- Somewhere In New Robotropolis -
- Robotropolis Tower -
-Time: 11:29:10PM-
Robotropolis Tower. The tallest building inside the city. It itself wasn't anything all that special. It's only purpose in the city was to stand tall as a testament to both the city's powers and achievements. Shadow, however, was using it quite differently. The recluse hedgehog stood at the very top of the tower scanning the entire view of the city that the tower afforded him. Even though the rain mixed with the wind made the environment rather unwelcoming, his expression was as it always was; one that bordered between looking somewhat annoyed and slightly indifferent making knowing exactly what he was actually thinking practically impossible. His sharp red eyes scanned the bustling mechanized city below both slowly and meticulously as the rain continued to pour down on him.
He stood silently at the top of the tower for about five minutes until suddenly the peace of the robotic city was suddenly broken by a loud siren. Shadow eyes perked up as the sirens hit his ears and chuckled slightly as the searchlights of the city all went in quick succession. Shadow remained still as all the beams of light were eventually turned onto his position one by one. Following that it didn't take long for Eggman's drones to fill the sky.
"….Twenty three….twenty four….twenty five. Really…?" Shadow wondered out loud as the drones began to spread out and surround him around the top of the tower.
"Scanning…..scanning….." Voiced the metallic drone that approached to his left. "Life form identified. Shadow the Hedgehog. Threat level: Moderate. Exercising Caution is advised." Upon hearing the robot's assessment, Shadow slowly turned his head towards it and raised a brow.
"You are surrounded Shadow." The robot spoke in his electronic voice. "Resistance is pointless. You are outnumbered and outmatched. Surrender now or be destroyed."
"It seems like I'm being greatly underestimated…" Shadow said bluntly as he unfolded his arms. "Just who in the world do you think I am…?"
The robot wouldn't have time to answer though as Shadow suddenly disappeared from his sights compliments of his nearly unparalleled speed. All of a sudden without warning, the robot would be sent flying straight into one of his companions as a result of Shadow's kick to the side of its head. Shadow wasted little time patting himself on the back and instantly honed in on the next closest enemy. The black hedgehog's attack went straight through the bot promptly causing it to explode and himself to be propelled away from the twenty some-odd drones that, by this time, began to open fire on him.
They wouldn't get off more than a dozen shots though as a black hedgehog spun himself counterclockwise and, with his left hand, lashed out a powerful energy orb at the pursuing bots simultaneously yelling. "Chaos BLAST!"
The orb, which was launched right in the center of the pursuing group, caught more than a good half of them and if you'd been watching, you might've called the handful that dodged the blast lucky. Fortunate even. Unfortunately for the drones however, their opponent was one who liked to live up to his reputation. And what reputation was that might you ask? Well it was the one with him being the ultimate life form.
BOOOOOOOOOOM
Shadow had long turned his back of the robots who had been pursuing him and didn't even bother looking back to make sure all of them had been destroyed. Two seconds after he'd launched the blast and turned around the sky behind was lit in a yellow radiance as an explosion ripped through the night sky. Shadow, still free falling towards the ground now slightly faster due to the force of the blast behind him, suddenly glanced left as a huge stadium-like building suddenly became illuminated in the distance.
"How nice of them to light the way." Shadow remarked smugly as he reached into his pocket for a second almost instantly finding what he'd been looking for. "And here I was beginning to wonder where I should go next."
The ground grew ever closer to the black hedgehog whose calm demeanor continued to remain unbroken. The crimson eye fighter's descent rate seemed unreal at this point as he zipped right in between the gaps of two large buildings. If it was anyone else, they were probably as good as dead. This wasn't just anyone else though. This was Shadow the Hedgehog.
The robots in the area that saw the intruder's descent into the alleyway all converged on the man's position to verify his survival. When they arrived and surrounded the place however, not a trace of the hedgehog could be found anywhere in or around the alley. The only indication that the robots had that he'd even been there was but a small dying echoing voice repeating but a single phrase. "…Chaos control."
- Somewhere In New Robotropolis -
- Robotropolis Streets -
- (Several Minutes Prior to City going on Full Alert) -
-Time: 11:30:56PM-
…This was a lot harder than he anticipated. With his back to the wall, Sonic held Amy in his arms close against his chest as the two of them hid behind a wall in a dead end. Their hiding spot didn't stop the two from getting rained upon. Unfortunately, they weren't that lucky. The wall that jutted out from the side of the building went out about just a foot affording the two, thankfully, just enough cover to hide. If one would've glanced into the alleyway it would've appeared empty. That however didn't change the fact that at the entrance way to the alleyway was one of Eggman's humanoid bots. Why he stopped here, Sonic was unsure of, but he sure hoped the bot would simply turn around and walk away. Hope only went so far though.
The robot's footsteps echoed louder and louder in the small alleyway as he approached the two hidden hedgehogs. As his footsteps grew louder, Amy's trembling seemed to intensify. Thanks to their immediate proximity and the rain, Sonic had little trouble feeling Amy's movements OR body but if she wasn't this close to him, there was a chance the bot might see them. Granted, he didn't doubt his ability to dispatch any of Eggman's creations but given that Amy was with him…
'...WHAT THE!'
Sonic was suddenly ripped from his thoughts as the girl's arms around his waist began to squeeze him even harder. Sonic glanced down at the young pink hedgehog shooting her a reassuring smile until he realized that something of the girl's was pressing up against his chest when it definitely shouldn't have been. Sonic loosened his hold on the girl slightly as he tried to force himself to think about something else but Amy's response to this action was pressing her body even harder against his.
'Dammit Amy!' Sonic yelled mentally while trying to focus his attention on the robot approaching. 'You need to consider the guy you're with when you do something like this!'
Needless to say, Sonic wasn't the type of guy who took advantage of innocent girls. He often did things by the books and tried to live his life properly in all aspects. Yet…that was kind of hard to stand by when a girl was pressing her soft, wet chest against you! That wasn't even the worst part though! The worst part about this situation was the fact that the girl in question was the 'Innocent Type' meaning that she herself probably wasn't aware of the effect her actions had on guys! Well actually, he couldn't say that THAT was the worst part. The worst part probably had to be the fact that they were on the verge of being discovered and slaughtered by an army of robots WHILE he was developing a hard-on for her.
…Yeaaaaah. That was probably the worst part…which was why you probably wouldn't believe how much of a relief it came to Sonic when the robot's footsteps began to gradually retreat. Dropping his hands instantly from around the girl's waist and placing them on her shoulders, Sonic distanced the girl, who'd been snuggling up against him, quickly breathing a small sigh of relief in doing so. The quick action caught Amy by surprise though and had her nose tickled by the small hairs of fur on Sonic's shoulders which she'd been resting against. Because of this, the small pink hedgehog began to wind up backwards as a mounting sneeze began to grow. Sonic, unfortunately though, didn't notice this however as he was peeking out from their hiding spot looking to make sure that the close was clear.
"Ahh…Ahhhhh…AHHHHHHCOOOOO!"
The girl's loud sneeze, caused Sonic to turn around slowly and deliberately with an expression on his face that asked the girl 'Are you serious...'? The girl, in turn, replied with a cutesy little smile that said 'Sorry.' before Sonic sighed and looked back at the entrance of the alleyway which now had ten some-odd robots barring the way, all with blasters pointed directly at them.
'Wonderful' Sonic thought sarcastically as he looked at the opposition. He wasted little time complaining how the situation developed though. Taking Amy's hand in his own, Sonic let out a small sigh before the two of them sped out from their hiding spot straight into their enemies. Right as they did so, the siren for the entire base began to howl alerting all who didn't know that they had some unexpected intruders late this evening.
- Somewhere In New Robotropolis -
- Robotropolis Tunnels -
-Time: 11:35:56PM-
Something was up.
From the moment they were identified not a single shot was fired at two. Well actually it was more correct to say not one was fired with the intent to kill. Their escape from the alleyway had been beyond easy as the bots practically let them go, but once they were out on the streets they were pretty much forced to head into the tunnels. Once inside, a huge metal door closed behind them. This disturbed them but didn't stop them as continued to quickly run though the tunnels. As they traveled farther and farther they came across several four way intersections all with metal doors baring all but a single path. Once they traveled far enough past an intersection the two of them could always hear another metal door closing behind them reinforcing the idea that there was only one way to go from here. Retreat was not an option.
Several intersections and a few minutes later the two walked out into a huge darkened area. A few small lights swung from the top of what seemed like an immense structure as Amy and Sonic stepped out from the tunnels and carefully moved towards the center which was lit. Suddenly the ground shook and the lights above the two swayed as a huge explosion rocked the area.
"Sonic!" Amy cried as she instantly clung onto to the blue blur.
Sonic stood ready on his guard as the ground eventually settled down and the lights grew steady. Neither of the two really had time to wonder as to what the explosion was though as a huge metal door suddenly fell down behind them barring retreat back into the tunnels from whence they came. Sonic's head snapped impulsively backwards as he glanced at the door before he suddenly threw his hand in front of his eyes to block the sudden illumination of the stadium. Cheers suddenly rang out from the stands as sonic took in his surroundings. A Dirt ground, huge metallic walls stretching probably fifteen to twenty feet high, and stands upon stands resting on said twenty foot walls. Nothing really stood out here. Well nothing aside from the huge metallic door where this arena's 'lion' probably slept. If Sonic had to say, this was probably more of a coliseum than a stadium.
"WELCOME SONIC! We've been waiting for you…" Rang out a voice whose identity was undoubtedly known.
"Eggman."
"How do you like it?" Eggman's voice asked from the thousands of speakers that were rigged up in this place.
"Like what?" Sonic asked in turn still standing on guard wondering what trick Eggman had planned up his sleeve this time.
"Why…My city of course~! You'd be surprised how many painstaking hours went into rebuilding it all. ALL BECAUSE OF ONE SINGLE HEDGEHOG!" Eggman began casually before angrily yelling at the blue hedgehog.
"Heh. Well you know me Doc." Sonic replied with a light shrug and a confident smirk.
"Oh how true you are Sonic. You're right. I do know you." Eggman replied rather agreeably obviously building up towards whatever grand finish he wanted to make. "Which is why, in my absence, I've had a long long long long time to think about in what way I should kill you."
"And…this is the best you could come up with?" Sonic asked sarcastically with his hands in front of him motioning towards the thousands of robots in the stands.
"Noooo no no no…" Eggman replied in a sing song voice as a door ten times more massive than the one they stepped through began to open on the opposite side of the arena.
"THIS IS WHAT I CAME UP WITH! THE 'EGG-BLITERATOR'!" And on that note, out rolled a huge Mecha who, from the torso down, had about eight legs all with rotatable wheels on each one. And from his torso up the massive mecha was humanoid in the sense that it had a body, two arms, and a head. Just like normal ya know? Still though, with a mecha that size…fighting it was probably going to be tough. Still though, the bigger they are the harder they fall.
"uh-uh-uh..." Amy repeated in a panicky voice as the towering machine began to move towards them. Sonic on the other hand didn't seem to be worried. He'd taken down bigger bad guys before. This one was no exception.
"Amy, don't worry bout this. I got it." Sonic told the girl confidently pulling himself out of her hold and stepping out towards the huge mechanized monster. "Just stay back and let me handle this alright?" Sonic told her reassuringly like he always did. Before jetting towards the bot and doing the thing he did best, Sonic turned around and gave the girl one of his trademark smiles and a small thumb's up letting her know that it was going to be alright. She returned his smile and blinked only to see the blue hedgehog gone in a flash.
- Somewhere In New Robotropolis -
- Robotropolis Coliseum -
-Time: 11:38:56PM-
Saying that he had this was easier said than done.
As he had sped straight towards the robot, Sonic watched as the bot's right hand began to morph and change into a cannon. Even with the cannon though, it was useless if it couldn't hit its intended target. The behemoth shot wildly at the after-images of the hedgehog always coming nowhere near to hitting him. Sonic did several spin attacks on the robot's legs hoping they might be the machine's weak spot but the blue blur's attack bounced harmlessly off. Given enough time though, he was pretty positive he could find it's weakness even if, at this point, it seemed rather indestructible. As their fight began to drag out the bad feeling Sonic had begun to subside as this was shaping up to be a classic battle with Eggman after all. Well so he thought until Eggman's voice came back over the speakers.
"What's the matter Sonic? It doesn't seem like you're making any headway against my robot."
"Hey comon Doc! Gimme some slack." Sonic replied casually in response as he continued to easily evade all the robot's sloppy attacks. "Given the number of times I've taken down your bots there was bound to be a time when you finally did it right."
Eggman laughed in response to this which unsettled Sonic slightly since the Doc was one who was always quick to anger. If he wasn't yelling at this point, he definitely still had something else up his sleeve.
"You're right Sonic." Eggman replied pleasantly enough as the 'Egg-bliterator' suddenly stopped its attacks on the hedgehog.
"It IS about time I did things right." And with that, the bot turned to its right; away from the blue blur.
'The hell is it doing…' Sonic wondered for a second before realizing a few seconds too late at what the madman intended.
If he couldn't catch Sonic…
Then he would catch what he could…
The robot's left arm was raised towards an unsuspecting pink hedgehog who shook timidly in the corner under the robot's sights. Sonic sped towards Amy just as the robot fired pushing his body to its limits just barely making it in time to push to girl out of shot's way. The robot's shot however instead hit him and slammed him into the wall to his left with all the force that was put behind it. Amy rolled haplessly across the ground at begin pushed by Sonic so suddenly and instantly glanced towards the Blue Streak once she came to a halt realizing instantly what had happened.
"SONIC!"
Sonic, who had been slammed against the coliseum's wall, rolled off the dent his body had made in the metallic wall and fell to the ground with a sickening thud on his stomach. Amy's eyes widened in horror as she witnessed this and slowly began to crawl towards him. "Sonic! Sonic!"
"A-….Amy…?" Sonic uttered weakly as he slowly opened one of his eyes. "Are…Are you alright…?"
"Mhm!" Amy voiced as she continued to crawl out towards him. She began to stretch a hand out towards him as the distance between the two began to lessen.
"It's all thanks to you Sonic." Amy choked out as tears began to fill her eyes.
"…I'm glad…" Sonic replied with a weak smile as he lay helplessly on the ground with his eye beginning to close.
"Don't leave me alone Sonic!" Amy cried as she began to pick up the pace. "We'll get out here together!"
Sonic laughed softly, coughing in the process, before responding in a weak voice, "That'd be nice…."
"Yeah! You bet it will!" Amy choked out as it was her turn this time to give a reassuring smile.
Sonic smirked slightly as his hand slowly began to stretch out towards Amy causing the girl's smile to widen.
"Everything will be okay like usual, right Sonic?" Amy said optimistically as she continued to crawl towards him.
"Mhm…" Sonic voiced softly in reply.
"And we'll get out and save everyone right?"
"Like always…" Sonic replied smugly as the girl neared him.
"And…and…you'll save the day in the end right?" Continued Amy just as their fingers were about to reach.
"Ye-"
"No." Interrupted Dr. Eggman just before his robot's giant slammed its right fist downwards onto the already heavily injured hedgehog. Amy stared in horror as everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Dirt from the impact shot up everywhere but Amy was too stunned from the action to even react. Her widened eyes and shrunken pupils seemingly stared straight through the robot's metallic fist. The girl's lip trembled as she struggled to get the words through her sealed throat. She couldn't talk and she felt like she could hardly breathe. After a moment or two, she somehow found her voice and in a faint and pathetic voice softly whispered, "S-Sonic…?"
As if on cue, the robot raised its fist up revealing a beaten, battered, and bruised hedgehog lying lifelessly on the ground. Amy scrambled towards the man unsure of exactly what she could do to help. Her eyes frantically darted around with neither an aim nor a purpose. She was no doctor. Hell, she didn't even know if the blue hedgehog was even alive at this point. Reaching this thought, Amy's eyes welled up with tears as feelings of regret began to wash over her. Thoughts that should've never entered anyone's head began to fill hers and in an act of desperation...Amy screamed.
As she screamed in pain her tears began to fall onto the unmoving body of her hero. She couldn't hear Eggman's laughs that had been echoing throughout the arena. Nor could she hear the crowd's roar and cheers. She could hear none of this and instead was simply lost in the darkness of mind. Her small tiny body that remained kneeled over Sonic's body softly shook in sorrow as her tears continued to fall onto his corpse. An immeasurable number of thoughts ran through the little girl's mind until suddenly, the girl's shaking instantly stopped.
"….Pay…" Amy whispered softly as her bangs cast a dark shadow over her eyes.
"Mmmm?" Eggman voiced curiously as his cameras began to zoom in onto the female hedgehog's form.
"I said…" Amy began in an eerily calm voice as though something apparently snapped inside of her. "…That I'll make you pay for this…"
The pink hedgehog slowly struggled to rise to her feet even though she was still suffering from the shock the recent event caused her. She slowly turned around to face to giant mechanized monster that stood before her and pulling out her Piko Piko Hammer from seemingly nowhere stood ready to face it. Her bangs still hid her eyes as she slowly began to advance towards the Egg-bliterator. She wasn't sure she could do much even with her Hammer but she was going to make them pay...somehow.
"Awwwww" Eggman sung on the speakers as he watched Amy steel her resolve. "That's SO cute! But seriously... do you really think you can take down my robot let alone escape my coliseum alive?"
"..."
"Yes." Responded a voice which was suddenly followed back a giant yellow energy spear that exploded from out of the giant colossus' chest. The spear continued to fly forwards, sailing several feet above Amy's head and continuing on straight into Eggman's robotic audience. The Egg-bliterator began to quickly short circuit as it glanced down at the huge hole that was now in its chest before exploding in a huge flaming mess. The shockwave from the explosion instantly blew Amy back into the small crater that the (now destroyed) robot had made. Ironically enough, had it not been there, she wouldn't have been protected from the blast. The robot's explosion lasted for but only a few seconds after which Amy poked her head up out of the small dip in which she sat. The coliseum which had once been a huge clean all dirt arena was now a mess with pieces of flaming scrap metal lying everywhere. The walls had done their jobs though as even an explosion of that magnitude hadn't destroyed them. Sure they were damaged but destoryed? No. As for the main wreckage well... it was burning a lot brighter than the smaller flames around it. As Amy stared at the carnage of the arena a small lone figure slowly came into focus. At first, Amy couldn't tell initially who was due to the distortion caused by the flames but once he came into view she couldn't restrain herself from happily yelling, "Shadow!"
"Wha! SHADOW!" Yelled the doctor in surprise over the speakers as the black hedgehog walked casually over towards Amy.
Once Sonic's body came into view of Shadow, he glanced over the hero's body before shaking his head in disgust. "Shadow…Sonic's...Sonic's..." Amy said softly trying to inform him of Sonic's condition. He paid her no heed though and moved past the girl. Stepping closer towards the fallen hero, Shadow kneeled down, picked up Sonic's limp hand, and placed two gloved fingers softly on his wrist. He didn't have time to do much else though as a certain familiar voice once again filled the stadium.
"I'd advise you choose your next move carefully Shadow." Warned the doctor prompting Shadow to glance up towards the stands as every gun in the dome was pointed at them. Shadow couldn't help but laugh at this and slowly stood up while pocketing his hand. "Oh come now Doctor...You must have me confused for some other Hedgehog." Shadow spoke confidently.
"You should know by now doctor..." Shadow spoke casually towards the good doctor as he slowly pulled out a green Chaos Emerald from out his pocket. "I'm the ultimate life form."
"KILL HIM!" The doctor screamed already knowing what was about to happen next.
It was already too late though by the time Eggman had issued the order because once he had...
They were already gone.
- Somewhere In New Robotropolis -
- Robotropolis Command Center -
-Time: 11:50:56PM-
"They're gone sir." Said an electronic voice that came from one of his robots that were monitoring the scene.
"I know that you idiot." Retorted Eggman wondering why all the robots he built loved to state the goddamn obvious.
"Data collection from the battle is complete." Said another robot.
"Good…" Eggman replied with a menacing smile on his face as he watched the report pop up on his monitor. "Forward this to the lab and tell them to hurry up and finish work on the prototype."
"Yes sir." Replied the same robot who went back to pounding away at his keyboard.
Damn…
And today was just Act 1.
Just wait until they got a load of the later Acts.
Oh…
He could hardly wait…