Stage 4: Dark Alliance
High above the planet orbited a great planetoid. Most people thought it no more than a second moon or satellite. However, it was in fact the abandoned Space Colony ARK. Deep within the darkened hallways of the colony, a lone figure in his walker cursed, suddenly realizing he was going the wrong way. A large elevator platform hovered up the huge shaft, stopping in front of a catwalk. "So this is the Space Colony ARK," he mumbled to himself, "From what I've read it was shut down fifty years ago. If Shadow wants me to meet him here then something interesting must be about to happen."
Eggman walked into a dark room. Of course, all the rooms in the ARK were dark, considering the colony had been shut down for the last fifty years. He flicked on the large lens on the front of the walker, the Power Laser doubling as a floodlight. He saw six Hunters with their guns pointed at him. "Out of my way fools!" he shouted as he blew them up. He went right, then left, following the hallway. He came to a room with a small ledge over a deep shaft. Hanging from the center of the shaft was a pulley. Eggman hovered to the pulley and grabbed on, lowering down the shaft, between several nasty laser grids. The pulley stopped several meters above the floor, which had a series of lasers going horizontal over the shaft. He dropped from the pulley and carefully hovered down, dropping through holes in the laser grids. He exited the shaft and came to a long corridor. He was on a ledge above the floor of the big hallway, a floating platform hovering just before him. He stepped on the platform, which started moving down the hall. As he proceeded, Eggman saw Beetles up ahead. He locked on and blasted them before they could shoot. He downed about a dozen Beetles before reaching the end of the hallway. He stepped off the platform and went through the door before him. He was now in a large room with some crates and a locked door on the right wall. After failing to blast the door open, Eggman tried to figure out how to go through. He blasted all the crates out of frustration, because he hated having to go through puzzles. He was pleased to see a switch hidden underneath a crate. He stepped on the switch, unlocking the door. He went through it and found himself in another hallway like the one he had just used. To his right was a Rhino, charging towards him. Right as the robot tank was about to ram into him, Eggman activated his boxing glove, smashing the machine. He saw several crates blocking the floating platform, so he destroyed them all before stepping on the lift. It moved forward, taking him down the long hallway. He had to blast several more Beetles before reaching the exit. A Rhino charged out of the shadows and slammed the walker, nearly knocking it over. Eggman furiously shot it with his cannon and went down the corridor. He came to the end, and was forced to go across a catwalk over another chasm. At the end of the catwalk was a floating platform. He stepped on the platform and descended into the void, shooting the numerous enemies that swarmed him in the darkness. At the bottom, he saw another long series of catwalks, gaps, and enemies. After reluctantly crossing the vast expanse of walkways with holes in them, Eggman found a door and entered it, going through a long hallway and entering a room with a very high ceiling. A floating platform sat in the middle of the room. Eggman grunted and jumped to the platform, which started raising him to the top of the room. He blasted the Hornets, Hawks, and Beetles lurking in the chamber before finally reaching the top. There was a door. Unfortunately, it was broken. Eggman was this close to throwing a dangerous tantrum when he saw a dynamite pack strapped to the door. Grinning, he blasted the explosive, blowing the door open. He walked through and started screaming. He was in yet another chasm. He was so sick of them. Very disgruntled, he walked along the catwalk and onto the platform. As it went down, he started blasting everything that he thought moved, often hitting nothing but the wall. After taking out his rage and some robots and the walls of the pit, he saw another sequence of catwalks and holes below him. He jumped off the platform while it was still overlooking the area and activated his jet engines, hovering to the door at the end of the room. He landed, only to find the door was broken and there was no dynamite pack in sight. He looked behind him and saw a missile pointed right at the door. He grinned. Even better than dynamite packs! He walked around the missiles and stomped the launch switch, firing the missile at the door and destroying it. Cackling, Eggman went forward. Inside was one last really long hallway with a floating platform. He stepped on the platform and was whisked down the hallway, shooting at every Hornet and Hawk he saw, also blasting several harmless power conduits because he thought they were threatening him, stopping in front of a door. He passed through the door and was in a big room with a walkway between two toxic pits. At the other end was a door leading to the safer sections of the colony, much closer to the control room. There, he found Shadow waiting for him with the green and white Chaos Emeralds.
"Ah, so you're here at last Doctor. What took you so long?" he asked.
"That's none of your business! And you are to refer to me as Master!" he hissed as he jumped out of the Egg Walker 2.0.
"Whatever… Master. Do you have the other Emeralds as I requested?"
"No, I ran into a bit of trouble getting back to my base. I didn't have time to start tracking down Chaos Emeralds. Anyway, I'm the one giving orders around here, not you! Tell me, why do we need the Chaos Emeralds? And what is this wish you are talking about?"
Shadow frowned as he turned his back, "Well… Master, as you know, the Space Colony ARK was run and constructed by Dr. Gerald Robotnik, the greatest genius in over a hundred years. Anyway, while he did achieve several miraculous discoveries through the use of Chaos Energy, few people knew another achievement of his. The government contract that allowed Gerald to keep supplying the Colony and keeping it in operation also required him to create a powerful weapon to be used for national defense, just in case a war broke out. The weapon was to be used as a sort of bluff, much like the nukes in the Cold War. It seemed pointless, since it didn't look like there would be a war anytime soon. But the politicians back then were a bit paranoiac, so the weapon was built."
"Tell me about the weapon! Get to the point!"
He turned to face the doctor, "The weapon was a powerful machine capable of mass destruction, fueled by both the Chaos Reactor core and the seven Chaos Emeralds, which were then in the Colony's collection of finds. It is called the Eclipse Cannon. When fully charged, the Cannon is capable of firing at a numerous level of settings, each ranging from a different level of power."
"What are its ranges?"
"At the lowest setting, the cannon can make a crater the size of Tokyo in its target. At the highest setting, the Cannon is capable of blowing up an entire planet."
"Well where is it?"
"…You're standing on it."
"What?! Well then-"
"If you want to use the cannon immediately, I'm afraid you will be disappointed. The only way to activate the cannon is to collect all the Chaos Emeralds." As he said this, he spun around and slammed the two Emeralds into the sockets on the central pillar. Lights all over the Colony flickered to life. The buttons on the control panel blinked and activated. Several circular holographic displays activated on multiple levels on the control tower. A blue beam shot from the device over the pillar, going inside of the machinery. "Once we have enough Chaos Emeralds, you can harness the Eclipse Cannon's power and form a legacy of your own. You could even take over the world, if you wish."
"Of course that's what I wish!" Eggman said eagerly. "We'll get the rest of the Emeralds, and then the whole world will belong to the Eggman Empire! Bwahahahahahaha!"
"You really think it's that easy?" asked a sweet voice that came from no where.
Eggman and Shadow looked around, "Who's there?! Show yourself!" Eggman demanded. A white blur dropped from the ceiling. Eggman immediately recognized her. "You! That bat from before! How did you follow me!? How much did you here!?"
"Sorry. Can't tell you, treasure hunters' secret." She smirked. "Anyways, it won't be as easy as you think to find the rest of the Emeralds. They're in many different places, and you'll need help finding and retrieving them."
"You're offering help?"
"Of course. I'm Rouge the Bat, the world's greatest treasure hunter and jewel thief. I've taken some of the world's most priceless gemstones for my collection."
"Oh really? Why do you think somebody such as myself should work with someone the likes of you?"
"Because I have the third Chaos Emerald!" she said proudly as she held up the icy Chaos Emerald.
"WHAT? Then give to me!"
"Hold it!" she said firmly, "You can have it if you let me help you guys find the others."
"Hmm…. you drive a hard bargain," he said out loud with a grin, "Sly, cunning… just like me! Okay, you can join!"
Rouge threw the Chaos Emerald to Shadow, who placed it in another socket on the pillar, "By the way," she said to him, "I don't believe I know you. What's your name handsome?"
"My name…" he said with a glare, "Is Shadow the Hedgehog!"
Rouge couldn't help but shiver as she looked at the cold glare that the blood red eyes gave her. Now she's starting to wonder if this mission was worth it…
