The Great Adventure 2: Revenge of the Shadow

by Jason de L'Epee

Sonic heads south to Sapphire Bay but runs into trouble when a prisoner that remarkably resembles Sonic escapes from Prison Island and causes havoc, and Sonic gets blamed for it. What's going on this time?

1. Part 1

THE GREAT ADVENTURE 2: REVENGE OF THE SHADOW

by Jason de L'Épée

Sonic and other related characters are coyrighted by Sega Productions, Sonic Team and Archie Comics. Any other additional characters are copyrighted by Jason de L'Épée. The original game concept, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, is copyrighted by Sega Productions, Nintendo and Sonic Team ©2001, 2002.

FOREWORD: I had this fic in mind ever since I started "The Great Adventure: The Legend of Chaos," the adapt of Sonic Adventure, but never really had started it until I finished the game Sonic Adventure 2: Battle,early in the production of TGA, and that it would make a great sequel to TGA. Out of all the Sonic games, the storyline in here is the most intriguing in my opinion, but not far ahead from Sonic Adventure.

As you'll see soon, I don't start the fic in a typical manner, with a tragic prologue dealing with Shadow fifty years before the events of SA2. I hope it won't turn your attention away from the story I'm about to tell. I'd like to credit LoneWolf for helping me with some of the problems I had comprehending about the power of Chaos, such as the usage of Chaos Control.

You may notice references to the past that aren't in my fics. I plan to write fics about those events but they may be a long while. If you email me at I may give you a few spoilers about what I have in store for the fics. Take note: those may change within the next three years.

If the beginning of this fic seems to be a hair reminiscent to K. M. Hollar's SA2 adapt beginning (the birthday scene), I apologize if this causes alarm. I tried several different ways to begin this but they turned sour quickly. I needed to find a way to have Sonic have a few tools before the actual adventure began.

The ending of the fic, after the battle with "FinalHazard," you may note that it is reminiscent to the beginning of "The Fall…and Back Again." That is because "The Fall" shows the ending events of SA2 through Shadow's eyes and experience, while this fic will show it through everyone else's eyes.

Final Deadline: January 31, 2007

Chapter 1: Break-In

"This is your time, this is your dance,

Live every moment, leave nothing to chance,

Swim in the sea, drink of the deep,

Embrace the moment of all you can be…"

"This is Your Time"--Michael W. Smith ©1999

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It was a large land-mass, floating in the sea of red-colored sky of late-evening. It had a large mountain range in the center, not like a long slender range like the Rockies or the Andes of our world, but more like the Himalayas: round and centrally-located.

Several forests dotted the landscape, and if I told you every single area of this island, it would take all day. I will just say now that it was like a mini-continent. It was Angel Island, or the Floating Island more commonly called.

Two figures stood on a high hill near the mountains, overlooking a flat plain which were dotted with ruins. One was a red echidna wearing spiked gloves and hard, rugged shoes. The other was a blue hedgehog wearing large gloves and two blood-red shoes with white straps with brass buckles, and there were high-lights on the heels of the shoes.

"Enjoying yourself, Sonic?" the echidna said, whose name is Knuckles.

"Yeah, turning fifteen tomorrow doesn't feel any different though. And why won't you let me in that room in your house, Knux? Are you afraid I'll wreck a vase?"

"No, it's a glass display."

"Huh?"

Knuckles chuckled. "I'm kidding."

Sonic moaned. "Geez, I hate it when people hold secrets from me. Why are we out here anyway?"

"You wanted to see over the Marble Gardens and you are."

"Yeah, the last time I was here was when we were talking about the visions with Tikal and Chaos."

Knuckles glared at Sonic. "Don't remind me; he packed a punch."

Sonic chuckled. "Hey, where is that pyramid where you had the Master Emerald?"

Knuckles scanned the ruins, and pointed towards an outcrop of rock near the Island's edge. "There, you can just see it if you look hard enough."

Sonic had to squint in the gathering darkness. "Where? All I see is a piece of rock in a round valley!"

"You're looking at it."

Sonic shrugged. "I guess I'll have to see it in the light."

Knuckles looked around. "I guess it is getting dark. Let's go back to the house."

Sonic and Knuckles began to take the hike down through Marble Gardens and to the other side where Knuckles lived in a large hut, if it could be called a hut, for it was large enough to hold a family of four.

"This place looks a little creepy in the darkness." Sonic looked around at the dark ruins.

"Do you think so? I don't."

"That's because you live here. This is everyday life for you. I live in a forest, not an old stone city where Chaos had killed all the residents where they stood. It's like a graveyard or something."

h

Knuckles chuckled. "There's the hut."

Sonic peered at the darkness through the windows. "Why is it so dark inside?"

"I didn't leave the lights on."

"But I thought we left Tails back at the house."

Knuckles shrugged. "Maybe he went to bed early."

Sonic stared perplexed at the hut, but had some strange suspicion growing in the back of his mind.

Knuckles entered first, but didn't turn on the lights.

"What is he up to?" Sonic said quietly to himself, and followed Knuckles in. "Knuckles?" he called out. "Where are you?"

"I'm here, in the other room!"

Sonic stalked his way towards Knuckles' voice, arms stretched forward to keep from running into a wall or a couch.

"Knux? Where are you?"

No answer came from the crimson echidna. Sonic began to really wonder what was going on. He took one more step forward, and his foot fell on something that crackled like light paper under his foot.

Suddenly, the whole room he stood in was ablaze with lights! Sonic was so surprised and unused to the light that he stood in the middle of the alit room blinking.

"SURPRISE, SONIC!" several people shouted at once in unison and cheered.

"What's going on?" Sonic called out, completely surprised.

"It's a surprise party, Sonic. Happy Birthday," a young fox with two tails said, approaching Sonic with a party hat and a wrapped present.

Several party noise-makers sounded while several people brought in presents, cake and other stuff.

"Why, thanks guys!" Sonic said, as Tails the two-tailed fox put a party hat on top of Sonic's head.

Sonic knew everybody there; there was Tails and his chao Frosty, Dash, Sonic's chao, the Chaotix, Knux's girl-friend Julie-Su, the Knothole gang, everyone!

Sonic was led to sit in a chair as the people who got presents for Sonic gave them to him one by one.

Knuckles was first. He gave Sonic a shoebox-sized box. Sonic tore it open and lifted the gift from a sea of packing peanuts.

"Wow, nice belt." Sonic stood up and looked over it. It was a golden-colored belt with seven studs all of them embedded with jewels the size of half-dollars. Each jewel was a different color. "These things don't look like Chaos Emeralds. What are they, Knux?"

"Remember the time several years ago when you said that you'd give anything to have a simpler way to go Hyper without making a trip to Hidden Palace? Well, here's the answer. It took me a while, but I was able to make Super-Emerald-miniatures to put in the belt," Knuckles explained.

"Sweet!" Sonic clipped on the belt and walked around in a circle, looking generally down, trying to think of something. "How do I start it?"

Knuckles scratched his head, as if he left out something on a project that was old. "I haven't thought of that." He shrugged. "I guess we'll have to figure it out."

Sonic sat back down, but someone said. "Hey, where's your belt?"

Sonic looked down, and was startled to see that it wasn't there. He could feel it, but couldn't see it. "What's with that?"

Knuckles chuckled. "I was about to tell you; the yellow one bears the power of invisibility, so it works with the golden color of the belt to make it vanish from sight. I can't really explain it any other way."

Sonic looked a little confused. "Ok, that's a bit weird, but I think I understand."

Knuckles shrugged. "Can you think of a better theory?"

Sonic sat back and crossed his legs. "I guess not…"

The next gift came from Tails and Sally.

"Another shoebox?" Sonic asked. "Is this the year for belts?"

Sally touched Sonic's shoulder, suppressing a chuckle. "Just open it."

Sonic opened the box, and found what normally comes inside a shoebox.

"Shoes!" Sonic lifted out a pair of shoes, but these weren't an ordinary pair of shoes. These were Soap-shoes: shoes with large metal groves that were used for grinding, kind of like skaters do with roller blades without the wheels. The heels were large and had large highlights on them, excellent for high speed.

"Aha! These will be fantastic."

"It cost us a lot to buy them; Sally helped out the most," Tails said.

Sally smiled. "It was only a little bit; we thought you'd like these."

"Like them? This is spectacular!" Sonic gave Sally a peck on the cheek.

Sally blanched and slapped Sonic's cheek, but not in a hard matter, for she was too surprised. "You are such a weasel, Sonic!"

"I thought Fang was," Sonic said, grinning like a chimp. (He was of course talking about Fang the Sniper which Knuckles had trouble with the year earlier, while Sonic, Tails, Frosty and Dash were taking on a new creation by Dr. Robotnik.)

A chuckle spread through the room and Tails said below his breath. "Good thing Amy's not here." He giggled at the thought.

Sonic rubbed the reddening spot on his cheek, but appeared not to mind it, for he was smiling at the same time.

Several other gifts that I will not discuss save one were also bestowed to Sonic. One was another present from Tails that he had built over several months: A wrist communicator that would go on his right wrist and Tails would be able to communicate to him from the Tornado. That was really no big deal, but what really was time costly was that he was experimenting with chaos-power shielding so if Sonic was close to a Chaos Emerald, or in Super transformation, the com wouldn't sizzle away. It may experience a brown-out if exposed to a concentrated amount of chaos energy, but Tails reasoned that if it could last against Super and Hyper, it could last through just about anything.

Then, Bunnie and Antoine carried in a large vanilla cake that Antoine made. Rotor and Knuckles carried in a large bowl of cherry punch. The Chaotix were carrying pizza with assorted toppings. (Mighty carrying the most for obvious reasons.) Sonic needless to say pigged out that night, and lay in the same room with Tails, moaning at eating too much, to which Knuckles would say:

"Good grief, sounds like a dumb cow that ate too much corn."

After Knuckles checked around the house, he turned in and just listened to Sonic's moaning in the next room.

Unfortunately, the moaning covered someone's footsteps outside. It was taps of hard-heel boots, and if one was listening closely enough, he would've figured out that they were high-heeled boots.

The darkness covered the entire island, and that covered whoever was sneaking around in the Marble Gardens near Knuckles' hut.

Then, on the planet itself, another intruder had invaded another island.

-----

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Intruder sighted outside the forest and heading towards the underground base! All personnel intercept and apprehend the intruder! Emergency battle procedures initiated! This is not a drill!"

Siren blared. Men wearing black suits armed to the teeth ran around to get into battle-stations. Battle-droids were activated to be put into battle. The whole base was put into battle mode when something was spotted coming towards the underground branch of the base, where secrets were kept.

The intruder at first glance seemed to be a large robot with two large legs with large feet, but no arms. A large gun was mounted on the rear with enough firepower to punch a car-sized hole into a four-foot-thick cement wall. This contained missiles, and a deadly laser system of which you want to avoid completely.

On another glance, one would see that it was just a walker, driven by a squat man that stood over six feet tall and had a very large moustache. His eyes were covered by black eye-glasses and wore a pair of goggles on the top of his bald head.

Just in front of the cannon, standing alert like a cat looking at its owner was another robot, shaped vaguely like a hedgehog.

It was the evil genius, Dr. Ivo Robotnik in a smaller, two-legged version of the Egg Walker (the one that Tails had destroyed two years before), and the robot with the cannon was Metal-Sonic, the chief assassin robot.

Robotnik, or Eggman where some people were beginning to call him because of his body-shape and the catchiness of Sonic's whit, was closing in on the top floor of the underground base vein, shooting his Vulcan Cannon to destroy all "interferences" in the way.

He laughed evilly. "This is just too easy. I'd rather face that blasted hedgehog, Sonic, if I was just doing this for sport. But even he won't keep me from my new evil plan."

The walker stomped its way into the base, and punctured through a door that was sealed with four electrical seals.

"Level 1 security door breach! All forces intercept intruder!" a warning alarm said.

"I expected much more interference from these pathetic humans," Metal-Sonic commented.

"So have I." Robotnik twiddled with his moustache. "I guess I overestimated them. If Chaos hadn't revolted, I could've ruled the human colonies without much interference at all."

Despite the fact that this was the stronger GUN military base, Robotnik was receiving little interference. Metal-Sonic had come in case the resistance proved harder, but he felt that he wasn't needed that night, so he just sat back against the high missile cannon, playing observer.

"Level 2 security door breach! Take evasive actions and reform onto levels 3, 4 and 5."

"Thanks for the warning, fools." Robotnik muttered. Metal-Sonic watched on as the Egg Walker stepped onto a lift, which lowered him to the third floor.

There they met more resistance, but the Egg Walker proved to be efficient despite its large size and clumsy appearance. The next two levels were pretty much the same. Level 6 proved a little harder, but still easy; they came to a room where twenty humanoid robots stalked up and prepared to fire.

Robotnik fired repeatedly with his homing missiles and just out of personal amusement, Metal-Sonic fired a laser from his arms at a robot or two that Robotnik missed.

When they came to the bottom of the seventh floor, Robotnik found a set of doors that were as wide and tall as a parking garage.

"Doctor, these are doors that are used for cryogenic freezing. The secret weapon that you seek may be in here if it's organic."

Robotnik paused as if thinking, then blasted the doors open. The temperature once they came in grew cold. Metal-Sonic, being a robot, didn't mind it, but Robotnik didn't appreciate it.

"Let's make this quick and get out of here, for it must be only forty degrees in here."

The walker stomped towards a computer console with a clang after another. Behind it was a pit that led into a cryogenic freezing chamber. It was open and on a platform was an ovular chamber that was roughly 5x4 feet.

"That is the secret weapon that this military is protecting?" Robotnik said, a little stunned.

"It appears to be." Metal-Sonic seemed just as perplexed as Robotnik.

"It's a lot…smaller then I expected." Robotnik typed a few keys on the computer. "Enter user password. The word is M-A-R-I-A. Maria." Robotnik typed in the letters on the keyboard and pressed "return."

"Now put the Chaos Emerald that we stole into the computer console right there, Mecha." Robotnik pointed towards a conical dent on the keyboard pad.

Metal-Sonic withdrew a light-blue gem out of a holder, and he had a glove on his hand for Chaos Emeralds are harmful to robots for they had electromagnetic properties. The human took the Emerald and placed it into the slot.

In the pit, the platform below began to rise to meet them. Several hydraulic hisses came up from the bottom as it rose more and more. Mist rose to meet them as the chamber rose higher and higher. Metal-Sonic's "eyes" got fogged, much to his annoyance, but he wiped it off to see what was coming up.

It stopped when it came level to the two's faces. The pod opened and whatever was in it stood up even in the darkness of the underground room, they both could tell that it was a Möbian hedgehog.

"What? Sonic? How could you be here?" Robotnik was surprised and furious.

"Doctor! That is not the hedgehog, but it is indeed a hedgehog, a strange one!" Metal-Sonic said; his eyes more keen then the human's.

Robotnik took a second look. "What? You're not Sonic at all! Who are you?"

The figure crossed its arms: it was a jet-black hedgehog with red streaks that ran down his twisted spines, his arms and legs. He wore brass anklets and wristlets and black ones with red buckles. His shoes were white with red heels and sole-borders. A large groove in the middle of the shoe was present.

It spoke with a deep, menacing voice. "My name is Shadow; I am the ultimate life-form." He looked down at Robotnik and Metal-Sonic. "Since you've been so kind to release me from this chamber, I will grant you one wish."

"A wish?" Robotnik was amazed. "What do you mean?"

Metal-Sonic looked up at Shadow, and Shadow looked back. Their red eyes met for three seconds. The robot was very intrigued and was trying to comprehend the perfect look on him.

His thoughts were interrupted when heavy clanging footsteps coming closer every second.

Robotnik swore. "Now what?"

"It sounds like one of the military walkers, a Mech-Warrior." Metal-Sonic stated, looking up.

Suddenly, something lit up under Shadow's feet, and he lifted up in the air. On closer examination, one would see that Shadow was wearing hover-skates, a bit like wheel-less roller blades.

"I will destroy that robot." Shadow looked down at the two. "I will need that Emerald."

Robotnik was initially shocked at Shadow's knowledge of his possession of a Chaos Emerald, but tried to hide it. "What makes you think that I have a Chaos Emerald?"

"You released me from freezing, and if I know correctly, which I do, a Chaos Emerald is needed to activate the freezing machinery. How else would you release me?"

Robotnik was beginning to admire this hedgehog; his logic was flawless. "Mecha, give him the Emerald."

Metal-Sonic put back on the glove, took out the Emerald, activated the jet-engine on his back, and handed the Emerald to Shadow.

The robot seemed to stare at Shadow for a while, and Shadow noticed this.

"Yes, I am extraordinary. Behold the power I possess!"

Suddenly, a bright bluish flash erupted from Shadow's hand, and he disappeared. Robotnik and Metal-Sonic looked around, and at first thought that the hedgehog had betrayed them, but Metal-Sonic looked back and found Shadow stalking towards a large, twelve-foot tall robot with large thick legs.

This was one of the three top Mech-Warriors that G.U.N. had in its arsenal. This one in particular was B-3x Hot Shot. It had a superior weapons system, compared to the two others, but had more trouble maneuvering.

There was a pilot inside, and he reported in to the headquarters. "This is B-3x Hot Shot, reporting in. I have not located the intruder, but I have located a Möbian within the cryogenic freezing chamber, over."

"Describe the Möbian, Hot Shot, over." someone said over static over the insider communicator.

"Visibility is poor, but it appears to be a black hedgehog. It has something glowing blue in its right hand, over."

"Copy, Hot Shot. Consider it armed and dangerous. Apprehend it if possible, destroy it otherwise, over."

"Roger, over and out."

The feet of the walker lifted up so the craft could now fly around, and it flew towards Shadow, spraying bullets in his direction, but just before the bullets got within an inch of Shadow's body, he lifted the Emerald and disappeared in a flash of light.

The pilot was obviously baffled about the disappearance, but he didn't have time to think for suddenly, a ball of black-and-red spines suddenly struck the glass wind-shield with a crack!

The craft shook violently, but stabilized. The chase was on again, but now it seemed that bullets would not do the trick. The pilot thought a lock-on laser would yield more results.

It turned 'round facing the black hedgehog that was glaring at the pilot inside, not the robot necessarily, glaring full of hate.

Inside the cockpit, the cross-hairs on the computer locked on to Shadow's silhouette, and a ball of energy was building within the large cannon on the underside of the flying craft. In a few seconds, it fired a ball of energy the size of the hedgehog himself!

The hedgehog jumped upwards and dashed away, the ball detonating right where Shadow's feet stood scarce seconds before.

Then, the craft lowered and the feet touched down on the hard metal floor. Two large missile turrets opened on both sides of the cockpit and both launched small missiles at Shadow, who kept swerving back and forth, advancing towards the Hot Shot.

The pilot saw what was coming and tried to lift off into the air again, but Shadow was too quick on his feet! He rammed into the cockpit window in a flurry of spine-ball attacks that could pulverize a car within minutes. He then kicked in the front glass panel and proceeded to smash anything inside, including the pilot. He was thrown out bodily by Shadow by a mighty jerk, and Shadow smashed the Chaos Emerald into the electronics.

Since Chaos energy and electricity can't cooperate together in most electronics as I've stated before, the whole craft began to spark, and sizzle. Shadow dashed away as the entire craft suddenly was engulfed in flame, turning the greenish Mech-Warrior into a burnt black, the paint bubbling and pealing.

The pilot was trying to crawl away to safety, but no such luck; Shadow wasn't finished with him. He glided on his skates and grabbed the poor pilot by the collar of the uniform, holding the man's face into his own red eyes.

"Be warned, pathetic human; this is just the beginning," Shadow hissed, his voice spilling venom. He then slapped the pilot across the face violently, strong enough to nearly turn the neck, knocking the poor man unconsciousness.

Shadow then stood very still, facing away from anyone who witnessed the battle.

"Destroying that robot was fantastic!" Even Sonic never fought so aggressively or intimidated the victims before. "So, Shadow, you are the military's top secret weapon, are you?" Robotnik asked, awed.

Shadow did not move, but stood staring into space, arms crossed.

"What did you mean that you grant Dr. Robotnik a wish?" Metal-Sonic said.

That seemed to be Shadow's cue to some people, for he turned his head just a little bit. "We will need more Chaos Emeralds."

"Shadow, WAIT!" Robotnik called out, since Shadow began to walk away.

"I will be waiting for you…in the central control room…of the space colony ARK. Be there after the next morning after tomorrow. I expect you there, doctor. Do not disappoint me." Shadow spoke every syllable clearly; he meant business.

"ARK?" Robotnik stood up in his walker, and stared down towards Shadow.

"You heard me. If you expect to rule the world, you'll need to go now." Shadow then disappeared in a flash of light.

Robotnik was stunned again. "How did he know that I had goals to control the world? Did I tell him, Mecha?"

"No, doctor; he has some strange insight," the robot replied.

"Hmm," Robotnik twiddled with his moustache. "He said we need more Chaos Emeralds. We'll need to find more. Let's go."

Chapter 2: Trouble

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Knuckles was stirring in his bed early in the morning; he didn't know what was making him restless in his sleep, but then, he felt the whole Island shake as if it crashed into a pool of water. His eyes snapped awake, and he leapt out of bed. Nearly hitting the door running and not even bothering to put on his shoes, he ran out the front door, and towards the old Emerald shrine, for it gave an excellent view to confirm his worst fear.

When he reached it, he saw that the Island had touched down in the sea.

But why? The Master Emerald should be still in Hidden Palace deep within Lava Reef…unless…

He ran back towards the hut, and found that the rest of the gang, Sonic, Tails, the chao and the Chaotix were wide awake being awoken by the splash-down.

"Knuckles! What happened?" Sonic said, hurriedly strapping on his shoes, the new ones if you must know.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." He pointed to the Chaotix. "Stay here, and I'll call you. Sonic, Tails, follow me!"

Knuckles marched out of the hut, followed by Sonic, Tails, Dash and Frosty, and deeper into the ruins, until they came to a hut, overgrown with trees, and nearly buried half-way up, for the door was only big enough to crawl through. When inside, the floor was further down beneath ground level, and there was a round disk with three legs sitting in the center. It was a pressure-sensitive transporter.

Knuckles went on first, followed by Sonic, then Tails.

There was a sensation of movement, and every cell in their bodies tingled from the surge of energy, then the stone hut suddenly changed into the blue, marble-like walls and floor. In the center was a large middle pedestal surrounded by seven smaller pedestals with large jewels the size of a small desk on top of each one. Something was amiss, and it took no thinking to figure it out. The Master Emerald was gone.

Knuckles stared at the middle pedestal and Sonic could feel the anger radiating off him like a gas oven on full power.

Tails stared at the empty pedestal. "Again? Who did it this time?"

Knuckles now started looking around and in several caverns, and the chao, who never have been to Hidden Palace, explored the caverns and gawked at the Super Emeralds.

"Whoa! Look at this blue one here! It's as big as my bed!" Dash exclaimed.

"Forget that blue one; look at this white one! It's beautiful!" Frosty replied, admiring the glow. (The white one was her favorite, and always admired anything shining white, for it reminded her of the Chaos Emerald.)

A few minutes later, Knuckles found some footprints, and it wasn't hard to figure out what kind of shoes made them: They were very basic, as if someone used an iron to make the sole, for it appeared so, followed by a small half-circle. They were made by high-heels.

"Sonic, Tails. Look." Knuckles showed the prints to Sonic and Tails. Sonic didn't think much of it, but Tails had some strange idea that he knew what these came from.

"Tails, do you recognize these?" Knuckles asked.

It took Tails a moment, but suddenly the summer of the previous year came to his mind. "Her?"

"Yes," Knuckles breathed. "I believe so. She came back."

"I'm sorry to interrupt this conversation," Sonic cut in. "but who's 'her?'"

"Rouge the Bat," Knuckles started. "She came first to the island when Tails was here; she knocked out Tails and took the Master Emerald when we were all distracted. That's where Tails got the seal on the back of his right shoe."

"Oh, that! I remember now! I was sick that time." Sonic said, recalling that August.

Tails glanced down at his right foot, and saw the carving. Slightly warn, but still there.

"It appears she came back…" Knuckles said, hands curling into fists. "But she won't succeed."

"But where could she take it?" Sonic said. "We're in the middle of nowhere, and there's no way to take it anywhere!"

"We're not 'nowhere.' We're just inside twenty miles from the Sapphire Bay coast. I make it a habit of checking out locations every day."

"Sapphire Bay? Is that where the big city is where the big monster attacked?" Dash cut in.

Sonic ignored him. "That would mean she would try to get to the one of the two cities. But how could she get there?"

"No doubt in the previous year, she studied how to program teleporters to go to a desired location. So, she took the Emerald and made off with it." Knuckles rubbed his chin in thought. "Just where did she teleport to…"

"…and from where did she do it from?" Sonic added.

"Yes…"

"I have an idea," Tails said. "Since she'd likely teleport to the mainland, there are at least three places she'd go to: Sapphire City, Santiago City and everywhere in between. What's in between, Knuckles?"

"If I remember right, it's the Dagro Desert: One of the mainland tribes used to live there before they died out."

"Right. I think we should split up, one of us to each location."

"That sounds like a good idea," stated Sonic. "Dash and I can take Sapphire City, since I'm going there anyway."

Knuckles propped up his chin with his fist. "But, Tails, suppose you find Rouge. What will you do?"

Tails thought about it. "Well, I can call you on the communicators, now that Sonic has one now. And I can always just spy on her from the Tornado. Besides, I can just give Frosty her Emerald and Rouge wouldn't go near."

Knuckles considered this. Is it the best way?

"C'mon, Knux, you won't here a better idea even if we stood here thinking for weeks, I'm sure," Sonic added.

Knuckles sighed. "I'll take the Dagro desert. I'm used to deserts more then you guys are."

"And I'll take Santiago City," said Tails. "I'll keep you informed on radio. It'll take me a while to fly out for I parked it in Echidnaopolis. Good luck, Knuckles!"

Tails took off in a sprint, followed by Frosty in a flurry of wings. "Hey, Tails! Wait for me!" Sonic scooped up Dash and followed Knuckles who began stalking towards the nearest teleporter.

-----

Sonic had teleported to the docks near Emerald Coast. He took a nice glance around.

He sighed. "My, it's good to be back here. Looks like they fixed the docks from Free Willy."

"Huh?" Dash asked. "Who's Free Willy? Is he a chao?"

Sonic chuckled. "No, he's a killer whale. For some reason, he attacked the docks where I was standing. I can't explain it."

Dash stared at the water as if the killer whale himself would rise up and attack them too. He knew he didn't like water, and now he had a reason.

Sonic chuckled to himself after seeing Dash's look at the sea, and began trotting towards Sunset Resort, having a mind to book a room to stay in.

He did so when he got there, but didn't settle in there, for he decided to walk the Square, and see if anyone resembled a bat that Knuckles' described.

He left Dash behind in the hotel, much to the chao's disappointment and the chao threw a ring-eyed fit when left behind, but when Dash found out how to operate a remote control, he was entertained for hours.

Sonic left the hotel and picked up a newspaper in the lobby and took it with him. He glanced at the front news, and found that a nearby island, Prison Island where the military of the colonies was stationed, experienced a break-in by someone they unidentified, but whatever happened, something escaped there, and are looking for it.

"Looks like things are cooking, again," he muttered.

Sonic got some wild ideas in his head about trying to hunt down whatever escaped. It could be a dangerous criminal or something, and who knows? There could be a reward.

He then looked up and saw that several police cars were about.

"Wow, this guy must be dangerous if all these coppers are out."

Suddenly, Sonic heard a voice that echoed throughout the Square. "Freeze! Get your hands up slowly, and face towards the building!"

Sonic looked around, and was wondering who was shouting through the bullhorn (which explained the booming echoes) and to see who he had spoken to. Then, his eyes opened in his mind and saw that several cop cars had pulled up around him and several policemen had surrounded him, weapons drawn.

"What the heck is going on?" Sonic thought out loud.

The officer, who was on top of one cruiser with the bullhorn, repeated the order.

"All right, all right!" Sonic obeyed, and one officer strode forward and yanked his arms back…

"Ah! Easy! Easy!" Sonic complained, when his arms shot in pain from the shock.

…and handcuffed his hands behind his spined back.

"Hey, you guys? I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, the guy who beat Perfect Chaos the water monster two years ago!"

"I don't care what you did, Mr. Hedgehog. You are under arrest."

"WHAT?"

The officer recited the Miranda rule to Sonic, who was in too much shock to listen, and was a little upset understandably.

Sonic was shoved in a car and two officers seated on either side of him with large shotguns. There was no getting out.

"Oh, what the heck did I do?" he moaned.

-----

Knuckles strode through the hot desert on the mainland, sweating and nearly blinded by the sun reflecting off the sands. He didn't really notice this as much as one would, for his head was ringing with the panicked signal from the Emerald.

"Rouge, when I get done with you, you better have a will drafted."

He came into several ruins, and each step made the signal a little bit stronger, until he couldn't hear is footsteps on the gravel-like road. Then, he came to a shrine, and heard panting which was high-pitched.

"Score."

He clipped on his shovel-claws, which could be used as weapons as well as tools, and climbed up the wall. When he reached the top, he found the bat sitting, wings flapping to cool herself off.

"All right, Rouge, give up the Master Emerald."

Rouge jumped up and saw the red Echidna, panting and furious.

"You just never give up, do you?"

"Looks who's talking. That Emerald's mine!"

"Hmm, you seem to be the stingy one. You had at least seven other jewels in that palace of yours. Isn't that enough?"

"You apparently have no sense of feeling. Without that, the island is as good as dust, as you should remember! Hand it over!"

Before Rouge could protest, the Echidna ripped out the cords that bound the Master Emerald to a re-sizing gadget. The Master Emerald suddenly swelled up into its natural size of a large boulder.

"Hmm, looks like its stuck here now. Good going, Echidna."

"Better here, than in your hands, bat girl!"

Rouge and Knuckles were facing each other from opposite sizes of the Emerald.

"Just let it go!"

"That Emerald's mine; it's too powerful to let someone take it for small reasoning's sake! It controls the other Emeralds so I need it more then you do!"

This argument went on to up a half an hour, and showed no signs of slowing. They were both ready to take it to blows, when the last thing either of them had expected: A huge three-pronged claw lowered from above and snatched up the Emerald.

"What the--?"

"Whaa? Thief!" Rouge shrieked.

Knuckles couldn't help it. "Well, looks who's talking."

Both looked up and found that the claw had withdrawn the Emerald until it reached a hovercraft high above. The hovercraft was rather round, and featureless save for a headlight in front. The operator was a squat, fat man with a large orange moustache.

"Eggman!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Yes, I came here by homing in on the signal that the Master Emerald gave on my Chaos energy reader. I see I'm not the only one after it."

"I'm warning you, Robotnik, put it down!" Knuckles had grit his teeth.

So that's the infamous Dr. Robotnik, Rouge thought.

"Hmm, what's going to stop me? You, knucklehead?"

That's it! Knuckles thought angrily, and then suddenly shouted something in a language that neither Robotnik nor Rouge understood; then suddenly the Emerald pulsed light then exploded with a shattering of glass.

The hovercraft suddenly lurched due to the lack of weight, causing it to nearly go out of control. Robotnik was very stunned briefly, and drove away towards a distant pyramid in the distance.

Knuckles thought proudly about what happened, when suddenly, he found his head grabbed by Rouge and being shook back and forth.

"Look what you did to my Emerald!" Rouge hissed, shaking him back and forth.

Knuckles stomped on her boot to get her to let go. It worked, and Knuckles raised his fists. "I did that so as not to let it fall into hands that don't deserve it. If it's in pieces, I can restore it." Knuckles ran to the edge of the shrine, but turned to Rouge again. "Oh, and by the way, that's my Emerald."

"I won't forget this, Guardian! I'll get that Emerald yet! All the jewels in the world are mine to keep!" Rouge ran off.

"Yeah? We'll see about that, bat girl!" Knuckles shouted after her, shook his head, and glided away; listening to the shard resonance and thinking what good luck that he thought to bring a backpack. He knew that the Emerald shards wouldn't fly far at all.

It was a good hour and fifteen shards later when suddenly a communicator that he brought with him chirped. He answered it.

"Yeah?"

"Knux? It's Tails!"

"Well, I found her already and pretty much got the Emerald back." It was a half-truth, but Tails didn't need to know that. "What's all the fuss?"

"I just saw a news broadcast! Sonic's been arrested in Sapphire City for escaping from a prison and assaulting military personnel. What am I going to do?" He sounded panicked.

Arrested? "First of all, calm down. Call Sally, and tell her. She may need to come down to Sapphire City to find out what's up. I'll be there when I get the Emerald back."

"Ok, I'll fly down and call her too. I can't believe Sonic would do that!"

"I don't think he did. For one thing, he would've had to be in Prison for two seconds to escape and be re-arrested in the time that he had there. The Prison there is on an island about five miles off shore."

"Which means he was framed!"

"But who?" Knuckles was thinking it through, picking up another shard that he found in the sands.

"I don't know. The only hedgehog that I know that looks anything like Sonic is Mecha, but anyone could tell him apart. His eyes give him away."

"Eggman could be behind it, but he'd go for something more dangerous to the world, not a petty play around with Sonic."

Tails moaned. "My head hurts from thinking about it."

"Go call Sally. She'll help you out."

"Hurry, Knuckles!"

The communicator clicked off, and Knuckles got back to work. His life gets more complicated more and more he said to himself.

-----

Dash was flipping through the channels using his new-found toy as he called it and found a news station, and stopped when he saw a picture of Sonic on the news.

"Hey, it's Sonic!" Dash exclaimed and put down the remote to watch. It was a news broadcast.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, famous for his super-sonic speed and saving Sapphire City from the water monster Perfect Chaos…"

A still picture of a huge monster facing a glowing yellow hedgehog popped up. Dash's ego that shared Sonic's inflated, but received a puncture when the next part of the broadcast showed.

"…but recently for sabotaging military property and escaping from prison. He had been detained in Station Square near a Speed Highway lift. He's being held in the Prison Island Penitentiary, where he awaits trial. And today in Sapphire City, we're looking at…"

Dash didn't watch the weather forecast; he was shocked to hear about Sonic. His mind was still too small to think logically, but he was sure that Sonic was innocent. He was with him ever since, and they didn't thrash a mech.

"I got to find him and save him!"

He dove for the floor, and looked for something, then slapped his head in realization. "Rats! Sonic has my Chaos Emerald! That makes things worse!"

Dash leapt up to the door, but it was too high off the ground, and he couldn't fly very well; his transformation-evolution, or otiae in layman's terms, didn't allow him to further evolve his wings. He could fly some, but not as well as Frosty could.

Dash paced across the room to see if there was another escape root, and then his eyes fell on the window. He climbed up onto the air conditioner and peered outside.

"Ah, a fire escape! Perfect!"

It took a bit of struggle to open the window, and then a try to break through the screen on the outside, but he managed to tear a little hole in it and crawl through. He fell on his rear onto the iron staircase. Smarting a little bit, he scampered down the stairs. It took some time, and at each turn, he caught his breath.

After he came to the bottom, he started right at first to call Sonic's name. "Sonic! Sonic! It's Dash! Where are you?"

Then he remembered that the news person said that he was being held in a place called Prison Island…something; he couldn't pronounce the word.

Wait! He remembered that Sonic had a communicator; he left it back in the room in case Dash needed something. He scampered back up the stairs, which was even more of a chore for Dash, being a short, deep blue chao. When he got to the torn-open screen, he squeezed through; wincing occasionally at a few cuts he got from the screen.

He recalled that Sonic stuffed it into the drawer while Dash had his little fit, and with a huffing and puffing, he dragged he drawer open, and jumped into it to find the communicator. It looked like a small walkie-talkie. He thought about calling Sonic, but he didn't know Sonic's wrist communicator code. Double rats!

Hey, he knew the one for the Cyclone. Dash dialed the code, and hoped that Frosty or Tails was nearby it.

He waited a few minutes, impatiently tapping his foot, until it clicked. "Yes?" It was Frosty.

"Frosty, where's Tails?"

"Dash, is that you?"

"Yes, where's Tails?"

There was a pause, and then, "Dash? Where's Sonic?"

"I don't know! He's been taking by the police!"

"We know; we just saw it on a TV," Frosty said, somehow close to the mic.

"What are we gonna do?" Dash asked.

"I called Knuckles already, but I'm having trouble getting Sally. I think I'm too far. You're close enough, you try!" Tails said.

"Ok, come quick, will you?"

"Nadda problem, Dash. What's your room number?"

Dash looked at a phone on the middle of the nightstand. It showed how to dial another room and it showed the room itself. "425."

"Ok, we'll meet you there later. Stay there, and we'll come to you."

"Ok…" Dash was beginning to feel lonely.

"Call Sally, then wait." The communicator clicked, showing that it was now disconnected.

It took a bit for Dash to remember the code for Knothole, but he managed and gave Sally a code.

"Hello?" came the reply.

"Sally? This is Dash."

"Dash? Sonic's chao?"

"Yes…"

"What happened?"

Dash didn't beat around the bush. "Sonic has been arrested and held here in Sapphire City!"

"What? What did he do?" Sally sounded surprised; the anger would come later.

"Nothing! Some prisoner escaped from the prison and the guys here think he's Sonic!"

There was a brief pause, followed by some racket on the other side of the channel.

"Sally?"

Another pause, then Sally spoke. "Sorry; I dropped the communicator. Do you want me to go down there?"

"Tails told me to; he's on the way to Sapphire City as we speak. I'm at the Sunset Resort, room 425."

"I'll be right down. It'll take me a while, but I'll be down there. Stay there."

The channel disconnected, and Dash sat there, and cried in the drawer he sat in, lonely for Sonic.

-----

Sonic was handcuffed and sitting between two guards in a helicopter. He couldn't believe the events of the past hour. He had been brought to a police station for interrogation, but Sonic was too confused to go through it, and protested over and over about being innocent. Then he was forcefully placed on the helicopter, destined for a place called Prison Island off shore.

Prison. The word sent many a chill down his spine. He always imagined prison cells as small, dirty, stinky and cramped. The thought of being in there for any time made him panicky, for deep inside, though he never admitted it to anyone, he was afraid of small tight spaces, a claustrophobic.

His arms ached and felt drained of blood from the stiff position behind his back and "chained" together. It didn't help that the Crystal Ring (the phosphorescent-crystal bracelet on his left wrist that he bought two years before) seemed to smash the handcuff into the base of the hand.

I've got to get out of here! Sonic thought quietly, then suddenly remembered that his backpack was still on his back. Some error on the police's part for having not frisked the backpack and confiscated it, so Sonic still had it.

Thanking his lucky stars, he raised his arms so that he could just lift the back flap of the pack and just push out its contents, which was a big, royal red gem, with intense heat radiating off it. It was the Red Chaos Emerald, nicknamed the Ruby of Fire.

The nickname was not lightly given, for when the Emerald had fallen out of the backpack (which was woven with nylon with a heat-resistant coating which explains it not melting or burning) and onto the bit of chain slightly draped behind his back, it began to melt the metal at the touch.

Suddenly, one of the guards began to smell the melting steel floating from behind Sonic, and was alert at once. Unfortunately, he was too late, for the Emerald burned all the way through the metal chain like a blow torch and Sonic was out of there.

Two things happened at once: One was that Sonic had leapt out of his seat and spin-dashed into a guard who had just gotten onto his feet. The blow knocked the wind out of him and out of consciousness. Bullets sprayed everywhere and Sonic tried to kick the guns out of the way. The other was that the Red Emerald had landed on the nylon seat as soon as Sonic leapt off of it and began melting it, and setting the soft insides on fire. Smoke began filling the chopper.

It was rather interesting to hear this on the other side at the communicator's tower back on the island, for the conversation went as thus, starting a few seconds before Sonic's escape from the cuffs:

"Tower, this is Sigma-Alpha 2, requesting to land, over."

"Copy that, Sigma-Alpha 2. We have you on radar. What is your ETA, over?"

"ETA in about seven minutes, approximately at 1030 hours, over."

"Roger, Sigma-Alpha 2. Report status of captured hedgehog aboard, over."

"That's a 10-4, tower. Captured hedgehog is secured and--WHAT?"

The next parts of the conversation were overlapping and interrupting each other as Sonic kept ricocheting off the walls.

"Repeat pilot. What is wrong?"

"The hedgehog has escaped and has taken out two guards!" The pilot began to cough as the smoke from the Emerald doing its work.

Several bangs could be heard over the speaker at the tower, for Sonic was ramming at the door.

Back at the smoking chopper, the door had burst out and Sonic flew out with it. He was able to grab hold onto the missile wing on the left side.

Despite the repercussions of the copter blades and the wind, he could still hear officers shouting orders. "Get that hedgehog!"

Sonic looked down and found that there were at least 3000 feet high, and he also found that he was sitting on a loose panel of the armor of the helicopter. He got an idea.

He began to rip off the panel, which gave a little too easily. This chopper must've seen lots of action, he thought and was able to rip it off. It was rather fortunate, for one officer had brandished a handgun and was shooting at Sonic. The panel took some of the blows and the bullets glanced off.

"Talk about low-budget flights: no food or movies! I'm outta here!" He then leapt onto the panel, and had the thrill of his life; the panel caught enough lift, so Sonic was sky-surfing all the way down, whooping in delight of escaping jail and the ride down.

Chapter 3: City Escape

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rouge was panting and glistening near an oasis. Despite the fact that water was everywhere in this oasis in the Dagro Desert, it was still blisteringly hot.

She had observed the Echidna from afar, and was amazed how he was able to pick up one shard after another. He must have some radar or something for no one could've found all those on sight alone, for the shards when separated from the Emerald itself, looked more like glass with a green tint in it.

Rouge had only found one shard, and it was by sight alone, for her Chaos energy tracker was only good if the Emerald was whole apparently, for the tracker did not find the shard, floating in the oasis. She had searched for over an hour for another shard, and had come up fruitless.

She took off her large arm-gloves and scooped up water from the oasis, and drank it. She then sat on the edge of the oasis and watched disinterested as turtles swam back and forth through the water.

Suddenly, her communicator beeped repeatedly with a beep-beep, beep-beep. She answered it, "This is Rouge the Bat."

A voice spoke from the other side; Rouge recognized it as the head of the agency she was a part of: an off-shot of the Central Intelligence Agency from Earth, called the Möbian Agency of Intelligence, or M.A.I. for short (pronounced "may").

"Rouge, something has brewed up in the G.U.N. base, and the secret weapon that they had contained in cryogenic freezing had escaped. This weapon is a byproduct of an inactive project called Project Shadow, formerly run by Professor Gerald Robotnik about fifty years ago. Before he died, he said that this weapon, called the ultimate life-form, would destroy the opposition of his project who had it shut down."

"So, you want me to get read-outs of this Project Shadow and even find a way to stop it."

"That's why you are the spy, Rouge."

"Yes, Chief Dresden. Oh, and don't forget what was promised to me the last time I did an assignment two months ago."

"Rouge, you'll get your jewels soon enough."

"I'm just reminding you, that's all."

"Well, back to the assignment: do you even have an idea where to start?"

Rouge had flown up above the oasis so that the desert was in full view. "Well…" she looked at the horizon in thought, then her jade eyes fell on a distant pyramid. "Yes, I do. I'll get those intelligence reports to you within thirty-six hours. Rouge out."

She then flapped her bat wings, and flew off towards the distant pyramid. But before she had gotten too far, she happened to look down, and saw the sun reflect off something in the sand below.

She dropped down, and found that it was another Emerald shard. She smiled in absolute relish; this shard was the size of her handgun, which would bring a fair price.

With two shards in her grasp, she flew once more again, expecting to see more shards.

-----

"Sonic the Hedgehog, surrender yourself. We have you cornered!"

In the residential districts of Sapphire City, police, G.U.N. and police dogs were crawling in the streets, back alleys and empty houses. One officer was shouting for Sonic to surrender through a bullhorn. The military was taking no chances.

"Good grief, what the heck did I do?"

Sonic was hiding in an attic of a very old house, and was looking through a vent in one of the sides of the roof. It didn't give much of a view, but it gave enough. Sonic mentally ran through a list of the last time he was in Sapphire City, and the only thing that could be lawfully wrong would be running on Speed Highway, but he seriously doubted that offense would warrant a jail sentence, and it was two years ago.

Suddenly, he heard banging around downstairs and immediately realized that the police were searching the downstairs!

"Geez, they're worse then Metal-Sonic!"

Sonic tip-toed on the attic floor, so as not to cause creaking, to the other side of the attic. He found a window on one side of the attic, and found that it could be opened. It took several attempts for the grooves were old and dirty. But he managed to budge it enough so he could fit through. He peered out and found more police in the street, but not in the back alley nearby.

He slid out quietly and slowly out of the window, and was hanging from the windowsill by his fingers. Then, he dropped onto the grass with the balls of his feet, which was not as noisy as landing flat on the soles.

He took several good looks around, and into the alley way especially and found it barren, save for a few alley cats. He began to walk slowly and cautiously away from the house he had hid in, but then suddenly, a cat was surprised by Sonic's presence and gave out a yowl!

Several police turned their heads towards the alley, but Sonic was already gone in a flurry of feet.

-----

Several hours later…

Several miles away, in the rapidly chilling landscape of the Dagro Desert, a squat figure was making his way towards the center of a large pyramid. He had strolled down the passageways (which were not really abnormal at first for a pyramid) and then came to a large gate with three key-holes. He took three keys out of a pocket and unlocked the door.

The squat figure was Dr. Robotnik, and the inside of the pyramid showed that he had a base here as well, including the one in Mystic Ruins. The door led into a series of passages that were in the shape of a triangle. Robotnik strolled down more hallways, and came upon a large robot (that looked like a beetle) that was patrolling the hall. The robot ignored Robotnik however and passed on. The human continued walking down the hallways, looking to and fro as if studying the halls. Several lesser sentries roamed the halls, and Robotnik even found one malfunctioning. He gave it a kick; that seemed to work, for it got back to work.

The obese man then came to another door with three key-holes. He unlocked these as well, and he was in the control room. In the control room stood as still as a statue, Metal-Sonic.

"Good day, doctor."

Robotnik grunted, and coughed through the dusty nature of the heart of the pyramid. He then fiddled with his moustache. "Mecha, have you found out more information about the space colony ARK?"

"Yes," Metal-Sonic's eyes lit up slightly. "It's the first Bernoulli sphere space colony, built almost 60 years ago. It has adequate life-support and artificial gravity. It was shut down 50 years ago."

"Hmm, why would Shadow want us to go there of all places, and why do we need more Chaos Emeralds?"

Metal-Sonic said nothing.

"I'll have to see what is going on up there…later." Robotnik strode to the control pod. "Hmm, I wonder what's going on elsewhere…"

Robotnik studied the control pad, and then pressed a button. The view-screen lit up and began playing a news-broadcast, apparently a few minutes old.

"We interrupt this broadcast for an important news flash: There has been a robbery at the Federal Reserve Bank today. Strangely enough, the only thing that was taken was the Chaos Emerald stored there."

"A Chaos Emerald?" Robotnik exclaimed.

"The suspect had been identified by eyewitnesses as the world-renown hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. He had been sighted earlier on the Speed Highway over the business district, clutching the Chaos Emerald. The suspect had taken the Emerald at about 5 PM and fled, destroying several guard robots in his path. Police are barricading the Speed Highway from traffic as we speak…"

As the broadcast continued, Metal-Sonic voiced his thoughts. "I see that humans are complete idiots. Anyone in their right mind could tell that the hedgehog looks nothing like this hedgehog. Black with red, twisted spines and he skates; nothing like the blue hedgehog."

"Yes, it does sound like something Shadow would do. I'm liking him more and more."

"I'm wondering what he really is."

"If I read correctly, he's the ultimate life-form."

"He really does have perfect dimensions for a hedgehog, but I still don't see how he's 'ultimate.'"

"Hmm, maybe when we meet him up on ARK, we'll know…" Robotnik scratched his chin. "When did he say we will meet him?"

"Tomorrow morning; he did not say a specific time."

"Hmm…it is a real shame that we couldn't find another Chaos Emerald."

"We?"

Robotnik was taken aback by this simple question. "Yes, we. What are you talking about, Mecha?"

Metal-Sonic pulled on a glove, and reached into a compartment near the control panel off to the side. Robotnik couldn't see what was in it, for it was obscured by Metal-Sonic's silhouette, but he could tell that the inside was illuminated in a glow of a crimson color.

The robot withdrew his hand, which bore a large, red, glowing gem. "While you were away in the desert searching for a Chaos Emerald, I went to the city for I knew that there was at least one Emerald guarded by G.U.N. there. It was too easy, for I found a smoking helicopter that had landed and was abandoned, and inside, I found this; fools that they are to leave it in such an obvious place."

Robotnik was impressed with Metal-Sonic. "You found a Chaos Emerald! Nice work, Mecha. Hmm, maybe I can reward you with something…"

Metal-Sonic was pleased inside; not many could please Dr. Robotnik. The only one who really did before was that "stupid red adding machine" two years ago. (He was referring to E-102 Gamma when he got the right frog during the plan with Chaos.)

Robotnik took the Emerald and at once dropped it for it was blazing hot. He swore, "Ah, I forgot that this Emerald was as hot as a metal fresh from the furnace!"

Metal-Sonic had turned away, and if he was capable, he would be laughing. He was, but in thought.

-----

The night began gathering on Sapphire City, and while Sonic was running for his life in the downtown regions, another hedgehog was perched on a bridge over the business district on a branch of Speed Highway. It was indeed Shadow, and in his grip was the Green Chaos Emerald. Almost a dozen cop cars were below on the pavement and two helicopters were hovering near as well.

"Hmm, how pathetic…" Shadow stared down at the gathering blockade below. "This is nothing like…"

Shadow seemed to close his eyes, and shook his head as if he was reminded of something unpleasant.

He remembered that awful night, when the military came where he lived. He could remember running down red-lit halls, and men shouting at him and other people, ordering them to catch them all and not to let them escape.

He panted as he streaked down the hall like a ghost. It was when he came to the next room when everything fell apart. A young girl was kneeling against a computer console and was breathing with difficulty. Shadow found that she was shot thrice.

"Maria!" Shadow screamed in utter horror, and then found three soldiers in black uniforms with weapons aimed at Shadow. He didn't waste a second; he dashed into one in a spin and was ready to kill him with one stomp to the neck if there weren't two others. He took the fallen guard's hand pistol and shot at the other two with precise aim, killing them.

He dropped the gun and skated up to the girl (Maria), whose golden hair was stained by blood at the ends, and was speaking earnestly with her.

"Please, Maria, you can't leave me alone!"

She gasped for life and was speaking with a labored whisper. "Shadow, forgive them. Promise me you'll not destroy them."

Shadow's eyes were rimmed, as if he was about to cry. "But…but they did this to you!" Shadow motioned to the blood.

"They have, Shadow. I don't have much life left…" Her voice was getting weaker and weaker. "Give the people down on that planet a chance to be happy. Give them the chance to live…"

"Maria…"

"Sayonara…Shadow the Hedgehog…" Maria had a few more gasps for air, then let it all out in one long sigh. She had breathed her last.

Shadow stood in mortified shock, and tears fell down his face. He wept greatly on her chest. He lifted his head and closed her eyes. He lay her down, and found that his gloves were stained with her blood.

Then, his eyes which were rimmed with tears before, were now rimmed with blood in intense anger. "I'll never forgive you pathetic humans for this. I swear; I will kill all of you!"

Shadow's eyes popped open and saw the night landscape of Sapphire City. His anger was re-awakened. He leapt onto a suspension cable, grinded down it and landed in the center of the crowd of police cars. The police ran towards his black figure, ready to pin him down, but Shadow was ready: he raised his Emerald, which was glowing in a hot green glow that looked like a beacon, and threw the Emerald against the ground.

A wave of energy spread around, throwing the policemen and cars away and some over the edge of the bridge.

"I remember what you told me to do, Maria…but for this planet and filth that inhabit it, I promise you…REVENGE!"

Chapter 4: A Long Night

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"Doggone it, another blockade!"

Sonic had been hot-footing it for over twelve hours, and was growing tired. And who could blame him? He had been running nearly non-stop, save for the times he hid but those weren't long at all, he tried to out-distance them on Speed Highway, but that didn't work out anyway, for it seemed that the police were swarming that place more so then everywhere else.

In the late evening, Sonic had another experience when a large truck about two cars wide began rolling down a hill towards him. Needless to say, he took off with a shot. Much to Sonic's misery was that the track to run away was a street that seemed to go downhill always, and the truck followed him like a cat following a mouse.

He only got away when he took a sharp turn into an alley, and the truck couldn't turn fast enough obviously and even if it could, it wouldn't be able to fit through the alley. Sonic was able to get away for a time.

-----

Shadow on the other hand was having a much easier time avoiding the police, although he acted as if he wanted them to chase them. Anytime one got to close, he would hold up the Emerald and disappear.

Things must've gotten desperate for the military for interceptor jets were now flying over and under the Highway. Bullets were sprayed as Shadow weaved to and fro on the highway. The screaming of jets, the whooshing sound of Shadow's hover-skates and the bullets ricocheting off solid concrete and asphalt were now echoing through the star-lit skies.

Shadow held up his Emerald once more and disappeared and didn't reappear, but a blue hedgehog ran underneath the Highway and then the interceptors gave chase to him, thinking the hedgehog was Shadow.

-----

"Gah! Fighter jets!"

Sonic had glanced back when he heard the screech of jet engines overhead, and nearly freaked. He took to top speed as the environment would allow. Oh, if Tails was here, he could fly out of here with the Tornado 2.

He ran into a dense part with lots of buildings and trees, so the fighters had to give up. He stopped to catch his breath and found that he was in an empty lot behind a super-grocery store (think Dillons™ if you need a comparison).

He said half-heartedly and with fatigue, "My, this game of tag is getting boring. Maybe I should run back to Knothole or…"

Sonic's thoughts were interrupted when a huge clang-clang-clang rang throughout the back lot. He looked around, and found that a large, two-legged robot was stomping towards him.

"Hmm, a robot, huh?" Sonic thought about running anyway; that thing would be way to slow, but he was too tired run now. He guessed he'd have to attack. Just the robot, not the guy inside, he told himself. "Thought about showing up, huh? Ok, bring it on!"

This robot, F-6t Big Foot, was another Mech-Warrior walker that G.U.N. had in its arsenal. It was not as powerful as the B-3x Hot Shot (the one that Shadow thrashed), for it didn't have an ion cannon, but it still had a fair arsenal.

The pilot called into nearby units. "This is F-6t Big Foot. I have located the suspect. It doesn't seem to be intimidated by the hulk of the walker, and seems to be ready to attack."

"Apprehend if possible, but if the suspect does not show cooperation, terminate it. We'll have ground forces and beetle sentry robots heading your way. Good luck, pilot."

"Roger that."

The robot stepped forward with many a clanging stomp, and the pilot called out through a bullhorn for Sonic to surrender.

"Ha! Why surrender if I did nothing wrong, jerks! Here's my response…"

Sonic charged with a battle cry.

"TERIAAAHH!"

Sonic curled into a ball of spines and struck the robot's right foot. The walker bounded backwards and the injured foot was sparkling and bent in several places.

The Big Foot, much like the Hot Shot, was a multiple attack walker, for it could also attack in the air, spraying machine gun bullets downwards.

Sonic dodged back and forth; ducking behind wooden boxes and running back out again, just as the walker sprayed bullets at him, destroying the boxes.

The hedgehog climbed on a large box, and shouted at the pilot. "Hey, skipper! I'm right here!"

The Big Foot turned sharply round and flew at Sonic like a dog that noticed a juicy bone after he ran past it. Sonic leapt up and dashed into the left missile turret, just to the side of the windshield.

A big bang erupted from where Sonic struck, and the hedgehog felt the heat from the strike. He figured later that he had hit a place where a missile was stored and detonated it by accident. It hurt the walker more that it did Sonic: Sonic got away with only slightly singed fur, but the walker's windshield was now cracked on the side, and the turret was shot.

The pilot saw that the craft was beginning to overheat. "This is Big Foot. Taking on heavy damage! Double time the assistance!"

Sonic stood high on the box, and thought to take out the second turret. That would take out the walker without harming the pilot…much.

Big Foot labouringly turned about and tried to fire missiles again, but one of the guns was not firing as fast as the other. The mech came close and Sonic curled into his spine-ball and smacked into the second turret.

There was such a bang that it echoed through the back alley. Sonic landed on the ground, coughing from the smoke and looked tiredly at the mech, which collapsed onto the ground. The turret that Sonic had just hit was smoking and ablaze with fire. The pilot got out and lay on the ground, going into unconsciousness. Sonic looked at the mech and feared that it may explode, and the pilot would be instantly killed if he was too close.

Thinking quickly, he caught up the pilot by the uniform and dragged him farther away from the damaged mech. Sonic took him to behind a dumpster, huffing and puffing for humans tend to be slightly heavier then Möbians.

There was a loud boom and Sonic guessed that the mech exploded, and peeked out to check. It was afire as he had guessed, but something else was there, in front of the inferno. It was another hedgehog, a black silhouette against the fire.

"What?" Sonic said, stepping out from behind the trashcan, and shielded his eyes to see the stranger better.

Sonic stepped forward, and the hedgehog turned and noticed Sonic.

"Hello, blue hedgehog."

"Who are you?" Sonic said, trying to see closer.

Shadow didn't answer Sonic's question at first. "It all begins with this, hedgehog." The figure held up something that was glowing a bright green. Sonic could see it clearly, despite the bright orange flames from behind. "A jewel that contains the ultimate power."

Sonic guessed it at once. "A Chaos Emerald?"

The hedgehog turned completely around, and glared at Sonic, like he did to anyone else he met.

Something clicked in Sonic's mind: something between the two hedgehogs. "Hey, now I see it! The military here has mistaken me for you! So…how about handing over that Emerald?"

The hedgehog, which was Shadow, said nothing.

"Say something, you fake hedgehog!"

Shadow tossed his Emerald in the air, and shouted "Chaos Control!"

-----

Shadow glided slowly by a frozen Sonic, and just flicked Sonic by the ear and skated up to the rooftop of an apartment building, and patiently waited for the time to start again.

-----

Sonic stared where Shadow had been, and scratched his ear. He couldn't explain the sudden itch on his ear, but didn't nearly notice that. He looked around stunned and saw the hedgehog standing on the building directly behind him.

"Whoa, he's fast!" Sonic stared up at Shadow, partly in amazement and jealousy. "Wait a minute, it must be the Emerald he has. He's using it to warp!" Sonic shouted out at Shadow. "Who are you anyway?"

Shadow's response sounded quiet, but Sonic could make out every word. "I am Shadow, the world's ultimate life-form." Shadow tossed the Emerald up in the air repeatedly. "There's no time to play games, hedgehog. Farewell!" He swung the Emerald around and disappeared in a huge flash of light.

"Kuh!" Sonic grunted from the sudden light. "What in the world is he?" he automatically wondered.

"Put you hands in the air and get on the ground!"

Sonic heard the bullhorn and saw that a whole squadron of GUN personnel, a stealth beetle squadron, and many humanoid robots. A helicopter had its light on Sonic. There was no escape now…

Sonic raised his hands and looked annoyed, and was handcuffed again.

-----

Inside a pyramid clear in the Dagro Desert, deep within the base of Robotnik's, another figure stood in front of one of the locked doors.

"This is Rouge reporting. I've infiltrated Dr. Robotnik's base and will proceed to enter the headquarters now…" the bat said, punching a few more buttons into a wrist communicator, and sighed. "I hate to say it, but I guess I have to find those keys first…"

Rouge delicately flicked off a dust particle from her right glove, and probed around the perimeter of the door.

"Hmm, no false bricks here. I wonder where the doctor would hide the keys? Hmm, doesn't matter, I'll find them myself…"

Rouge took out a night-vision eye-piece, and put it on. It only covered one eye, and so Rouge was using aided sight of one eye. It was dark inside the pyramid in parts, so the night-vision proved invaluable.

The beetle robot that was hovering about the halls caught Rouge's attention. She was inspecting a discolored brick to see if it was a false one, when her super-sharp ears caught a shrill buzzing noise. Turning, she saw the robot coming down the hall, its searchlight darting to and fro. Rouge hid behind a pillar to stay out of the vision of the robot. She had a feeling it was a sentry, and considering its light, it would bring in reinforcements once it spotted motion contrary to its master.

It buzzed by, and Rouge was left alone.

"Hmm, the doctor seems to have a thing for robots that look like something. What kind of creativity is that?"

Success for her came in the form of a side door that was well-hidden, but her night-vision made it stand out like a neon light in a dark night.

With a little bit of effort, she opened it and found three keys, all of them labeled with a different colored head of Dr. Robotnik.

"Ah, perfect. I'll take these, if you don't mind…"

She strolled back to the stone door, and unlocked each lock. It took some time, but when the doors opened, she slipped right in. To not attract the attention of the beetle robot, she typed a few keys on a computer console nearby to close the gate.

It was a virtual maze, but after several minutes of traveling down the labyrinth of piston rooms, construction bays and also a huge circular room that had a lot of strange statues in it, she came to a room where the door was closed, but she heard voices in there.

"What do you think why Shadow wants you up there, doctor?" It was a cold, metallic voice. Rouge assumed it was a robot.

"I don't know, Mecha. I don't know whether to disbelieve him or not. He had some strange insight back in the GUN base." A pause. "I'll go up there, but in my walker. If it's a trap, I should break out fine enough."

"Do you wish me to accompany you? His attack style is similar to the blue hedgehog's style, and since I know his, I should know Shadow's. That would be an advantage if he should attack."

"Hmm, very well. We shall go now. I saw the maps and we'll need to teleport to one of the outer rooms; the control room doesn't have enough room to contain the walker."

There was some clamor, and Rouge heard beeping, as if typing on a computer.

"Do you have the Chaos Emerald, Mecha?"

"Affirmative."

A pause, then the other voice spoke again, "Very well. Energize…"

There was a high-pitched whining noise for a second, then a whoosh like a computerized sound of wind, then silence.

"Hmm, it seems safe now…"

Rouge opened the doors, and found that she was in the control room of the base. A huge, glass disk sat in the center and a computer sat at the far end. A large, holo-screen loomed up above, showing regular reports from the sentries.

"Ah, it's a teleporter pod, just like on that Island…" Rouge strode to the computer. "Hmm, the destination is set to…ARK?"

Being a spy, she had to have a good knowledge of the colonies history, and much about the planet, and so was familiar with ARK, while most other people wouldn't give a darn about it.

"Wasn't that space colony closed down about 50 years ago?" Rouge peered at the holo-screen again, seeing if there was any information, but there wasn't. "What's he doing up there anyway…?"

Rouge stared at the disk in the center for a while, then turned to the computer console, programming the teleportation coordinates. "I'll find out myself…"

She stepped onto the disk, and it automatically activated. She disappeared with a whoosh of sound.

Chapter 5: Lost Colony

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dash was tapping his foot impatiently, waiting. He had spent the afternoon crying himself to sleep, lonely for Sonic, when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Dash leapt off the bed he was waiting on and responded, "Who is it?"

"It's us!" It was Frosty.

Dash's heart leapt to the ceiling, but remembered that the door handle was too far out of reach. Then he remembered something else on the nightstand, beside the phone: it was a keycard.

He snatched it up, as the knocking happened again.

"Hey, guys!" Dash called through the door. "I'm gonna slide the keycard through the crack at the bottom of the door, so you guys can get in, ok?"

"Got it…" came the muffled reply.

Dash went onto his hands and knees and slid the card under the door. There was a brief pause, and then Dash heard the locks click. He backed away from the door, just as it opened, and Frosty, Tails, Cream the Rabbit and her chao, Cheese, and Princess Sally walked in.

Sally spoke first, "Now, Dash, tell me exactly what happened…"

Dash narrated his entire afternoon to Sally, just as Tails and Frosty were turning on the TV to find the news. The news was the same, and it re-broadcasted the footage of Speed Highway with the black hedgehog.

"Hey, is that Sonic?" Frosty said, squinting to get a better view.

"But I thought he was arrested already!" Tails said.

"Wait! Look! That hedgehog's spines are the wrong shape. They're curled upwards!"

Tails studied the still picture. "Hey, you're right! It looks like Sonic, and it doesn't look like Sonic. Wow…who in the world?"

Dash had finished his narration and he and Sally were watching the broadcast itself. It showed different still pics of Speed Highway, the downtown, and finally, the back lot of a grocery store, where it appeared that Sonic was arrested.

"Wait a minute! I thought Sonic was arrested in the daytime!" Tails said.

"But is it Sonic?" Frosty squinted again.

"It kind of looks like Mr. Sonic…" Cream was squinting.

"I know him anywhere; that's Sonic. No hedgehog looks completely like Sonic, and that one does." Sally said.

"Oh, my head hurts…" Dash said, rubbing his head.

"I saw that Sonic also had his backpack…meaning that the military that arrested him would frisk it and find three Chaos Emeralds, and they'll hold them too. Triple rats!" Tails exclaimed.

"Can't we go to the prison and spring him out or something?" Dash said.

"I wish it was that easy. If that black hedgehog is a real criminal, and if Sonic is charged for the crimes, bail may be impossible."

"Well, I don't care! I'm getting Sonic out of there, even if I have to break him out with the Cyclone!" Tails was clearly not happy about Sonic's predicament.

"Now, now, be careful, Tails; let's not go to the extreme here."

"But Sonic's in jail!" Dash exclaimed, sharing Tails alarm and anger.

"There's still a chance to get Sonic out of there…legally; we'll see if we can get his bail paid, if there is one, and if there isn't, we'll use Plan B."

"What's Plan B?" Frosty asked, being the ever curious one.

"That's where you come in, Tails."

"Yeah…" Tails rubbed his hands together, secretly hoping that Plan B would go into action.

"We'll go tomorrow morning. Do you mind if I sleep in this room, Tails, or do you want me to get another room."

"Oh, I don't mind. I have a sleeping bag in the Cyclone; I'll run out to get it." Tails picked up the keycard and started for the door, the stopped. "I hope Sonic'll be all right…" he mumbled.

As soon as he left, Frosty started to complain.

"I wish I had a Chaos Emerald, but of course they all are in Sonic's backpack…"

"But we DO have one; the one in the Cyclone," Dash said.

"But it's yellow! I don't like the yellow one! The white one's better…"

"Picky, picky, picky…" Dash said, shaking his head. "You can use all of them, and you're throwing a fit over color? I'm worse off! I can only use the blue one!"

"Ok, cool it, you two." Sally was also not happy about Sonic, but was trying to hide it.

-----

"Hmm, seems quiet enough…"

Robotnik and Metal-Sonic were sitting in a large room, empty and dusty from neglect.

"It must've been marvelous over 50 years ago," Robotnik said.

"Yes…it must've," Metal-Sonic said, peering around the room, feeling suspicious at his surroundings. He didn't like this place.

Robotnik was feeling the opposite; this was like a base gift-wrapped given to him come Christmas. He always had to build his bases, and it took a long time, but this was something else.

"Hmm, Shadow said to meet him in the central control room, did he?"

"Affirmative." We have discussed this.

Robotnik shoved the levers forwards so the Egg Walker would go into a jog. The ARK's hallways were dark, and everything was silent. It made Metal-Sonic uneasy. When Robotnik awarded him with an upgrade when he came back with the Red Chaos Emerald, safely wrapped in a fireproof bag then wrapped in burlap, he chose a more complex neural system, made of similar materials of his nanotech cranial computer. It affected his motions well; he found a grace in his motions that served him well.

Robotnik came to a place where the hall ended and a dark chasm yawned below. There was another hallway opening on the other side. The solution was simple: the Egg Walker had built into the large legs hoverjets, and Robotnik used them to hover across.

Unknown to either of them, there was a third party besides the two and the hedgehog waiting for them in the control chamber. Fortunately, she came before the fore-mentioned hedgehog; teleporting with a machine has its advantages.

Rouge the Bat was waiting near the control panel, waiting for something to happen. She came to see it, and by golly she will. Then she figured that if Robotnik or Metal-Sonic would show up right there, they would in the very least not too proud.

She fluttered upwards onto an exposed support bean, high above the computers. Just in time too, for just as she swung her feet to hang herself upside-down as bats usually do, when a flash of green below near the controls erupted from nowhere, and formed into a glowing silhouette of a hedgehog. The glow faded and showed the figure of the black hedgehog that was televised on almost every news channel for 24 hours.

He stood there with two glowing gems, one in each hand. Chaos Emeralds! Rouge's lust for jewels swelled four-fold. Jewels were her first love, but what she always wanted was to hold at least one Chaos Emerald. Shivers vibrated down her spine; control it…control it…

She then heard several clanging footsteps coming closer, coming from the hall that led over the narrow walkway to the computer consoles. The hedgehog turned his head slightly, but showed no emotion.

A few minutes later, two figures showed up near the hall entrance: Robotnik and Metal-Sonic. Since the walkway was narrow, Robotnik had to climb out of his Egg Walker and walk. Metal-Sonic climbed out and followed, eyes glowing bright red, scoping the place, especially into the chasm below where the walkway spanned over.

"I've been waiting for you, doctor…" Shadow began.

"So I see. What's this all about?" Robotnik said.

"As you probably know, this space station, the ARK, was built over sixty years ago and overseen by the world's most renowned scientist, Dr. Gerald Robotnik, who I believe is your grand-father…"

Robotnik raised an eyebrow, and Metal-Sonic stared at Robotnik's face. Shadow continued.

"It was built as a science facility for research in multiple categories, such as medical, astronomy, advanced chemistry, et cetera. But underneath all this, there was a division of scientists that produced weapons of mass destruction. This was kept secret, and only the people inside this division knew about it.

"This is one of those weapons: a weapon capable of destroying an entire planet, codenamed: the Eclipse Cannon!" Shadow motioned to a machine behind him: a computer with a large machine with several large balloon-like pods above.

Metal-Sonic's eyes lit up several candelas and Robotnik looked amazed. Shadow's face was turned away and smiled pleasantly…in a cruel way.

"Destroying an entire planet?" Robotnik eyes were wide. "This was my grand-father's legacy?"

"Unfortunately, for 50 years of neglect, the whole ARK is powerless. To use the Cannon, large amounts of energy are necessary." Shadow took up the Sky Blue Chaos Emerald, opened up a panel high above the panels which revealed seven octagonal holes, ending with a point, arranged into a honeycomb shape with one hole in the center. Shadow jammed the Emerald into one of the holes.

Immediately, the computers lit up and several screens showed power levels kicking on. Robotnik heard several machines unseen kicking on beyond the steel walls. A ferocious blue glow erupted from the consoles, shown for a few seconds, and then stopped. The ARK was living again.

"So that's why we need the Chaos Emeralds…" Robotnik said, after watching the machines power up.

"Exactly; we need the seven Chaos Emeralds to power up the Cannon, to use as you please…then, the world could be yours." Shadow's brow lowered over his eyes.

Robotnik smiled greedily, and laughed with pleasure. "Sounds like a real plan…"

Metal-Sonic would've been disgusted if Robotnik thought it up all by himself, but from this mysterious hedgehog, it sounded…different.

"I like the way you think, Shadow. I'll get the Chaos Emeralds, use the machine to dominate the world and build a legacy of my own!" Robotnik laughed and strolled up to the computer console.

"Do you think it'll really be that easy?" A voice spoke from high above.

Metal-Sonic was the first to react; his claws turned into a laser machine gun and he pointed towards the voice. "Reveal yourself!"

"Put away the claws, robot. I'll come down; I was going to anyway."

There was a slight rustle then a white bat wearing a dark tight suit with a pink, heart-shaped breastplate, and elbow-length gloves and knee-high boots with steel caps on the ends. It was Rouge.

She dropped with a clang when the steel-tips met the steel walkway right between Metal-Sonic and the two near the computers. She turned to Robotnik.

"I have a great idea: how 'bout making a deal?" Rouge fluttered her eyes for a brief second.

Robotnik was confused. No one just comes up to him. "A…deal?"

"Of course; I was there when you grabbed the Master Emerald from that Echidna. You also said you had a radar device that tracked it down. I have one, but it's not as precise and accurate. If you let me borrow that radar, I may be able to help you…"

"If I do, what's in it for me?"

"Because I know where three other Emeralds are. I don't look it, yes, but I'm an expert treasure hunter and I specialize in jewels, especially Chaos Emeralds." It's a half-truth; it's not my first, Rouge thought.

Robotnik looked skeptical. "Prove it."

"Oh, I will. That robot has one."

Metal-Sonic's eyes brightened with so much surprise that they're were no longer red.

Robotnik also looked very surprised; this bat has a trick in her glove. He snapped his fingers. "Mecha?"

Metal-Sonic turned around and stalked towards the Egg Walker. Whipping on a glove, he took out the Emerald, and stalked up towards Rouge. As Rouge took it out of Mecha's hand, the robot said, "My civilian name is Metal-Ssss…Mecha. It's Mecha."

Rouge fluttered her eyes and fingered the Emerald, holding it away from her face due to the blast-furnace-heat that is characteristic of the Red Emerald. "Okay…Mecha."

As Rouge turned away, Metal-Sonic felt that he didn't like this bat, and felt like making her bear a few good scratches. Strange, he never felt this way before, ever since his upgrades two years ago. The first emotion was anger, then jealousy, then this. He'd better study into this.

As he left, Rouge the Bat fluttered up to the control panel, winked at Shadow, and then delicately put the Emerald into the slot below and to the right of the light blue one.

"Oh, I don't think I've formally introduced myself. I'm Rouge the Bat, but you can call me Rouge." Rouge put her hands at her hips, and smiled.

"Hmm, yes. I'm Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the greatest scientific genius in the world."

Rouge turned to Shadow, whose back was turned and his arms crossed. No talking to him now.

"Now where are these Emeralds?" Dr. Robotnik.

-----

Frosty woke up from her shoebox bed set up in the corner of the hotel room. She woke up to hear sniffling. It sounded like someone was crying.

Frosty slipped from under the covers and started to investigate. The sound of crying always made her sad too, and she learned that the quickest way to solve the problem with her empathy is to help the person with whom she's empathizing.

It didn't take long at all to find the source of the crying: it was inside the bathroom and the source of the crying was Dash, crying on top of the cabinet where the sink was. How Dash got up on such a relatively-high spot was a little out of Frosty's mind, but she saw that a roll of toilet paper short-side down was sitting near an upside-down trashcan, some of its contents spilled on the floor. Dash must've wanted privacy so he went to a place a chao wouldn't go on its own whim.

"Dash?" Frosty called up softly.

There was a pause. "Is that you, Frosty?"

"Yes. I woke up and heard someone crying. I can't stand to here someone crying; it makes me sad too. I went looking for whoever was crying and came here. Can I join you up there?"

Dash sniffled a little bit and replied, "Sure."

Frosty jumped and started fluttering her wings. She flew up to the countertop and found the blue Sonic-chao amid a mess of strewn Kleenexes. Dash had been crying a while.

"Are you okay?" Frosty asked sympathetically.

Dash nodded, but seemed to take it back. "Kind of…well…I miss Sonic."

"You know what, I miss him too." Frosty sat down beside Dash.

"But you're Tails' chao."

"Yes, but since Tails misses Sonic, I see it appropriate to miss Sonic too."

Dash said nothing, and lowered his head. Frosty put her arm as far as she could on her shoulders.

"Don't worry; we'll get Sonic back. The Princess Sally said that we'll be going to that prison to…throw a hay bale or something like that. I guess that's an expression for breaking someone out of jail."

Dash looked up again. "I hope so. I can't stand to sit by and see him rot in jail."

Frosty shivered. "Don't talk about that." The white Nights-chao stood up, yawned and stretched. "Do you wanna go to bed now?"

"Yeah…uh…can I sleep in the box with you?"

"Sure! It'd be warmer! C'mon!"

"Shh, don't wake up anyone else!" Dash hissed, tittering slightly.

The two tittered some more and fluttered to the ground, Dash wishing he could fly as well as Frosty could.

-----

The next day found the ARK in its normal orbit, scenery unchanged, quite boring. Shadow stood motionless in front of a window that peered down at the planet below. He stood here many times before, but normally, he wasn't alone. There was always a young girl, with long golden hair and a radiant expression of joy…but now…

"Ahem, Shadow?"

Shadow snapped out of his memories, and scowled at the speaker. It was Rouge the Bat.

"What do you want, Rouge?"

"It's time to head back down to the planet to find the last Emeralds."

Shadow only made a noise through his noise as if he didn't care. (He did, but he didn't want Rouge to be the one to tell him it was time to go.)

Shadow strolled past Rouge and towards where he kept his Chaos Emerald. He snatched it up, turned and glared at Rouge.

"Tell Robotnik to beam down to Prison Island on the far shore near the White Jungle. Be there." Shadow lifted the green gem. "Chaos Control." He disappeared in a flash.

Rouge turned to get to Dr. Robotnik, who was waiting with Metal-Sonic and the Egg Walker, thinking how it would be nice to teleport so efficiently like Shadow could.

"It's about time you got here, Rouge!" Robotnik griped sitting in his Walker, Metal-Sonic perched on the back, resting against the Laser Blaster Cannon. "Where's Shadow?"

"He had teleported down to the island already. We are to go to the border of the White Jungle farthest from the base," Rouge stated, and climbed onto the Egg Walker.

"Very well…" Robotnik pressed a few buttons on a nearby console and the three were enveloped in a beam of light and flashed out of the space station.

Chapter 6: Prison Island

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Right! Everyone up!"

Dash had slept fitfully despite Frosty's company and when the sun began to come up in the east, he decided that it was a good enough time to get to the island and to get Sonic out.

Tails woke up first, his eyes heavy. "What time is it, Dash?" His speech was slurred from the heaviness of his sleep.

"It's after dawn! Get up! We gotta get Sonic out!"

Cheese was stirring on the bed, whimpering slightly at the loud commotion that Dash was making. Tails peered at the clock. "It's only a little after 6, Dash!"

"But it's morning!"

Tails lay down again, and moaned. "Go back to sleep."

Dash let his arms hang against his sides. "I was hoping that I wouldn't do this, but you leave me no choice."

Dash scampered away into the bathroom, took a Dixie cup, filled it with water (the coldest that the faucet would allow) and came back. Dash had inherited Sonic's mischief when he evolved into his blue Sonic-form, and thought this was a good opportunity to use it to get a point across. He took up the cup, lifted the covers slightly, and then tossed the water into Tails' face.

Tails leapt up wide-awake and nearly shrieked from the surprise. "Dash!"

Dash couldn't help laughing, but knew he ought to be serious. They were on a mission. "It's time to get up, and I had to get you up one way or another!"

Sally mumbled and peered at Tails and Dash, who seemed to be having a verbal showdown. "What's going on?"

"Dash woke me up by pouring water on me!" Tails exclaimed.

"I did it so we can rescue Sonic!"

"You didn't have to splash me!"

"You wouldn't get up!"

By now, Cream, Cheese and Frosty have woken up to Tails' and Dash's heated argument, and it wasn't until Sally had gotten fully up and separated them by stepping them with her arms outstretched did they stop.

"Now cut…it…OUT!" Sally stood in between the chao and the kitsune. Sally brushed her mused forelock out of her face. "Tails, go into the bathroom and dry yourself off."

Tails obliged, but grumbled.

"Now Dash, you know better then that, spilling water on Tails' face. What's the matter with you?"

Dash not only inherited Sonic's mischievous nature, but also his argumentativeness. "It's dawn! We need to get Sonic out now!"

"We are all aware of our predicament, but that is no excuse to wake up Tails so rudely! I should spank you!"

"Do that and I'll tell Sonic!"

"I wouldn't care, now, I expect you to apologize to Tails as soon as he gets dried, understand, young chao?"

Dash growled a little bit, then said, "Sure…"

Cream was slipping on her clothes by now, while Cheese and Frosty looked at each other eyes wide. They never saw Sally so ruffled up like that.

Tails came out, still holding the towel. Sally nudged Dash a little bit, who side-eyed Sally, a little frustrated. "I'm sorry, Tails." Dash mumbled.

"For…" Sally cut in.

"…for pouring water on you."

Luckily, Tails had cooled off in the bathroom a bit, so he was able to forgive the chao and apologized to Dash for blowing up like that.

"Good, now if all is done here, I'm calling room service, assuming they're up this early." Sally gazed at the clock: a little after six. Sally smoothed out her forelock. "What would you like?"

The apparition of food immediately drove any hard feelings away. "Oh, I hope they have some of those little pieces of tender bacon." Frosty shivered at the thought; she always had an appetite for meat.

Dash did not share her appetite. "Eww, why eat that? I'd rather have those eggs with that white cheese stuff in the middle. Now THAT'S food!"

Cream and Cheese decided to join this little fave food conversation. They both expressed that fruit salad was better. "I like the grapes and cantaloupe the best," Cream said.

"I like the honeydew!" Cheese quickly added.

Tails gathered the "orders" and relayed them to Sally, who in turn called up room service and relayed the order to them. It would take a while of course, but all the residents of the room found ways to pass the time: Tails went down to the parking garage and prepared the Cyclone for the trip to Prison Island, telling Dash to call him on the com once the food had arrived. Cream, Cheese, Frosty and Dash amused themselves with the TV, watching the early morning cartoons.

Sally was taking a shower, but in her head, she was planning different ways to get Sonic if bailing him out proved to be much harder then expected. She hated the idea of blasting them out, but Tails DID have a point. It may HAVE to be done.

She dried herself off and slipped on her vest and boots. She thought about arming herself, and thought it would be for the better. A laser pistol would do the trick, she thought.

A twinge of fear touched Sally's inner being; this was indeed the first time they had to rescue Sonic from anything that she could remember. This wasn't like Robotnik's prisons, but the military's. She knew it would be much different then just breaking Sonic out, for this time, there's a mountain of red tape in the way.

-----

"Hmph, having to come back here wasn't my idea of a vacation!"

Four lone figures were looking towards the sunrise, one figure in a mech. They stood in the bushes, not too far from a rocky seashore.

One figure was a black hedgehog with a dark expression, holding one of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Another, a white bat, was leaning against the mech's right leg, applying fresh perfume. A blue hedgehog-reminiscent robot with red eyes was perched up on the Laser Cannon on the back of the mech. The last was a stout human that sat in the mech itself. The four were Dr. Robotnik, Metal-Sonic, Rouge and Shadow, to speak plainly.

Robotnik was in a foul mood, for he knew where Rouge took them: Prison Island. He had already been here for what he wanted before, and didn't see a reason to be here now. Shadow and Mecha remained quiet.

"Are you absolutely sure that there are Chaos Emeralds on this island?"

"Absolutely. You doubt me?" Rouge said plainly.

Robotnik didn't answer, but his scowl said everything.

"Well, believe what you want to believe…"

Robotnik sighed exasperatedly. "Very well, very well. Let's go over the plan once more…Mecha and I will go in first and distract the military troops, so you and Shadow can sneak into the base undetected. Shadow…wait fifteen minutes or until I contact you, then set this timer on the dynamite packs. This whole island is surrounded by missile silos, so you should be able to blow up the whole island. Meanwhile, you Rouge must get into the vaults and find the Chaos Emerald before Shadow blows up the whole island.

"We will meet again at the ARK. We must do this quickly, for we must get in, blow the island and be out of here! They won't know what hit them. Now, we have only thirty minutes to pull this off, so don't fail me! Now, go!"

Robotnik drove the Egg Walker forward; Mecha leapt off and flew towards the dock, preparing for weapon fire. Rouge darted off and Shadow glided off.

-----

A few hours later…

"Man, this place sucks…"

Sonic was very frustrated. He was in a prison cell because of that black hedgehog. Also, this jail cell was featureless save for the door: no bed, nor window (except a dirty one on the cell door); just four walls, a floor and a ceiling.

He was also chained to the wall by both arms. That made him even angrier! He couldn't do anything but sit and wonder what time of day it is. Sleep was denied him for the floor was cement and the chains cold.

He wondered if human prisoners were treated the same way.

He gazed around the room, and noticed that the walls and floor were scribbled with various sketches, formulas and sentences. Because he couldn't do anything else, he tried to make sense of the whole mess. Whoever was in here before was a college nut, he figured.

He found one larger drawing with what looked like a half-circle with a spear-point on the flat-end of the half-circle. The spear-point was faced towards a bigger sphere, with markings on it as well. It reminded Sonic of crude drawings of a planet like Möbius or Earth. A dotted-line came from the spear-point towards the bigger.

His mind-momentarily distracted, he looked at some accompanying sentences that were beneath it. There were a lot of large words in it that Sonic had no clue what they meant.

He perked his ears up suddenly, for he thought he heard sirens, but they were so faint that he wasn't sure if he was just hearing things, or not. Great, just great…he's going crazy in this pit.

-----

There was something else going on as well on the island, that neither Sonic, the three conspirators, or the rescuers en route to Prison Island never even gave a thought. This was the day of a field day for the eighth-grade school students back in Sapphire City to come to Sapphire City for a history field trip. One student on that trip was none other then Amy Rose.

Amy lived in Sapphire City. As I had explained in an earlier time, Amy's family had moved to the human colonies to escape Dr. Robotnik's regime in Robotropolis. Even then, Robotnik showed up in Sapphire City two years earlier with the water monster Chaos, and Amy got caught up in it unintentionally. After Perfect Chaos had swamped over half of the city and after Super Sonic had stopped the beast from destroying the coast, Amy's family moved again, still in Sapphire City, but further up the coast; their house had been destroyed during the Perfect Chaos incident, you see.

Amy had also heard news that Robotropolis was being demolished by other Freedom Fighter bands so as to rebuild it in its former glory of Mobitropolis, hoping that Robotnik won't show his face again.

Now the young hedgehog was now on Prison Island, listening as the tour guide droned on about the history of Prison Island and its present use.

A hint of movement caught her eye. Naturally, she peered in that direction. In the shadows of the buildings, something was moving. It was gliding silently along the ground. To Amy, it was black in the shadows. What is that?

Amy's eyes sharpened to study this stranger closely. It's head turned slightly, and she could see numerous spines on its head. It wore gloves and colored shoes, and it zipped away, apparently wary about someone's presence. As it did, a glint of metal from his hand showed up.

Could it be? It looked like Sonic! A dozen thoughts raced through her mind suddenly as she remembered her crush. "Forget this tour, I'm going after Sonic!" she thought.

She sprinted after the hedgehog, being grateful that she had decided to practice sprinting in gym class at her school last year as well as this. She was getting better at running.

-----

Robotnik was getting a little nervous.

Not that he hadn't faced the GUN forces before, but it was their number that disturbed him. No, there weren't a lot. As a matter of fact, there were significantly less then he figured on the docks.

He had talked to Metal-Sonic earlier via communicator and found that the Mecha was having the same feeling. Where IS everybody?

He had taken down a few robots in plain sight just so he can attract attention as planned, but GUN didn't seem to be taken the bait. The human tapped his fingers nervously against the armrest of his seat. He hoped that neither Rouge nor Shadow was discovered by GUN. That would ruin everything...

Metal-Sonic zipped by, but came back, agitated. He too had expected more resistance then this, and was feeling that he was wasting energy in his fusion core.

A voice came on the network. Robotnik hastily responded. "Yes?"

"Doctor, this is Rouge…" she sounded breathless.

"What's happening?"

"This base! I never realized the GUN base was so protected. I haven't even made for the vault yet; too many guards…" she gasped.

Robotnik cursed. "Have you contacted Shadow?"

"No, not yet…if you expect me to get into that vault, you need to get these guards busy with something else!"

"I know!" Robotnik barked. "Just hold on…meet me at the armory. Mecha will deal with the resistance. Hurry! " He disconnected. "Mecha, fly towards the base and distracts any troops around the vault and draw them away. We only have 20 minutes!"

"Affirmative," Mecha complied and flew towards the base.

Robotnik called Shadow. "Shadow, there's been a hitch in the plan. Meet me at the armory. We need to improvise with the current situation."

"What's the matter, doctor?" Shadow sounded cool, but Robotnik wasn't sure, but…was he agitated as much as he was?

"Rouge can't get in the vault because of guards. We need to draw them away. Mecha's on the way now, but I may need your help. We only have twenty minutes. Meet at the rendezvous point."

Robotnik cursed again once the communication port was inactive. He activated his hoverjets and hovered towards the base, beginning to hate the look of the human base more and more.

-----

Meanwhile, not too far from the base…

"There's Prison Island!" Tails announced, over the wind.

"Good!" Sally called back.

Communication was difficult, so nobody talked much. Sally felt cramped for Cream and Cheese begged and pleaded to go as well. Against her better judgment, she caved. Now she was seated in the cramped back seat with Cream, Cheese, Frosty and Dash. Tails didn't want to risk any of the chao playing with the controls. He didn't want the Tornado going into walker form over the ocean. That would ruin his day…

But the flight was uneventful, save Cheese feeling a little woozy from the flight. They got clearance easily enough, for the head of the West Möbian government was flying in, and she meant business.

Tails landed on the runway, and switched the plane to walker form. He meant business too, just in case they couldn't get a certain hedgehog out in the way they had hoped.

The chao leapt out, and Dash and Cheese embraced the ground. Frosty was really the only one who liked flying like that, and the others preferred solid ground over air.

"Tails, stay with the chao. I'll take Cream and see if I can sort this mess out."

"Yes, ma'am," Tails said obediently, and leaned against the leg of his Cyclone.

Sally and Cream strolled into the main building, and found the receptionist, a woman in uniform with black hair tied back in a bun, hidden by her uniform cap. She looked up. "Yes?"

"I'm Princess Sally Acorn from Mobitropolis. I am to the understanding that a Sonic the Hedgehog is being held in this island…"

"And…"

"And I would like to take him into my custody." He's blameless, but she doesn't need to know that.

The receptionist typed something on a nearby computer as Sally and Cream waited. Cream's boredom got the best of her and she began looking around on the desk.

The receptionist looked up. "I'm sorry, but there is no one under that identity here."

Sally was a bit surprised, but reasoned a transfer to another holding facility happened. "Transferred?"

"No. This 'Sonic the Hedgehog' was never here."

Sally's new surprise and anger showed. "What do you mean? We saw him on the news! He was taken custody behind that super-grocery store late last night!"

"I'm sorry, but the hedgehog you speak is not to be released anywhere. Shadow the Hedgehog is a dangerous criminal. Custody is denied."

"'Shadow' the Hedgehog?"

"Who's Shadow, Aunt Sally?"

"I don't know…" she turned to the receptionist. "Thank you." Sally was clearly seething.

She was so angry that she didn't see Cream take something from the desk as the receptionist's back was turned as she was searching for a file.

Tails looked up to see Sally, and could tell by the look on her face that something didn't go well. Cream came up behind Sally, trying to get Sally's attention.

"Uh oh, what happened?"

"I can't believe the stupidity of these people! Sonic is mistaken by a hedgehog named Shadow? Unbelievable!"

"Aunt Sally…!" Cream said from behind.

"Shadow?" Dash looked up. "Who's Shadow?"

"I don't know! Whoever he is, they won't let Sonic out because they think he's him!"

Dash was shocked for a second, then his expression nearly mirrored Sally. "I oughtta rip their faces off…"

Frosty spoke next. "What do we do now?"

"Aunt Sally…?" Cream called again, louder.

Tails was beginning to feel angry too. "I'm about to march this Cyclone into the jail cell and blast him out."

"Aunt Sally!" Cream called again, feeling angry from not being noticed.

"What?" Sally barked, suddenly remembering to control her temper.

"I found this on the desk while you were talking to that lady. What is it?"

Sally picked it up, and her eyes widened as she read the contents. "It's a G.U.N. Identification Card! Do you know what this means?" Sally shouted, not angrily as before, but serious.

"What?" all the others asked, wondering what caused Sally's mood swing.

"This is our ticket to get Sonic out of jail! Tails, get in the mech! We're getting Sonic out."

"Yes!" Dash and Tails shouted in unison, and leaped into the cockpit. Tails took the controls, and Dash looked battle-hungry.

"Cream, you are a genius!" Sally said, as she was climbing in.

Cream blushed, but hastily climbed into the Cyclone, just as Sally climbed in and bucked in.

"Let's go!"

Chapter 7: Confrontation

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Robotnik and Shadow waited in the shadows of a nearby bunker. Rouge ran up suddenly, and reported that Metal-Sonic was fighting the guards near the vault.

"Good, he'll take care of everything. Shadow, once the way is clear, get into the armory and plant the timer. We don't have much time to waste. Rouge, you'd better be quick in getting those Chaos Emeralds. I don't plan to come back after the island blows up and finding your remains."

Rouge sniffed silently at this mild insult, but said, "You'll get your Emeralds, doctor. I AM the best treasure hunter on Möbius."

Shadow had his back turned to them so Rouge couldn't see him close his eyes in disgust.

All of the sudden, Metal-Sonic spoke through the communicator. "Doctor, I have cleared resistance and am preceding to lure any reinforcements from the vault entrance."

"Excellent, Mecha. Keep them busy…" Robotnik disconnected. "All right, Shadow, Rouge! On with the--"

He was interrupted with a high, insistent voice suddenly sprung up from behind Shadow. A pair of arms embraced Shadow's neck, and the black hedgehog stumbled forwards.

"Oh, Sonic! I'm so glad you're here! I missed you a whole lot!"

Shadow looked absolutely revolted, and grabbed at the arms around his neck. Robotnik was surprised and confused. Where did Amy come from?

Rouge was the only one that saw the humor in the situation. She started coughing softly to hide her potential giggling. She never saw a more picture-esque scene.

Amy looked at whom she had latched on to, realized something, then let go with a startled gasp.

"Hey! You're not Sonic! Who are you?"

Shadow turned around, seething and embarrassed. Robotnik scratched his head, and Rouge surrendered to laughing softly, half-trying to control it, behind the Eggwalker's leg.

"What are you doing here?" Amy was also embarrassed and a little frightened.

Robotnik found his tongue. "I should be the one asking that!"

Amy looked up in horror at Robotnik. "Dr. Robotnik!" She screamed in fright. Shadow cringed for he was right beside her and it made his ears uncomfortable.

The girl hedgehog took off at a run away from the three.

"Amy! You're timing is impeccable!" Robotnik cursed, knowing if she got away, she'd tell someone. "I'll deal with her. You two, go!"

The two complied, Shadow calming down, and Rouge wishing she had a camera for that.

Robotnik pulled down his goggles over his eyes and set the Walker to follow Amy.

-----

"Which way is it?" Tails asked.

"I'm not completely sure; we'll have to cover each one," Sally replied.

"Oh, I hope Sonic's all right. I know he can't stand tight places like this." Dash looked warily at the small space between two bunkers.

Cream was sitting back, ears lying in her lap. She began to look around the bunkers. Who is this Shadow? Whoever he was, he didn't sound like a friendly person. It had that same ring as another named she feared: Robotnik.

She remembered the day when she was brought to Knothole, not two years old. She remembered this Dr. Robotnik from a long way off, but didn't understand then. It was while she lived in Knothole in the care of the Freedom Fighters when she learned more. He was an evil man, wanting to take control over the whole world and be a big boss over everyone. Cream hated being bossed, and the thought of a BIG boss made her queasy.

She was in this manner of thinking when she heard something different over the clanging footsteps of the Cyclone. She rose up a bit, trying to hear it better. It sounded like a scream. Oh, it stopped.

"Aunt Sally?" Cream tugged on Sally's vest.

"Yes?" Sally looked at Cream.

"I heard something. It sounded like a scream."

"A scream?" Sally listened, but was having a hard time because of the Cyclone's footsteps. "Tails, could you stop for a sec?"

"All right…" Tails said, "…but why?"

"Shh!" Sally cut off Tails, and had an ear up to hear.

"What are you listening for?" Dash asked, his curiosity about to explode.

"Shh!"

There was silence, save for distant wave-crashing from the beaches.

"I don't hear anything…" Tails began, when he heard suddenly a clank, clank, clank. Tails gulped. That sounded like the footsteps of a mech. "Wait…I hear a mech."

"And a big one at that." Sally also heard the noise.

"That's not the noise I heard…" Cream said.

"But it could be the reason you heard that former noise." Tails grabbed the controls. "Let's check it out."

"It doesn't sound too far away…" Frosty said, peering out.

"Hurry, Tails, they're leaving," Sally added.

"All right." Tails whipped the Cyclone around to follow the noise. "I'll turn on the radar so we can find it better."

"Good idea."

Tails looked at his radar. "Wow, it IS a big mech. We should be within scanner range. I'll scan it."

He did so, and on the computer showed that it was a heavy walker: almost two tons of mass, large firepower and had a sphere-shaped body. Tails had an odd suspicion about the design, when he rounded the corner and came to see it.

"It's Eggman!" Tails shouted suddenly.

Cream gasped and ducked, hoping to avoid being seen.

"And Amy!" Sally shouted, pointing towards a figure standing between the Eggwalker and the water.

"What's she doing here?" Tails said, horrified at the situation.

"No time for that! Help her! Robotnik could roboticize her in the time you ask her the question!"

"Oh, right! Get everyone else away!"

Sally nodded, brandished her laser gun and commanded that everyone (except Tails) to get away from the Cyclone. She sensed a fight and didn't want innocent bystanders in the crossfire.

-----

"Oh no!"

Amy found herself facing miles of ocean, and right behind her, Dr. Robotnik. She slowly turned and saw the immense walker stomping towards her. A huge Laser Cannon slowly aimed towards her.

"Give up, Amy!"

Amy was frozen. She couldn't speak let alone move. Oh, if only Sonic was here…

Suddenly, there came a rapid repercussion of a gun off to her right. Robotnik cursed in surprise and swiveled the Eggwalker to face the fire. Amy sighed in relief as she recognized the incoming walker. It was Tails, and the Cyclone!

"Oh, Tails! I'm so glad you're here!"

"No time, Amy! Get away from here!"

Amy ran behind the Cyclone and found Sally, Cream and the chao a fair distance off.

"Well, if it isn't my old friend, fox boy…" Robotnik began coolly.

"Just back off, Eggman," Tails gripped the controls hard, and the rear-mounted rocket launcher swiveled in battle formation. "…and I'll think about not blowing you to kingdom come."

Robotnik scoffed. "You think that toy mounted on the back of your little go-cart is going to harm me? Me? I think I'll teach you a little lesson about manners!"

Robotnik swiveled quickly and began firing laser blasts at Tails, but the kitsune didn't practice for over eighteen months for nothing. The radar picked up the incoming blasts and the computer automatically sent a few laser blasts of its own to block them.

Tails fired two rockets that could have easily punctured through a semi-truck without slowing, but Robotnik met those as well.

The battle continued like this for a full five minutes, and the fire power was so intense that it seemed that it was impossible for both of them to survive. Robotnik began to sweat. Shadow should've set the timer by now, and if his clock was correct, he had only 10 minutes to get off the island before it blows, but Tails didn't need to know that.

Robotnik retreated a few steps, and Tails gripped his controls, expecting an attack, but the human didn't oblige him.

"Consider our little game postponed, but the next time we meet, you won't be so lucky!"

The Eggwalker turned and took of at a jog.

Tails leaned back and sighed. That was easy enough…

The others came up to the Cyclone.

"Thank you, Tails, but why are you here at this island?" Amy asked.

"I should be the one asking that." Sally put her hands at her hips. "Do you realize how dangerous that was?"

"I know, but I saw a hedgehog that looked a bit like Sonic, and I followed him. He led me to Eggman, and they caught me."

"Well, you're staying with us. C'mon, Tails, let's find the Prison block."

"Oh, I know where that is! I was on a field trip with my history class and the guide showed us a prison block. It was also the same place where they keep their underground base. Follow me!"

Amy took off at a sprint, Tails looked at Sally, who had a resigned look on her face. Tails shrugged and drove the Cyclone after Amy.

-----

"Rouge! Have you got the Emeralds yet?"

"If you keep calling me, I'll never find them. Just give me a minute!" Rouge snapped, fiddling with a safe lock.

"You have ten. I had just called Shadow and he has already set the timer, and it'll go off in the time I had just said! Hurry!"

Rouge clicked off her communicator. If he wanted them so badly, he could've just come down himself. Rouge shook her frustration off as she returned full attention to her work.

She shivered. The vault was three stories underground and lit by annoyingly-bright fluorescent lighting. Fans kept blowing to insure steady temperature of the vault, and it stayed at a constant 56 degrees Fahrenheit. Rouge made a mental note to invest in more climate-adaptable suiting.

She eyed her watch nervously. Ten minutes, huh? She figured at least five would be plenty, but this electronic lock pick was taking longer then expected. Maybe it was getting sluggish in this temperature.

Suddenly, it beeped. She smiled and opened the door. There was a wooden box in the center of the safe, and inside it was a bundle of cloth. She scooped it up, nearly dropping it and unfolded the cloth. It was the Blue Chaos Emerald.

She peered into its facets, and the lust for jewels swelled up in her like bread in the oven.

She shook herself, and stuffed it into her backpack. One down, two to go, and more then nine minutes to boot…

Better get to work.

-----

Chapter 8: Countdown

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9:02…9:01…9:00…

Sonic eyes itched. In the semi-darkness of his cell, his phosphorescent bracelet was radiating meekly and its glow hurt his eyes over time. Curse this stupid cell, curse that black hedgehog, curse everything! Why did it have to happen to him?

Those noises her heard stopped a while ago, so he figured that he was hearing things.

Then, there was a new noise. It sounded like heavy footfalls, but metallic. It sounded like a mech. Sonic rolled his eyes. Now he was hearing things like Eggman's old robots. Was he going mad? It would be nice to lie down on a cot if it was available, but no…he HAD to have the one with scribbles on the wall and floor, and nothing else!

Suddenly, there was a big blast that was so real that he jumped. The door blew open at the other end of the hall. What the heck was that?

He then heard a very familiar voice.

"I could've used my key…"

Dash?

"Quiet, where's the cell?"

Tails?

"It should be down at the end of this block."

Sally!

He shouted through the door, stretching the chain as far as he could. "Hey, guys! I'm down here!"

"Sonic!"

Wait, that voice…Amy? What was SHE doing here?

He heard those footfalls again, and it sounded like...oh yeah! The Cyclone!

They stopped right outside his door. "Is that you, Sonic?" Dash called in.

"Yeah! Get me out of here!"

Amy spoke next. "Shh! Keep your voice down…"

"What are you doing here, Amy?" Sonic asked; he was in no mood for pleasantness.

"Well, I caught a ride with Tails…why are you in jail?"

"Because of that black hedgehog…"

"You mean Shadow?"

"Did you see it?" Sonic looked at the door. "Where was he?"

"If I tell you, will you marry me?"

Sonic could hear a few disgusted groans from the chao. "Drop dead, Amy…"

"Aww, I thought I had you this time."

Sally had already climbed out and slid the card through a keypad nearby the cell. It activated the door and it unlocked. Amy pulled open the door.

"Oh, look! He's chained to the wall!" Dash cried in outrage.

"We'll get him out." Tails leapt out of the cockpit and pulled out some extra-strength loppers, the kind that can break metal. He walked towards Sonic. "Stretch the chain between the cuffs out. We'll deal with the cuffs themselves when we get back to Sapphire City. I have my lock-pick set there."

Sonic obliged, and Tails got to work.

"Amy, you said that you saw that black hedgehog…Shadow. Where?"

"He was with Dr. Eggman and some bat lady. They were near the docks, and I saw Shadow and thought he was you."

The idea amused Sonic somehow and brought his spirits up more.

"So, Eggman's on the island, huh?"

"I think," Tails cut in. "He took off after I had a skirmish with him with the Cyclone."

"You took him on? Kind of like the Egg Walker two years ago, huh?"

"Kind of, at least I had the Cyclone this time." Tails snapped the chain. "There we go."

Sonic got up immediately and stretched. "Wow, that feels real nice." He noticed Sally in the back seat of the Cyclone. "Hey, Sal. Tails got you down here, I see…"

"Oh, that reminds me. Knux also knew about you, Sonic." Tails put away the loppers. "I should call him too. He got the Master Emerald back apparently; at least, I think that's what he said..."

"Good for him. Hey, let's juice outta here."

With that, Sonic took off out the door, and the others followed in the Cyclone.

-----

7:34…7:33…7:32…

Sonic was running through the docks, eyes open for either Dr. Robotnik or Shadow. Amy informed him that they were on the island. But why? What was on this island that Eggman would be after…?

Suddenly, he remembered his missing backpack that was taken the first time, and what it contained…the Chaos Emeralds! How did they know they were here? Shadow must've tipped Eggman off. Sonic cursed in his mind.

He was zipping through the docks, when he espied to his right something flying towards him. He glanced more and saw a glint of metallic blue…

Metal-Sonic.

He was here too? That just makes things spiffy.

Apparently Mecha had seen Sonic already and was going to challenge him, otherwise Mecha wouldn't have flown his way. Too late to avoid him now…

Mecha was now only ten feet away and flying alongside Sonic.

"Greetings, hedgehog." It was a cold greeting.

"Hi, Mecha," Sonic replied glibly. "What's a guy like you playing out with the humans for?"

"Why must I tell you? My actions are irrelevant to yours."

"Then why are you over here?"

Metal-Sonic fired a laser blast at Sonic's feet, but Sonic swerved to avoid it.

"Have you not learned? My priority objective is to eradicate you, ever since my creation."

"Looks like you're failing miserably, Mecha…I'm still here…"

"Not for long you won't!" Mecha fired a rocket at the deck only ten feet in front of Sonic.

Sonic had just enough wit to jump over the now-existing gap, but it slightly rattled him still.

"Yes, my upgrades keep me in pace with you, hedgehog. Sooner or later, I'll become powerful enough to finally take you down." Mecha cocked his head as if listening to a voice that Sonic couldn't hear. He then turned back to Sonic. "Consider your death postponed."

Mecha fired yet another rocket at the deck, which Sonic avoided again, then the robot flew off over the ocean.

"Well, that was fun…" Sonic stood leaning on the deck. He then lifted his wrist communicator to his mouth. "Tails? Ya copy?"

"Loud and clear, Sonic. Where are you?"

"On the docks. Just had an encounter with Mecha."

"He's here too?"

"Not anymore; he took off over the ocean. Not sure why…" Sonic changed the subject. "Meet me at the other end of the island. If GUN still thinks that I'm Shadow, I don't want to be caught again."

"Good thinking! Meet you there!"

"Ciao!"

Sonic took off away from the docks and entered the tangled jungle of Green Forest, adjacent to the White Jungle.

-----

6:54…6:53…6:52…

Shadow was leaning against a tree in the White Jungle, standing stock still, waiting. It wouldn't be long now…this will leave a great wound on the pitiful humans, who took away Maria from him on that tragic day.

Maria…

His only friend aboard the world of machines and technology. He never knew the natural world until recently, when he was released by Dr. Robotnik. While he was out, he stumbled upon both flora and fauna. He knew nothing beyond the cold walls of the ARK, so he took in the smells and sights coolly. This planet seemed to be a rather pleasant place, but with those humans infesting it like a disease…

His communicator beeped. He snapped out of his thoughts and he picked up the communicator. "Yes?"

"This is Rouge…I…have a small problem."

His eyes narrowed.

"I can't believe I'm locked in a vault with three Chaos Emeralds!"

He said nothing.

"I guess I can no longer call myself a treasure hunter anymore…one of you will have to come back for these Emeralds…goodbye."

The line ended. Shadow gritted his teeth. Another problem. Fool…

His com beeped again and he felt like throwing it into the water below to end this annoyance. "What is it?"

"Shadow? It's Dr. Robotnik. Did you happen to receive a communication from Rouge?"

He paused. "Yes…"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going after her?"

"Why should I? She brought herself into this; let her learn the consequences."

He didn't let Robotnik answer, he disconnected.

He began walking, shaking the thoughts from his head. He then felt a strange pricking in his inner being. He couldn't identify it, for he was still new to this learning. His mind flashed to Maria lying on the floor. She was saying something to him…

"Shadow, promise me. Help the people who live on that planet below…"

Suddenly, he was warring against his promise with Maria and his utter hatred against the people here.

His mind flashed back and forth from Maria and Rouge, trapped in a vault, about to die. There was much in common between the circumstances of Maria and Rouge.

Shadow cursed, and followed the impulse in his inner being that was growing rapidly.

"Troublemaker…"

He flashed away through the bushes.

-----

4:01…4:00…3:59…

Shadow was tearing through the tangled undergrowth. This considerably lessened his speed, but he reasoned that he should get to the vault, get Rouge out and get out again with time enough.

He was thus concentrated when he was distracted by a blur that raced by. He couldn't tell, but it was blue. Two and two went together quickly.

"That blue hedgehog again! Of all places…" Shadow heard a screeching of halting, then the next thing he knew, the hedgehog was racing alongside him.

"So, I found you…faker." Sonic was speaking through his teeth, obviously angry.

Shadow stopped, as did Sonic, several feet away. "Faker? I think YOU'RE the fake hedgehog here!"

"What?" Sonic shouted, outraged.

"You're comparing yourself to me? Ha! You're not even good enough to be my fake!"

Sonic suddenly spin-dashed at Shadow, the former not being able to control his anger any longer. "I'll make you eat those words!"

Shadow crouched into a defensive posture, and Sonic charged again, a whirling ball of spines. Shadow leapt up and met the spin-dash with one of his own. They two bounced off like Super-Balls, and both recovered their position.

"I am the ultimate life-form. What makes you think you can stand against the ultimate?"

"Yeah right, what makes you so special?" Sonic charged again at a flat run.

Shadow somersaulted into Sonic, which caused the latter to trip, receiving some smarting bruises on his legs.

"What needs to be stated to better show a comparison between the ultimate life-form and a pitiful one?"

Sonic curled into a ball and charged again. Shadow met with it again and they bounced off.

Sonic scoffed. "Bull! Even the strongest guy can be made weak!"

Sonic dug something out of the cuff of his glove, and just for the sake of his injured pride, he showed what it was. A golden ring, glowing radiantly. Shadow gave no sign of recognition, so Sonic decided to show him. He slid it on.

He immediately shot skyward, and Shadow rose to meet him. Sonic struck over and over, once in a while connecting. The energy of the Power Ring gave out, and Sonic fell to the ground, slightly winded. Even energized, Shadow is still a tough opponent. He found Shadow getting up, battered.

"Not bad for an imposter…" Shadow hissed.

Sonic rose again, waiting for Shadow to attack again.

Suddenly, both heard beeping. Shadow sighed angrily, and picked up his communicator that he dropped nearby.

"Shadow! What are you doing? Get off the island before it blows up with you on it!"

Sonic heard every word. "Blows up?"

Shadow glanced at his watch, eyes widening slightly, then flashed away, leaving Sonic alone.

Sonic was gone in the opposite direction a half-second later.

-----

1: 59…1:58…1:57…

Sonic didn't even know how much time was left, but he didn't care. He didn't want to be here when it did blow. He had to find Tails!

His legs began to smart. Dang, that Shadow could fight. Who was he?

The light was getting brighter. The forest was thinning. He must be coming to the end. Good! He must be close…

He broke out and found himself out on the beach. He looked one way or another, expecting to see the Cyclone somewhere, but the seashore line curved so much that it was impossible to see far at all.

He quickly opened his communicator. "Tails? Where are ya, little bro?"

"Don't worry, Sonic. I have the signature of your communicator on radar. Keep running to your right along the seashore and you'll find us."

"Got it."

Sonic took off at a run, half-expecting to hear a resounding boom and feeling the heat of the blast that would take him with the island any second and time seemed to crawl.

He saw the Cyclone ahead, its blue color standing out of the earthy colors around. He raced towards it.

All looked up to see Sonic race towards them. Dash leapt out towards Sonic with a delighted cry, and Sonic caught him.

"Glad you made it, Sonic." Tails was fiddling with the controls and had been passing the time playing Tic-Tac-Toe on a notepad with Frosty.

Sonic leapt onto the Cyclone nose. "No time. We gotta get out of here! I ran into Shadow, and Eggman called him. The island's about to blow!"

"What?" all exclaimed.

Tails hastily transformed the Cyclone into plane form and accelerated over the beach.

"Did he say how much time was left?" Tails shouted over the noise.

"No!" Sonic was perched on the wings; there was no room in the back seats.

Dash was in one of Sonic's arms, holding on and Sonic's other hand was holding onto the wing. Frosty and Cheese was in the front seat with Tails, while all the others were stuffed in the back seat. All in all, it wasn't a comfortable ride, but none cared. Their lives were in danger at present, and that was quite enough.

-----

:30…:29…:28…

Shadow flashed into the base and rushed into the vault. He wasn't even sure which safe Rouge was trapped in, but he had to find out.

He whipped his communicator out. "Rouge, which safe are you in?"

She was panting; either because of the time or she was running out of air. "Bottom Floor, A Block, safe 2-1."

Shadow dropped to the bottom of the floor and weaved through the fans and clutter on the floor and found the safe. He whipped out the Chaos Emerald he had all this time and smashed it into the lock. It shorted out and slid open easily enough. There was Rouge, hunkered in the back, panting and looking slightly relieved.

Shadow rushed towards her, all the while the Green Emerald growing violently bright all the while.

-----

:02…:01…:00

The Tornado was speeding over the ocean when all of the sudden, an enormous bang roared through the air. All jumped and looked back. An enormous orange mushroom-shaped cloud lifted over the island and debris was flying. It was terrifying!

Tails accelerated the laboring Tornado even more. The shockwave was still coming, and if it caught up, they were toast.

He yanked back on the control stick, causing the Tornado to rise. Everyone else felt like they left some of their insides behind, and were growing hot from the heat that came from the explosion. The heat gauges in the Tornado were rising considerably, and Tails began to sweat in fear.

The ocean roared beneath, and steamed at the intense heat. Then the shockwave came. It tore through the water so you could see it! It came large and terrible…

Sonic expected the Tornado to get caught in the shockwave and he saw his life flash before his eyes, but nothing happened. The shockwave continued underneath, but soon dissipated.

"We made it!" Sonic cried out.

Everyone felt their hearts beat again and all felt wet from their close encounter with death. All looked back again to see what was left of the island. The cloud was still there, but growing. As it did, it grew transparent. The island was charred black and wave roared against it to balance out what was lost. The base was gone…

"Sonic…" Dash asked quietly in Sonic's ear. "Do you think Shadow made it?"

Sonic was still stunned at the island's destruction, and said nothing.

End of Part 1