Due to uncertain-ness ( Is that a word?) on my part, I have decided to re-post this chapter.
As promised, dark and handsome will be appearing.
Enjoy!!
Chapter 4
Sonic had covered nearly all of Mystic Ruins before finally finding the Android that called him Uncle. He spotted her in the forest, near the old Temple, she was walking backwards and forwards, hands out in front of her, sniffing.
As he got closer, he also noticed that she was wearing a pair of strap-on 3D glasses. He stepped on a twig, the noise broke Carla out of her day-dream. She span round, claws out and teeth bared, seeing Sonic, she groaned and lowered her hands.
" What do you want?"
" That's nice! What the hell are you playing at, Carla? Where is Shadow's pendent?"
Carla blinked at him and rolled up the sleeves of her blue shirt, her arm was as good as new, just scarred elbow to wrist. " S-Shadow's necklace? I haven't.." She broke off when she saw the look he was giving her. " Wait... You think I took it? Oh, Uncle Sonic! I would never do something like that, Papa programmed me not to.." She sniffed and turned away.
" If you didn't take it.. then, who did?"
Carla grinned at him and pointed to her glasses, " I'm trying to find out. This whole area is flooded with Chaos energy, the glasses help show it and its different colours, here," She reached into her breast pocket and handed him a spare set, " take a look."
Sonic put on the glasses, he looked at Carla and frowned. The air around her was greenish-blue, she grinned again. He looked at his hands, the area around them was.. it was yellow, no, not yellow..it was gold. Pushing the goggles onto the top his head, Sonic looked at his hands normally.
" What is this...?"
" It's your Chaos Aura. The monks I was training with helped me develop my skills. I'm a greeny shade, because I'm an Android- not real but powered by Chaos energy. You, on the otherhand, are gold, because you can harness the real power of the Emeralds and turn into your Superform which is also gold. Right?"
He nodded,though a little confused,the glasses fell back in front of his eyes. " But why are you out here?" He peered at her, "Why.. hey look!" He pointed a fair bit away, the area was a brilliant green and it was getting brighter. " What's happening?"
Carla grinned and, grabbing his arm, dragged him behind a nearby tree. " Brilliant! Now, we might get some answers." She crouched low to the ground and motioned him to do the same.
Walking out to the clearing was the hooded figure Sonic had seen back at Eggman's base. In their hand dangled Shadow's pendent, but it wasn't glowing as good as it should. Behind them, was a small group of realistic Androids- the Roboticized monks. Sonic went to make a move, but Carla held onto him fast. As he turned, he spotted her ears had gone flat against her head and her tail had puffed up, her claws dug into his skin, he bit his lip to stop himself crying out and giving their position away. The black figure looked around, pocketed the necklace and then held out their hand,there was a flash of green and a portal appeared, they led the group through it and the thing closed behind them. Sonic and Carla stepped out from their hiding place and walked to where the portal was. The blue hedgehog turned on the stop,stratching his head, while Carla knelt and with her hands out in front of her, sniffed the air.
" I..I.. what the heck was that ?!"
" Obviously..it was a portal, stupid."
Sonic stopped dead, his eyes widened to the sizes of small plates and his mouth dropped opened slightly.
" No..way..."
Carla stood and approached the misty figure with a smile, " You made it then? Everything ok?"
He nodded. " Yes. Thanks to that thing and her use of the Chaos energy around here, I was able to use the Advanced Projection Technique we learned at the Temple to come here. Am I too late?"
" Hello! What the hell's going on?!"
The ghost turned to the blue hedgehog, stepped close, so they were nose to nose, and then smiled. " Hello, faker."
Sonic blinked for a second, then sat down with a bump. He looked up and swallowed hard, " Sh- Shadow..?"
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Sonic was still on the floor of the forest, his eyes never leaving the Ghost of Shadow as he walked backwards and forwards along the dirt track, much like Carla had done before. Shadow stilled and nodded,Carla went to his side and after a quick conversation, crouched in front of Sonic.
" Shadow can transport us to where that cloaked person ended up. Come on, up you get!"
" I still don't understand! That thing has his pendent, how come he's here?"
" Simple, really." The Ghost held out a hand, a similiar portal appeared. " That pendent is a fake. The real pendent is safe with Glory and near a Chaos Emerald, plus..." His expression grew soft, and Sonic saw it mirrored the expression he wore when he was with Amy. " Amy is still alive.."
" Well, duh! Of course she is! She's safe at home, though not quite herself."
" No..Amy is not there. Come, I will show you." He held onto Carla's hand, waited for Sonic to take his other, and ran at full speed into the darkness...
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Sonic and Carla landed in a heap on cold metal flooring. The Android dusted herself down while Sonic walked to a nearby window and stared out, what he saw made his mouth drop.
They were in space!
" What is this place?" Asked Carla, joining him at the window. Her eyes grew big, " Is that.. No, but it is!? Is that the-the planet?"
" Yep. We're on board The ARK. Why did you bring us here? And how come you're here? Shouldn't you be.. you know..dead?"
Shadow's ghost crossed his arms at them, " It's quite simple really. When I destroyed Celosia with Chaos Inferno, I over-did it a little and instead of splitting myself into two as I planned , I split myself into four. One part-- my mind, I gave to Naminé because she was mentally strong, pure of heart and her Chaos Aura was so strong even Eggman couldn't crack it. The second part-- my body,was transported back here to the place I was born, where I thought it would be safe. I was so wrong,"
" Not your fault , Shadow."
He gave Carla a weak smile before continuing. " The third part of me is my soul, as it is now,as you see it. When I died, I was in my Superfrom and because of that, I'm able to wander the relms between light and dark. I was lucky to be able to contact Carla using the Projection Technique that Glory taught me ."
" Betwixt Twilights." Carla said, nodding.
" What? In English please.." Sonic asked, completely confused.
Carla sighed, " Betwixt Twilights is the name the monks called the relms in between light and dark, sort of ghost roads, if you like."
"O-k. Wait, hang on." Sonic held up a hand in front of the ghost hedgehog and ticked off three fingers, " You've only mentioned three things, but you were split into four. What the last thing?" He was surprised when a cute blush formed on Shadow's cheeks. " Shadow...?"
Shadow sniffed, " The last part of me-- my heart, Eggman stole the first chance he got and locked her away. The file that he tried to break into holds a key sentence to stopping The Phoenix. My heart can stop the anger of The Phoenix from destroying the world----" He stopped and lifted his head, he snarled " Listen..."
They did, faintly the sound came. It came bouncing off the walls, somewhere from deep within The ARK. Somebody was sobbing, it was girl and Sonic's ears drooped when he realised who it was.There came a scream and then another voice, deep and serious.
" Let me have it, girl. You can't hold on to him forever."
" I can. I-I will. Shadow's mine and I won't let anyone take him from me, not now, not again!"
A mad chuckle, " Why hold onto him?"
" Because I love him!"
" And does he feel the same?" The answer was drowned out by another high-pitched scream, that echoed along the corridor.
Carla wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve. Sonic walked along the corridor, stopping when the sound faded. He turned towards Shadow, the ghost looked back, saddness in the ruby pools. The blue hedgehog took a breath before speaking.
" And do you feel the same?"
" Yes. I would never had given her my heart if I didn't. She only hopes that you will be ok with it."
Sonic grinned. " ' Course I'm ok with it, you daft git! Why'd you think I gave you that candle for? I know Amy loves you and you care about her. But be warned, Shadow..."
" Urm, Uncle Sonic?"
" Not now, Carla. Now listen, Shadow.. you hurt her, really bad like I did, if you break her heart..I'll break your legs. Got it?"
"Uncle Sonic !?"
He turned around, " What, Carla !? " And paled, "Oh."
" Well, well ,well..." Came a familiar voice from the doorway. They instantly raised their hands. Only Shadow didn't. " looks like we have a couple of sneak thiefs on board." The owner of the voice, and the stun-gun aimed at them, pushed back the hood of their coat. When her face was revealed,she grinned at them, " Not happy to see me ,Sonic?"
Sonic stood stunned. " I--I.. No way! Amy, what the heck's going on? Why are you siding with Eggman !? What is this?"
" Hhhmm... What indeed... let's have a lookie then?" Carla had on her 3D specs, " If I'm greeny- blue that makes me part- Android and you are... Green ! Pure emerald green, so, an Android then?" She looked at her with an expression of marvel. " Impressive! Hats off to Eggman..this time..."
Sonic was looking over at Shadow, wondering why the Amy Android hadn't seen him. And then it hit him, the ghost thing. He and Carla could see Shadow because of the glasses. Shadow grinned at him with a nod, the mesage was clear just like last time, before the battle with Celosia. The next move, was his.
" She can take you to Amy and Eggman." He said as he calmly walked around them, hands behind his back. " The pendent is fake, remember ? Eggman can't do a thing with it, and while he wastes time figuring it out, he's buying us some time for the others to get here. I will help them all I can, Knuckles knows what's going going on," At Sonic's raised brows he added," visions from the Master Emerald. Don't worry, as long as the real Amy's safe..so am I."
Sonic nodded once, watching him fade into nothingness. Sighing, he raised his hands again and spoke in a clear voice. " Okay. I- give- up! Take me to his Royal Bloatness!"
Carla rolled her eyes as she followed his lead, " Way to go, Uncle Sonic."
I was playing one of the Sonic Mega Collections for the PS2 the other night, I didn't know that Sweet Dreams was from Sonic 2 from the Megadrive game ( Don't believe me ?Go to the sound test,or play the game with all Emeralds-- it plays during the black and white slideshow.) As well as from Sonic Next Gen '06.
Again, updates will be delayed as I am now banned from the computer for a week.( For something I didn't even do!!)
(Sigh) Oh well, at least I can start penning the last volume, as of which is untitled.