook her head. She still didn't like the idea of Stealth searching the rafters.

Stealth gave her a reassuring look before taking off. "Don't worry love, I got this. Call me if you get into any trouble." He then leapt effortlessly onto the first platform and used his good arm to grab onto a metal bar. He then swung himself up to the next platform. It was obvious that the wild cat had the skill to handle this even one handed.

Now convinced that Stealth was alright, Rouge flew a little ways toward the back of the hanger, she then ran into one of the air ducts and disappeared.

The wolf suddenly felt someone shaking his shoulder. "Trace! Snap out of it!"

Trace's vision was suddenly brought back to the current timeframe and he shook his head to bring himself back into focus. He looked behind him and saw Rain's worried look.

She realized that he noticed her and she sighed with relief. "Thank Chaos."

"Man mate, I've never seen ya zone out like that before." Caper added.

"How long?" Trace asked as he pressed his hand against his forehead. Sometimes if he used his insight for too long, it gave him migraines.

His teacher answered. "Rain's been tryin' to get your attention for five minutes."

"Sounds about right." Trace mumbled.

"Why don't we take a break while you tell us what happened." Valor suggested.

Caper stretched, "Sound's good to me." Both Valor and Rain glance at Caper for a minute, they then both shook their heads and returned their attention to Trace.

Trace tells them everything that he saw, from Rouge meeting with Stealth, to the fight that took place between the wild cat and the G.U.N. mech.

Valor was leaning against the metal wall of the hall. He closed his eyes as he pieced together what Trace had just told them. "So…Rouge the Bat and Stealth the Ocelot."

"You knew them?" Rain asked curiously.

"Pfft, more like know them. They're still around." Valor continued to explain. "Rouge used to be a jewel thief, she then later became a spy for G.U.N. And Stealth was a thief for hire."

"Ya mean, someone paid the bloke to steal stuff?" Caper asked.

"Yep, he was originally from the Cat Country, but something brought him here to Station Square."

"He was helping Rouge when I saw him." Trace added.

"As I said before, he was a thief. Chaos only knows what he's doing now." Valor rolled his eyes at the thought.

"Well…" Trace stood up and looked back at his teacher. "Who should we follow, Rouge or Stealth?"

"Follow the bat, we'll more than likely find more answers with her." Valor answered.

Trace nodded and then dashed forward, "This way." He ran into the entrance to the air duct that Rouge had taken and stopped. He had already figured that the air duct would be too small for Valor to get through. Caper might fit, but it would still be too close to tell. Trace's eyes glowed for a moment as his insight guided through the air duct. He tracked down where Rouge exited and turned to his comrades. "The air duct exits in the room on the other side of this wall."

"On it." Valor then slashed at the metal, cutting a way through into the next room.

Trace shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, that works." He hopped out of the vent and ran through the hole in the wall, the others followed.

In the next room, Trace only saw one exit. It was a security door and it was closed tight. Trace walked over to the control panel and gently took one of the exposed wires. The metal bracer on the wolf's wrist sparked and he brought the wire to meet it. In that instant, the door was activated and opened up with a reluctant rusted groan.

It was one of the old supply rooms. This was one of the vital places the group had been looking for.

"Wahoo! Yes, we found it!" Caper cheered.

"Look at all this…" Rain was going through boxes. "Spare parts, medical supplies…"

While the others were distracted, Trace walked out of the room. He was still thinking about what he saw and heard earlier in his vision. Who was Shadow? Why was the G.U.N. militia after him for? Rouge sounded sincere that whoever Shadow was did nothing wrong, so why?

Curiosity got the better of him and he used his insight to see if he could find the answer. Years seemed to flow by him for a second, then he saw something that caught his attention. A dark figure was running up in the rafters.

The wolf ran and leapt from platform to platform until he reached one of the beams. He followed the dark figure across the beam and into one of the air ducts. The air duct led him into a long hallway. He looked around, wondering where the stranger had disappeared to.

Trace then picked something up out of the corner of his eye. He ran and followed turns the corner and sees the dark figure standing in the hall with his back turned away from him. Trace walked closer, but then the figure swiftly turned and looked straight at him, his piercing red eyes gleaming.

What? He can see me? The wolf was taken aback by this, he was only looking into the past…this vision shouldn't even acknowledge that he was even there.

The dark hedgehog took a few bold steps toward him, then suddenly broke into a run.

"Shit!"

Trace activated his shock gloves and braced himself for the attack. But the two just passed through each other…that was when Trace noticed that it wasn't him the vision was looking at…it was the robot right behind him. The dark hedgehog jumped up and rammed into the red robot head on.

Trace recognized it from one of the old files he read. It was one of Eggman's old robots… "…Omega."

He watched as the two fought against each other in the hall. Again the wolf had to remind himself that the stray blasts of gun fire and bolts of lightning would pass through him, leaving him unharmed.

The battle between the two was intense. Both seemed equally matched though the black hedgehog seemed to be the one holding back. Omega then shot the hedgehog with a powerful beam and it blew him through the iron wall.

"Chaos Spear!" A massive bolt of lightning flew into the small hallway and hit the robot dead on, but Omega pushed himself from the wall and out of the hole into the next room.

Trace attempted to follow, but he felt something grab hold of his shoulder holding him back. His thoughts came back to reality once more and he turned around. His golden eyes met two sapphire irises. "Don't run off like that again, it freaks me out!"

Trace gave a light smile to his worried friend. "Sorry Rain, don't know what came over me."

"You saw something again, didn't you?"

The wolf let out a sigh. "Yes. Left more questions than answers though." Trace starts walking back the way he came. "I'll have to ask Claymore about it when we get back."

Rain nodded. "Right, lets meet back with the others. They're waiting for us."

The two take off back down the hall. Trace looked back one last time, but then swiftly turned the corner. They caught up to Valor and Caper and the group ran toward another door. The group runs in, but as the others continued forward, something caught Trace's eye and he stopped. Noticing that Trace wasn't following, the others stop.

Rain looked back worryingly. "Trace, what is it?"

"Another trap?" Caper added.

"No…" Trace answered and then walked over toward the wall. The Exus emblem was written on the wall.

Valor looked and was slightly shocked by it. "The Exus emblem? What's that doing down here?"

There was something bothering Trace about it as well. It seemed odd, like someone had painted over whatever was written behind it. "What on Mobius…"

The wolf took is hand and began rubbing off the rusted, peeling paint. What it revealed sent a shiver down his spine and he heard the others gasp behind him. Under the black paint…was the G.U.N. emblem.

Author's Notes: ...O o...Yikes! Talk about crazy huh?

Next Chapter, we'll get to see how much Nikki has grown in two years and meet some new characters and old friends :)

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