Ch2: Dangers at the Sea Palace
When we reached the end of the Seaside Hill, all of us ran full steam ahead until we found what appeared to be a high speed ramp that would lead into the Ocean Palace. All of us hit it and we were immediately sent head first into the ramps that were the outside of the palace. "Cool! A Sea Palace!" Sonic exclaimed just as some Eggman Robots flew over our heads and into the area. "Looks like Eggman's Robots are here too," Tails said, his cute, childish body masking his genius intellect. "I'm ready to take 'em out!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"Don't forget to let me destroy some bots!" I smirked back at the three. "Yeah... those robots you destroyed earlier... how did you make them fly into the distance like that, Sapphire?" Sonic asked, confused about how I destroyed the bots by tackling them so hard they were flung into the air and destroyed upon landing. "It's just how fast I am, I guess," I smiled with a giggle as we began to ran into the first brick wall. "I got this," Knuckles smirked as he punched his way through the locked door with ease. "Nice job, bub! Let's go!" I smiled as we continued onward through the palace grounds.
It was when we got to the area with the triangle dive move that I noticed something... off. There was no fan, but a grind rail instead! "Heh! Time to ride the rails!" I smiled as I attempted to land on the grind rail feet first... and surprised by how I was actually pulling it off with perfect balance! "Yahoo! The only way to grind!" I giggled as the other three followed behind me. It was then that I realized something else off. The rail went into two different paths ahead... and I had sped up too much to the point where I couldn't lean the other way and I ended up going on the wrong rail and into a different area than Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles!
"Sapphire!" Sonic exclaimed as he went the right direction. "Don't worry! I'll catch up to you three!" I exclaimed back to them as I looked for a way forward from this new path. "Hmm... wonder where I should head to..." I said, trying to look around for a way to get forward... I would soon get my wish from a not-so-expected source. "Who the hell are you?" asked the voice of a certain hedgehog. A hedgehog that I knew was the most badass of Sonic's rivals. "I'm Sapphire," I said as I turned around to face the black hedgehog known as Shadow along with Omega and Rouge (who was wearing her sexy heart plate instead of her Heroes uniform for some reason).
"Wait... you look... familiar..." Shadow said as he looked at me. "Are you going to move, or are you going to get in our way?" asked Rouge with a glare on her face. "Actually, I was hoping to find someone to help me out in chasing Dr. Eggman... looks like I found a company of badasses to do it with, huh?" I smiled at the trio with a wink. "You're not after Eggman's treasure too, are you?!" Rouge exclaimed again. "Nope. I'm looking for my friends. I got separated from them by this grind rail, here. And they're chasing Eggman just as I am."
"So... will ya let me go with you or not?" I asked. "Fine. Just don't hold me back," Shadow glared as he began to rocket forward with his jet shoes. I rocketed forward with my own forward momentum with Rouge and Omega not far behind. "Hmph. You certainly have the speed alright." "I've got much more than speed, Shadow," I smiled as I continued to run and we soon found ourselves at the giant turtle area. "Hey, where's the turtle going?" Rouge asked as we all landed on the back and we all saw the cannon. "Numerous Eggman Robots detected. Prepare attack mode!" Omega exclaimed as I got into the cannon by rolling myself in a ball.
"Come on! I'm waiting!" I exclaimed, waiting for the other three to jump in as well. They all did so and I was surprised by what happened next. The cannon aimed itself so perfectly that we all were immediately blasted over all the turtles and onto the final platform while destroying every single robot by means of ricocheting! "Whew! That was awesome!" I smiled as the four of us used the ramp to jump into the next area. "Don't let your guard down just yet," Shadow said gruffly.
"C'mon, Shadow! You need to lighten up!" I smiled happily as we jumped into the next area and we found ourselves at the jump spring that would lead us to the giant rocks. "Let's go!" I exclaimed as all of us jumped up and we landed on the ramp, the giant rock following us as we landed. "RUN!" I exclaimed as the rock followed us and I grabbed onto all of the trio's hands with... my ponytails...
See, that's something else that I noticed as well. My triple ponytails weren't there just for show. I could use them just like Dixie Kong in DK Country to fly through the air as well as use them to grab objects that I couldn't lift by my arm strength alone. Even carrying the metal-laden Omega was a cinch! I continued to run along the path as the three didn't struggle once in the grasp of my blue hair as I rocketed forward and did the final leap to get away from the ever increasing number of giant rocks.
"YYYYEEEEEAAAAHHHHH!" I exclaimed as I skidded to a stop at the final door of the palace. "That was... unexpected, I must admit," Rouge smiled as I let the trio go. "I didn't know hair could do that... what did you say your name was again?" Shadow asked me. "I'm Sapphire. Sapphire the Hedgehog. And you are Shadow, Rouge and Omega, right?"
The trio all looked surprised by me calling them by name and looked at me funny afterwards. "How do you know our names?" Rouge asked with a glare again. "I have my ways, Rouge," I smiled, half lying. "I know you are a GUN agent and love gems and the like, I know Omega is the last of the E-100 series of Dr. Eggman's robots and Shadow... well... let's just say that I know a little bit about your lost memories." "Wait... so you... you know what I am?" Shadow asked. I then looked at Rouge with a raised eyebrow.
"Seriously? You seriously didn't think to tell him a little bit?" "It's not like he ever told me anything!" Rouge growled. "Very well.. I'll tell you what you want to know on our way to Eggman, Shadow. I have a feeling we'll be meeting him soon, though..." With that we went through the large door and I began to explain to the black hedgehog about his past... about who he was and who Maria was... and what his origins were... sure it'd mess with the storyline, but hell hath no fury like a Shadow the Hedgehog game coming to fruition in this world!