Piercing Through the Dark
by 1Speak-th3-Truth

Chapter 3
Taking a Chance

Time passed and the moon slowly faded from the dawning of the sun. Darkness seemed to be a never ending foe as of last night. Terror and fear seemed to mix for the first time in Sonic the Hedgehog. Who was that mysterious enemy? What purpose did he have ruining their lives? But most importantly, why did Shadow really help Sonic for?

Hope we aren't being followed. Shadow thought hopefully. Though he he had high confidence in facing Sonic2, Sonic wasn't up for another fight just yet. In fact, he didn't look ready for anything.

Wonder if fox-boy's awake yet. Shadow took a deep breath. Sonic was heavier than he looked. With a pick-up of speed, the black hedgehog dashed along the deserted road. Houses with darkened rooms seemed to stare ominously at him. Even with the sun's reappearance, the houses still seemed empty. If Miles Prowler was awake, he'd know what to do. Hopefully. If not, Shadow would have to give him a wake-up call!

His feet continued to glid with slick movements, giving him a burst of speed everytime. The wind howled as it passed by the speedy hedgehog. But Shadow didn't mind it. He didn't mind anything. He and Sonic have always been different in many ways. Shadow isn't as free going as Sonic, and he probably never will be.

So, the doctor's decided to take it up a level. I'm ready for it. I've got to be! Shadow thought. The worry seemed to be of a pest. What was going on with him? The Ultimate Life-form could surely surpass any of the primitive mechanics that the doctor could come up with.

...

"Damn! Where is Sonic?" a red echidna shouted out from a skyscraper, overwiewing the city. He had checked at the hedgehog's house, everywhere in the city. Where else was there to look?

"Tails!"

With not a moment to lose, Knuckles the Echidna was off in search of Sonic.

Knuckles ran with a well-held spirit. He made his way through the cross-sections of the city, passing or running over anyting in his way. Pray its the first one!!

...

The sun had just began rising. Tails was sleeping in his workshop, only to have the sun light open his once closed eyes. It was days like this that Miles Prowler didn't want to wake up. There would be machines to build...machines to fix. Even though being good at it, it wasn't exactly something you could call 'fun'. For a smart fox, it was still the same headache of things going where they belong and such.

His head lay sidways along his desktop. His computer right beside him. His mouth hung open wide with drool streaming down his chin. "Can't today wait..." the fox moaned in complaint. But the sunlight just kept coming further and further inwards. Soon enough, his entire workshop was being filled up with glamorous light. His eyes slowly made an attempt to open. In a moment, Tails awoke, using his hand to clean the drool off his chin. Standing up, the little kid fox stretched, only to look over at his window sill.

On it was his most prized plant. It had beautiful, elegant flowers, even the pot looked beautiful with the plant inside of it. It reminded Tails of a wonderful friend he once knew. A friend that meant more to him than he ever realized. Cosmo. She was beautiful in every way. Though a bit on the clumsy side, Tails saw nothing wrong with clumsiness. There was nothing wrong with being clusmsy at all.

Cosmo...I miss you. Tails thought. He was practically beside himself. He thought of her ocassionally. But he knew, deep down in his heart, that Cosmo wouldn't want him to be sad of her absense. Rather she would prefer he'd be happy, and look to the sky with a smile, knowing that she'll always be there for him. So with that in mind, the young fox always kept his chin held high, and did his work with pride.

Tails walked over to the window sill. He looked at the plant and then to the sky before he finally smiled. Don't worry Cosmo. One day, I'll see you again. That thought brought an even wider grin to his face. Walking back over to his computer, the fox took a seat. The constant noise of typing sounded out.

On his computer screen, a large window appeared.

"Huh?" Tails questioned. A strange purple window popped up. But he had not wanted it to appear.

"What is this!?" Tails asked out in silence again as an Eggman Symbol appeared.

Eggman... Tails frowned as a voice message stated,

"Greetings, Tails..." the message began, "sorry to drop in on you like this, but I couldn't afford to come over to see you in person. I'm far too buisy, and I'm only going to get even more buisy! As you have already figured out, the Matter Shot will nearly be completed. It's already finished, but I could possibly improve it somewhat. I have finally come up with a plan to put you in your place. So WATCH YOUR STEP...TAILS!!"

It was there that the message ended. Tails had a shocked look on his face. What is he up to, now? the yellow fox thought curiously. He'd definately have to tell Sonic about this. Too bad Sonic was the first to suffer!

...

Shadow the Hedgehog continued to speed down into the valley. Tails' Workshop wasn't too much farther from where he was. The only thing Shadow was truly concerned about was the strange foe he had encountered. That, and where he might be as of now.

The black hedgehog looked up to the sky. Pink and blues seemed to mix lovely. The clouds only made it more beautiful. But Shadow had no interest in beauty. What was there to be interested in. Beauty is an illusion. It can be interpreted by many different means. So why should he care? The only beautiful thing to Shadow would be the day he set his eyes on the gorgeous view of Earth from Space Colony ARK, 50 years ago, alongside Maria Robotnik.

But that was so long ago. Back when there wasn't a care to even think over. As always, things do and will change.

Maria. It was a thought that passed through his thoughts more frequently than anything else. Though it was a sweet thought, a little sourness mixed in, and it became a haunting word. Maria Robotnik. His old friend.

...

"Sonic!" Knuckles shouted, plowing through trees. Tails' Workshop was dead ahead. "Sonic, get out here!" The echidna stomped over until he stood before the entrance. He gritted his teeth as he launched a punch at the oak-wood door. In addition to the impact, the door flung back through the workshop, and whacked off the back wall. Unfortunately, Tails was in the middle of this collision.

"Huh?" Knuckles scratched his head in confusion. Knuckles made his way in to see a knocked out fox, and no sign of Sonic anywhere. "What? No way! If Sonic's not here, where is he?"

Tails rubbed his sore forehead, and stood up on his feet. "I was just about to ask you." said Tails.

"Oh, sorry." said Knuckles. He had finally noticed he had whacked the door into the yellow fox.

"Why do you want to find Sonic?" Tails asked curiously.

Knuckles, helped Tails pick up a few inventions that had been knocked down by the incident. "I need to tell him something important. Something bad." Knuckles explained briefly. Tails nodded in response. "So do I."

Knuckles closed his eyes and lowered his head shamefuly. "I should've stopped her when I had a chance!" Knuckles said out of nothingness. Tails just eyed him strangely. "Who the what, now?" it was clear the fox was confused.

The echidna sighed and looked away. "Rouge. She went to find Eggman days ago. But she hasn't come back yet. I tried telling her it was a bad idea to go alone...but you know Rouge, solo is her middle name!"

Tails smiled weakly. "Don't worry, Knuckles. I'm sure she's fine." Though Tails wasn't actually sure. It is highly suspicious that she hasn't returned. Then again, that's just how she has always been. After all, if she hears there's treasure somewhere, she could've taken a detour. But uncertainty rang high on both of their minds. They'd need Sonic's help to get to the bottom of this.

...

"Sonic2, come in Sonic2!" Eggman exclaimed. He was in his computer room. The huge monitor showed a rather large map of the planet. A red dot began blinking and a picture of Sonic2 appeared.

"Yes, I read you, master." the android said weakly.

"You sound weak, what happened?" Eggman asked curiously.

"Shadow...that is what happened, sir."

Dr. Eggman pounded a fist on the control panel of the computer fiercly at that name. "SHADOW!!" he yelled angrily.

"Grandfather created the Ultimate Creature for himself...but when it comes to me...his own grandson...that experiment does anything to stop me!"

Eggman then went to typing a few criptic codes into the computer mainframe. "Alright, Sonic2, I'm sending you some vital data on your next assignment. Read it thoroughly and then apply it to your mission. I'm counting on you!" Eggman said sternly. In the image shown, Sonic2 nodded.

"It will be done. I can assure you this." Sonic2 assured menacingly.

Then the image disappeared. With that, the doctor stood up and walked out of the room.

A few steps down the hall, a door slid open. The doctor made his way inside. The room held his two prisoners.

"So, ladies, enjoying the day, are we?" the doctor asked sarcastically. "No? Too bad!"

Blaze reached out her arm as far as she could from her cage to attempt an assault on the doctor. But that was far too out of reach. Eggman just looked at her with a fiendish grin. He laughed at her misfortunes before, but this was just plain humiliating. Rouge on the other hand, just hung around-no pun intended-and minded her own buisness. She saw no reason to try, as it was an impossibility.

"Just you wait, Eggman! I will get out of her and you will pay!" Blaze swore. She waved her fist furiously at him. It appeared the longer she was kept here, the more she grew enraged.

"Oh shut it already. We aren't getting out of here anytime soon, sweetie. So just stand there and look pretty." Rouge remarked.

Blaze hissed as her eyes began to be alit with flames. "Look pretty?! Why you...what's that supposed to mean, bat?"

"Now, now, calm down..." Eggman said in hopes of calming the two of them down.

My, my...I never knew keeping prisoners was such hard work. Normally I'd have Bokkun do this kind of thing for me. But I haven't seen Bokkun since after the Metarex incident. Where did that pesky bothersome get to. He was with me when I sent Chris home, but then he just...flew off somewhere! Eggman thought immensely to himself.

Maybe I shoudln't have disassembled those two annoyances. They could have filled in for Bokkun...huh...I'm beginning to regret my own temper.

Suddenly, a strange noise, like a toy airplane, made its faint voyage through the walls, catching the doctor's attention. "Hm?" Eggman looked up at the large window above the prisoners. A faint shadowy figure was becoming larger and larger by the second. "What in the wor-" the doctor was cut off by the shattering of glass. The bits and pieces crashed down, almost striking Eggman on the head.

Several pieces bounced off of Blaze's cage. The others hit off of the net Rouge was kept in. Maybe, if I'm lucky, they's cut the rope. But the pieces bounced off as feathers. Not even leaving a scratch on the rope.

"Oh come on! What in God's name is this made out of, Eggman?" the bat asked, dumbfounded.

Eggman was too busy avoiding glass.

Opening his eyes, Eggman saw what appeared to be...

"Bokkun? Bokkun, is that you?" Dr. Eggman asked in disbelief.

"Yeah...sorry I'm late, doctor, but I brought a gift for you!" Bokkun giggled, holding out a cloth bag. Eggman untied the string keeping it closed, and dumped whatever was in it, into his hand. It glowed and sparkled in beauty. It was a Chaos Emerald!

"A Chaos Emerald!? Where on Earth did you get this, Bokkun?" Eggman asked in shock.

Bokkun just laughed in happiness. He had pleased his boss.

"Well, you see..." Bokkun began, clearing his throat, "I was looking around for some kind of energy source. I had spied on Tails in his workshop, and heard about it being around the mountain range somewhere. But what do I find...well...a Chaos Emerald!"

"Yes," Eggman agreed, "and that is even better than any power source in my book. Good work, Bokkun. I'm glad you're around when I need you."

Bokkun blushed. But it faded when he saw Rouge the Bat. "Ah, doctor, it's Rouge!" he exclaimed, frantically waving his arms. Eggman gave Bokkun a pat on the head and picked him up, setting him on his shoulder. "Do not worry, Bokkun. Rouge is our prisoner...she's been here quite awhile, as a matter of fact."

Suddenly, Bokkun's frigtened look changed into a grin. The small messenger pointed mockingly at the captured bat. "Ha! You had it comin' to ya, batty! Na na na na naaa!" To make matters worse, Bokkun stuck his tounge out and began making funny faces.

"Well, my friend, looks like you have things covered, here. So...keep up the good work." Dr. Eggman said encouragingly.

Bokkun nodded and gave him a solute. "Yes...of course, doctor, sir!"

The doctor nodded in approval before heading out of the room.

"NO! Don't leave me here with these two! I'll go insane!!" Blaze cried out in agony.

"Yeesh...settle down, hot-head. What's the big problem." Rouge commented.

"Yeah, quiet it down, kitty cat!" Bokkun butted in.

"AHHHH!!" she cried out again.

...

Shadow continued to carry the fainted blue hedgehog through the deserted dirt roads of the neighborhood. They were extremely close to Tails workshop. Shadow could see Tails working out in the open with the X-Tornado. Knuckles appeared to be there as well.

"Hey, fox boy!" Shadow called out.

Up on the higher ledge of the mountain, Tails heard and dropped his wrentch. He looked down off the ledge to see Shadow...and Sonic?

"Sonic!!" Tails exclaimed. Thinking quickly, the fox began twirling his tails and hovered safely down next to the two hedgehogs. "Shadow, what happened to Sonic?" Tails asked. His tone clearly showed he was concerned.

Knuckles the Echidna simply slid down the edge, landing directly behind Miles. "Whoa, what happened here?" Knuckles asked. Even though he probably wouldn't admit it, he was shocked and concerned for him too.

Shadow just huffed. He dropped Sonic and turned his back the other way. "Well don't look at me. I didn't do a thing to that faker!" Shadow wasn't a happy camper.

"I didn't say you did, Shadow." Tails pointed out.

"Yeah," Knuckles interjected, "all I want to know is how you came across him like this."

Shadow the Hedgehog just folded his arms and kept his back turned. He looked to the sky and murmured, "Eggman."

"What!?" both Tails and Knuckles exclaimed.

Knuckles pounded his fists together before firing his anger up. "Dang it! Should've known Eggman would strike while we had our backs turned. Should've kept a better eye on him!"

Tails, at the moment, didn't answer. After a while, he clentched his fist and pounded off the cliffside. "That can't be. Eggman isn't smart to take the win this easily!" Tails exclaimed.

Shadow, with his arms still folded, turned to face the fox. "You'd be suprised what that fat-happy clown can do in his spare time." Shadow said. Shadow dropped his arms down to his sides again and walked over to Knuckles. He looked down at Sonic in his dreaded state, then to the echidna. "Thing is," the black hedgehog started, "this new gadget of his. It's pretty durable, that's for sure. But it still is a good for nothing bucket of bolts. And machines can never be as strong as the original!"

"But it was, Shadow. It was as strong as Sonic, if not stronger." Tails butted in.

Shadow gave him a darring glare. But Tails wasn't moved or scared in the slightest. "Look at him, Shadow! Sonic has never gotten a beating this bad before."

Shadow looked down at the blue hedgehog again. The blood that seeped through the scratches and cuts had dried completely, stiffening the blue fur. His chest was also badly bruised. Shadow looked up at Tails again befoer closing his eyes and turning the other way around again.

"Well, that Faker was weak, anyway. Even I could've beaten him that senseless!" Shadow gave his most obvious excuse.

"You know that's not true!" Knuckles snapped back. He held a fist out at the black hedgehog. "Now take it back or I'll kick you so hard that you won't be able to sit for a week!!"

Shadow just shifted it to the side of his mind and payed no attention to Knuckles at all.

Tails pulled Knuckles back towards him in a quick instant. "Settle down, Knuckles. This isn't a time to be fighting."

Knuckles just folded his arms and looked the other way. "Yeah, whatever."

Tails sighed in annoyance, "Oh brother!"

...

Dr. Eggman looked out the window of his observatory area and saw the great Forgotten Canyons just outside. In fact, that is the place his fortress was built on. The Forgotten Canyons used to be a wonderful place. A place with villages and towns. But one day, the sky grew dark and the canyon rock turned gray(as it is now)and everyone disappeared. Everyone in Sonic's World has been afraid to live here ever since.

I do not believe in such rumors. Eggman thought constantly to himself. Such things are a bothersome. They are not real. The logic related to them is 0. There is no use to them.

Though Eggman only thought these things to hide the fact that he to believed in the rumors. Legends have been proven correct in their world before. This made absolutely no difference. However, if these rumors were true, then he could be in deep trouble. What if he were to vanish just as the villagers once had.

Eggman just put his arms behind his back and walked down from the observatory and down into the experiment lab. This is were he'd test his inventions before he'd use them against Sonic. This is were Sonic2 had been created. So far, Sonic2 has been a hit. He has not lost his grip yet. For the first time ever, Sonic might just be overwhelmed. Things were looking up for the doctor already. Eggman just prayed it would stay this way.

The doctor walked over to a control panel. It controlled a menacing tubular confinement. A strange mystic being dwelled within it. He pressed a few buttons, causing the confinement to open wide.

"Come forth, X-01. It is time!"

X-01 was a rather large beetle. An incredibly large horn was implaced on its head. Its skin was marked by blood-red scales and tan, almost sand-like skin. When it blinked, it was clear it had four layers of eye lids.

"Bokkun, data-log, if you will." Eggman said.

The rather devious little fellow rocketed in on his jet back and took a seat next to the doctor's own chair. He typed in a few things until a summary appeared on the computer screen. He then got to reading it out loud.

"X-01. Real Identification: Reliex Blood-Beetle. The Reliex Blood-Beetle is a highly dangerous bug and animal cross-over. According to historical records, this is the very same creature of why this place became Forgotten Canyon. Only one is born ever 5 million years. It is vertually invincible, and can be controlled at full power if you obtain a..." Bokkun trailed off.

Dr. Eggman noticed his assistant had stopped and stood up. He walked over to the little guy and looked down at him.

"Well, obtain what?"

Bokkun sweatdropped at the situation and looked back at the doctor. "I'll tell you. But you won't like it, doctor." he explained. "Hm." Eggman pondered. "Tell me anyway."

His assistant nodded and continued. "It is vertually invincible and can be controlled at full power if you obtain a...hedgehog's heart."

Eggman fiendish expression suddenly changed to a disgusted one. "WHAT!!" Eggman exclaimed. "The heart of a hedgehog! Is this some kind of grizzly joke!?"

Bokkun shook his head sadly, and began reading again. "In the beginning of times, when this creature roamed with fear, hedgehogs were the only thing standing in its way. However, they were also the prey for this bettle. If you feed it a heart of a hedgehog, it will become more loyal to you."

The doctor shook his head. "I see. So, any...hedgehogs...we'd like to donate?" Eggman nudged his shoulder.

Bokkun nodded with the same evil grin.

"Sonic the Hedgehog!!" they both exclaimed.

...

Shadow had followed Knuckles and Tails up to the workshop, and laid Sonic on Tails' bed to rest. The black hedgehog did not show concern for Sonic at all. He merely starred out from the window, overhearing both Knuckles and Tails speaking of something ominous or something rather.

"I don't know what could've happened, Knuckles. What could've happened to get Sonic beaten up this badly?" Shadow overheard Tails.

"I'm tellin' ya. It had to be that Shadow." Knuckles had replied.

"Well, I have to admit it, Shadow is a bit stronger than Sonic."

"Yeah, and maybe faster than Sonic too."

"So what? You think he tricked Sonic or something?"

Shadow couldn't take this secret conversation of himself any longer. It angered him. He didn't do it. In fact, if it hadn't been for him, Sonic could've really been dead.

"NO!! I didn't lay a single punch on him! You should be thanking me!" Shadow snapped from pressure.

Tails and Knuckles looked over at him with shocked faces. Scared faces. Shadow passed on a glare even more cold and icy than the last one he had given towards them. Tails gulped and Knuckles looked embarrassed. They hadn't intended on Shadow to overhear them.

"You heard?" Tails asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah, I heard you. Kind of hard not to. You really should learn to whisper...'cause trying to keep things quiet and unknown is not quite your thing, fox boy!" Shadow mocked, looking out the window again. The sun was higher than ever. Making Shadow wonder what he really was doing. Why was he here?

Tails frowned in response to Shadow's tone. It was definately not Shadow's day. The Ultimate Life-form looked around from the window. Then, to the sky. A large puffy cloud passed by. To his suprise, it looked like..."Maria..." Shadow sighed. This made Tails wonder even more about Shadow. But his past was his past. He would never share something as priceless as that to a mere fox. Would he?

...

"Prepearations are set, doctor. Beginning operation now!" Bokkun announced. The little devil stood at the very top pillar of a launching site. He watched as a rocket began to rise, being pointed up at the sky.

"Excellent. Soon, this rocket will enter the planet's atmosphere, heating what's inside the rocket, to charge its internal energy source." Eggman explained. The doctor then picked up a clipboard with a paper indicating a checklist of somesort. It wasn't exactly clear what the doctor was planning. But it couldn't possibly bring any good to the world.

"Bokkun, is the guidance system online?" Eggman asked.

Bokkun nodded with a serious look, "Yes. All systems go. We can safely guide it to this exact spot when the energy has been gathered."

Eggman merely nodded and looked out into the distant canyons. The rocks were as gray as ever. Something seemed ominous about them. As if they were...hiding something. Though he didn't like to admit it, Eggman was sheepish around these ancient disasters. There's no telling if it could possibly happen again. If the Reliex were to obtain its old memory (the doctor erased its original), he and Bokkun would be doomed.

This is the exact reason why Eggman had placed a brain-stem collar on it. This collar allowed him to control it, for now. He'd have to find a stronger source of control...the heart of his arch-enemy.

"Alright, Bokkun!" Eggman shouted out, pointing his finger up to the sky. "Let's get this operation going! Prepare to launch!"

"Yes, Eggman, sir. Beginning launch sequence." Bokkun replied, pressing a button with the word 'launch' on it.

Eggman laughed on and on, just thinking about killing Sonic at last. He laughed so loud, anyone around could hear. Unfortunately, the only ones that knew were imprisoned.

...

Darkness. Such a familiar sight. When you close your eyes, when the sun sets, when the moon fades, when we think of greed, when we think of evil. Darkness exists even in day, forever at night. But now darkness faded as eyelids began to open.

Shadowy figures in the distance became more and more clear. One was getting closer. Faint words were whispered, or so that's how distant his hearing was. The blue hedgehog panted heavily, making out the words.

"He's getting...Knuck...he's...up." the distant voice called. The figure began looking much like a fox.

T-Tails... Sonic thought. For a moment, even Sonic himself thought he would be dead. What happened? How did he survive. It was then, in his spare time, Sonic attempted to remember what had happened fornight ago.

"...why...are you...helping me...Shadow?"

"'Cause, if anyone's going to mess with you, it outta be me. Not some cheap bucket of bolts!"

Sha-Shadow... his thoughts were still foggy. But the figures were almost as clear as day itself. He saw a red echidna approach. A white glove held out. As if to grab him from his daydreaming trance. Knuck...les... Sonic continued to regain his stature. In a quick instant, he grabbed onto the echidna's hand and sat up off the bed.

The blue hedgehog rubbed his head where it was sore. The yellow fox before him handed him a glass of lemonaid. "Here, Sonic. You must be thirsty." Sonic didn't nod nor answer. He only grabbed the glass and gulped it down quickly. With a sigh, he stood up and looked around.

"Oh...my head. Tails, what's...what's going on?" Sonic said weakly, as if shuddering from bitter cold.

While this was gonig on, Knuckles went on a detour out back.

Tails gave him a grin and opened up some more windows to let more light through. Sonic was confused. One moment he's at his house in an impossible battle against an imposter pretending to be him! What was behind all this madness? And how could he end it?

Tails was about to answer when Shadow shoved him out of the way and stood face to face with Sonic.

"Well, glad to see you're awake." Shadow said. His tone was almost sarcastic.

"Sh...adow. What's going on? Why do I feel so weak? How did I get here? What happened back there?" Sonic shot out questions like a machine gun. Shadow forced his palm against the blue hedgehog's face to silence him. Sonic ceased to speak for the moment, and Shadow removed his palm from the hedgehog.

"You were knocked out from that battle with the androd. You were on the verge of death. So I rushed you here." Shadow explained emotionlessly.

Sonic smiled, "I knew you were...our...f-friend Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed as happily as he could. But he was still too weak to do anything intense for now.

"Hmf! I merely made sure you weren't eliminated in such a pathetic state. You couldn't even stand up to that nut-job!" Shadow mocked. The black hedgehog's red eyes glared angrily into the green eyes that looked upon him. Then, in no time at all, the red eyes concealed themselves behind eyelids, and do not face Sonic for much longer. The Ultimate Life-form walked over to the door of the workshop.

"Just make sure you don't get yourself killed, Sonic! 'Cause next time, you may not be so lucky!" With that, Shadow dashed off down the cliffside and down through the valley. He was plain out of sight.

For a few moments, Sonic starred out the window. Just wondering where Shadow went on his own. But the pain intensified. Sonic grabbed his hip in horrifying pain, and collapsed down onto the bed.

"What's going on?" Knuckles asked, returning from his detour.

"Shadow left and Sonic's in pain." Tails answered quickly, tending to his best friend.

Knuckles also began to react quickly. The echidna grabbed a towel from one of the chairs and placed it over the hedgehog's forehead. "I think he just needs some rest." said Knuckles. Tails nodded and applied pressure to the towel to soak up the pain in Sonic's forehead.

"I think you're right." Tails agreed.

Together, the echidna and fox carred for the hero that had saved them so many times. At last they were returning the favor. Hopefully they would be able to get Sonic back on his feet. They'd have to risk their lives to save him if they needed to.

They'd be taking a chance. It was a chance they had to take.